Chapter 3
I dashed all the way to Darren's place.
By the time I got there, I already had a plan.
I had to get out of this village.
To leave, I needed money and travel papers.
Getting some money together would be hard, but getting the papers from Darren would be even harder.
The comments said he wanted my inheritance too. There was no way I could just ask him for help.
Darren and his wife, Ruth Wood, were both out at the village entrance, so the only one left at home was Ian, playing in the mud.
Ian was 12. A childhood fever had left him slow.
He really wasn't all there.
I handed Ian the cake William had given me.
Ian grinned from ear to ear and went right back to playing in the mud.
In case anyone from his family came back early, I slid a piece of wood in front of the door to block it.
Then I made my way to Darren's "office."
The door was locked, and I was holding the only key.
I'd slipped it from Darren's belt when I "sweetly" handed him a cake.
I unlocked the door.
It was a simple room, with a desk, and against the wall, a bookshelf.
I made a beeline for the desk and unlocked the leftmost drawer with the key.
The bullet comments exploded.
[Whoa, I was gone for just a minute. What did I miss?]
[So Moira isn't out of her mind anymore? Is she about to turn the tables? This just got interesting.]
[Am I the only one dying to know what she's planning? And seriously, where did she get that key from?]
[I told you. She's faking it!]
With the bullet comments buzzing with questions, I pulled open the drawer.
After a quick search, I found a blank travel form.
Then I grabbed the official stamp from the cabinet and pressed it right onto the paper.
[Whoa... what is Moira up to now?]
[I'm on the edge of my seat! She's forging a travel paper. Back then, you couldn't set foot outside the village without one. Okay, we can all see she's not clueless anymore, right?]
[See? Proof. Moira is definitely not dumb. She's playing everyone.]
I ignored the bullet comments going nuts and grabbed a few extra blank travel forms, just in case things went sideways.
Just as I shoved the stamp back into the cabinet, the bullet comments went crazy with warnings.
[Ruth is back. She's almost there. Moira, move it!]
[Darren took the shortcut. He's almost at the back door!]
[Moira, hurry. Get out of there!]
With the comments screaming in my vision, I stayed calm and moved faster, my hands steady.
After putting everything back exactly how I found it, I walked out of the office and locked the door behind me.
Next, I started looking for a place to hide the key and the handkerchief with the travel forms.
[What's Moira doing? Why is she looking around? They are about to come back.]
I mumbled to myself, acting casual, "Where should I hide this? I can't keep it on me. What if they decide to search me?"
The bullet comments went dead silent for a moment, then suddenly blew up.
[Hide it in the hole. Quick!]
[There's a hole in the east corner of the house. Ian dug it a while back. Put it there, hurry!]
[Yeah, that's the spot. The hole connects to the outside, so you can grab it easily later.]
I acted like I just happened to spot the hole, slipped the handkerchief inside, and covered it up with whatever was handy.
Then I walked over to Ian and started playing in the mud with him, as if nothing had happened.
I also made sure to wipe my muddy hands all over the clean laundry Ruth had left out to dry.
When Darren finally knocked and came in, he found me and Ian looking like a pair of mud creatures, the yard a total disaster—mud everywhere, the water tank filthy, and tools knocked over all around.
His eyes went wide, and before he could even yell at us, he just shoved me and Ian out of the way.
I pulled Ian down with me as I fell, and we both ended up on the ground.
Ian landed hard on his butt and started bawling his eyes out.
I sat down too, copying him by rubbing my eyes, and started crying just as loud.
When Ruth rushed in and saw the mess, she looked ready to faint on the spot.
Darren went straight to his office door and found it still securely locked.
He went into the back room and stayed there for a minute.
When he finally emerged, he was clutching the backup key.
I pulled Ian close and hid by the doorway.
I watched as Darren inspected his office carefully, opening every drawer and checking the bookshelf.
He even took out the cash box and counted the money inside, one bill at a time.
When he saw nothing was missing, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
[Oh, thank goodness Moira didn't take that money. I was so nervous that I almost lost it.]
After putting the cash box away, Darren turned around and spotted me and Ian, our dirty little heads peeking out.
His beady eyes locked onto my face, sizing me up over and over.
But when he saw how innocent and clear my expression was, he didn't suspect a thing.
So he called Ruth over and told her to check me for anything out of place.
She looked puzzled, not really getting what he was after.
But she did as she was told.
As she patted me down, I wriggled and giggled like crazy.
Ian stood nearby, drooling and joining in with a goofy grin.
[Phew, that old fox...]
[Man, I'm so nervous. This is going to give me a heart attack!]
Right as Darren was about to offer me a candy and start asking about my family, William walked in.