"Pull! Pull!" Annette and Jennie encouraged.
"Okay!" Diane almost shouted, working the lever all the way up and then yanking her arms free.
"Thank God! Thank God!" the other women murmured as Diane sprang off the table and ran up to Annette.
"Going to get you down first, honey," Diane said quietly as she untied the leather thongs that held her to the overhead ring. As the girl slid down to the floor, Diane moved to Jennie, unfastening her bonds and helping her down.
"Let's get out of here," Jennie said, bending down and picking up her raincoat. Diane nodded in agreement, quickly pulling on her clothes and encouraging Annette to dress faster. They had to escape now, or God only knows where they'd wind up – and how.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The three women dressed quickly, then tiptoed up the wooden steps to the closed door above them.
"It's probably locked," Jennie groaned as Diane put her hand on the doorknob.
"I think they're so sure of themselves that it's open!" Diane whispered happily as she turned the knob and pushed the large wooden door forward. "Don't make a sound," the blonde cautioned the other two women as she peeked around the doorframe into the hot, loud boiler room. There wasn't a soul around. Turning her head slightly to the right, Diane signaled Annette and Jennie to follow her.
Moving quickly and silently, the three women threaded their way through the pounding machinery until they finally reached the door that led to the basement hallway.
"Before we go out there," Diane said, reaching over to Annette and dipping her hand in one of the pockets of the trench coat, "here's the phone number and name of the man who knows me. If we get separated, run for it and call him," Diane said, pulling out some paper and a small pen and writing Jack's phone number on it.
"Don't make it sound so final," Jennie said, rubbing her right arm with her left hand to make the goose-bumps go away.
"Come on. I left my car outside in Matt's parking place. It should still be there if they didn't move it," Diane whispered, flattening herself against the wall and moving quietly toward the stairway that led up to the first floor.
The two women followed her obediently, watching her every move as she started up the stairs. Diane thought the pounding of her heart could be heard all over campus as she reached the top of the stairs. They were so close to freedom. Freedom! It was something she'd never actually thought about until it was taken away from her hours ago. Only now did she realize just how precious it was and how much she'd fight to keep it.
"Anybody up there?" Annette whispered nervously.
"No, thank God!" Diane said, sighing with relief as she tiptoed into the main first-floor corridor and headed for the outside door. Annette and Jennie followed closely behind, looking over their shoulders nervously as they moved closer and closer to their goal.
"It's still raining outside," Diane said as she peered through the rain streaks on the glass doors. The scene outside looked utterly desolate. The campus was completely deserted. The dim overhead lights that stood some twenty feet apart on the winding footpath illuminated the sheets of cold rain that splashed to the ground. Leaves and scraps of paper swirled about in the blasting air as the wind howled threateningly around the buildings of the university.
"I don't care. Let's get out of here. I'd walk through a blizzard!" Jennie said, reaching out and pushing Diane forward.
The blonde nodded, then pushed the door open and ran out into the rain. The wind and wetness swirled around all three women as they dashed across the grassy courtyard toward the Fine Arts building.
"Duck!" Diane cried out suddenly, stopping and turning around quickly. She caught the two women with her arms and shoved them into a high clump of bushes that lined the east wall of the Fine Arts building.
"What's wrong with you?" Jennie asked, knocked off-balance by Diane's sudden move and crashing into the bushes.
"It's Matt and the others!" Diane whispered hoarsely, pushing the two women into the bushes as she followed them.
"They'll know we've escaped in a few minutes," Annette whispered as she peered through the branches with Diane and Jennie.
Diane didn't say a word. She watched as Matt, Art, Norm, Chris and three other men ran toward Haines Hall from the Administration building.
"We'll make a break for it as soon as the last one goes in," the blonde said, watching as the seven men ran into the front door of the Physics building. "Now!" Diane said hoarsely, jumping up and pulling Jennie after her.
"Wait for me!" Annette cried out, scrambling to her feet and running after the two women.
Diane moved quickly. She felt her body grow light and fast as she ran past the Fine Arts building to her car. Thank God, it was still there!
"Get in!" Diane cried out, opening the door and sliding in. "Give me the keys, Jennie. They're in the right pocket of the coat."
"They're not here! They must've fallen out back there in the bushes," the girl said in a low, disappointed voice.
"Oh God!" Diane said, holding the steering wheel with both hands and dropping her head forward until her forehead rested on the top portion. "Well, I'll have to go back and look for them," Diane said, dropping her hands and opening the door again. "You two drop down out of sight just in case the men come back. If I'm not back in a few minutes, make a run for it."
"Why don't we go now?" Annette said as Diane slid out of the car.
"We may not have to run down the mile to the gates if I find the keys. It's a long way in the rain. Besides, they might find us between here and there," Diane said, slamming the door shut and starting to run back to the bushes around the corner.
"I'm going too. Sitting here's like being a clay pigeon," Annette said, opening the door and sliding out.
"You're both crazy!" Jennie whispered, ducking down as the young freshman slammed the door shut and ran after Diane.
"What are you doing here?" Diane asked with a little irritation in her voice.
"Here to help. Now where were we?" Annette asked, slipping behind the bushes and dropping to her knees.
"Somewhere around here," Diane said, brushing the rain from her face as she padded the wet ground with both hands.
"I've got 'em," Annette cried out after several minutes of searching. She held them in front of her face triumphantly as Diane smiled and motioned silently for her to follow her back to the car.
Just as the two women were about to make a run for it, they heard shouting voices behind them!
"They've gotten out. Check the car!" Matt cried out loudly.
"Get down!" Diane hissed to Annette.
"They'll find her!" Annette whispered as the two women watched Chris and Art run for the car. "If they don't inspect it, she'll be okay," Diane said, crossing her fingers for luck. But luck wasn't going in Jennie's direction. The two men ran up quietly behind the automobile and cupped their hands onto the passenger window, peering in and seeing the young brunette cowering on the rear floor. Diane and Annette watched with horror as the two men jerked the rear door open and dragged the screaming Jennie out into the rain.
"Okay. Where are the others?" Art asked, shaking her roughly by the shoulders.
"I swear, I don't know. We got separated when you started yelling. I headed for the car, figuring they were going to head there," Jennie stammered.
"Get her back into the hall," Chris said as he took one last look around the grounds.
"Watch out!" Diane cautioned the young girl, pushing her head down as Chris walked right in front of them.