ESCAPE
Chapter Seven
Cal visited on the first of each month, every
month. It was the only time in Rose’s imprisonment that the main doors of her
room were opened. Even each day when it was time for exercise and fresh air,
there was a double-bolted door that led straight from the room to the field.
And she had already gone over the only way to escape from the field. So, if any
escape was ever to occur, it had to be when Cal came for a visit.
"Are you sure that you can’t just get
the key to my cell?" Rose had asked Alice.
"Are you kidding? Mr. Hockley is paying
barrels of cash to insure that you stay put. There’s no way an amateur nurse
would ever be given the key to your room."
"Who does have the key?"
"It is entrusted to Dr. Havard, the
founder of the asylum. I don’t know where he keeps it, though."
"Weren’t there any copies made?"
"Yes, and he has those, too. Sometimes
he may hand it to a doctor or even a nurse that’s been here for a while, but in
the case of patients like you, whoever has the copy is closely monitored, and
they have to return the key promptly."
"So, I guess we only have one
choice."
"Um, Rose..."
"What is it, Alice? You know you can
tell me anything."
"I hope I don’t offend you by saying
this, but I don’t quite understand how Mr. Hockley can do this to you. No one
can really be that…well…evil. I’m sure he’ll unenroll you soon. Mightn’t
it be easier for you to just wait?"
"I’m not offended, and to tell you the
truth, I don’t understand him either. When you’ve been that corrupted by your
family and by society, I don’t think you can really go back and be a nice
person. That’s my theory, anyway. And I’ve thought many times of just waiting
for him to let me out, but I’ll probably have to sell all my pride and beliefs
to do that. And when I get out, what then? Personally, I’d rather spend the
rest of my days here than with him."
"So escape is crucial, then."
"Yes."
"So we should get on with the
plan."
"Okay. After the guards and Cal are out
of the room, and the door is open, what happens then? There’s still all those
gates to consider."
"Really, Rose, I’m surprised with you.
You’ve always seemed to bright, and here you’ve asked such a silly question.
How do you think the doctors and nurses get out each day? Scale the gates? Past
the main office there’s this little room. And you go in through the front door
and the guards look at you and check your ID badge. Then, if you pass the
inspection they let you go through the back door, which can only be opened from
the inside. From there there’s just this regular iron gate that shouldn’t be a
problem. I have the key to it, and if that doesn’t work, you’ll probably be
able to climb it."
"Considering I get that far, where do I
go?"
"I’m gonna lead you over to this little
community, and my brother will be parked right outside it. He can drive you far
off to this big train station. Even if Cal has men posted there, there’s always
such a big crowd there that there’s a million in one chance they’ll spot
you."
"Are you sure you want to risk so much
for me?"
"Bah! Like I would really put one of the
worst jobs in the history of the world over your future! Besides, the train
tickets are already paid for."