Chapter 13 #2
Grace moved closer to him, but not so close that he could grab her through the bars. “Do you have yeast?”
He nodded.
“Then you use that,” she said.
He narrowed his eyes. “How?”
“I’ll tell you, but you must give us another cup of water. All of us,” Grace said.
He frowned. “No, you tell me how.”
“More water,” Grace insisted.
The others held out their cups.
“I’m a baker. Once we get water, you will get your information,” she said.
Trudy came to stand next to her, appearing to have suddenly gotten on board with the plan. “And if you ask nicely, we can tell you how to make that stew you feed us palatable.”
“I can sew the buttons on your shirt too,” one of the younger girls offered. “But my little brother needs more food first.”
There was a clamor from the cages, various women offering other services the men probably hadn’t seen any of lately, such as darning socks.
“See?” Grace said. “We’re willing to work with you. You just have to treat us fairly.”
He nodded and walked off. A short while later, he reappeared carrying a bucket. He poured the water into their mugs more carefully than usual and added an apple for each of them through the bars.
“Now you tell me,” he ordered.
“Sure,” Grace said. “I’m Grace, by the way. And you are?”
“Herman,” he said.
“Good to meet you, Herman,” Grace said. “Now, you want to take the yeast and …”
She described exactly how to use the yeast and bake an acceptable loaf of bread. She even worked out how much of everything Herman would need to make enough bread for the thirty men stationed there and the eighteen prisoners.
When she was done and had checked Herman’s notes, which he had scribbled hastily, he left with a smile on his face.
“Well done for fraternizing with the enemy,” Trudy said harshly, seeming to reconsider her earlier approval of the plan. “You’ve just given him all your bargaining tools.”
“Not really,” Grace said. “He’s told me a lot as well. I know how many men are stationed here and that this isn’t the only place El Aguila has a base. I also know that there are no female bandits.”
“How do you know that?” Trudy asked.
“If there were, then those buffoons wouldn’t be cooking,” Mrs. Odenkirk said. “You’re a wily one, Grace Marks. What’s your plan?”
“To work out how to pick a lock,” Grace said, holding up a little piece of metal. “I broke this off the ring binder of his notebook when I was checking his notes.”
Trudy sat up straighter. “Oh, I take it all back. You’re a genius.” She took the piece of metal from Grace’s fingers. “And I happen to know how to pick a lock.”
Grace blinked in surprise.
“What? I have a sweet tooth, and my mother used to lock up the cookies,” Trudy said. “My brother and I spent a lot of afternoons working out how to get at them.”
She moved to the lock.
“Hold on,” Grace said. “Better to do that at night. They won’t see us.”
“Right,” Trudy said. She wound the piece of metal around a strap of her chemise, where no one would see it. “There, now it’s safe.”
“Good. We can unlock the cages tonight,” Grace said.
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Mrs. Odenkirk said. “But what do we do then? Some of the children are too weak to walk, and I, for one, won’t get far. My ankle is broken.”
“How did that happen?” Grace asked.
“When I got here, I tried my darndest to escape, but they caught me,” Mrs. Odenkirk said. “They let me bandage it up, but I’ve done a terrible job. I can hardly bear to put any pressure on it.”
“All right, then we need to wait for the rescue,” Grace said.
“What rescue?” Trudy asked.
“The one that’s coming,” Grace said. “If I know my husband—and I do—he’s currently coming up with a plan at this moment to save us.”
“But does he know where we are?” Mrs. Odenkirk asked.
“Someone must know,” Grace said.
“The bandits do,” Trudy said.
“Where do they get the food from then?” Grace asked. “They don’t grow it.”
“No, that’s what our families do,” Trudy said. “The bandits just eat it.”
“How do they get it here?” Grace asked.
“By cart,” Trudy said. “My father brings our contribution to the meeting place. It’s a bridge across a creek close by. Then the bandits transfer the food to their cart and bring it up here.”
“Hunter will find that out,” Grace said. “I’ll just have to get him here myself.” Her mind was on fire. She had no intention of spending any more time here in this cage than she already had.
“Okay, so this is the new plan,” Grace said. “Tonight, you’re going to let me out of this cage.”
Trudy and Mrs. Odenkirk listened to Grace’s plan. When she was done, Trudy laughed, and Mrs. Odenkirk shook her head.
“There are far too many problems with that idea,” Trudy said. “It will never work.”
“Do you have a better solution?” Grace asked.
“No, but what if your husband isn’t riding around in this area looking for you? He might be miles away,” Trudy said.
“I know, but I have to try, even if I walk the whole way back to the town,” Grace said. “We need a little good luck, and I’m the least dehydrated and emaciated of the lot of us. So, I’ll go and get help.”
“They’ll shoot you,” Mrs. Odenkirk said flatly.
“I know they might, if they catch me,” Grace said.
She smiled bravely despite feeling the telltale worm in her gut that told her she was less likely to be the rescuing hero and more likely to end up being the damsel needing saving after fainting.
But she had to try. She had to find Hunter and the others who she knew were looking for her and get them here.
She knew how many men were here. Some of them weren’t particularly bright.
They also hadn’t been eating terribly well and weren’t on high alert.
If she could get to help before they knew she was missing, then she could lead the cavalry here and things would be fine.
All of these people could go home to their families, and that was enough incentive for her to put her fears aside and grit her teeth.
They waited until the sun had set and the whole camp had settled down for the night. No one bothered to guard the cages during the night. What was the point? No one was going anywhere.
Trudy was a little rusty at picking locks, but after an industrious thirty or so minutes, she had it open.
“Well, I would wish you good luck, but I suspect you’ll need more than that,” Trudy said grudgingly. “I wish you a miraculous escape and that you come back for us.”
Grace drew her into a hug that she was surprised Trudy allowed. “I’m coming back for you. I promise.”
Then she went to the door and slipped out, closing it but not locking it, behind her. With every sense on alert, she stole toward the tree line and disappeared into it.