Suretta said, “Go to the barn, Nadine will put you in.”
Ike said, “What if we don’t want to go?”
Suretta said, “Then we’ll kill you quick. Your choice.”
“Since you put it that way.” Ike glanced at Hunter, and they walked toward the barn together. The man with the rifle stayed twenty feet from them, making sure he could cut them down if they charged. Both Ike and Hunter realized it, too.
Nadine waited until they were close, then opened the barn door, “Step right in,” she said.
Hunter entered first, then Ike. Hunter heard a child’s voice squealing in delight, “Miss Hunter! Miss Hunter!” It was Anita.
The child ran to her and Hunter scooped Anita up in her arms. Consuela and Kelly climbed down from the loft earlier, where they hid behind the grain sacks and walked to them. They looked expectant, like waiting for Hunter and Ike to take them away from this place.
The other girls came forward, walking in a shy way, but coming near, too.
Chapter 13
Hunter and Ike wasted no time looking at the interior of the barn, searching for a way to escape. Kelly said, “The loft hasn’t been looked at very close. We were up there, but didn’t check it good.”
Hunter said, “Where’s the ladder?”
Kelly pointed, “Over there. It’s sort of rickety.”
They went to it and Ike said, “You aren’t kidding.”
Hunter looked at Kelly, “You climbed up it?”
“Yes, when I was trying to get away from Carl.”
“I guess I’ll try it.” Hunter tested each step, and made it to the loft.
Ike said, “I’ll wait down here a minute. I’m still kind of dizzy.”
Hunter nodded, then went to the back wall, looking for some way out of the barn. Piles of dust covered things were everywhere, put up here decades ago, she figured.
A scraping sound coming from the east corner caught her attention, and she remembered the pecan tree there. The branches brushed against the exterior walls, making a sweeping noise. Hunter walked to the wall and checked for any loose boards, any rotten ones.
And there it was. Wood rot showed at the edge of the boards in the corner. It seemed evident that rain runoff from the tree had worked the rot into the lumber over the years. Hunter put her hand to it and pulled the gray wooden plank from the wall. It came loose from the eaves to the loft floor. The missing wood left an opening she could almost fit through.
“How’s it coming?” Ike asked.
“All of you, come on up.”
“They’re prepping the motors on the plane, we don’t have much time.”
“Then hurry up here!” She heard the kids coming up first, scrambling like squirrels on the frail ladder.
The loft creaked from the extra weight, but it held. Ike came up last, saying, “A rung pulled off in my hand. I’m glad I had hold of another one at the same time.”
Hunter waved him to the slender opening. “We need to get one more board out of here.”
Ike moved beside her and jiggled the remaining boards, but they seemed solid. The two adults worked on the boards as Kelly looked around at the dusty items on the floor.
Kelly almost missed the dust-covered iron bar lying in the shadow of a wooden box. Using her foot, she moved it away from the box, rolling it to an area where she could grasp it.
It was long, pointed at one end and with a chisel-like shape to the other. She thought it was called a rock bar, but she wasn’t sure. Picking it up was a chore, but Kelly hefted it off the ground and carried it toward the two adults.