The Space Speculation: Book 1

Chapter 22: Mom

I woke up to the sound of a knock at my door. I jumped up with a start.

The knocking grew faster and louder and I jumped up to open the door.

"MissPaisley, WeMustLeaveAtOnce!" my servant whispered hastily the moment I turned the doorknob. Worry lines etched her brow and I was struck with a sudden familiarity. 

She stepped into my room and handed me an old servant's dress, like the one she was wearing.

"Um, Vanessa, what are you doing?" I asked, unsure. She sighed impatiently.

"VanceIsComing! HeLeftHisSpaceshipKeysInTheControlRoom! IfYouHurry, YouCanEscape!"

She shoved the dress into my arms and pushed me towards the bathroom. She instructed me to leave the necklace on the counter when I was done.

I quickly changed and hurried out of my room with Vanessa leading the way.

Suddenly, she stopped and led me out a side door that I didn't even know about. She turned me around so I was facing the other way and told me to close my eyes. I didn't know if that was safe, but hey, what was safe anymore?

I did what she told me. Suddenly a familiar voice said,

"Okay honey, you can look now." I turned around slowly and gasped.

"Mom!" I ran towards her and we embraced.

"You need to go. Now! Any minute now, Vance will come back, and you will have to be far away by then! No ship on Mars goes as fast as Vance's!" Mom hugged me again. "Go!" She pushed me in the direction of the open ship, but I wouldn't go without her.

"I won't go without you," I insisted.

I loved her! I wasn't going to leave her here alone!

"I love you! I'm not going to leave you here alone!"

Mom looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Paisley. I can't explain, and I'm so sorry I dragged you into this."

She pushed me with incredible strength at the ramp of the ship and I was thrown towards it. The spaceship took off just as Vance came around the corner. By that time Mom had ducked back into the castle and disappeared.

 In the front of the ship was a pilot who introduced himself as Vincent. He said he was part of the escape plan, and he knew my mom.

I sat in the back, sobbing as he spoke. Vincent awkwardly stopped talking mid-sentence and turned back to the controls. 

Drying my tears, I came up with a plan.

"Vincent, turn around please."

"Why?"

"Um, I left something behind. We need to go get it."

Vincent shrugged and turned the ship around. I instructed him, "As soon as you see me running towards the ship, start closing the ramp. Make sure no one sees the ship until we take off. Okay?" 

Vincent nodded.

I took a deep breath, then as we landed, I ran out of the ship. Once I got into the crowd of Martians, I slowed down. I was still wearing the servant's dress, so the aliens took no notice of me as I made my way towards the castle.

I slipped in the side door that Mom had led me out earlier, and ran into a Martian.

"WhatAreYouDoingHere?" he asked, seemingly annoyed at me.

I closed my eyes and got into character. This was just like the school play we had put on last month.

"Um, I'mSorry. I'mLookingForMasterVance'sRoom!" I spoke quickly and nervously, like the other Martians. I hoped he would fall for it. 

The Martian frowned. I crossed my fingers behind my back.

"ThatWay!" he pointed down the hallway to a gold door, which I guessed led to Vance's quarters.

I hurriedly shuffled through the corridor and arrived at Vance's door. I knocked once.

It opened to Vance's beautiful face, and his amazing pink eyes...ahh! 

Vance scowled at me.

"It's about time! I've been waiting for you to change my sheets for minutes!"

I was puzzled, but I asked no questions as I hurried in and stripped the bed. I was sweating by the time I finished, his bed was so big. I had only come to his room to find Mom and help her escape, anyway. Where was she? I looked around the room curiously.

"You can leave now!" Vance snapped at me.

I was taken aback. Vance loved me! I—

Then I remembered I was disguised as a servant girl. Just as I turned to go, Mom burst through the door. She was shocked to see me there.

"What are you doing here? You're late. This servant girl has just changed my sheets. Now you must clean the bathroom. I want it so clean I can see my reflection in the tile! Last time you didn't get it close to clean enough, you ignorant little..." Vance mumbled to himself as he left the room.

As soon as Mom and I were alone, she exploded.

"What are you doing here? You're going to get caught! I told you to leave!" she whispered harshly as she scrubbed the twenty-six mirrors in the bathroom, one for each angle of Vance's glorious beauty. I grabbed a rag and started helping.

"I'm not going to leave you here. You're coming with me!"

Mom stopped cleaning and looked at me.
She was crying.

"Pais--"

This section was written by Melina