Alone

Chapter 5

Riley

I wake up to the sound of pans clattering on the wooden table and Joe yelling for us to come get supper.I nearly step on Peter when I swing down from the bed, and Chloe slaps a hand to her mouth to muffle a snort of irrational laughter. Chloe and I start for the ladder, but Peter is still half-asleep on the bunk. I'm tempted to leave him there, but facing his father without even the sparse help Peter gives us is too overwhelming. As I hurriedly cross the loft, Joe bellows from below and Peter jumps and wakes up. Chloe waits for Peter to go down the ladder first, then quickly follows him. Suddenly, homesickness overwhelms me and I hesitate before starting down the ladder, unwilling to leave the cozy quiet of the loft. An image of Chloe, terrified and shocked, forces itself into my head and I sigh and start down the ladder. Peter, Chloe and I sit at the table for supper, and the two men station themselves on chairs near the door, where they can keep an eye on us. Peter eats like he's starving, but Chloe and I barely touch our food. The two men talk pointlessly about football as they stuff themselves, throwing looks over at us every now and then. After several minutes, Joe hollers across the room, telling us to hurry up. Peter jumps sharply at the sound of his voice, and his elbow touches the edge of his plate just hard enough to dump it off the edge of the table, spilling ramen noodles across both of our laps. In the split second after it hits the floor, I bite my lip and shove my plate across in front of Peter. As the dish clatters and rattles on the floor, Joe launches himself to his feet and storms across the room. "Peter-!!!" The word is barely out of his mouth before he sees the plate in front of his son and falls silent. I freeze, barely breathing, as he stops behind me. After a brief pause, Joe turns away, marching to the bed closest to the door. I turn slightly in my seat to watch him, just in time to see him kneel down beside the bed and pull a small chest out from underneath the bed. I glance at Peter in time to catch him looking desperately at his father. The world seems to be moving in slow motion, every heartbeat and breath painfully loud. I don't turn to look at Chloe, even though I probably should. Joe lifts the lid of the box with an audible clunk and I see Peter jump sharply out of the corner of my eye. Joe turns to look straight at me, then, pulling his jacket back so I have a clear view, he slowly pulls his pistol out of his belt. I stop breathing, but instead of turning it toward me, he lowers it carefully into the trunk. I hear Chloe breathe a sigh of relief, but I narrow my eyes. Joe turns back to the box, reaching in and shuffling things around. I take the opportunity to glance quickly at Tom, still sitting by the door with his plate on his lap. The butt of his pistol is still visible behind his jacket, and his right hand is sitting within inches of the grip. I hear Peter draw a sharp breath through his teeth and turn back to Joe just as he shuts the box and stands up. The belt dangling from his fist leaves little doubt what his intentions are. Without moving, he speaks, his voice soft but steely. "Come here, girl." I stand up, dripping ramen noodles, and start across the room. When I get within reach of Joe, he reaches out and grabs my arm.

Chloe

I cover my mouth with both hands as Joe spins Riley to face back toward the table. Riley stays silent as Joe starts hitting her with the belt, so the only noise is the crack of the leather against her back and the jangling of the metal buckle on the other side of Joe's fist. The scene is terrible to watch, but I cannot tear my gaze away from Riley's steely eyes. After several long minutes, Joe pauses, and I breathe a premature sigh of relief. Instead of releasing Riley, Joe changes ends of the belt, so that the buckle is on the long end. I open my mouth, although I do not know what I am going to say, and Riley gives a quick shake of her head. I glance at Peter, who is half turned in his chair with his face screwed up as though in pain. The whistle of the belt through the air draws my attention back to Riley, just in time to see the buckle of the belt crash into her back. I suck in air as though the blow hit me, but Riley shows no visible sign of the pain she must be feeling. When Joe finally wears out, he points silently to the ladder. Riley, already standing, reaches the ladder before Peter and I do, and as I climb up behind her, I see dark, bloody lines and spots on the back of her navy shirt. As I reach the top of the ladder, I hear the clank of the belt buckle hitting the wooden table below. Riley looks dubiously at the top bunk, then carefully settles on her stomach on the floor beside the ladder. I frown at her bloody shirt again, then sit cross-legged across from her, with the ladder protruding from the hole between us. Peter walks straight from the ladder to his pallet, but instead of sitting or laying on it, he reaches under the edge of it and pulls out a tube of what looks like lotion. He steps quietly back over to us and sits down beside Riley, just far enough back from the hole that Joe couldn't see him if he looked up. Riley is looking at the blank wall beside her, not meeting my gaze. She doesn't turn to look at Peter when he whispers, either. "Let me see." The words are so quiet that I can barely hear them, but both of the others look nervously at the ladder again. After a long minute, Riley finally turns to look at the tube in Peter's hand, then carefully pulls her shirt partway up her back. Peter winces, and I can see why. Even between the angry red welts left by Joe's belt, her back is striped with older stripes and scars. Most of the blood seems to be coming from older sores that the belt cracked open. Peter squeezes a little of the cream into his hand and starts to smooth it into Riley's back, eliciting a sharp intake of breath as the cream touches the welts. I can see how gentle Peter is being, and I wonder what his back looks like. After Peter is finished, Riley turns back to the wall and closes her eyes. Downstairs, a sudden noise makes all of us jump, and a radio comes on, tuned to the news and loud enough that we can hear every word. I see Riley tense up again as a voice says excitedly, "In national news, two Tennessee girls were kidnapped from their school yesterday morning. According to local authorities, Chloe Pierson and Riley Baker, both aged 15, of South Branch, Tennessee, were taken from South Branch High School at gunpoint by an unknown man. The school secretary, Sarah Price, has testified that she saw the two girls coming down the hall, then she saw the man with the gun, ducked under her desk and dialed 911. Mayor Brian Pierson, the father of Chloe, states that his house received a call from a man who claimed to have Chloe, and demanded one million dollars ransom. Mayor Pierson has already pleaded in several TV appearances for the unknown man to return his beloved daughter. Not so publicly visible, David Baker, father of Riley, has not made any public statements yet. Instead, a quick drive past his house reveals a vacant driveway, and knocks on the door and phone calls are not answered. Though this looks suspicious, local police chief Ward Elder says that Baker is not a suspect, because his employer, Mountain Drilling, has already confirmed that he was on location when the abduction took place. According to school principal Dean Westfield, the two girls were alone in their classroom because the rest of the school had gone on a field trip to a local museum. "Miss Pierson and Miss Baker had failed to get parental permission to go on this trip." He explained in a quick interview. When asked where the teacher was, he was not so forthcoming. "We are looking into that. I'm sure we will find the girls very soon." Meanwhile, police forces are looking into any possible connection between the two girls. Please be on the lookout for these girls, and help to return them home to their heartsick parents. Chloe Pierson is five feet, six inches tall. She has long brown hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen wearing a gray skirt and a pink blouse. Riley Baker is five feet, nine inches tall. She has dark blonde hair and gray eyes. She was last seen wearing a navy t-shirt and torn blue jeans. Neither girl was wearing a jacket. The man suspected of abducting them is around six feet tall, with brown hair. He was last seen wearing a black jacket. We'll be right back with other news." As the radio fades to a commercial for whitening toothpaste, I raise my head and look across at Riley. She has opened her eyes, but continues to stare at the wall.