Imprisoned By Iron

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

A tall, thin woman stood in the doorway, her pale skin almost glowing in the light cast from the candle she held, her long hair equally fair and her eyes an impossibly pale blue.

“I’m sorry to bother you-” Joan began.

“Is it just the four of you?” The woman looked past them to the car parked in front of the house.

“Yeah.” Fred held out his hand, stepping forward. “I’m Fred. Just plain Fred. Not short for anything.”

Audrey winced at her dad’s familiar phrase. How many times had she asked him not to say that? It wasn’t at all amusing.

The woman didn’t shake his hand. “Come in. No need to stand on the doorstep all night.” She took a step back. “I’m Madlen.”

Joan remained where she was. “We need to use your phone.”

“No phone and no power. Are you coming in or spending the night in your vehicle?” Madlen glanced past them as she spoke the word vehicle, her tone letting them know she didn’t think much of it.

“Well…” Joan’s voice trailed off.

“No one will get any sleep if we spend the night in the car.” Fred finally lowered his hand, glancing at it first as if having forgotten he held it out.

“There’s plenty of space,” Audrey said. “You and Mum can wind the front seats back. Jordan and I don’t need a lot of room. We can use the back seat.” Staying in the car had to be preferable to entering a strange house. Even with how cold it would get in the early hours of the morning.

Joan looked Jordan up and down. “Jordie is taller than you, Audrey. He’ll take up a lot more room than you.”

Jordan took a step towards Audrey. “No I won’t. Audrey is right. There’s plenty of space in the back seat for the two of us.”

Madlen began to close the door. “I will expect you to be on your way at daylight.”

Fred held out a hand, preventing her from closing the door. “Wait a minute. The kids don’t speak for us. If you’ve got the room, we’d appreciate somewhere to stay for the night.”

“The house has plenty of space. It’s only me and my nephew who live here.” Madlen held the door wide open. “You can stay upstairs.”

Fred entered the house, turning to Audrey and Jordan. “Come on. You didn’t have to drive all day after an early start.”

Audrey shared a look with Jordan. She could see he had as little idea as her about what to do. She remained close to his side as they entered the house, wanting to tell him if they stayed together, all four of them, they should be okay. But she couldn’t exactly say anything in front of Madlen. Insulting the woman when she was letting them stay seemed rude.

Fred made introductions as they entered the house, gesturing to each of them in turn.

Madlen closed the door the moment they were inside, not acknowledging any of the introductions. “Would you like a light supper?”

Joan followed Madlen down the hallway. Lit candles and lanterns were placed on every available surface. “I’m afraid the kids have too many allergies. The main ones are gluten, dairy, fructose and nuts.”

“I’ll have my nephew check what we have that avoids all those ingredients.” Madlen stopped at a doorway that led into a dining room. “If you wish to take a seat, I won’t be long.”

“We’re not hungry.” Audrey grinned at her brother when he said the same words, both having spoken at the same time.

Madlen looked them over. “I find that hard to believe.”

Audrey repeated her words. She could be starving and she’d say the same. People often didn’t understand allergies and there’d been too many times when she’d ended up eating something she’d been assured was fine only to learn the hard way that it wasn’t.

“I want to sleep, not eat,” Jordan said.

Madlen looked from one to the other before turning to Joan and Fred. “Did you want a light supper before bed?”

Fred started to nod, opening his mouth to speak.

Joan nudged his arm. “Sleep. We all need sleep. Food isn’t necessary.” She glanced at Audrey and Jordan before giving Fred a pointed look.

He sighed. “Yeah, sleep. That’s all we need. If you can show us to somewhere we can stretch out…” His voice trailed off, his gaze momentarily drawn to the dining table. “Sleep would be good. None of us are hungry.”

Madlen inclined her head. “I’ll send my nephew to show you to your rooms.” She gestured towards the dining room, a single candle in the middle of the table, the flickering flame casting very little light. The room was dimly lit compared to the entrance and hallway. “That is if you’re certain you’re not hungry.” She took a step away before facing them again. “Do not wander about my home. I don’t appreciate it when people invade my privacy.”

Jordan didn’t speak until Madlen was out of sight. “Do you think we’d find dead bodies if we wandered around?”

Joan pointed a warning finger at him. “Don’t even think it. She was kind enough to take us in. Don’t make her regret it.”

Before Jordan could speak, a wiry man with hunched shoulders hurried towards them. “Madlen said you’re staying the night. Can I get you anything to eat? Or maybe a drink.”

“No.” Audrey spoke the word more sharply than she’d planned, but she was sick of being offered food. Especially when she couldn’t accept it.

“You can stay in the upstairs bedrooms.” The nephew started to hurry off, heading towards the front door.

Fred strode after him, stepping in front to hold his hand out. “I’m Fred.”

Audrey interrupted before her dad could start his usual spiel. “How many bedrooms does this place have?”

The nephew led the way, glancing over his shoulder. “Don’t stray from the rooms you’re shown to. Madlen has a lot of sensitive experiments in progress and any interference with them would set her back years.” He headed up the stairs.

“She’s a scientist?” Audrey asked.

Reaching the top of the stairs, the nephew turned left. “She is nothing so simple as a scientist.” He stopped at a closed door, swinging it open. “A bedroom suited for a couple. The sheets on the bed are fresh. We’ve had visitors recently.”

Audrey shined the light from her phone into the room. “What are we meant to do for light?”

“I thought you were going to bed.” The nephew opened two doors that were across the hallway. “You can decide which one of you has which room.”

Audrey checked the rooms across the hallway. She could see no difference between them. “Thanks.”

“I’ll take this one.” Jordan slipped past Audrey and dropped onto the single bed set in the middle of the wall opposite the door, lying so his feet hung over the end. “I could sleep for a week.”

Audrey looked at each of them. “We’re staying? In separate rooms.” They were meant to stick together.

“I will bring lanterns back for each room.” The nephew hurried away.

Audrey stared after him. “He didn’t even tell us his name.”

“Maybe nephew is his name.” Jordan grinned. “Or Madlen doesn’t let him have a name. He seemed more like some employee than family. Or a servant. Possibly even a slave.”

Audrey remained in the doorway, looking from her brother to the direction of her room. “We should take the mattresses from our beds and sleep in the same room as Mum and Dad.”

Jordan peered up at her from under his arm that rested across his forehead. “You can’t be serious. Dad snores. No one would get any sleep except him.”

Before Audrey could say anything else, the sound of footsteps had her facing the hallway. The nephew hurried towards her. He carried three unlit lanterns, the handles of them resting over one of his arms, the lanterns in a row, none of them touching the other. When he held his arm out to her, she took two of them. “Thank you.” She handed one of the lanterns over to her brother who had joined her in the doorway.

Jordan took the lantern. “Got any matches?”

The nephew took a packet out of a pocket, holding them out to Jordan. “I have another packet. You can keep these for the night.”

Jordan slipped the box into a pocket of his jeans. “Thanks.”

The nephew inclined his head before handing the third lantern to Audrey. “The bathroom is at the end of the hallway. Let your parents know.” He gestured towards the right.

Audrey watched him hurry away. She kept her voice low. “I think we would have been better off staying in the car.”

Jordan shrugged. “So, they’re a little weird. It’s not like you’re perfect.” He strode to the bedside cabinet and set the lantern down before lighting it. “Weird doesn’t make you evil.”

Audrey placed the lanterns on the bedside cabinet for Jordan to light. “It doesn’t make you good either.” She glanced at the door. “I’ll give this to Mum and Dad.”

Joan answered the door when Audrey knocked. “Is that for us?” She nodded towards the lantern.

Audrey handed it over. “What if we can’t ring anyone in the morning?”

“It won’t matter. We won’t need headlights during the day. There should be enough charge in the battery to get it started, otherwise, we’ll push start the car.”

“So we just have to get through the night?”

Joan glanced up and down the hallway. “Hush, Audrey. Madlen was nice enough to take us in. Don’t go insulting her like that.”

She opened her mouth to demand if Madlen was her mum’s new best friend. She closed her mouth, words unspoken. She was too tired to get into an argument.

“Say it, then. Whatever you’re about to say, spit it out.”

“It wasn’t important.”

“Audrey.” There was a warning note to Joan’s tone.

She barely managed not to sigh. She was too tired for an argument. She was even less interested in being interrogated. “Is there any food in the car? I’m hungry.”

“You know perfectly well if there was food in the car, we’d give you some. Your father and I will have nothing to eat until you two can eat as well. It’s too dangerous when we have no way of obtaining medical help if you have an allergic reaction.”

This time Audrey did sigh. “Should we sleep in your room?”

“Don’t be silly. You’re not toddlers any more.”

Even though she would have preferred to argue, Audrey managed to keep her mouth closed. As well as the words unspoken. “Goodnight.” She strode to Jordan’s room before her mum finished saying the words back to her.

“Don’t be up all night,” Joan called out before stepping into the bedroom and closing the door.

Audrey faced her brother. “This is utter madness.”

Jordan was once again stretched out on the bed, his feet hanging over the end and his sneakers still on. “Go to sleep. Aren’t you tired?”

She slowly shook her head. She might be tired, but she was more worried about staying in some strange place than getting to sleep. “It doesn’t matter. I doubt I could sleep anyway.” When her brother didn’t comment, his eyes remaining closed, she collected her lantern and strode from the room. Entering the bedroom, she closed the door, placing the lantern on the bedside cabinet before she sat on the edge of the bed. She was tired and exhausted, yet she couldn’t stop thinking of all the things that might go wrong. She had no idea how long she sat there before a knock on the door brought her to her feet.