No more light.
At least it seemed that way for a few seconds. But then I saw -- or thought I saw -- Wesley and Thelma climb the veranda stairs. Vague, moving blurs, not quite as dark as the darkness that gave them shape.
One small, pale bit was slightly more distinct than the rest. I figured it must be the bandage on Wesley's ass.
All traces vanished at the top of the stairs, killed by the shadows from the veranda's roof.
Then a door bammed.
They'd gone inside the mansion.
I hoped.
Waiting no longer, I turned around and rushed up the path toward the cages.
Caged Birds
In the absence of Thelma's torchlight, I couldn't see the path. I couldn't see anything at all except for a few different shades of darkness that were flecked, here and there, with dabs of white from the moon.
I remembered Andrew's cigarette lighter. I could feel it in the right front pocket of my shorts, along with the straight razor and Billie's sunblock. They bumped and brushed against my thigh as I walked.
I dug the lighter out. Got my thumb ready to flick it. Then changed my mind.
In the darkness, I was almost invisible.
I like being invisible.
You're so safe and powerful when nobody can see you.
I slipped the lighter down inside my pocket, then made my way slowly forward, watching and listening.
Soon, I heard voices. Girl voices, softly spoken, coming from ahead and over to my right. I crept toward them. When I was near enough to understand the words, I crouched down and listened.
"Don't be dumb," one girl said. "We aren't old enough."
"You're the dumb one." This sounded like Erin's voice, though it seemed more lively than the other times I'd heard it. It isn't how old you are, it's whether you're having periods yet."
"Who says so?"
"Dad."
"How come he didn't tell me?"
"Maybe you never asked."
"Mom never said so."
"Mom never said anything about anything. Not that sort of stuff. That's how come I asked Dad."
"You asked him when you can start having babies?"
"Sure."
"How come?"
"Just wondered."
"So if you already know, how come you're asking me?"
Erin didn't answer at first. When she spoke again, she sounded more like the timid kid I'd heard in the room with Thelma and Wesley. It's just . . . do you think he's gonna make us have babies?"
"Jeez, don't ask me."
"That's what's gonna happen, I think. You know?"
"I honestly don't think you can have a baby till you're eighteen."
"Eighteen? You're nuts. You don't have to be any eighteen."
"Do, too."
"Ask Connie."
Connie!
My heart gave a quick lurch.
"No way. Are you kidding? I'm not gonna wake her up just to ask her some dumb question. She'd kill me."
"Would not."
"I'm not gonna."
"Well anyway, I happen to know for a fact you don't have to be any eighteen. You only gotta be old enough to be having your periods, because that means you've got eggs going. Once that's happening, you can have all the babies you want."
"No. Huh-uh. You've gotta be eighteen."
"You're out of your mind."
"Am not. I read it someplace."
"Eighteen must've meant something else."
"Like what?"
"How should I know? I didn't read it. I just think we're all gonna end up having babies if we keep letting Wesley screw us."
"Who's letting him?"
"He's doing it anyway, isn't he? I mean, how many times have you ever stopped him?"
Alice didn't answer.
For a little while, neither of them spoke. Then Erin said, "I wonder how many times it takes."
"For what?"
"You know. To make you pregnant."
"You tell me. You know everything."
"I don't know that," Erin admitted. "I wonder if you have to do it, like, twenty times or something."
"I wouldn't know. You should've asked Dad."
"Very funny. But don't you think we'd maybe be pregnant by now if it only took once or twice or something?"
Alice sighed. "I guess so."
"But we aren't, right? He did us both the day he showed up for the first time. Then he got me twice more before he went away. So that makes a total of three, all the way back then."
"Twice for me," Alice said.
"But we had our periods since then, so obviously it wasn't enough. So how many does it take?"
"Who knows?"
"At least it's not us all the time, now that he's got everyone else."
Everyone else!
I couldn't keep silent any longer. "Excuse me," I said.
They both gasped.
"It's okay," I told them. "Don't be scared. I'm a friend. I'm here to rescue you."
Erin said, "Rupert?"
I couldn't believe my ears.
"Yes," I said. "You know who I am?"
"Just a guess. They told us all about you. Where are you? I can't see you."
I crept closer. No moonlight, at all, made it down to where the cages were. I could see nothing. Not the cages, not the girls, not even my own hands. It was like being shut up at night in a closet.
Reaching out with one hand, I touched bars. "I'm at your cage."
"I can't see you," Erin said.
"I can't see you, either," I said.
"Are you sure?" Alice asked. "You can't see either one of us?"
"If we can't see each other or him," Erin said, "how is he supposed to be able to see us?"
"It's possible. It all depends."
"Alice is just worried 'cause we don't have much on."
"That's okay. I can't see a thing."
"She's Alice, by the way. I'm Erin. We're Alice and Erin Sherman. We're fourteen, and we're twins."
"Identical twins?" I asked.
"No," Alice said.
"Yes," said Erin.
"We are not."
"In the technical sense, we are. Only we just don't look exactly alike, that's all. Alice thinks she's prettier than me."
"Liar."
"But I'm actually the pretty one," Erin said. I imagined her smiling as she said that.
"You're so full of crap," Alice said, "it's not even funny."
I started moving sideways, following the bars. They felt warm in my hands. They were at least an inch thick. The gaps between them seemed to be about four inches across.
"What're you doing?" Erin asked. "Rupert?"
"I'll get between your cages so we won't have to talk so loud."
"Have you been here long?" she asked.
I blushed, but nobody could see it. "No," I lied. "Just got here."
"Everyone thinks you're dead."
"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated," I explained -- Mark Twain had said it first.
"Boy, this is great," Erin said. "You being alive."
"And not in a cage," added Alice.
I found the corner of Erin's cage, and crawled around it. To make sure I was between the cages, I stretched out my arms. I touched bars to my right and left. So I sat down and crossed my legs. "Okay," I said.
From both sides came quiet sounds -- rustling, sliding, breathing, a couple of small moans -- as the girls moved in closer. The moans had come from my right, from Erin. After the beating she'd taken in the room, it probably hurt her a lot to move.
"Are you there?" she asked.
As quietly as I could, I slid myself toward Erin's cage. I stopped when my upper arm touched a bar.
"Can you get us out of here?" Alice asked.
"I sure hope so. One way or another. Is there any way to open these things without a key?"
"Nope," Erin said. Her voice was much closer to me than Alice's. I thought I could feel her breath on my arm. Though I couldn't see even a hint of her, I pictured her sitting cross-legged, leaning forward, elbows on her thighs, the tips of her breasts almost touching her forearms, her face only inches from the bars.
I wished I could see her.
I thought about the lighter in my pocket.
I didn't go for it, though. Better for us all to stay invisible, at least for the time being.
"You can't get in or out," Erin said, "unless you've got keys. These're really strong cages."