XXI
Tessie had been thrust into the darkened room with such force that shestaggered and would have fallen if her hand had not touched the twistedspindles of an old bed. She clutched the footboard and clung to it,trembling and breathless.
"All you have to do is to give up your rights to the Sunshine Islands andthe Tear of God," called Mr. Pracht from the hall. "Just pound on thedoor when you've made up your mind, and I'll let you out."
But Tessie said never a word. She just clutched the twisted spindlesharder. When she heard Mr. Pracht turn the key in the lock and go downthe stairs, she screamed. The cry was involuntary and quickly smotheredby her hand, for Tessie remembered that the Gilfoolys were afraid ofnothing. Granny had said so. But Tessie was quiveringly afraid thatGranny was wrong, for Tessie could have put her finger on a Gilfooly whowas afraid--shiveringly afraid--of the darkened room and of white-headedFrederic Pracht, who was on the other side of the door.
What would he do to her if she refused to give up her islands and theTear of God? Of course she would refuse, for in her veins was that warmquick blood of the Gilfoolys, which had kept her Uncle Pete on thethrone of the Sunshine Islands for almost twenty years. No matter whatMr. Pracht and the Sons of Sunshine did to her, Tessie vowed she wouldnot give up her islands nor the Tear of God. They were hers and aGilfooly kept what was his.
But it was a fearsome task to be a queen and a Gilfooly, as she stoodthere in the darkened room. Her lip quivered, and her breath came inquick sobbing gasps. What a fool she had been to allow the Sons ofSunshine to kidnap her! She knew better than to get in cars driven bystrange chauffeurs. But the car she had entered had been the Kingleycar! She never would have taken a strange car. And Mr. Kingley hadnothing to do with the Sons of Sunshine. It was ridiculous to think evenfor a moment that he had. She trusted him implicitly. He had been sokind and helpful, and Mr. Pracht had been anything but kind and helpful.She was afraid of Mr. Pracht, afraid of his hard little eyes, and thecruel twist of his mouth and his cold, contemptuous voice. She wasafraid of him, or she would have been afraid of him if she hadn't been aGilfooly.
And she hated him! If she only could wake up and find that this was alla dream, that she was not a queen, that she never had been a queen, andthat she was only a salesgirl in the Evergreen again. She shivered asshe thought longingly of that safe nook behind the aluminum in thebasement of the Evergreen. Joe Cary had told her that queens had theirtroubles, but she had laughed at him. She had preferred to listen to Mr.Bill, who told her how beautiful and sweet queens were, and how much tobe envied. He would find her, of course. Mr. Bill would be sure to findher. As soon as he heard that she had not returned to the hotel, hewould take his hat and find her. Mr. Bill was so strong and so brave.She felt stronger and braver herself as she remembered how strong andbrave Mr. Bill was. She released the spindles and walked around to siton the side of the bed and look about the room.
It was big and square and dark. Funny there was no window. Here was thebed, and over there against the wall was an old washstand and a hugewardrobe, and against the other wall was an old-fashioned bureau. In thefourth wall was the door by which she had entered, and above it was thetransom, which allowed a little light to filter into the room. Tessielooked at that transom. Of course she could push the washstand to thedoor and climb up and slip through the transom, but Mr. Pracht wouldcatch her before she had dropped down on the other side. The transom,encouraging as it looked, was of absolutely no use as a means of escapeunless Mr. Pracht left the house, and Tessie did not think he would dothat. Perhaps in the middle of the night if she thought that Mr. Prachtwould be asleep-- But then there might be one of the Sons of Sunshine onguard! Tessie did not believe for a second that a savage, even acannibal Sunshine Son, would ever really hurt her, but she did thinkthat he might do something very unpleasant, and she wanted to avoid himas long as possible.
She had meant to be such a good queen, she thought with a little chokinghiccup. It wasn't fair for the Sons of Sunshine to object to her beforethey knew what kind of a queen she would make! She meant to be simpleand honest, to follow Madame Cabot's rule for queens, to be a good queenand now--. She bit her lip and pressed her hand hard against her eyes tokeep back the tears. It wasn't fair!
It was funny that there was no window in such a big room. How could anyone see to do her hair at that old bureau? There was a gas jet besidethe bureau, but Tessie could not find any matches. It was funny thatthere was no window. And how old-fashioned the house was to have gasinstead of electricity.
From the street, in the rear of the house, she could hear the faintrumble and squeak of a street car as it passed, and it made her realizehow unbelievable the situation was. The air was close and heavy. Howcould any one stay in a close, airless room? She would suffocate. Wasthat why Mr. Pracht had locked her in the windowless room, so that shewould suffocate, and the Sons of Sunshine could do as they pleased withher islands? Well, she would show him! She wouldn't suffocate! She justwould not suffocate and let Mr. Pracht sell her islands to the Japanese.She wouldn't do it! But it was funny there wasn't a window.
She jumped up suddenly and crossed the room to peer behind the shabbybureau. It stood close against the wall, and she pulled at itimpatiently. There was a squeak. It sounded like the very crack of doomto Tessie's frightened ears. She held her breath as she waited for Mr.Pracht to burst in and ask what she thought she was doing. But whenthere was no sign from Mr. Pracht, she pulled at the bureau again,waiting until the passing street car made a noise outside which mightcover the noise on the inside. At last she had the bureau far enoughfrom the wall to look behind it. Of course there was a window. Shelooked at it triumphantly.
"I thought so!" she said, as she dusted her hands and pushed herselfbehind the bureau, so that she could look out of the grimy glass intothe dusky twilight.
Below the window was the roof of a small porch and beyond that was ayard inclosed with a high board fence. If she could open the window,drop on the porch, then to the ground and climb the fence, she couldescape from Mr. Pracht and the Sons of Sunshine, and then-- She wasalmost sorry that she would still be a queen even if she did escapefrom Mr. Pracht. She thought again almost regretfully of her old placeat the Evergreen. No one had ever kidnaped her or threatened her whenshe was selling aluminum. She had been scolded, but every one said Mr.Walker's bark was far worse than his bite.
If she could only open this grimy window. The frame stuck tight. Shetried again, tugging at it with all of her might, and when she failed tomove it the tears rushed to her eyes. It was so tantalizing to see a wayof escape and not be able to use it. She pushed and tugged until at lastthe frame shot up with an unexpectedness which almost threw her out ofthe window. She drew in a deep breath of the fresh evening air, and feltready for anything. There really was nothing like fresh air to give agirl courage.
She looked down on the roof of the little porch. It seemed farther awaythan it had when the window was closed. For all she knew Mr. Prachtmight be standing under it to catch her when she slipped down, but therewas an equal chance that he wasn't there, and she would have to take thechance. She took time to bless Joe Cary and thank him before she put herfeet over the sill. If it hadn't been for Joe she never in the worldwould have gone to the Y. W. C. A. gymnasium class and trained hermuscles to do what they were told. She clung to the sill for abreathless second and then dropped. The silk belt of her frock caughton a nail, but the weight of her body tore it loose. The porch roofcreaked when she struck it, but the noise was no louder, loud as itsounded in Tessie's anxious ears, than would have been made by amarauding cat.
Tessie crouched low and waited. There was not another sound. So Mr.Pracht was not on the porch, and he had not heard her. She slid quicklydown a post and dashed across the yard like a shadow. Her trainedmuscles made easy work of the high board fence, and in a flash she wason the other side, in a narrow street, and free. She straightenedherself and drew a long breath. It was unbelievable that she had escapedso easily. But she had esc
aped. She grinned triumphantly. She hadskinned her elbows and scratched her face, but such minor casualtieswere of no account. She felt for the Tear of God. It was safe in the baghanging from her waist. Suddenly she stopped grinning triumphantly, andbegan to cry. Now that she was free, she could realize how frightenedshe had been, even if she was a fearless Gilfooly.
What should she do? Where should she go? Not back to the hotel. The Sonsof Sunshine would look for her there and would kidnap her again. And shehad had enough of kidnaping. A little of that sort of thing was far morethan enough. Where could she go and hide herself from Mr. Pracht untilMr. Marvin would make it safe for her to be found? She fumbled in herpocket for a handkerchief to dry her tears. This was no time to cry.There was a little purse in her pocket as well as a handkerchief, a gaylittle affair of red leather, and in it was a key. Tessie usuallycarried the little purse in her beaded bag, but her beaded bag had beenso full that morning that she had taken it out and stuffed it into herpocket.
She looked at it now with a little gasp. She had carried the key in thatlittle purse just--well, just because! She had never expected to use itagain but now--
The key reminded her of Granny. What would Granny think? She must findsome way to let Granny know that she was safe. Oh, wasn't it awful tothink how helpless and unfortunate a queen could be! Here she was afugitive and penniless in the streets of Waloo. And only yesterday shehad been riding the streets of Waloo in her own car, and with her ownchauffeur and her own bodyguard, and with a purse full of money. Couldyou believe that twenty-four hours would make such a change? She did notremember where she had dropped her bag. Perhaps Mr. Pracht had it. Whenshe became a queen, she had thought that she had said good-by to Troubleand Care, and here were Trouble and Care at her very elbow. Joe Cary hadsaid they would be there. He had declared she would find that being aqueen wouldn't be all fun. And she had laughed at him! Mr. Bill hadlaughed, too. Mr. Bill had called Joe an old grouch--a croaking oldgrouch. Mr. Bill was so wonderful! But Joe Cary was right. It wasn't allfun to be a queen. There were many disagreeable moments. She shivered asshe recalled some of the disagreeable moments. But at least she hadlearned one thing. A queen would have to take care of herself just asany girl did, even a salesgirl at the Evergreen. A queen couldn't dependentirely on her bodyguard. She wondered if Ka-kee-ta were in the housewith Mr. Pracht, or if the frizzled head she had seen belonged to asavage Son of Sunshine.
She was tired--more tired than she had ever been in her life. The biganniversary sale at the Evergreen had not left her as tired as she wasnow. And she was hungry. What wouldn't she give for some of Granny'sliver and onions and a big cup of Granny's hot coffee. And after she hadeaten the liver and onions, she would like to tumble into bed and sleepforever. She would, too, after she had sent word to Granny that she wassafe. She would telephone, and then she remembered that she had nomoney, not even a nickel, to pay the telephone charges. There wasnothing in the gay red purse but the old key. She couldn't telephone!She couldn't even ride in the street car! She would have to walk. Inthe old days when she was just a clerk, she had never been without atleast carfare, but now that she was a queen she was penniless. Could youbelieve it? Oh, Joe Cary was right! It wasn't all fun to be a queen!
The tears rushed to her eyes again as she went slowly around the corner.She didn't care if she was a queen, she said with a sob, she was themost miserable girl in Waloo. Where would she be safe now?