Part 5
Chapter 5
"Ancher! It's so good to see you again!" Mel enveloped the squat man in a warm hug before reaching to snatch Janet's hat from her head. "I thought I'd gotten rid of this thing before we left the farmhouse," she muttered, watching as Janice jerked the hat from her grasp and attempted to mold it back into some semblance of its original shape.
"You should hide it better. I found it in the incinerator when Enki and I took out the garbage the other day." Janice's grumble faded as she caught sight of her successor's agitated expression. "So tell us Ancher, what's happened to Xena Xandria?" Janice brought out her cane and began to wind a path through the throng of people who filled the airport.
"I only wish I knew. I took her to Catalhoyuk, to meet with Franklin Dupree. She was shown to the tent where your granddaughter's things were and we were to meet the next morning to decide what to do." Dr. Eban huffed his way through the terminal, attempting to keep up with the aging Dr. Covington. The lady might look more ancient than the mountains, and she might walk with a cane but he was still hard pressed not to lose her in the bustling crowd.
"There's the answer," Mel commented from behind him.
"Where?" Ancher Eban turned and looked expectantly around the building.
"No," Mel replied, suppressing a laugh. She forgot how literal most of her colleagues could be. "I only meant that leaving her alone for the night when she's concerned about Gabrielle isn't the best way to keep my Xe Xe in one place."
"Yes, I see that now." Ancher struggled to find the right words to continue. Unsure how his news would be received, he decided to simply launch into the topic headfirst. "We've received two messages now. Miss Baird was abducted just over two weeks ago and a note was received the day your granddaughter arrived to look for her, the note that arrived this morning claims that whoever has Gabrielle now also has Ms. Cadmus."
Janice stopped once she reached the glass doors that led out of the building. The crush of bodies was significantly less, so close to the exit, and she was able to focus on individual people as opposed to great masses of moving forms; a child stood on the curb outside, his face pinched with hunger and smudged with grime. Something in his expression caused her to pause and study him more closely.
The child watched the elderly lady warily, edging further from the door in case he needed to dash away to the safety of the alley. He recognized the man with the two women; it was the professor the young woman had sent him to fetch right after he'd tried to pick her pocket a few days earlier. Ever since that day, he'd kept a closer eye on movements at the airport; if he could find the young woman again long enough to run another errand for her, he would be able to feed his sister for a long while.
A vaguely familiar form caught his attention away from the two old ladies and the professor; the mysterious man from his last visit inside the airport was walking down the sidewalk, heading away from the terminal. He hadn't seen him again since that afternoon when he had stood on the curb waving goodbye to Xena Cadmus and the professor. Despite the sweltering weather, the man was dressed in dark, heavy clothes. Curious, Ravi cast one last look at the old ladies, and set out after the dark man.
He wound through the alleyways with ease, dropping behind boxes and crates whenever the man turned around; Ravi blended in with the rubbish so well even the rats didn't run away from him anymore. At a barred door, the man stopped, removed a key from his pocket, and slipped soundlessly into the building. Ravi examined the door once he felt it was safe to do so. The lock and bars seemed terribly secure to his untrained eyes, but having lived on the streets for so long, the child was truly blessed with the ability to get into any building, although only rarely through the doors.
Looking around the outside wall, he noticed a rusted fire escape ladder halfway up the gratified brick wall. It appeared to lead to the roof. If he could get to the ladder itself he could get in from the roof and find out who the strange man was. The only question was how was he going to get to the ladder; a good four feet over his head, it seemed almost impossible.
"All right, Gabrielle," Xe's voice threatened to reveal her distress regarding her pain and the younger woman's ministrations. She pushed herself into a sitting position, wrapping the bed's blanket around her shoulders; the room's chill sent goose flesh crawling up her arms and warred with her already too cool blood.
"But I'm not finished yet, Xe. There's still dirt and," Gabrielle searched for the right term, "I don't know what else, but I'm not finished yet. I don't want you to get an infection in here. If that happened you could die."
Xe shook her head. "Just give me a minute to defrost my fingers, will you?"
"Oh, okay. But I will get my way before I'm done with you." Satisfied she would be allowed to complete her doctoring, the slight blonde rose from the bed with the bowl to pour out the bloody water, returning with a cup for Xe. "It's not as cold as the other water was, maybe it'll help."
Xe accepted the cup gratefully and sipped the tepid liquid.
"Have you come up with a plan yet?"
The hope that radiated out from Gabrielle's face tempted Xe to lie, to claim that she had indeed discovered a means of escape. The truth was that up until they'd mangled her back, she had been sure she'd be able to get them both out of their prison, now she was less than optimistic. She had tried to fabricate a story for their captors, anything to spare her more pain, but they hadn't accepted her tale. Now she just wanted to escape home and see Enki again. She knew she was being less than heroic but couldn't summon the strength to care anymore. She considered telling her companion, imagining how nice it would be to topple off the pedestal the girl had placed her on years before; but Brie needed to believe in a idol, even if that belief was misplaced. And sadly, she was the only one available.
"I'm working on one."
Ravi stole quietly through the dim hallways. From the depths of the building, he could hear the muffled sounds of movements although nothing distinct reached his straining ears. He knew the strange man was probably below but curiosity drove him to examine each floor he reached.
The upper most level of the old building had held nothing more than empty, open rooms. The next floor down had more of the same, but as he slunk down yet another flight of stairs, the scene had changed. Panic had flooded his mind when the overhead lights had dimmed, until he had reasoned they were on a timer of some kind and not a sign that his entrance had been detected.
Slipping along the wall in the dim light, he quietly opened the numerous doors. With all the rooms darkened, he could only make out vague shadowy forms and could detect no noise and nothing of immediate interest. The last door before the next flight of stairs was different than the others.
A dead bolt gleamed against the dull wood, the key still in the lock. He eyed the door suspiciously. Why would this, of all the many rooms in the building, be the only one protected from intrusion, and why would the key be left behind, foiling that protection?
As he stood pondering the door in the hallway, running dark fingers through even darker hair, he heard an almost hysterical burst of laughter.
"I swear it's true." Xe grinned in spite of the pain she was enduring thanks to the actions of her companion turned nurse.
"No!" Gabrielle's laughter continued to bubble over.
"While Granma Jan and Gran-Mel were making all the arrangements just before I left, Gran-Mel had tuned into the Tonight Show, you know how well she likes Jay Leno. And I promise, he said that Lucy Lawless gave birth to a baby boy. I didn't know she was pregnant and I am a bit curious as to how they incorporated it into the program."
Gabrielle giggled. "Well, it isn't like they've stuck all that close to the translations whose-it's grandson sold them."
"So I've heard. Anyway," Xe paused to draw a shaky breath, "he said that not only did she handle the delivery herself but she also bit off the umbilical cord and then she and the baby ran off into the woods." Glad to see the smile return to Gabrielle's eyes, Xe wished she could come up with more humourous dialogue.
"How awful!" Gabrielle wiped a tired hand across her eyes in a futile attempt to erase the strange mental picture Xe's words had painted. Changing the subject, she rose from the bed, "well, I've done all I can. Anything else will have to wait. Some of these need stitches…"
"I understand." Xe pushed herself up and gently swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "Thank you."
"It's my fault that you're here, Xe."
The elder woman started to argue when they both heard the lock turn. Xe steeled herself for another round of interrogations, taking in the terror that flooded Gabrielle's eyes, sure they were a mirror of her own. She feared that an attempt to fight back would cause harm to Gabrielle; as long as their attentions were centered away from the girl, Xe hoped she could buy enough time to formulate a plan of some kind.
Indescribable shock replaced their terror when a small dark head poked around the corner of the door. "Hi!"