LAMBS OUT OF WATER

Should she be discovered, they would certainly kill her. Her only hope of survival was to get out of there, and fast. Being careful not to crunch any of the broken glass on the floor, she quietly crawled from beneath the table on her hands and knees and through the open door. Tightly clutching the thermos, she vaulted over the deck railing in one graceful motion, hitting the ground hard, eight feet below. A searing pain shot through her left ankle as she landed and tumbled down the incline. She lay dazed for a moment. As she regained her alertness, she became aware of the loud barking of the nearby dog. The short man appeared at the door above and stared out into the darkness. She lay motionless and waited, and after several agonizing seconds, the man disappeared back into the house. Ann let out a deep breath. He had not seen her, and he must have satisfied himself that no one was about. She crawled to the corner of the house and then over to the hedge out of his line of vision from the deck. The dog had stopped barking, and the night was again silent. In spite of the pain in her ankle, Ann was now thinking clearly and suddenly realized she did not have the thermos. She must have dropped it during the jump over the deck railing and now had to crawl back to the corner of the house. Even more frightening, she could hear the creaking boards on the deck above and saw a light from a flashlight beginning to slowly scan the back yard. The man had only gone back into the house for a flashlight. She had to find the thermos before he spotted it, yet she did not see it in the area where she had fallen, so the thermos must have rolled out into the yard. The light was now following the hedge to the rear of the yard and along the picket fence of the house directly behind Mary’s house. The dog within the fenced yard began to bark loudly. The light was now moving in toward the patio perimeter, forcing her to move to cover onto the patio directly under the deck and out of view from the searching beam of light. As she strained her eyes to scan the immediate area in front of the patio, she spotted an object about ten feet out from the patio. Yes, it was the thermos. She was at a loss for what to do, as the circle of light was slowly and methodically approaching the location of the thermos. Suddenly floodlights lit up the fenced yard across the way, and a man appeared on his deck. “Lucky, shut up!” the neighbor yelled at the barking dog. “What are you barking at? Is there someone out there?” The man on the deck above her turned off his flashlight and stepped back into the darkness of the doorway. It was now or never—after all, Regina had risked her life for that thermos. Ann was determined as she quickly limped from the patio to grab the thermos. The dog again barked loudly. “Who’s over there?” the neighbor shouted. Ann froze and dropped to the ground. She saw the burst of fire from the deck above and heard the muffled ping as the large pistol fired. She was momentarily stunned, but she felt no pain. God! I’ve been shot, but where did it hit me? She then heard a woeful moan and turned to see the neighbor collapse on his deck. Realizing that she was not the target, she slowly started to crawl toward the patio as the flashlight once more began to quickly sweep the yard only inches behind her. She made it to the cover of the patio just as the man with the gun started down the steps. The dog continued to bark and jump up against the wooden picket fence.