“Is it time for our adventure, Mommy?”
Lily always told Sky that they were so happy together, just the three of them, that they didn’t need the outside world. But sometimes when Rick didn’t visit, she would tell Sky about the magical adventures they’d take one day. She’d talk about trips to Paris, Morocco, or Indonesia. Places Lily had only ever read about online or in her high school geography class. Every child deserved to believe in a fairy tale even if Lily knew it was only make-believe.
“Yes, Chicken, it’s time. But we have to be quick.”
Sky grabbed that stupid stuffed monkey, clutching it tightly. Lily hesitated. She couldn’t handle the thought of bringing anything Rick had touched with them.
“Sky, we have to leave your monkey here.”
Sky’s eyes widened as she shook her head emphatically.
“Mommy, I can’t… He has to come with me.”
“Mommy will get you a new friend. Cross my heart.”
Sky hesitated but she would never disobey her mother. She bravely set the stuffed animal back under the covers and gave it a tender kiss good-bye. Lily layered Sky in several pairs of pajama pants, pulling three sweaters on until she was wrapped up tightly. She grabbed a fuzzy down blanket and draped it around Sky’s shoulders.
“Hold on to this, okay? Don’t let go.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
Once Sky was ready, Lily pulled on several pairs of tights under her pajamas. Her hands trembled violently; she worried that any moment he might return. But she just kept breathing, just kept telling herself if she stayed calm, they’d get out of here.
They were both ready but Lily had one more task to do. She hurried over to the corner of the room and worked open a loose floorboard. She grabbed a worn piece of paper, the note she’d written years ago, when she was still a child herself and the mother of a newborn. The pages were yellowed with age, but the writing still legible, each word painstakingly written. If this was a trap, there was no hope for Lily. She knew his punishment would be fatal. But she had to believe that Sky might have a chance.
Lily took the note and tucked it into the pocket of Sky’s pajama pants.
“Remember Mommy’s rules for the big adventure?”
“If you say run, I run. No stopping. No looking back. Find a policeman and give him this.”
“And how will you know he’s a policeman?”
“Because he’ll be wearing a uniform, and he’ll keep me safe.”
“You’re Mommy’s perfect little angel; you know that, right?”
Sky gave a brave smile as Lily lifted her daughter into her arms. Sky’s body was so tiny and birdlike; she felt weightless. As they slowly ascended the stairs, Lily found herself gazing down over the railing, studying this room that had housed them for the last eight years. No more than four hundred square feet, with its damp, dark walls… Hell on earth in every sense of the word. With each creaky step, she vowed she’d never return. She would never let him bring them back here. She pushed open the door again and they made their way through the main cabin. Seconds later, they were outside.
The cold air whipped Lily’s hair around, her face burning from the frigid temperatures. Sky gasped, wiping her cheeks as if she might be able to swipe away the cold. She clung to Lily’s neck, her body convulsing from winter’s brutal assault. But Lily reveled in this moment. With the snow crunching under her slipper-clad feet, she could barely contain her joy.
“Chicken, this is it! This is the beginning of our great adventure!”
But Sky wasn’t listening. She was gawking at the endless sea of white powder stretching out before them.
“What’s that white stuff, Mommy?” The one request Rick indulged them in were books. They’d studied weather and season patterns. Summer. Winter. Fall. Spring. But how could dear, sweet Sky really understand what snow was when she’d never seen it? How could any child raised in that awful, windowless room truly understand anything about a world they couldn’t see or touch or feel? Lily wanted to explain, to give Sky a chance to revel in these new experiences, but there wasn’t time.
“No questions, Chicken. You have to do what I say, when I say it.”