“I suggest you don’t come any closer,” said Mr. Sir.
“You can’t stop me,” she snapped, then took a second glance at him, wearing pajama pants and nothing else. “We’ll get you out of there, Stanley,” she said. “Don’t you worry.” She appeared to be Hispanic, with straight black hair and dark eyes. She spoke with a little bit of a Mexican accent, trilling her r’s.
“What in tarnation?” the tall man exclaimed, as he came up behind her.
She turned on him. “I’m telling you right now, if any harm comes to him, we will be filing charges not only against Ms. Walker and Camp Green Lake but the entire state of Texas as well. Child abuse. False imprisonment. Torture.”
The man was more than a head taller than she, and was able to look directly over her as he spoke to the Warden.
“How long have they been in there?”
“All night, as you can see by the way we’re dressed. They snuck into my cabin while I was asleep, and stole my suitcase. I chased after them, and they ran out here and fell into the lizards’ nest. I don’t know what they were thinking.”
“That’s not true!” Stanley said.
“Stanley, as your attorney, I advise you not to say anything,” said the woman, “until you and I have had a chance to talk in private.”
Stanley wondered why the Warden lied about the suitcase. He wondered who it legally belonged to. That was one thing he wanted to ask his lawyer, if she really was his lawyer.
“It’s a miracle they’re still alive,” said the tall man.
“Yes, it is,” the Warden agreed, with just a trace of disappointment in her voice.
“And they better come out of this alive,” Stanley’s lawyer warned. “This wouldn’t have happened if you’d released him to me yesterday.”
“It wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t a thief,” said the Warden. “I told him he would be set free today, and I guess he decided he’d try to take some of my valuables with him. He’s been delirious for the last week.”
“Why didn’t you release him when she came to you yesterday?” the tall man asked.
“She didn’t have proper authorization,” said the Warden.
“I had a court order!”
“It was not authenticated,” the Warden said.
“Authenticated? It was signed by the judge who sentenced him.”
“I needed authentication from the Attorney General,” said the Warden. “How do I know it’s legitimate? The boys in my custody have proven themselves dangerous to society. Am I supposed to just turn them loose any time someone hands me a piece of paper?”
“Yes,” said the woman. “If it’s a court order.”
“Stanley has been hospitalized for the last few days,” the Warden explained. “He’s been suffering from hallucinations and delirium. Ranting and raving. He was in no condition to leave. The fact that he was trying to steal from me on the day before his release proves …”
Stanley tried to climb out of his hole, using mostly his arms so as not to disturb the lizards too much. As he pulled himself upward, the lizards moved downward, keeping out of the sun’s direct rays. He swung his legs up and over, and the last of the lizards hopped off.
“Thank God!” exclaimed the Warden. She started toward him, then stopped.
A lizard crawled out of his pocket and down his leg.
Stanley was overcome by a rush of dizziness and almost fell over. He steadied himself, then reached down, took hold of Zero’s arm, and helped him slowly to his feet. Zero still held the suitcase.
The lizards, which had been hiding under it, scurried quickly into the hole.
Stanley and Zero staggered away.
The Warden rushed to them. She hugged Zero. “Thank God, you’re alive,” she said, as she tried to take the suitcase from him.
He jerked it free. “It belongs to Stanley,” he said.