Nine Steps to Sara (34 page)

“Hold on, Mommy’s coming,” she called out, setting one foot down on the ledge, closing her eyes again as another gust of wind whipped her hair into a frenzy.  “You can do this… you have to do this…” she breathed, easing her other foot out, still clinging to the window for support. 

All at once, a cacophony of calls floated up to her, people on the ground shouting out in alarm as they finally noticed her predicament.  Instinctively, Sara made the mistake of looking down, head swimming from the rapid change in perspective, and she clutched at the window frame, desperate to regain her equilibrium as she swayed in the bitter chill of morning air. 

“Sara!” Will’s shout sounded
inside the window, startling a scream from her throat as she lost her balance, but strong hands pulled her back inside the nursery to tumble into his embrace. 

Instead of relief, the sense of urgency surged at leaving Jack out there all alone, and she pulled free, desperate to get back to the window.  “No, I have to get to Jack, there isn’t any time, he could fall at any moment!”

Will pulled her out of the way, vaulting easily into the window.  “Leave that to me, you stay put inside where it’s safe,” he ordered in a tone that brooked no argument.  Sara flew to the window as soon as Will was through, leaning out to watch, heart in her throat.  With light steps, Will
crossed
the length of the ledge, pausing only once when the wind gusted to wait for it to pass.  Sara could hear him speaking in soothing tones to Jack, but the wind tore his words away before she could decipher them.   

The moment he reached Jack, Will immediately pulled the boy into the safety of his arms and Jack clung to him
desperately
as he sat down on the pitched roof, holding him safely in his lap.  “Good, oh good…” Sara murmured, only then remembering to breathe; she forced a few deep, calming breaths.  “Stay out there, we’ll get a ladder or call the fire department for help!” she called out to them, glad Will had a good hold of Jack, but Will shook his head, shouting something about a ladder.  Was the ladder not tall enough? 

To her horror, he shifted his hold on Jack, and rose up to a standing position.  “No, don’t risk it, stay there!” Sara yelled.  “Damn it, Will, I know you can hear me!”  Eyes stinging from hot tears, she watched helplessly as he inched his way closer to the window, going much slower with his precious cargo.  She didn’t know if she should try and take him the moment he came into reach or stay out of his way, and Sara decided to do the latter, hopping back as Will swung them into the window frame.

“Jack!” Sara pried him free of Will’s hold, pulling him into the room while Will’s head fell forward, catching his breath.  “I’ve got you, you’re safe,” she whispered into his hair, not quite trusting that she’d gotten him back healthy and whole just yet.  Jack was silent, but the feel of his arms around her neck and the
thump
of his heart beating against hers told her all she needed to know for the moment. 

“Thank the Lord, you’ve gotten him,” Mrs. Poole appeared at the nursery door, Thomas
,
Katie and half a dozen workmen hot on their heels.  “Is he injured?”

Sara pulled back to look at Jack’s face, his pallid complexion a little troublesome, but there were no visible injuries to be seen.  “I think he’s okay, but he’s half frozen, poor thing.  I think we need to warm him up.”

“Katie, go and run him a hot bath, I’ll call Doctor and have him come at once,” Mrs. Poole replied decisively and for once Sara wasn’t inclined to argue with her.  “Will
,
come down from there before you fall and hurt yourself,” she scolded Will, who still sat braced in the window, and Sara could see he’d been more scared than he let on.  But he’d still gone out there to save Jack; she really owed him big time. 

“Thank you,” she mouthed to Will over the top of Jack’s head, and he accepted it with a brisk nod, still recovering from the rush of adrenaline. 

Still pacing with nervous energy while she held Jack, Sara let Mrs. Poole chase the rest of the people out of the room, sending Thomas to make the call to Marwick.  “I think something hot to drink would be good too,” she suggested.  “Maybe tea or hot chocolate.  Would you like some hot cocoa?” Sara asked Jack, disturbed by his lack of a response. 

“I’ll see to it at once,” Mrs. Poole agreed, giving orders on her way out.  “Katie build up the fire when you’re done fussing with the bathwater, and fetch the old bedwarmer, we’ll want to keep him out of the chill.” 

“Jack?  Are you alright, baby?” Sara sat on the edge of the bed, pulling back to get a better look at his face.  “Does anything hurt?”  A slow shake of the head was given and she exchanged worried looks with Will.  “Honey, can you tell me what made you go out there like that?”  He nodded, drawing an exasperated breath from Sara for making him so literal minded.

“
Bath
’s ready,” Katie announced, hurrying to build up the fire. 

“Okay, the story of the century can wait, let’s get you in the hot bath before your feet fall off,” Sara sighed, carrying him into the bathroom.  “Do you think you can stand for a minute?”  Gingerly, she set him on his feet and Jack winced at the contact with the tile floor, but didn’t complain.  “Are your feet still numb?”

“No, they’re all prickly now.”

Gratified to hear him speak, Sara worked on getting the pajama top up and over his head.  “Pins and needles like when your feet go to sleep?  That’s a good
sign;
it means the circulation’s coming back into your feet.” 

Jack balked when she reached for the waistband of his pajama pants.  “Mom, I can do it myself,” he insisted, and she drew a measure of comfort from the familiar petulance in the tone.  At least he didn’t sound dazed anymore. 

“
G
o ahead then, you do it.”

“You’re staying in here?”  Clearly appalled, he looked to the door. 

“Oh come on, Jack.  It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.  I’ve bathed you more times than I can count, what’s the big deal?”

“That was when I was a baby, I’m eight now,” he declared indignantly, and Sara warred between the desire to get him into the warming ba
th
and the need to stay and make sure he was really alright. 

“Jack, I’m your mother…” she began, worry winning out. 

“I could stay with him, if he’d rather,” Will offered from the door, and Sara looked to Jack to see if that would be acceptable.

“Yeah, that’d be okay, I guess,” Jack shrugged and Will sauntered in, taking a seat on the nearby commode. 

“
It
’ll be fine, I reckon.  Jack and I could use a bit of man to man time while he warms up.  Don’t worry, we’ll try to keep the swearing and talking about girls to a minimum, yeah?” he winked at Jack, and Sara was relieved to see him grin back. 

“I’ll be right outside if you need anything, sweetie,” Sara kissed her son’s cheek, leaving so he could get right into the water while it was still hot.  Realizing the window still stood wide open, Sara fastened the window firmly shut, setting the lock at the top; a lock which Jack could never have reached on his own to open it in the first place.  How had he managed to get himself out there?

“The water stings,” she heard Jack say from the bathroom, the door slightly ajar.  Leaning against the common wall, she listened in to the conversation, hoping to find some clue as to his behavior. 

“That’s what you get for going walk
ies
on the roof,” Will replied.  “What happened, you got bored and decided to go for a stroll?  Go on then, get all the way in the water; your mum will have both our hides if you don’t warm up properly.”  Sara heard a splash as Jack obeyed without question.  “You scared your mum and me to death.  What made that seem like a good idea?”

“I didn’t think it was a good idea, but she said I had to.”

“Who said you had to?”

“The lady.” 

Gemma sent him out the window?  After all that business about keeping Jack safe?
  Sara burned to ask him what she’d said, and what made it seem like a good idea, but Will beat her to the punch.

“She told you to go out the window?  And you thought that was a keen idea?”

“She said it was the
only way to be safe.  That the N
ine was coming for me and I had to escape.”

Will was silent for a few moments, echoing Sara’s stunned reaction.  “Did she say who the
N
ine were?  Or why they were coming for you?”

“No, only that I had to go now or it would be too late.  I should have asked how I was supposed to get down from out there,” Jack sounded disgruntled, and Sara hoped like hell that would spell the last of him listening to Gemma’s advice. 

“You should have come to me or your mum is what you should have done,” Will replied with just a touch of censure, his voice tempered with kindness. 

“I was scared, she said…”

“If she said to jump off a bridge, would you do it?”

“Well, I suppose it would depend on the height of the bridge,” Jack considered aloud.  “How deep would the water be below?”

“The answer’s supposed to be no, you git,” Will chuckled, and Sara heard the splash of water.  “You’re not supposed to do anything stupid just because someone asks you to.”

“Even mom?”

“Well now, that’s the thing.  Have you ever known your mum to ask you to do something stupid?”

“Making my bed comes to mind,” Jack muttered, and Sara stifled her laugh with a hand. 

“Point is, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, Jack.  If something like this comes up again, I expect you’ll come up with a better solution if you think a little harder.”

“Okay,” Jack agreed, “Will?”

“Yeah, mate.”

“Are you my mom’s boyfriend now?”

“Maybe that’s a better question for your mum, don’t you reckon?”

“But do you love her and stuff?”

Sara held her breath, waiting to hear Will’s response, but Katie bustled in with a tray in one arm and a metal bed warmer in the other.  “Oh, here, let me help you with that,” Sara took the tray quickly, setting it on the bedside table and hurrying back over to her position by the wall while Katie poked in the fireplace for some coals, but whatever reply Will had given was already gone, nothing but splashes sounded.  “How are you coming along in there?” she called out.

“Just getting him out now, he’s warmed through enough I reckon,” Will replied, and the sound of draining water followed seconds later.  In a few minutes Jack was dressed, in his warmed bed sipping hot chocolate
,
and chatting animatedly with Katie about some television show about people locked in a house without television or internet.  Marwick arrived to check him out and Sara refused to leave, hovering nearby until she was certain he was well and truly fine.  Only after the doctor pronounced him no worse for wear did she let herself be chased out to let him get some rest. 

The house settled back into its normal daily routine, and Will went back down to pick up where he’d left off in the yard.  Left to her own devices, once again the thought occurred to Sara; was Jack really in danger from the mysterious
N
ine?  How much of it all was actual danger and how much was panic made up in the mind of Gemma Darling? 

* * *

It was much later after dinner, when Jack was tucked into bed
,
that Sara tracked Will down out by the site for the new gazebo.  “Boy, the boss must be a real pain in the ass, making you work this late,” she called out and his head came up with a welcoming smile.

“Naw, she’s a
peach
to work for, but I’ve a special reason for wanting to make her particularly satisfied with my work.”

“Oh?  And what might that be?”