walls, a concrete floor, and a low ceiling that looks like the underside of a tin roof. A plastic dog bowl sits on the floor, filled with water. A pail stands beside it, empty, and she realizes that this is to be her toilet. A door slams somewhere, and the walls of her cell vibrate.
?Well, this is what you get,? she says aloud, walking forward and testing the bars with a steady pull. The bars aren'?t set in the window, but screwed over it. She could have them off in a couple of hours.
It can?t be that easy,
she thinks. Then she remembers the dogs.
?Fuck,? she whispers, realizing her situation at last. The bars weren?t put here to hold a human in this room, but a dog.
I can use my wonderful opposable thumb to get the bars off, but the dogs are outside, hoping I'?ll drop through that window like food through a chute.
The sound of an engine reaches her, and after a grinding of gears, it slowly recedes into silence. Thinking they?ve left her alone, Caitlin nearly jumps out of her skin when something bumps the wall to her left. At first she thinks it?s a dog, but then the sound comes again, a steady tapping against the plywood, low down on the wall. She drops into a crouch and puts her cheek against the wood.
?Is someone there??
Three slow taps respond.
?Who are you?? Caitlin asks.
?Who are
you??
?Caitlin Masters.?
There?s silence for a few moments. Then a muffled female voice says, ?Penn Cage?s old girlfriend??
?Yes! Tell me your name.?
There?s a long pause. Then the voice says, ?Are you for real??
?What do you mean??
?You could be with them. Helping them. Quinn.?
?My God, no! They just kidnapped me. I?'ve been looking for Linda Church. Is that you, Linda??
?You tell me the rest first. Why would they kidnap you??
?Penn got your note?from that Pentecostal girl. He thought you?d got away safe, but I wasn'?t sure. I wanted to find you. I never stopped looking for you, Linda. I traced that girl from the Oneness church. And then the preacher, Simpson.?
Caitlin hears soft whimpering. ?I want to believe you.?
?Linda, is it really you? Please tell me. What can it hurt? They already know you?re here. They
put
you here.?
?I guess. I can?t think right anymore. I'm sick. My leg?s infected.?
Caitlin remembers this from the note. She?d forgotten it, assuming that Linda had got medical care by now. ?Do you have fever??
?I'm burning up. But that?s not the worst part.?
?What?s the matter??
?He?s been doing it to me. Quinn.?
?Doing it??
?Raping me. He started last night. He?s done it so much that I'm getting a UTI. It hurts so bad when I have to pee, and I shiver all over afterward.?
?Did you tell Quinn that??
?He gave me some pills he said would help. Antibiotics. They?re for dogs, I think, but he said it?s all the same. But they'?re not helping. If it gets any worse, I don'?t know what I'?ll do. I stopped drinking water so I won'?t have to pee.?
?You can?t do that, Linda. You have to drink. You?ll die if you don'?t.?
?I'm going to die anyway. They?ll never let me out of here alive. He?s going to use me till he?s tired of me, then feed me to the dogs. He told me.?
Fear and outrage rush through Caitlin in a flood. ?That'?s not going to happen. Listen to me, Linda. We?re getting out of here!?
?How? Does anybody know where you are??
Caitlin doesn?'t want to admit the truth, but she can?t bring herself to lie. ?No.?
?Then how are we going to get out? There?s dogs outside this kennel. Bulldogs and something else too. Big dogs. They don'?t even leave men to guard me most of the time. They don'?t have to. It?s twenty feet to the fence. Even if you could get out of here, they?d tear you to pieces before you got to it.?
?Is that what this building is? A kennel??
?Uh-huh. You?re in a regular room like an office. But the rest of it?s just two lines of fenced stalls with an aisle between. There?s cats in one stall down by the door. That'?s it.?
?That helps. The more I know, the better chance we have. I'?ll think of something. You just drink your water and try to stay strong. Maybe the antibiotics will start to work. I know the bladder infection hurts. I?'ve had those myself. But you listen to me, girl. We are
getting out of here.
Do you hear me??
?Yes.?
?Say it, Linda.?
?We?re getting out.?
?Say it like you believe it.?
?I'm sorry. My throat hurts. Did they put a collar on you??
?What??
?A dog collar.?
?No.?
?They?ve got a dog collar on me, and it?s chained to a post. He only takes it off when he does it to me.?
Jesus Christ.
?If you?re going to do something, please do it quick.?
Caitlin thinks frantically. ?Are we by ourselves now? Did they really leave??
?I think so.?
?I'm sure I can get these bars off the window.?
?No! Don?t do that! You?ll draw the dogs. They could jump through that window if they tried.?
?Okay, okay, I won'?t.? Caitlin looks around her cell again, then lifts her gaze to the cheap tin roof. ?What about the roof? Do you
care if I try to get part of that open? Then I could get up on top and see what?s out there.?
After a brief silence, Linda says, ?I guess that?s okay. Just don'?t fall off.?
Caitlin flexes her hands, then takes hold of the window bars at shoulder height. With a mighty effort, she leans back and starts walking her feet up the wall, first to chest level, then past the window.
Skinning the cat,
