CHAPTER NINE
"Open it open it open it open it!" Eliana yelled impatiently as Birdie fumbled with the padlock and key of the gate
"I'm trying" she replied but by the way her hands shook as she tired to unlock the gate the girls knew she wasn't close to having it open.
And just as they thought things couldn't get worse the key fell to the ground and disappeared into mud
"Bloody hell!" Saffron exclaimed
"Where is it?" Addilyn yelled eagerly as she reached her hands into the mud
"Where you eyes closed when it fell?" Birdie replied furiously
"I can't see it" Eliana said as she searched in the mud with everyone else
"Keep looking!"
"You're all making too much noise be quiet!" Odelia furiously whispered to her friends
After a few anxious minutes of searching Birdie gave up and said "Theirs no time we need to think of something else and quick"
She looked around where she and her friends were standing eagerly trying to find something that would help and just as she was about to give up and continue searching for the key in the mud she got an idea and ran to the tank that was in the backyard of the orphanage
"Stay here I'll be back in a minute" she whispered to her friends before she ran off
"We don't have a minute!" Addilyn replied
Eliana stared at Birdie as she ran, and soon her heart began thudding with fear
"Theirs light coming from the Prioress’s office” she said with a shake in her voice
Odelia, Saffron and Addilyn looked up and sure enough a few candles were burning bright in the Prioress's room and they could see her shadowy figure moving around
"Dead God we have to hurry!" Addilyn whisper yelled to her friends. They picked up speed and began to search faster for the key in the mud
"Where is it" Saffron said in an irritated and scared tone
As they were looking, running towards them was Birdie with a ladder carried just above her head.
The girls were ecstatic to see the ladder
"Excellent!" Eliana exclaimed in joy
And moving quickly with a few glances at the Proiress's office the girls placed the ladder by the gate and one by one they began to climb
Saffron went up first and then Odelia followed
"Look for Ollie's carriage! It should be right outside" Eliana shouted from below
Odelia nodded and right after Saffron she jumped over the gate landing perfectly on her feet.
Next was Addilyn and as she went up she fearfully looked back at the orphanage. She looked back at the Prioress's office and saw that the Prioress was standing still right next to her window, with an unrecognizable expression on her face and looking right at her. The light from the candle she was holding in her hand showed her face perfectly and almost immediately Addilyn's heart leaped with fear.
She felt her whole body go cold and in that very moment all she wanted to do was die.
Addilyn closed her eyes and swallowed a big ounce of saliva.
She starred down at Birdie who was already looking up at her with the same fear in her eyes.
Without sharing another look with Birdie, Addilyn closed her eyes and quickly said a small prayer
"Dear God please don't let it end like this, just please not like this"
Quickly she continued to go up the ladder and just like everyone else once she was close and on top of the roof of the gate she jumped over it landing perfectly on her feet.
Addilyn had no time to even admire the surroundings outside the orphanage and as she waited for Birdie and Eliana to jump she clenched her chest and took in deep breaths in hopes of slowing down her heart beat and calming herself down
The three girls starred at the two roads outside the gate and thought quickly which direction they would take to meet Odelia and Saffron.
"Where do you think they went right or left?" Birdie asked anxiously
Eliana looked at the road paths and she could see visible foot prints made out in the mud in one of the roads
"Right!" She pointed and the girls sprinted in that direction
Faster and faster stopping only when they could see Saffron in a near distance waving at them with both her hands in the air.
"Where's Ollie's carriage?" Eliana asked out of breath
"Er...it's not here"
"What!?"
"It's not here we've looked I promise" Odelia replied
"No no it has to be let's go further" Eliana yelled
The girls followed her as she ran further and sure enough a carriage with two sleeping horses stood parked in the distance. Excitedly the girls ran faster to it and opened the doors anxiously. It was bigger than other carriages they had seen,with two seats that were faced each other and dark green fabric inside it it looked rather expensive for a milk boy to afford.
"Where's Ollie?" Addilyn asked Eliana before they took any steps inside
"It seems empty" Birdie said skeptically
"BLOODY HELL" Saffron yelled and kicked one of the wheels of the carriage immediately waking up one of the horses
"OI!" Somebody screamed behind a near by bush not far away from the girls. The man quickly began to zip up his pants and ran towards the girls
"Was he using the bush as a loo? Oh God" Saffron said disgustedly
"Get in quickly!" The girls began to get in the carriage but scared to go in Addilyn stayed behind
"GET IN!" The girls yelled at her impatiently
"How do you even drive this thing? Who’s going to move the horses nobody’s at the front front?”Addilyn yelled as she took a small glance at the front where the driver is supposed to sit
"Smack the horse!" Birdie yelled
"What!?"
Birdie turned and saw that the man was catching up to them
"SMACK THE STUPID HORSE ADDILYN!"
And so she did with one smack to the horse's behind it went ballistic and took off fast but without Addilyn inside
"Dear God run!" Eliana screamed at her
Addilyn began to ran, she looked behind her and saw that the bold man was getting closer and with fear in her heart she went even faster than before
She held out her hand for Eliana to catch
"STRECH YOUR ARM!" Addilyn screamed at her friend
"Who are you people!?" A boy from the front of the carriage screamed
The girls got distracted and turned to him almost completely forgetting Addilyn
"ELIANAAA"
"Stop the carriage!" Eliana screamed at the boy
"What?" He said cluelessly and obviously in fear
"STOP THE CARRIAGE" the girls screamed in unison
The boy turned back to the front,focused more on the road and pulled at the strings attached to the horses causing them to stop
Addilyn fell down faster than the carriage stoped and the girls quickly got out and ran to her
“I thought she said no one was at the front” Birdie said breathlessly
"Oh no no no no no" Odelia screamed in fear
"Is she breathing" Saffron asked also in fear
"Cant you see her chest moving of course she's breathing" Birdie said smacking Saffron across the head
"Where's Henry?" The mysterious boy at the front of the carriage screamed
"Who is that?" Eliana asked in confusion
"My driver!"
"You mean the man that was chasing after us was your driver!?" Birdie yelled
"Yes! Where is he?"
The girls turned back to where the man who was running towards them was coming from but they were already far away from wherever that was and so they sighed in relief
Addilyn stood up quickly and the girls turned their attention back to her
"You're not bruised?" Saffron asked her
"No I'm alright let's go"
"Why won't you answer me Where's Henry!?" The boy yelled at the girls even louder
Scared to say anything the girls looked at each other. For the second time that night they had the same thoughts.
Why couldn't anything go right?
Where was Eliana's Ollie?
And who was this boy?
What was happening to their perfectly planned out escape?