Chapter 7
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With Naomi carrying Ricky and one package with a book or two of his, she led the way to the elevator.
Ricky immediately woke up and asked, “Where’s Trent?”
Naomi set him on his feet and replied, “He just saw somebody he knows. He’ll be back in a few minutes.”
As she stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the penthouse, she realized this may not be the best place for them. Yet that’s where they were. As she waited for the elevator to get to their floor, she looked down at Ricky and asked, “Tired? Do you need a nap?”
He looked at her, yawned a little bit, and then shook his head. “No, I just want to read.” He took her bag and checked on its contents, smiling.
“Good enough.” She chuckled. “I don’t think reading’s a bad thing.”
“I got a couple other books too,” he admitted.
“Yeah, I saw that,” she said, trying not to chuckle. “Trent will bring in the other bags when he returns.”
And, indeed, one of the books had been about tying knots. She was afraid it had something to do with the recent horrifying experience they had both gone through but didn’t want to bring it up.
Ricky shared, “I like that we can get all the books we want.”
“Me too, but we might have to get more bookshelves next time,” she added in a joking tone.
Ricky eyed her in all seriousness and nodded. “That may not be a bad idea. Mine are full.”
“I know, and, as long as you’re reading the books,” she noted, “that’s fine. We could also trade a few of them at a second-hand store, if you still don’t want some.”
He stared at her, his eyes wide, and exclaimed, “You mean, people have books they don’t want?”
Not a whole lot she could say about that, so she burst out laughing. “Yes, particularly if it’s a book that you read for fun.” He frowned at that, and she added, “Like a fiction book, not a nonfiction book.”
He stared at her. “That doesn’t make any sense. I mean, you buy a book, and it should be like your best friend. It has all the information that you wanted, so why would you want to get rid of it?”
“Well, maybe multiple books were written on the same subject, and you like one of them better because it’s easier to understand.”
“Oh, okay.”
With that logic and the simplicity of a child, Ricky accepted her explanation and was quite happy to leave the topic.
She could really appreciate that. So many people had to keep after something and debate it until it was dead and gone, whereas Ricky was happy to understand something and let it go.
Once they got into the apartment, she locked it behind her.
“After Trent brings up the rest of our packages,” she told Ricky, “let’s interrupt your reading to get all our purchases from today put away. ”
Ricky had zero interest in the clothes, even his own, which was pretty normal for him too. He sat down with the book on knots, with the aviation book right beside him.
She asked, “Which one will you read first?”
“The aviation one,” he declared, but the knot book was in his hands at that moment, and he was flipping through the pages, with a serious expression on his face. Then he stopped and announced, “That’s what it’s called.”
“What is what called?” she asked him.
He held up a page and called out, “That’s the knot they used.”
Her heart froze as she stared down at the knot because, yeah, it absolutely was the knot they had used, to tie their hands together.
Then the cable had come afterward, but she hadn’t realized that Ricky had paid enough attention to be aware of it.
And the thought of what he’d been going through ever since slowly tore her apart.
“I didn’t realize that you were asking about that knot in particular. ”
“I wasn’t,” he replied. Then he added, “Do you think Trent might have known?”
“Maybe, but this way you don’t have to ask him,” she noted. “You found it out for yourself.”
“Exactly,” he declared, with an air of importance.
“And why did you want to know what it was called?”
“I don’t just want to know the name. I want to know how to undo it,” he explained immediately.
He was so blasé, so matter of fact about it, her heart took an instant hit. “You mean, in case it ever happens again?”
He looked up at her, and this time shadows filled his eyes, and he nodded slowly. “I don’t want it to happen again.”
She agreed. “I don’t want it to happen either.
So, that’s a good way to feel more in control about it.
You can learn how to undo those knots, and then, if somebody ever does it again—to you or to others—you’ll know how to get out of it.
You’ll have to teach me too.” He beamed and pored over the book once more.
At one point, he got up and went to the kitchen utility drawer, retrieving a ball of twine that they had used for wrapping up parcels once. He took the scissors and cut off a few feet of twine and walked back to the couch where he’d been sitting.
She glanced over to see him trying to tie the knots, using the diagrams in the book. She smiled as she watched him very quickly master several different knots.
He had to do it over and over again to get it locked down in his brain. When he was finally happy, he moved on to the next page and presumably the next knot. When her phone finally buzzed, she looked down to see Trent’s text, saying that he was on his way up.
She opened the front door, finding their packages there, but no Trent. She waited at the open door for him to arrive, but nobody appeared. She frowned and quickly called him.
He answered, “Sorry for the delay. I’m actually in the stairwell checking something out.”
“Is something there?” she asked.
“Nothing you need to worry about for now. Sorry, I wasn’t trying to scare you. I was just checking something.”
“Well, checking something is one thing,” she began, “but I don’t understand where you went, so I’m just hoping everything’s okay.”
“Everything’s fine,” he reassured her. “Didn’t mean to worry you.”
“Yeah, right,” she muttered, “but could you get up here so I’m not standing out in the hallway waiting for you? Four penthouse apartments are up here, so, depending on what you’re looking for, it could have been any one of those residents.”
“Do you know who owns the other penthouses?”
“I thought his family owned some, but I’m not sure. And, of course, they have that house around the corner, a block over.”
“Right,” he murmured. “I haven’t had a chance to check that out. And, if they have that house, I don’t understand why Ricky’s not living over there.”
“Yeah, that’s a pretty big question for the two of us,” she noted. “Yet we’re pretty cozy here. To move into the house would completely change everything. I don’t think we would like it much,” she stated.
“That’s good to know,” he said. “You do seem to be well settled in the apartment.”
“Are you kidding? He’s easy to love and live with.
Just think … Ricky picked out a book on knots, and I’ve only just discovered it’s because they used a knot on us to tie up our hands and feet, and Ricky didn’t know what it was called or how it worked,” she told Trent.
“So, for the last little bit, he’s been working his way through the knots with the intent to learn how to undo that knot and how to retie it. ”
Dead silence came from Trent’s end. He then whistled. “Dang, I never even thought Ricky would consider that.”
“No,” she replied, “neither did I.”
“Well, you’re thinking about it all from the perspective of his mental health. I’m now thinking about needing to find out what knot it was because that could be very indicative of your kidnappers’ professions.”
“Ask Ricky because he’ll be absolutely delighted to tell you.”
After dinner Naomi cut off tags from their new purchases, washing the new clothing and putting the new books and electronics and the new teddy bear all in Ricky’s room. She didn’t ask for his help this time, thinking he needed the interaction with Trent right now.
*
Trent turned to Ricky and asked him what he’d been working on since they got home. Ricky’s face lit up, and he exclaimed, “Knots.” He got up, grabbed some twine, filled with various knots, and ran back to Trent.
Trent stared at it and asked, “Did you create these knots?”
“No, I didn’t create them,” Ricky clarified, “but I learned how to make them.” And he got up, disappeared again, and came back with his book. “This book showed me how.”
“Interesting,” Trent muttered. “I never considered reading a book on knots.”
“Why not?” Ricky asked. “Books have everything.”
Trent smiled and nodded. “You seem to be very well versed on books.” Ricky didn’t say anything. “Did you recognize any of these knots?” Trent asked the boy.
“This one,” he said, as he turned around the end of the rope so Trent could see a knot at the other end. “This is the one they used.”
Trent narrowed his gaze and talked a little more about it. “Interesting. Do you know what page it is from the book?”
Ricky returned his attention to the book, flipping through it quickly. He opened it up to the page he wanted, stabbed his finger onto the related picture, and declared, “It’s this one. This is the one they used.”
“And it bothered you that you couldn’t tell what it was, huh?”
“I didn’t know what they called it, and I didn’t know how to get out of it,” he explained. “So, yeah.” He took a deep breath. “Yeah, it bothered me,” he confirmed.
“Understandable,” Trent agreed, without breaking a sweat. He studied the knot, checked out the front cover of the book, and nodded. “Well, the book is correct. That is definitely the kind of knot it is.”
“You know this one?” Ricky asked.
“Yeah, it’s one that I was taught a while ago. I know a different rendition of it too.”
“Do you?” Ricky asked curiously.
Trent looked around, found the ball of twine on the counter, and he cut a piece off and then showed Ricky how to do a similar one.
“Oh, cool,” Ricky said excitedly.
Trent nodded. “There’s all kinds of knots.”
“I didn’t realize there were so many,” he admitted.
Trent added, “Some are easier to work with, and some are a little bit harder.”