Trapped

Rena held the bit of broken electronic towards Lucy. Lucy frowned as she studied it for a moment before shaking her head. She turned and walked away towards where Lucy remembered the stairs being.

"So, someone was spying on them?" Rena asked.

"Not just spying on them," Lucy said. She paused as they came to a darker hallway. She glanced down it to see a flash of white apron. "Not this way, back the way we came."

Rena peeped around her and ducked back. She shivered in reaction. The two girls turned around and started back.

"This is what I've just figured out," Rena said as they strode through the lavish halls of their friend Simone's house.

"And that is?" Lucy asked as she tried to remember what she'd overheard of Rena and Simone's earlier conversation. If she was remembering right, then Simone's bedroom was right after the top of the stairs to the left somewhere. "Oh, and please tell me it's not that we should eat some of those stupid sandwiches."

"No," Rena agreed as they entered the foyer and started up the stairs. They paused at the sight of the butler furtively munching just under the shadow of the staircase. "What I've realized is that all the Amazons, who haven't eaten any of these little weird sandwiches, are all outside while we're not."

"And that's a bad thing because?" Lucy paused at the top of the stairs and took a second to check out her surroundings.

From the top of the stairs, you could see the entire foyer. It was a spectacular sight that felt as if it should be belong more to a movie than someone's home. Lucy shook her head, glancing from side to side. A hint of pale yellow caught her eye; that was Simone's favorite color. With any luck, the yellow would lead them to her room.

"Because the thing they're using to catch people doesn't exactly announce its presence." Rena sounded a bit triumphant at her reasoning. Then Rena stopped. "They could just open it anywhere without anyone being the wiser, right?" Then she squeezed her eyes shut. "I just said something stupid, right? Why? Just why did I do that?"

Lucy snorted and pulled her along.

"That's an old wives' tale that the boys keep tossing around. There's no such thing as flags," Lucy said in exasperation.

Then just as they reached the doorway to Simone's room, Rena jerked to a stop, bringing Lucy who was still tugging her along to a stop as well. Lucy looked back to see Rena looking back and her pale face limned in blue. Her eyes widened as she jerked Rena into the bedroom and slowly eased the door shut.

"It was in the foyer, the foyer, Luce!" Rena breathed, nearly hyperventilating. "I caught just a glimpse."

"Calm down, Rena," Lucy said, glancing around the room. "It was just a coincidence, okay. A coincidence," she repeated without much confidence.

The room was typical Simone. It looked exactly like a room Lucy had thought of Simone decorating should look. The bed was a four poster with gauzy dark yellow curtains pulled back and tied to each post with perfect little bows of pale yellow. The bed was made up with a geometric print of yellow and beige and had lots of little pillows in the same shade piled against the headboard.

The carpet was the palest yellow that Lucy had ever seen, broken up by little carpets in dark yellow and brown and some strange braided rope thing. Her eyes snagged on that last rug.

"Look for something sharp." Lucy said, snatching the little rug up. It was barely two feet by two feet and shaped like a dog's face.

Rena stared at her, stricken. Then she shook herself and went to the white and beige vanity table. She pulled out drawers and turned them over, finally uttering a cry of success when she got to the last one. A bowie knife in its sheath was taped to the bottom.

"You can take the girl out of the creche," Rena muttered, ripping the sheath free.

Lucy chuckled as she took the knife and paused.

"Sorry, Simone," she said before taking the knife to the tiny stitches that held the rug in shape. Lucy glanced at Rena and smiled. "Give me the shoes, Rena."

"What shoes?" Rena asked, dumping things back into drawers and shoving them back into the vanity.

"The ones you're wearing." Lucy pulled, unraveling a good chunk of the rug. "Hurry!"

"But I love these shoes," Rena protested. "They're the best things I've ever stolen from you!"

"And the heels are made from plastic. Now give," Lucy said, wiggling her fingers Rena's way.

Rena frowned before plopping down on the bed. She tugged the boots off reluctantly, her hand running down the embossed leather. She handed first one and then the other to Lucy who sat on the floor.

Lucy eyed her second favorite boots reluctantly. Then she looked towards the door at the muted sound of gunfire. Taking a deep breath, she set the knife against the heel and stropped down, peeling a thin strip of plastic free. The tiny tap at the end of the heel also popped free. She kicked it under the bed. No use letting someone with sharp eyes blowing their little scheme.

"It'll take forever with just you," Rena grumbled. She picked up the other shoe and a pillow. Placing the pillow over the shoe, she yanked, breaking the heel free. "This is a waste of awesome shoes, you know."

"But we can hide plastic awls, and the scanners won't pick up them up," Lucy explained to Rena's reluctant nod.

"But that doesn't mean we can't still try to make a break for it," Rena said, picking up the unraveled rug. She measured the length with her eyes and sighed. "I hate arts and crafts, you know."

"I'll get Jebediah to buy you a new purse when this is over," Lucy laughed. "He's still got all that grant money, right?"

"So much grant money," Rena agreed. "They probably aren't even aware that he's fifteen. Some people…"

Lucy chuckled as she applied herself to whittling the plastic heels to her satisfaction.