Harrison and the other children were still on the porch, but they would be in soon. She fixed a bowl of leftover soup, poured some hot water in it so it wasn’t so cold, and removed the vials from her dress pocket. She checked over her shoulder to ensure her family’s voices remained outside the screen, then carefully measured the right dosages of both medicines.

Rose dumped the poisonous concoction into the warmed soup and stirred. She took a deep breath.

The time had come.

Chapter
Twenty-Two

IT TOOK US WAY TOO LONG TO CLEAR THE DESK AND manhandle it over to the window. I wondered if it was plausible that Eli could have done it by himself and decided yes, with enough time, he could have. It had to look like the boy had managed to jimmy the lock on his door and get out through the window on his own. At least that’s what I wanted Rose to conclude, which meant I had to wipe the dust off the desk so I wouldn’t leave prints.

But the desk wasn’t tall enough.

“We need a box or a chest!” I whispered urgently.

“Like that one?” He was pointing to an old chest across the room.

“Yes,” I said, running. “Like that one.”

Once again Eli helped me. Thankfully, the chest was empty and we handled it easily. We carried it across the room, hefted it up on the desk, and set it down with a clunk.

A loud clunk.

“Hurry!” I whispered, wiping the dust off and clambering up. When I turned to help him, he was already kneeling on the desk beside me, staring up at the window. I followed his gaze. Then stepped up on the chest to get a closer look.

The windowsill, now at my chest, had a single rusty latch that looked as if it hadn’t been used in decades. I twisted it as hard as I could but it refused to budge. My fingers were shaking, my hands sweating, and I couldn’t get a good grasp.

More footsteps pounded overhead from several sets of feet, shaking free ceiling dust that fell over my arms. I glanced back at the door, certain it would fly open any moment.

Heart in my throat, I spun back to the lock and yanked as hard as I could. Still nothing.

Something tapped my leg and I glanced down to see Eli holding up a wrench. He smiled and my mind stilled. I didn’t stop to consider where he’d found it or how he’d retrieved it so quickly. I just grabbed it from him, maneuvered the mouth over the lever, and jerked as hard as I could.

With a snap, the latch squealed open.

I placed the wrench on the windowsill and pushed the window open. Then I reached back for Eli. “Up, hurry. Hurry!”