Chapter 5
Jan awoke with a start. The car had stopped and she heard voices. There was no telling how long she had been asleep, she realized with alarm, frightened now that she hadn't worked out a plan for this moment.
The trunk opened and she immediately spotted Tom, then an older man. Much older, she noted, with a thin, wrinkled face and balding head. He stared down at her with a stern expression that suggested meanness. Then a woman stepped up alongside him to stare down at her with the same stern expression. Judging by her age, she was probably the man's wife, Jan decided. She too was very thin, with gray hair pulled straight back in a bun. Her housedress was so old, Jan noted, that the print in it was almost completely washed out.
Tom reached in to help her out of the trunk, but Jan suddenly didn't want to leave the security of it. Then Al appeared and they practically lifted her out bodily, holding her by the arms while her legs wobbled uncertainly under her. She ached all over and was famished, which probably explained why she wasn't as frightened as she should be, she decided.
"Everything went just as planned," Tom was saying with a proud grin.
"You're late," the man said dryly. "Shoulda been here about two hours ago."
"She had some kid in the house overnight," Tom began to explain. "We had to wait for him to leave. And we didn't see her husband at all, so we weren't sure if he was still in there."
"Did she give you any trouble?" the woman interrupted.
"Naw," Al answered for Tom. "We took her by surprise and she didn't let out a peep."
The man and woman eyed her from head to toe as the boys continued to tell about the adventure, and Jan felt as though they saw her as an object on a shelf. There was a critical, almost angry look on their faces and it never seemed to change. Good news, bad news, it didn't matter, Jan told herself. They were suspicious people and didn't show their emotions to anyone.
"I'd like to use the bathroom," Jan said softly, directing it at the woman. For a moment she wondered if the woman heard her, the way she seemed to ignore the request. A noise distracted Jan from repeating the request and she turned to see a group of young children in filthy clothes gathering alongside the car.
"Did you have enough money for gas?" the man asked Tom, still staring at Jan.
"Made it there okay," Tom said. "But we had to use her money to get back."
"And eats?" the man asked.
"Got hamburgers last night, like you told us," Tom answered. "Cost a dollar and a quarter each. Ask Al. That's why we needed her money for gas."
"Don't matter," the man said. "Just as long as everything worked out right."
"Sounds awful dear for chopmeat," the woman added.
"Ask Al... or Mike... we didn't even have enough to get something to wash it down."
"You mean they charge for water too?" the man asked.
"Naw. I meant coffee or..."
"Water's just as good," he said, cutting Tom off. "At least you had meat. We had potato soup again."
"The bathroom is inside," the woman finally said to Jan. "No sense standing out here. It's getting dark."
As they led her toward the house, Jan noted how run-down the place was. The whole scene sent a cold chill through her. There must have been close to thirty children, she, told herself, still unable to understand what kind of place it was.
"Don't expect nothing, fancy," the woman was saying over her shoulder as they entered the almost dark house. "Can't afford electricity... but then we usually go to bed when the sun goes down and don't notice it anyway."
Someone lit a kerosene lamp and Jan realized they were in a room that resembled a living room, but without all the furnishings of a living room. Candles were being lit in the next room and Jan followed the woman's lead toward the fuckering lights, while someone brought up the rear with the kerosene lamp. It was a larger dining room and she couldn't see much more than the large table, surrounded by an assortment of wooden chairs. Then the woman turned and started to untie Jan's hands.
"Bathroom is in the hall," she said. "You'll need a candle to see."
A young boy stepped up with a candle. "Think I should keep an eye on her?" he asked the woman seriously, handing Jan the saucer that held the candle.
"Just leave the lady be," the woman said. "Ain't nothing she can do and no place to run... so give her some breathing room."
The boy backed off without comment, though Jan could see a look of disappointment on his face. Then he led her out into a large hall and down to a door at the end of it, which he opened for her. Jan found herself giving him a slight smile as she walked into the dark bathroom. She closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the door had a hook and eye to lock it closed.
She lingered in the bathroom for as long as she felt she dared, not wanting to do anything at this point to aggravate her situation with the old couple. When she opened the door her little admirer was standing there in total darkness, waiting patiently. He led her to the kitchen, where the others were gathered.
"You must be hungry," the woman said.
"Yes. I'm famished," Jan answered politely.
"We don't have any of that fancy food," the woman said from the stove, where she was preparing something. "But you're welcome to eat the same as we eat."
Tom indicated her place at the kitchen table, while Al and the old man began shooing the younger children off to bed. Then the woman placed a bowl before Jan which contained a thick, white, lumpy mush. Jan swallowed hard, trying not to display the sudden rejection her knotted stomach was signaling.
"Potato soup," the woman announced flatly. "Cheap but filling."
"Won't kill you," the man said, seeing Jan's apparent reluctance to try it.
Then Tom added his encouragement by saying, "Tastes pretty good. Especially when you dunk the bread in. Ma's bread is delicious all by itself... and dunked in the gravy it's really great."
Jan ventured a taste, taking just a little on the tip of the tablespoon they had given her. It wasn't too bad, and she ate with more confidence. As she ate, they offered her some of the facts leading to her abduction.
"Ma" and "Pa", as they referred to themselves, were trying to operate an orphanage for these "poor young things". However, they ran out of money and couldn't get aid from any outside source. They got the idea from the newspapers that the best way to get what they needed was to kidnap someone. "They're all doing it," Pa added. "All them Commies and weirdos are doing it for causes that ain't right to begin with. All we're asking for is enough money to feed and clothe these young children."
However, whenever Jan asked a question to probe a little deeper into the problem, they cut her off by telling her they'd already said more than they should. But one fact was made very clear to her. Regardless of whether the plan worked or not, she would be released unharmed.
"We never planned to hurt nobody," Ma said. "That's why we picked someone connected with a bank. The bank can afford to lose money because nobody gets hurt. We even feel bad about the inconvenience we caused you and your husband... but we just had to do what we did. When you get home, though, you'll still have a house and all your money."
Shortly after she finished eating they showed her to her room. A small room on the third floor, with a bed and two wooden chairs. In the dim candlelight it appeared to be clean enough, she noted, grateful for small favors. The door didn't have a lock, but they warned her that it was useless to try to escape. Then they left her with a candle, some wooden matches and a large aluminum pot that was to serve as a bed pan.
Once alone, Jan checked the room more closely. She wasn't the least bit tired, she realized, remembering the long sleep she had had in the trunk of the car. But the room didn't offer anything to pass the time, not even a book or magazine to read, and she finally decided to get undressed and climb into bed. She knew she'd have to live in the clothes she had on for the next few days, so she carefully folded them on one of the chairs. As an after-thought, she took off her bra and panties too.
As she climbed into bed she wondered if she shouldn't go back for her underwear. The bed only had one sheet over the mattress and she wasn't used to sleeping with a rough blanket against her soft skin. She sat up straight, tucked the pillow behind her back and tried to think out the dilemma she was in. There was a sound at the door and she saw it open slowly, and she quickly pulled the blanket up to her chin to cover her naked breasts.
"Who's there?" she called out.
"Me," a low voice answered, followed by the appearance of her little admirer.
"What do you want?" she asked softly but sternly.
"I couldn't sleep," he answered, closing the door behind him so the others wouldn't hear them. "I wanted to see if you needed anything. I brought you a glass of water... just in case."
"Thank you, but I'm fine," she said as he put the glass of water on one of the chairs. "What's your name?"
"David," he answered, standing beside the bed and looking at her with sad, puppy-like eyes that seemed to be begging for some attention.
"Why do you always want to follow me around, David?" Jan asked.
"I like you... and you're the prettiest girl I ever saw."
Jan reached over and patted him on the head, taking care to hold the blanket under her chin with the other hand. "You're a very sweet boy, David. And I like you too." She had the urge to laugh, seeing him standing there in an old, baggy nightshirt that made him look like Dopey from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". When he stretched on tiptoes to kiss her, she found herself bending to meet him. And when her warm, moist lips touched his, he wrapped his arms around her neck and kissed her harder.
"I love you," he gulped.
The light from the candle was too dim for her to be certain, but she thought his eyes were filling with tears. Letting the blanket drop to her waist, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight, kissing his cheeks and lips, feeling as though she wanted to give him all the attention and love he so desperately wanted. She felt his small hand on her breast and it sent a chill through her, causing her to release him from the bearhug she had him in. He was already on the bed, she realized, and as she moved back from him his mouth suddenly lowered to suck in the tit he was stroking.
Jan found her head swimming with conflicting thoughts. She wanted to send him back to his room, because that would be the proper thing to do. But at the same time felt the instinct to fill his craving mouth with her aching tit. The mother instinct prevailed and she gently hugged his head tighter against her breast, filling his warm, moist mouth and feeling him milk the ache from it with his tongue. She tried to tell herself that it wasn't a sexual experience, but her body told her she lied.
Then she felt his little fingers comb through her pubic hair and it took her breath away. His sucking mouth never released her throbbing breast, and his hand could have slid between her legs accidentally, she told herself. When his hand failed to linger there she was satisfied that it was just an accident. She realized ber hand was resting on his bare leg now and she stroked the leg slowly, moving higher and higher with each stroke, causing him to suck more feverishly on her tit. The boy trembled when her hand swept up over his buttocks and gently massaged the smooth globes of flesh there. He quivered when her finger slithered down the crack and she knew it was tickling him.
"Hey!" he laughed. "Don't do that! It tickles!"
"I'll stop goosing you if you'll promise to say good night and go back to your room."
He had to think that over for a minute and Jan coaxed him with another stab of her finger on his asshole. That made him giggle and squirm and she felt something stiff and familiar brush against her arm. When her hand swept over his hip and encountered his hard cock, the boy suddenly became silent and she could tell by the way he swallowed and held his breath that her touch was giving him the thrill of his life. Without hesitating she pushed the guilt from her mind and guided him between her legs, holding his stiff prick until it was at the door to her cunt. His boy-sized cock slipped easily and quickly into the welcomed warmth and velvety softness of her pussy.
Jan was amazed at the delight his small, rigid prick created inside her. It tantalized, teased and delighted her with its probing little head. She reached down to seize his buttocks and force him deeper into her cunt, driven on by the thought that he would remember this experience for the rest of his life. It didn't matter how many women he would have after her, she knew he would always remember this fuck and go through life thinking it was the best. Then the telltale throbbing of his cock signaled his eruption was near and she held him firmly locked inside her, waiting for the explosion. When the first spray of his cum hit the walls of her cunt, she felt her own release rushing to meet his.
"Mmnmmm..." she sighed, releasing her grip on his buttocks and slowly rubbing her hands up his back. "Now you're a man... satisfied?"
"I... I... don't know," he gulped. "Nothing like this ever happened before... except, sometimes I have a wet dream..."
Jan hugged him tight against her body so he wouldn't see the laugh she was holding in. David kissed and licked her neck and shoulder, hungry for the taste of her soft, smooth skin and the feel of her flattened breasts against his young chest. He would die before he'd let anyone take her away from him, he told himself as he felt Jan's soft hands massaging his back.
It came as a bit of a surprise to Jan when she realized his cock was still stiff and probing inside her. And his gentle rocking motion gave indication that he had every intention of reloading it for another volley.
"Feel good?" she asked in a whisper.
"Oh yes!" he answered, suddenly inspired to pump his piston harder into the squeezing, juice-soaked sleeve.
"Mmmmm... you'll drive the girls wild when you get older," she purred, meeting his pistoning rod with bumps and grinds of her own.
"Unnnngggghhhhh..." he moaned, straining every muscle in his body as he tried to deliver his package on cue, thinking she wanted it now and he had to give her what she wanted.
"Owwww... easy," she breathed, "mustn't try to force it. Just let the sensations work naturally... feel the thrill of it building inside you... feel my breasts... let my fingers tingle and tantalize you..."
"Nnnnggg..." he groaned, seizing the firm, pear-shaped orbs in his hands. He felt her fingers slither down his back to the cool skin of his ass again, licking a path of heat over the fleshy mounds. He enjoyed it now just like she said he should. And it didn't tickle when her finger slithered down the crack there either. It tingled and created a throbbing desire for more. His world began to focus on the touch of that slender finger blindly exploring the sensitive valley, not aware that she was having an orgasm in the process.
"Oh! Owww... AHHH!" Jan grunted as she scaled the peak of excitement and squeezed out her orgasm.
For David, the experience was breathtaking... almost frightening. He had no idea what she intended to do with that dancing digit, nor how he would react to whatever she did. But he rode out the anxiety, captivated by the desire to have whatever that tantalizing finger gave him, knowing it was the only way to release the painfully knotted feeling in his balls. It was the slow, teasing way she held him in suspense that made it unbearable.
"Please don't touch that!" he screeched as her finger circled his asshole. "You're driving me crazy!" he whimpered, feeling the finger slowly circle the little bud again... and again... posing a real threat to the safety of it, at the same time causing his cock to huff and puff with new vigor. "Ohhhhhh... please..." he groaned, his hands squeezing her breasts tighter and driving his cock deeper into her. He felt the finger tapping at the door to his anus and knew his time had come. Butterflies fluttered in his balls now and he was ready to give up the contents. In fact, he thought he had already started, the way his prick was jerking so violently. But he realized he was firing blanks. "Stick it in!" he cried. "Stick it in!"
His begging cries brought Jan to the summit. She would hold him there a little longer, make him suffer and beg for more.
He felt her fingernail prick the sensitive opening, and it hurt. But the finger continued to force its entrance into the tight tunnel, stretching the walls with a thickness he suddenly craved.
At that moment Jan's orgasm broke. She wiggled and plunged her finger deeper into him, triggering his climax and filling her cunt with churning juices. She felt his rod whipping around her insides, bringing the cream to a buttery thickness.
"Woooa... woooa..." he called out.
"Shhhh..." she warned. "You'll wake the whole house."
"Oooowwww..." he groaned quietly.
"Mmmmmm..." she sighed.
"Oooww... your finger..."
Jan eased her finger from the squeezing sleeve and his body went limp. She gently eased him from on top of her to a quivering mass of flesh beside her on the bed. The candle was fickering wildly, she noted, about to run out of wax. Then the room went black, and she closed her eyes.
As she started to doze off she felt his small hands warning back over her tits. She turned her back to him wanting sleep now more than anything else. But the boy didn't seem to mind. His hands were already exploring her ass and his little finger was searching for her asshole. She remained motionless until he found what he was searching for and screwed his finger in, allowing him a moment to explore the cavity to satisfy his curiosity. Then she reached back and removed his hand.
"Better go back to your room now, David," she whispered over her shoulder. "It's late... I'll still be here tomor..." And she was asleep before she could finish the sentence.
Jan awoke with a start. Without her watch she had no idea of the time, but front the dim, gray light filtering through the only window in the room, she decided it couldn't be much past dawn. There was a great deal of activity in the house, she realized, and assumed it was the noise in the hall that had awakened her. As she slipped out of bed and hastily pulled on her clothes, she glanced out the window and saw there was a thick fog hanging in the air. She shuddered from the chill it gave her to see the spooky effect it created around the house.
Still pulling on her sweater, she rushed to the door and out into the hall, wanting only to be with someone now to ease the fear in her mind. She walked down the hall toward an open door where most of the noise seemed to be coming from.
"Oh!" she said with a start as she found herself looking into the boys' bathroom.
"Didn't mean to wake you," the old woman said, sitting on a stool just inside the door. "it's after nine and we have to get things done though."
"I didn't... realize... it was so late," Jan stammered, her eyes scanning the room full of naked boys.
The woman saw the puzzled look on Jan's face and said, "Have to watch them, you know. Can't afford to let them get sick or anything."
"Yes... of course," Jan answered absently, her mind still confused by all the naked flesh moving about the room. She noted the embarrassment -- her presence caused for the older boys as they tried to shield their nakedness from her view.
"Have to check that they wash good, brush their teeth and move their bowels," the woman explained, holding up a record book for Jan to see. "It's all part of the job. All that bread, oatmeal and potato soup can really bind you up, you know."
Jan was fascinated by the procedure: a monitor checked the bowl to make sure the occupant left a deposit, then he signaled the woman, who put a check in the book next to the boy's name. The boy then showered, brushed his teeth and presented himself to the woman for inspection.
"Spread your cheeks," the woman was saying to the youngster before her. The boy turned, bent slightly and spread his buttocks for her. "Hmmmm," she muttered. The boy flamed and she took his cock between her thumb and forefinger and examined that, pushing the foreskin back to eye the purplish head. "Okay. Next," she said.
Even though she was mesmerized by the scene before her, Jan managed to force herself away from the doorway and quickly moved toward the stairs to the kitchen. Over a cup of coffee she managed to clear her swirling, dizzy head and put things into place. At precisely ten a.m. the phone ran and Charles bolted for the phone. This was it! he told himself, letting the phone ring once more to be certain he hadn't just imagined the first.
"Hello," he said, his hands trembling with nervousness.
"Mr. Latimer?" a man's voice asked.
"Yes."
"Listen carefully. We have your wife. If you want to see her again, get one hundred thousand dollars from the bank and wait for instructions. Got that?"
"But..."
"No buts! You can get it. And you'll get a call tonight... eight sharp... make sure you have the money. And if you want to see your wife again DON'T call the police! Do you understand?"
"Yes," Charles answered quickly. There was a click, and Charles returned the phone to the cradle. He spent the next few minutes rehearsing what he was going to say to the president of the bank. Then he got his jacket and started for the door. So far everything was going just as he had hoped, he told himself over and over, to calm the nervous feeling in his stomach.
At the bank he spoke his words exactly as planned and his boss listened attentively. Charles was a little surprised at how calm he took it.
"The first thing I want you to do, Charlie, is relax," Bill Cassidy said in a fatherly tone. "Getting yourself all upset isn't going to help matters... and you're shaking like a leaf... we'll work this out. Don't let it get you down. As a matter of fact, this very subject was discussed at that seminar I went to in Miami. The F.B.I. sent an agent to the meeting to explain exactly how we should handle this sort of thing. As a point of interest, he told us to expect it to happen and I've been thinking about it ever since."
"I was warned not to contact the police or... F.B.I.," Charles said in a nervous voice, giving the impression he didn't want to put Jan in danger.
"Don't worry about a thing," Bill said in that same fatherly tone. "The F.B.I. won't do anything to jeopardize Jan's life. They'll handle this in such a way that no one will know they're in on it. But we have to call them, Charles. It's the rule."
All Charles could do now was sit back and watch as the call was made to the F.B.I. It wasn't hard to pretend nervousness, because he was nervous, and it made everything look that much better. Before he realized it, two F.B.I. agents were in the office with them and he went over the details with them, including Laura's visit, which he offered before they could ask.
"I won't ask you not to worry, Mr. Latimer," the older of the two agents said: "Your wife's life is in danger, but no more so because we're in on the case. She stands a better chance now that our experience is behind it. We'll handle this just as they say, with only a few minor additions. For instance, your neighborhood is being checked right now to see if the house is being watched. We're putting a tap on your phone, but no one will know. And the ransom money is ready. Of course the bills are marked."
"As soon as we get word that no one is watching the house, Ed and I will go home with you to wait for the call. We'll play the rest according to the call. But we won't endanger your wife's life in any way. You can count on that."
Charles gave a sigh of relief, realizing he had completed his act without mishap.
The agents called Laura into the office, and while they were swearing her to secrecy, Charles was asking himself if it wouldn't have been easier just to get a divorce. The sight of Laura caused his pulse to quicken and he desperately wanted to take her in his arms and walk away from the whole episode. But he sat in silence, watching and putting any thoughts of divorce out of his mind... knowing it would hurt his career.
Jan found herself rushing to finish her coffee, anxious to get back to the bathroom. Something was driving her to return to the room full of naked boys, but she couldn't explain what it was. Then as she reached the open doorway again she spotted Tom and Al standing in line, waiting for their turn to be inspected by the old lady. Their faces flushed with embarrassment at the sight of Jan and she suddenly realized why she was so anxious to return to this room... to give these two boys a taste of the discomfort they had given her the day before.
"Back so soon?" the woman asked over her shoulder.
"I just had a cup of coffee," Jan answered. "I wasn't very hungry... and I thought I might be able to give you some help."
"Pa and I usually have this done by now... but he had to go out this morning," the woman said, thinking over Jan's offer. "I guess you could do this while I do the enemas."
Jan forced back a grin and kept from looking at the expressions on Tom and Al's faces, knowing they must be in agony. Instead, she listened attentively while the woman told her what to do. It really didn't amount to much, she told herself, but she played the part of taking it all seriously. The woman watched as Jan inspected the first boy's teeth, ears, asshole and cock. Satisfied that Jan could handle the job, the woman moved off toward one of the stalls, where she would administer her next operation an even less happy boys.
"Spread your cheeks," Jan said, mimicking the woman. The boy in front of her was about eighteen, she guessed, and he blushed from head to toe. "Good," she said, and he turned to face her again. She reached out her hand and took his limp cock between her thumb and forefinger, just as the woman had done. But before she could pull back the foreskin, the fleshy tube flexed, expanded and rose to a standing position, all stiff and throbbing.
She was about to give the boy her stamp of approval when she got another idea. Since the woman couldn't see her anyway, she decided to make a little game out of it. She slid her hand down the underside of the ballooning cock and cupped the hanging sac at the base.
"Hmmmm..." she said, weighing the package in her hand. "Fine," she added, releasing him with a big smile. "Next."
There was some commotion building in the line, she noted as the hoarse whispering got louder and she caught some shoving going on. The fact that the older boys all had erections now amused her. But she realized the boys were arguing in whispers and pushing one another.
"Hey!" one said, loud enough for her to hear. "Stop poking me with that thing!"
"Shhhh!" someone else scolded.
"He's poking me in the ass with his cock!" the first shot back angrily.
"Knock it off!" from another.
Jan shot a questioning glance in the direction of the old woman, saw she was too absorbed in her own task to notice the ruckus, and went back to her own game. It was fun making the shy, modest boys remain there before her, agonized by the delay and embarrassment.
She recognized the large, stiff cock before her now without having to see Tom's face. The skin on it was already stretched tight, but she took it in her fist anyway and pretended to pull back the foreskin. "Hmmmmmnm... you better go back and scrub some more," she said in the sternest voice she could manage without laughing. Then, using his large cock as a handle, she turned him in the direction of the showers, adding a slap on his ass as she released him. That brought snickers and muffled laughs from the others and infuriated Tom even more.
The next in line was Al, who Jan felt compelled to repay for the arrogant disregard he had shown her the day before. As he turned his back and bent, she drove her finger into his ass so fast it took his breath away. She popped the finger out just as quickly and saw the red eye blink furiously at the shock of it.
"Hmmmm..." she said, her hands moving all over his private parts as he turned to face her. "Hmmmm..." She fisted his erection, eyeing it with a questioning look on her face. "You'd better scrub it again also... wait! I'm not finished..." she said as he tried to rush away. Then she cupped his testicles with one hand, while holding his cock with the other. "Hmmm... strange... rather small, isn't it?"
That brought a howl from everyone within hearing range and Al suddenly felt his masculinity drain from his body. His once-proud cock turned into limp spaghetti in her hand and he wished he were dead.
"Scrub it good," Jan said, releasing him. "But not too hard... you need all you've got."
By now everyone was laughing and Jan was beginning to have second thoughts about the cruelty she had infficted upon him. The fun was gone from the task now and she completed the job in a businesslike manner. When Tom returned she sent him on without looking. She had finished the last of the inspections when Al appeared again, head lowered, dragging his feet with a great effort as he moved toward her.
"I was only kidding," she said, getting up from the stool and taking his face in her hands. "I was trying to get even for the way you treated me yesterday."
Without looking up, and sounding as though he were choking back tears, he asked, "Is it true... that I... you know... didn't even... get it in?"
"Who told you that?" she asked, forcing his face up and seeing tears well up in his eyes.
"Tom..." he mumbled.
"Did it feel good?" He nodded his head.
"Then what difference does it make? You were all hot and bothered... too anxious... and only interested in shooting your load anyway. Which you did. And it felt good. So why the long face?"
He shrugged his shoulders and Jan saw there wasn't much time to talk now. The old woman was finished and getting ready to leave.
"We can't talk now," Jan whispered. "I'll see you later... and don't pay any attention to what I said. It was only a joke... and you have everything you need to drive girls wild."
As he shuffled off, she realized the worst part of his punishment would be the taunting his friends would give him. And she hated herself for being so thoughtless.
"Pa's back," someone called from downstairs, and the air was suddenly charged with new excitement. She was anxious now to know if he had any news that would affect her.
"Spoke to your husband," he said as Jan and his wife met him in the kitchen. "He's worried about you and I think everything is going to turn out fine."
"What did he say?" Jan asked nervously.
"Well... I didn't let him say much... didn't want the call to be traced," he said in his usual dry, flat voice. "But he said he was worried... so I guess he'll do what he can to get the money. But don't you worry, nothing is going to happen to you no matter what happens."
"You didn't tell him that, did you?" Ma asked. "Of course not. Had to tell him he wouldn't see her again if he didn't get the money."
"Pa hates lying," his wife said to Jan. "That was the only fly-in-the-ointment, when we decided to do this. We didn't know if Pa could bring himself to tell your husband you're life was in danger, when it really wasn't."
"Only did it for the children, Ma," he injected with sadness in his voice. "As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather starve to death than do what we're doing."
"What happens now?" Jan asked.
"Well, we have to wait to see if he gets the money," the woman said. "Then make arrangements to pick it up if all goes well. May take a little time... but it's just a matter of waiting."
"But don't feel bad about having to stay here," Pa added. "You've got the run of the house. Or you can stay in your room if you want. We've troubled you enough already... I just hope you understand that we had to do it."
Jan told herself that somehow she felt as though she was on their side. Perhaps because she wanted to see the bank give up some of its precious money, she thought. And let Charles suffer a little.