Valley Forge Boarding School

Chapter 4 - The Cellar

By ten at night, we were all on our positions. Still in uniform, I had a few candle sticks and a matchbox in my pocket, just in case we actually got into some action that required a better lighting than the dark of night.

Though the moon was still full, clouds had pushed over the sky, lying there as a thick blanket and only letting the light through dimly. It didn't matter to me.

Alex and I were sitting on the steps of the cellar, ears against the strong wooden door, which opened to the courtyard. Back in the day, the cellar would've been frequented by maids to get potatoes and other things that needed dark spots to be preserved, but now it was just a place for firewood and

It was pitch black, but we didn't mind, and we didn't want any light shining through the cracks in case the men would meet in the yard and we'd be able to hear their conversation.

I was shivering in the thin dress shirt, and I silently cursed myself out for not wearing a sweater instead. Though I couldn't see how Alex was doing, I was fairly certain that he didn't struggle as much, since he was never bothered by any temperatures.

Leaning against the door, I tried to listen for any noise outside, to no avail. It seemed as if nothing was going to happen all night, as if we just weren't in luck and Mr. Lawson and his buddy were somewhere downtown drinking with their old friend Franklin, leaving us freezing with nothing but darkness around us.

Soon, I found myself slumped against the wood, trying to keep my eyes open. Why was I not able to fall asleep in bed, but when I wasn't supposed to it was almost impossible not to?

"Hey, Alex...?", I whispered, hoping that some company would help my situation. I felt alone, sitting in the dark like this, and I urged for conversation.

"What is it, Jack? Did you hear something?" "No, I didn't... how long do you think we'll stay here?" I heard him sigh. Whether it was a sigh of disappointment or like-mindedness, it stung to hear, and I instinctively reached out, eventually finding his hand and squeezing it.

"Jack, are you alright? Do we need to go back inside?", he asked, the tone in his voice displaying worry. "No, I'm fine, it's just... very dark in here." "Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark, Laurens!"

I wasn't, I couldn't care less what kind of otherworldly creatures or demons were hiding in the dark, but I desperately needed a reason for personal contact, so I scooted closer to him, and he opened his arms for me. I accepted the gesture gladly, and he chuckled.

"How come you're scared now, but you purposfully put the blanket over your head so that it's darker when you fall asleep?", he whispered, and I looked up at him surprised. "How do you know that?" "I watch you do it every night, I'd be pretty ashamed of myself if I hadn't picked up on it by now."

I couldn't answer, because just then, two pairs of footsteps entered the courtyard.

I held my breath as they walked in the direction of the door, and to my horror didn't stop there, instead walking directly to it. For some reason, the next thing that my mind registered was that their talk was barely audible in the cellar. Of course, the door was made of a couple inches of heavy wood, it didn't take Einstein to figure out that this wasn't a good spying spot.

I didn't have time to think of an alternative, because the sound of a key being put into the lock made the both of us jump up and race into the darkness.

With not a single indicator of where to go, we stumbled forward blindly before very painfully crashing into a rock wall. I was stunned for just a tenth of a second, and then, urged by the rattling and turning of the key in the old door lock, felt along the wall to a door, which was luckily unlocked.

I pushed it open and pulled Alex into a dimly lit room, the little light that the moon gave off that night was falling in through a small window with iron bars, just enough so that I could see where to step.

I gave Alex a panicked look, and he spun around to look for an exit, to no avail. Suddenly, it seemed very difficult to breathe, but I ignored it and pulled him towards a stack of firewood, stacked up in the corner and covered with a blanket.

Alex ripped off the blanket and we crawled underneath, pressing against the stack and trying to appear like just another pile of whatever. Neither of us dared to breathe as the voices grew louder, I could hear the cellar door being locked and the footsteps coming towards the door I had just pushed open.

I clung to him as the two men entered the room, praying to God that they didn't notice us. Alex gave my arm a squeeze of encouragement, but I knew he was just as scared as I was, and I silently cursed at our stupid plan.

There is an old saying that tells you to never leave the door open if you don't want the devil over for tea. Well, I wished that I had remembered the saying a few seconds prior, because I heard the two men rummage through the old closet on the other side of the room and then spread something out on the floor, as if in preparation for a picnic (excuse my choice of words, dear readers).

There were a few moments of silence before the men started talking again, and Alex squeezed my arm again, tightly enough so that I could be sure it was a warning not to do anything stupid.

Whatever he expected me to do, I didn't listen, because I very slowly and carefully moved the blanket in order to peek through a crack in the folds. There was no way they could see through the darkness, not even that there was a hole in the cover, but I could see them quite clearly.