Lemonade for Lindsey

Trim Hedges and Water Roses

I have decided to extend the average word count for each chapter from around 750 words to 1000-1100 words. Hope you're enjoying the story!
~
A surge of adrenaline boils my blood. I have doubts. What will Mother do alone with this man? If Papa didn't have me around to hit, would he take his violence out on her?
I snap out of it and slip the strap of my satchel over my shoulder. Grabbing Lindsey's wrist, I make my way down. We're tiptoeing, quieter than mice. The floorboards have never been creaky in our house, a fact that now proves extremely helpful.
I'm just about to whisper to Lindsey to make sure she's quiet, but she's already got the message. She's so light-footed, I'm in awe. Her footsteps are so hushed it's almost eerie.
We ascend down the stairs at a steady pace, and soon we're in the entrance hall. The door to the sitting room is wide open, revealing a flickering fireplace and the green plush sofa with somebody sleeping on it- Papa. I exchange a nervous look with Lindsey and we edge our way towards the great front door.
The door has three bolts on it, all of which Ada locks religiously every night before she retreats to her quarters. These are no hindrance because they're so easy to open. We slide the first open with ease, and then the second. The third creaks a little when we slide it and I feel Lindsey flinch.
We can't afford to wake Papa, not when we got so close to escaping.
But the third lock gives way and the door is bolt free. I pull the handle on the latch and edge it open. This is it. We're free to go now.
---------------------------
I can hardly contain my excitement as the night air hits my face, chilling me through and sending a small shiver down my spine. We step over the threshold of the front door and out into the porch. I close the door silently behind us and we make our way down the stone steps.
I start to wonder if I should glance back at my home- the only home I'd ever had. After all, it was where I was born and raised. Lindsey didn't think twice about the matter; she took a good long stare at the house. I eventually did the same, taking it all in.
"I wonder if we'll ever shthee the house again." Her lisp is more prominent than usual. Maybe it's because she's worried? Or upset...
"Who knows? We may go back, we may not. But don't expect to see this place while that man is living there! As long as he is inside our house, we won't be. Got it L-Pops?"
She nods.
We set out along the drive and through the small lawns at the front of our house. I used to always wave and smile at Jonathon, our gardener, when he would come to trim the bushes or water the roses. Jonathon hadn't come in two years now. He quit when his wife died of tuberculosis in the winter of 1900.
"Do you remember Jonathon, our gardener, Lindsey?" I ask quietly.
"Yesh. He was tall with blonde hair. Quite big. I shaw him watering the roshesh from my window."
Her lisp is really showing, which only tends to happen when she's angry or upset.
I hate to admit this, but at the moment I think she might be feeling the latter. Bless her heart. I sigh, scanning the gardens one last time, before we exit out the large iron gate into the night.
---------------------------
Once outside the gates, we walk the country lanes a while before we find the town. This is where my Mother has her bakery, so we must be careful not to get spotted. Lindsey is yawning an awful lot and I'm hoping I can find a comfortable place for us to sleep soon.
Thank god it's spring, I think, otherwise we might have died of the cold. I suddenly know where we can sleep. There's a small butchers shop in the town that supplies pretty much the whole county with meat.
I've visited there once before, when our Mother had an alleged love affair with the butcher and liked to visit him lots. I cast my mind back and remember the barn out back where they kept animals that were to be slaughtered. It was a Sunday which there would be no people in the shop nor animals in the barn.
If I could only think of a way to get into the shed...
"I've got it!" I exclaim.
I charge through the unlit streets until I find the butchers. This is it alright.
"What are we doing, Lola?" Lindsey asks wearily.
"I'm getting us a place to sleep, L-Pops. Don't you worry, you'll be comfy soon."
I carry her in my arms, her head resting against my shoulder, taking her full weight. We make our way round the back of the shop and find the barn.
This is where things will get tricky.
---------------------------
I've had plenty of practice climbing trees during my long days out with Lindsey in the countryside behind out house. This will he different.
"Climb on my back." I instruct. She obeys.
I leap into the air. It's at moment like this I wish I was a bit taller. I manage to reach the loose panel I've had my eye on eventually, though. From there I clamber towards the glassless window, vent type gaps right at the top of the walls.
I manage to latch one hand onto the lower rim of one of these windows and hoist upwards. We dangle, and I'm awfully afraid I'll fall and hurt Lindsey. But we don't fall, and I pull myself and my sister through the window into the barn.
---------------------------
It's a two floored barn, otherwise we would have had a long way to fall. I land on the straw covered floor gently. There's a ramp that leads to the bottom floor, but I feel safer on the top one.
Lindsey is on the verge of passing out.
I lay her gently on a hay bail. I smooth her hair and she sighs, instantly falling asleep. I make myself comfortable next to her.
The air smells of pigs and hay, but I don't mind. I appreciate the silence and stillness, and occasionally enjoy the sound of clatter of hooves on the street nearby whenever a carriage passes by.

I fall asleep counting not sheep, but horses and carts.