Deprived

Chapter 27

Maize pulled the chair with the snake arms up to the window so she could sit and look outside. Even with the beautiful decor in the room, it felt like a prison. The movements of nature—the birds, the wind in the trees, people walking about—that would be good for her. As she quieted herself and inhaled the view through the locked bedroom window, she came alive again, although not fully. The pit in her stomach had widened and deepened by her own failures, and she expected it to intensify.

It was her second day at the mansion, and still, she hadn't seen the President.

And she was still a prisoner.

Each time Nelly left the room, she locked the door behind her.

While watching a fieldworker trim tree branches in the yard, she heard the bedroom door opening behind her.

She turned around and saw Nelly with a giant smile on her. "Come on, little bird, put on your slippers. I have permission to take you outside to get some of that good old sunlight. That will put some color into your skin and some pep into your step." Nelly giggled and came to Maize's side.

Maize smiled at Nelly's enthusiasm. The little plump woman was so happy that she had permission to take Maize outside.

Returning the smile but not the enthusiasm, Maize followed Nelly to the bedroom door.

Nelly crossed the threshold, but Maize hesitated.

"It's okay, Honey, come on."

Shocked by the anxiety pounding against her chest but too embarrassed to admit her fear, Maize pushed crossed the threshold and stepped into the hallway.

Nelly slid her thick arms in the crock of Maize's arms, and they walked down the dark wooden hallway.

There were closed doors on either side of the hallway, and behind them, a narrow window bringing in insufficient light for such a long hallway.

They stopped at the top of a landing. Maize gasped as she saw the stairs. There were two rows of stairs, one on either side of the vast room that trickled all the way down to the next floor as graceful as flowing water. From up top, she looked at the glass doors in the middle and thought that those must be the front doors of the house.

"Beautiful isn't it. I've been here for decades, and there are times this house still takes my breath away."

They took the rows of steps on the right. There were huge paintings hanging on the wall—not of landscapes but of people.

Maize stared at one painting of President Aberdeen. Adjacent to that was a painting of a beautiful woman with long blond hair. "Who is that?"

"That is President Aberdeen's mother. She live nearby, and, yes, she still looks like that. Beautiful as ever. That woman, my dear child, is evidence that the fountain of youth President Aberdeen has made is fully functional."

"The AllPill?"

"Well, of course, Silly. They recommend I take mine once a year. And I must say I appreciate that."

Maize stared at Nelly longer than the required recommendation to avoid suspicion, and Nelly read her face point on.

"Go ahead, you can ask me. You want to know how old I am?"

"I wanted to ask you since I met you, but I didn't want to embarrass you just in case you were much younger than you looked."

Nelly giggled. "You are a little bird and funny. A funny little bird." Her face grew red. "Well, my dear, I am ninety-three years old. Do I look older than ninety-three?"