Kelly put her palm against the panel again and gave a quick push. One edge lifted. She pushed again and the entire piece lifted up and into the attic, falling to the side on the rafters. Dust as fine as flour drifted down on Kelly’s face.
The sound of footsteps came down the hall.
Kelly put her arm down, wriggling her hand at Anita, “Come on, I’ll lift you up here.”
Anita looked behind her once before grabbing, and said, “I think they’re very close.”
Kelly used her back and legs to pull, but Anita was no small six-year old, and it took everything she had to lift Anita to sit on her stomach.
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Kelly’s back and legs quivered as she helped the smaller child climb into the attic.
Voices came down the hall, “They’ve got to be here somewhere, none of the outside doors were opened.”
Kelly scrooched higher on the wall until she could reach and grasp the edge of the opening. She got a good grip, then lifted her back off the far wall, but kept her feet on the other to help in the climb.
She realized that wasn’t going to work, because she couldn’t push with her legs, so she moved them and hung from her hands, dangling in the open rectangle as a footstep sounded very close.
Pulling with her arms, and with Anita helping in a small way, Kelly made it into the opening as two people came into the room.
Moving as silently as she could, Kelly put the opening panel in place, sealing them in the attic’s darkness. Anita sat close as they listened to the people talking below them.
Suretta said, “We’ve got three hours, then we leave. Find them by then, or you’ll regret it, understand?”
“Nadine said, “Yes, Suretta.”
“If you can’t catch them but you spot them running, kill them.”
“Even Anita?”
“And then come back and kill the mother because she’ll be throwing a fit.”
“Okay.”
They left and Kelly felt Anita’s small hand on her forearm as the child whispered, “They want to hurt us?”
“Yes, they do. But we’re going to fool them and get away, okay?”
“Okay,” Anita said in a small voice. “And mi mami?”
“We’ll come back for her when it’s safe. If we get free, your mom will be happy.”
Kelly couldn’t see her face because it was so dark, but she felt Anita’s head nod up and down against her arm.
Her eyes adjusted until she could make out shapes, and gaps in the attic walls where outside light showed through.
It sounded very quiet in the house beneath her attic hideout, and Kelly thought about peeking in there, but decided not to. She waited until enough light slipped through the cracks and gaps for her to move about. “Anita, stay here while I look around.”
“I want to go.”
“I don’t want you to step on a nail and hurt your foot. Let me find a safe way to go, and I’ll come get you.”
“Okay. I will watch you, and if you fall, I’ll come help.”
“That’s fine.” She hugged the child, then walked with care across the rafters, being cautious not to step between them where the chance of falling through was a real possibility. She pretended she was a tightrope walker in the circus, and that helped her concentrate on her foot placement.
The most light came in where an aluminum panel of louvers had been mounted in the attic wall. Kelly made her way to it and wiggled the frame. It wasn’t screwed to the wood, only placed in the rectangular hole that had been cut for it.