ESCAPE
Chapter Seventeen
It was hours before dawn when Jayvelin awoke.
The girl wasn’t even yet four years old, but she knew that something was
horribly wrong.
Her mother’s arm was wrapped around her
little waist, which felt nice, but the arm seemed unnaturally hot. Taking in
her surroundings, Jayvelin found that her mother was perched on a hard, wooden
bench on a deserted, dilapidated street. On her other side was Jacob, as darling
as little brothers went, still asleep. He was leaning his little head upon a
pretty white purse that Jayvelin had watched her mother stuff some of their
things in. The little girl now turned to look at her mother. She was even more
beautiful than when she had left, at least more beautiful than the way Jayvelin
remembered she had looked. She was sleeping; her head tilted to the side and
resting along the top board of the bench. Her hair had come loose and the silky
strands blew behind her with the help of a faint, playful breeze. She looked
peaceful enough, so Jayvelin didn’t wake her, but something about her seemed
odd. Her cheeks were flushed even in the slightly chilly night air, and to the
little girl’s horror, her mother suddenly woke from her slumber in a strong,
painful cough that seemed to shatter her lungs and burn all the way up her
throat.
*****
Rose didn’t know how long she had been
walking. The only function her brain seemed to have was to keep going. She
didn’t feel the numbness in her legs or the tenderness in her arms. All she
knew was that if she didn’t keep going she would be caught. And if she was
caught, the only ones in the world who loved her would be taken away and she
might never see them again and she would be locked in an enclosing room for all
of eternity.
*****
Finally, her body couldn’t take anymore. She
turned off the main street onto a deserted, more dilapidated one. There, she
perched on a hard wooden bench, carefully placed Jayvelin and Jacob on either
side of her without them waking, and leaned her head to the side.
*****
"Mommy! Are you okay?"
Rose looked at her daughter, the fever
blurring her vision and making it hard for her eyes to focus. She was dimly
aware that Jacob was howling at her side at being awoken from his sleep.
"Jayvelin? You need to listen to Mommy carefully. She isn’t feeling very
well. I want you to get help. Please. Can you do that for Mommy?" Rose
knew it wasn’t the best choice, but what could she do? Each one of her limbs
felt as if they weighed fifty pounds each, and she knew that her head would
throb and spin if she so much as tried to stand. She commanded her eyes to
focus and watched as Jayvelin scampered off before quieting Jacob.
The little boy, too, had had a long day. He
was worn out and was asleep again in no time. She pulled a thin blanket from
her purse, wrapped him in it, and laid him down a foot away so that he might
not be disturbed by her coughing.
*****
Jayvelin ran down the dark street as fast as
she could. She had never done anything like this in her whole life, and her
little body was trembling all over. After sensing that she had to be quiet
before, she wasn’t sure if she could make noise now. But, not knowing what else
to do, she felt the need to shout for help.
This street, too, seemed mostly deserted, but
she could see lights in some of the buildings.
"Please help! My mama is sick! Please
help!" It only took a little time for her sweet, innocent voice, pretty as
silver bells, to reach the men sitting inside the bars. The first to emerge was
a big, lumbering man with a filthy beard who had had more than enough to drink
that night.
Jayvelin froze in fright at seeing him.
"What’s da matta?" He slurred the
words at her. "Tongue got your cat?" He erupted in a fit of laughter
and approached her. He held out a giant paw of a hand. Jayvelin recoiled as the
foul stench of his clothes and body reached her nostrils. The movement angered
him. "What? I’m not good enough for her highness? I’ll show you to think
so highly of yourself." He raised his arm to strike her. His arm was
almost as long as her entire body, and one single blow would have hurt her
considerably. But, just as he was lowering his hand, it was jerked away.
"Hey, what do you think..." The
second man didn’t give the first time to finish. Instead, he gave him a heavy
blow to the jaw and kicked his knees so that he ended up sprawled on the
ground. By now many of the other drunks had emerged and where about to pounce
on the second man when he grabbed Jayvelin up in his arms and ran.
Some tried to go after him, but were so drunk
that they tripped and fell. He was a fast runner, and soon both he and the
little girl were disappearing in the distance.