Chapter 12

Slowly, carefully, Darla inched her buttocks sideways on the sofa-bed, leaning slightly to hold the sleeping head on its pillow. Then she worked to get her leg close to the wall.

It seemed like an eternity, and it must have taken them at least a half-hour, but finally Darla's left foot almost touched the mirror on the wall. Ann's left hand turned, twisting in its bonds, until she could place the back of her hand against the glass.

Then she pressed her diamond to the glass and tried to keep up the pressure as she described a triangle on the slick surface.

The cracklingg hiss of the hard stone on the glass sounded loud enough to wake the dead, but their baby slept on.

Then Ann made a fist and pressed it to the center of the triangle she'd cut. She pressed hard, but nothing happened.

Then she moved away a few inches, and told Darla she needed help.

"You'll have to swing my fist with your foot. Can you see where it has to hit?" she whispered. "Yes, I think so," Darla replied.

"God! Be sure! Honey, we may not have time for a second try if the sound wakes him up!"

"I know. But I think I can see the exact spot. It's just that I don't know if I can hit it right on the first try."

"Listen, honey, do like a blacksmith-you know? Swing right up to it the first time, but just touch it. If it's the right place, then hit it hard on the next swing. Like a golf ball on the tee, Okay?"

"Okay."

Gingerly, the foot and hand moved out, then swung against the glass. It touched, but the hammer of flesh started to shake, and Darla rested her foot on the bed.

"I can't do it!" she said "If I swing it with enough force, I'll lose my balance on my hip, and his head will slide off, and that'll wake him up for sure!"

"Okay, honey. But can you relax your muscles and let me try to swing your foot with my hand? We've got to try something."

"I think so. Try it once."

Darla tried to let her leg become limp, and concentrated on the balance of her right hip, which held the crucial support for her dangerous burden.

Ann lifted upward, and from the first moment that the dead weight of Darla's foot, ankle, calf, and thigh rested completely on Ann's wrist, she knew there would be no second swing. It was too much weight for the leverage she had. "First time or nothing, honey-pray!" she said.

She swung, and Darla's leg moved dangerously far, making the sleeping head tilt slightly. But as Ann's balled fist struck the glass, there was a sharp crack.

The hand and foot rested on the bed, and Ann tried to see if the piece had fallen out. No! It was still in place.