Chapter 25

25

Candace didn't know if she would ever be able to forgive herself. It was her fault they'd been taken, her fault they were tied up together, and it would be her fault if something unforgiveable happened to Bethanne. Why hadn't she taken Scott's obsession with her more seriously? If she had, she could've stayed away from Bethanne. Stayed in her house.

Complained more to Ryan. Told her parents earlier.

Done anything she could to get Scott arrested and put away.

Instead, she hadn't wanted to give Scott any more of her life than he'd already taken from her. She'd pretended that his fixation on her wasn't as scary as it was.

Sometimes she'd even told herself that Ryan wanted to accompany her mainly because he felt the same attraction that she felt. She'd fooled herself into thinking that they were falling in love.

Now Scott was going to come back any minute, see them attempting to get the stupid rope off their wrists, and freak out. What would he do? She couldn't think about that now. And Bethanne—she knew he'd only taken Bethanne to keep Candace biddable, but he didn't want her around. Since it wasn't like he could just tell Bethanne to leave, he'd probably kill her.

Even thinking about such a thing made her chest hurt. How would she ever be able to look at Lott and Aunt Martha and Uncle John again? They would probably hate her, and it was no less than she deserved.

If she survived.

"Candace, what are you doing?" Bethanne said. "I just counted to three. Come on."

She shook her head. "Maybe this was a foolish idea, Bethy. Maybe we should go back to where Scott stuck us."

"What? Nee!"

"But he could get really mad."

"He could do a lot of things worse than yell at us, Candace. What's wrong with you?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

"It's too late to worry about that, ain't so? You have to know that."

"You're right. I'm—"

"No! Nee! Stop telling me you're sorry. Now, focus."

"Wow, Bethy." Candace could practically feel the anger radiating from her cousin's body.

"Stop thinking negatively and do what I say," Bethanne ordered. Without waiting for Candace to comment, she raised her voice. "On the count of three, move. One. Two. Three."

By now they'd mastered the scooch. They were only inches from the wall. When Bethanne counted again, Candace moved in sync with her. After one more time, they were next to the wall, though both were panting and sweating. She figured Bethy wasn't thinking she smelled all that good now. "Well, we got over here."

"Yes we did. And did you notice something about the rope?"

"Beyond the fact that it's rubbed our wrists so raw that they're bleeding?"

"It's stretched some." Sounding almost triumphant, Bethanne said, "Look at the space between us, Candace."

If she twisted her body just so and craned her neck, she could get a pretty good look at the section of rope that lay between them. At first she wanted to cry because she had no idea how to tell her cousin that she was seeing things, but then she noticed how frayed the rope had become. "I think a section of it near your hip is a lot thinner. Do you see it, or is it my imagination?"

"I can't bend that much. I noticed that when Scott first tied us up, our backs were almost touching each other. Now we'd both have to bend back an inch or two to touch our heads."

"You're right." It was a small thing, but boy was it good to feel even the tiniest ray of hope. "Bethy, let's get on our feet and try to catch the rope on the nail."

"All right, but I have to warn you, I don't think I'm strong enough to get up without using my hands."

"I'm not either." Glad for the rising sun and how much brighter it was in the space, she said, "Let's brainstorm some ideas."

"Okay. Here's one." For the next couple of minutes, they debated how best to get each other to their feet. At last they decided to simply rest their sides against the wall and use it as leverage.

Their first attempt felt almost impossible.

So did the second.

Candace was exhausted from the exertion. The physical activity, added to her fear that Scott could return at any moment, made her almost break down. She hated feeling so weak.

Beside her, Bethanne sounded as frustrated as she felt. "Maybe this is the worst idea ever. My shoulders hurt so bad."

"Mine too."

"I wish I could think of a better plan."

"I wish I'd done about a hundred more stomach crunches a day," Candace muttered.

Bethanne snorted. "I wish I'd done one a day. When we get out of here, I'm going to exercise more."

Candance was grateful for Bethanne's wishful thinking, but once again her own optimism was plummeting. "Bethy, I love you. No matter what happens, I want you to know that."

"I love you too. And before you apologize again, I want to make sure you hear my words. Don't just listen. Hear what I'm saying. This was not your fault."

"But—"

"Nee, Candace. Stop blaming yourself and listen. No matter what happens, you aren't responsible."

"I would never want you to get hurt because of me. You've been through too much."

"But I survived. And I've been realizing that I'm stronger than people think. I'm stronger than I've even given myself credit for. I got through that, and I'll get through this too. Just like you will, okay?"

Candace's eyes teared up. "Okay."

"Promise that you hear me?"

"I hear you and I believe it," she said around a lump in her throat. "Careful, I'm about to start wiping my face on your clothes again."

"Go for it," Bethanne whispered. After a few moments, she said, "Let's do this."

"I think we should count. It's worked for us so far."

"Fine. One, two, three, go." Together they pushed themselves against the wall and somehow helped each other up. The wall they were leaning on creaked and moaned but didn't break.

But the rope that held them together did.

"We did it!" Candace cried out. "Hallelujah!"

"God is so good. I've been praying nonstop."

"He is good. Now, see if you can kind of twist and get your hands near the nail." As Bethanne contorted, Candace was able to help her reach it. "Can you try to pull it out?"

"I'll try."

Watching Bethanne stretch her arms and then somehow pinch the sides of two of her fingers together to pull on the nail, Candace was in awe. Bethy wasn't giving up, even though the old nail already had her bleeding.

"I think I got—oh!" Bethanne cried out as her fingers slipped and her arms fell.

"Here, I'll take a turn."

"Nee. Let me give it another go. It's just that..." Her voice drifted off.

"I know." Candace finished the thought. "Your arms are screaming, your wrists are stinging, and your hand now hurts too."

"Yep. But we're okay, ain't so?"

"Yeah."

Inhaling, Bethanne bent forward and stretched her hands. "Help me, Candace," she said around a groan.

"What can I do?"

"Besides tell me what to do now?"

"Right. You're almost there. A little to the left now. There."

Bethanne grabbed it. "Got it. Now pray."

Of course. "Dear God. Please help Bethanne. Please give her the strength she needs to..." Was she really going to ask God to help her pull out a nail?

"Pull out this nail," Bethanne said through clenched teeth.

"To pull out this nail," Candace repeated, smiling in spite of the situation. Her shy, seemingly weak cousin had more fortitude and grit than anyone had ever expected.

"Candace, help please," Bethanne said with more than a little impatience.

"Sorry. God, please help Bethanne pull this nail. Help her hands and her arms and—"

"And her back!"

"And her back," Candace repeated. "Please give us both Your courage to keep fighting. Your will be done. And please—"

"Amen!" Bethanne cried out as the nail pulled out of the old, worn wood. But it flew out of her hand and onto the floor.

They both gasped. "Oh no," Bethanne moaned. "It slipped out of my fingers."

With how bloody her cousin's fingertips were, Candace wasn't surprised. "Did you see where it landed?"

"No. Did you?"

Candace shook her head. "But we'll find it. Can't be that hard."

Except it wasn't as easy as she'd hoped—even with them both down on their knees looking. The dim light and the dirty floor didn't help, and neither did the tears blurring Candace's vision.

And who knew how much time they had before Scott returned.

She took a deep breath. "Have a seat, Bethanne, I'm going to find it."

"Candace—"

"We can do this. I know we can. My eyes are just fine."

As she fell down to her knees, she hoped and prayed that she was right. God , she whispered silently, Your work with us isn't done yet. It looks like we're going to need You a while longer.

Fighting back tears, she started searching the floor. One inch at a time.