BoyGirl Battle [03] - Boys Against Girls by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Author:Phyllis Reynolds Naylor [Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Children, Fiction
ISBN: 9780307514813
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 1994-09-02T05:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

Escape

As soon as Caroline heard the boys’ voices on the floor above, she knew what had happened. Wally had made up that story of abaguchie bones being found in the cellar of Oldakers’ bookstore because he knew she would go right down there to see. And she had trotted down Main Street, flashlight in hand, and now felt quite sure that the boys must have been watching for her from somewhere, laughing their heads off.

She stopped trying to push open the trapdoor. They must all be standing on it together. She listened.

“I'm going to close, now, in about five minutes,” came Mike Oldaker's voice.

Ha¡ What would the boys do then? As soon as Mr. Oldaker sent them out the door, she would push open the trapdoor and …

She imagined the look on Mr. Oldaker's face as she rose up out of the floor. What would she tell him?

Caroline thought hard. She could say that—say that the boys had kidnapped her and thrown her in the cellar. That's it¡ She would crawl up through the trapdoor sort of … well, clawing at the air, as though she could hardly breathe. Then she would collapse on the floor right in front of Mike Oldaker, and—

The idea came to a sudden halt when she realized she would be caught with a screwdriver and flashlight in hand. She could always leave them behind, of course, but then how would she get them again?

Also, if she told a flat-out lie about the boys, Mr. Oldaker would probably call Mr. and Mrs. Hatford, and then she'd be in trouble.

She wasn't sure how long it was after the boys left that she heard Mike Oldaker emptying the cash register. Then there was the sound of the front door opening, closing again, and the key turning in the lock. Silence. Now¡

Then a new thought occurred to her. What if she was locked in? What if she couldn't even open the door from the inside? Maybe she should have climbed out while Mr. Oldaker was still there.

“Help!” she cried suddenly, pushing her full weight against the trapdoor above her.

The door opened into darkness. There wasn't even a light on by the cash register. Caroline did not want to use her flashlight if she could help it for fear someone outside the store would see the light and think a robber was there. She carefully closed the trap again once she was out so she wouldn't fall into it in the darkness, and groped her way to the front door.

Locked. Oh, no¡ She tried again. Dead-bolt locked. Double-triple locked. Her heart began to pound. She really would catch it if Dad found out she'd hidden in the store past closing time. Already her parents were probably wondering where she was.

She made her way over to the counter and managed to knock a stapler to the floor before she found the telephone. Caroline dialed home, wishing with all her heart that one of her sisters would answer.

She was in luck.

“Hello?” said Beth.

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