Doll House

VII. The Ride

 The old man looks over from the doll to the girl and then back to the doll.

"Well, you're rather a curious sight," he says in a deep, burly voice. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

Except he knows, as well as they do, that there is little point to his question. They all know what the girl's doing here and where she's going, though not exactly. Rather, they both know what she's running away from and that's enough.

"I'm quite certain you're not supposed to be here, little girl."

The Overall Man doesn't sound particularly malicious, but that's not saying anything. Miss Francine didn't sound malicious either, not in her first few days at the house. She'd sounded a little cold, sure, but the children had been eager to please her, make her like them. And what at first had been a little joking slap or an occasional raising of the voice had slowly turned into bigger, harder slaps and sometimes, slaps that involved belts and most of all, canes, and other such nasty things. And the raised voice turned into a scream, into mean little words that once let out into the world could never be taken back again. Not that Miss Francine would ever want to take them back, of course. So, voice is not a good indicator, Vicky knows. And even though the Overall Man doesn't particularly seem bad, that doesn't mean he isn't.

"Now, what say you get into my car here and I drive you both back home?"

Vicky shakes her head, scrambling to her feet, already planning her escape route. She wouldn't be able to get around him, but she might stand a chance If she runs for the trees. He won't be able to follow her with his car, once inside the trees, and the Overall Man looks old and out of shape. She could outrun him or perhaps hide somewhere out of reach.

And then, almost as if sensing her thoughts, the Overall Man's eyes darken.

"Don't be getting any silly ideas in your head, girl. You can't escape in these woods. You think those trees there would hide you? No, they would lead you straight back to me. You can get in my car and make this easy on yourself or you can run for hours. Don't matter to me, you'll end up in the same place either way. Right back where you started."

Something flickers in his eye when he lowers his gaze to look at the doll, like light catching in the facet of a brilliant diamond. A brilliant, shattered diamond.

"But I think you have something that belongs to me and I can't be waiting for hours for you to come give it to me, can I?"

There is no time. She sees the old man lunge, they both do, and to be honest, it's not even that great a lunge. Just enough to let him grab the doll by one frail arm. He doesn't pull, but neither does he move away. The Overall Man's so close now that Vicky can feel his ragged breath ruffling her hair, like manacles locking around her head, her arms, her body now stuck in place with no chance of escape.

The only way she could escape is to either pull and undoubtedly break her only friend or to let go, abandon her in the grasp of the Overall Man and run for the forest.

And what if the Overall Man is right? They've been walking for hours and they're still just here, haven't gotten out of these woods and yet, the old man doesn't look like he's been driving for that long, so there must be some escape to the forest. One that she alone is not permitted to find.

"Help us, then, sir. Please, there are bad people inside that house. Miss Francine, she –"

"She will be glad to see you again, I'm sure."

"No!"

But the old man is not willing to listen, it's obvious by the way he shakes his head. Just once, but it's enough to tell the girl she will find no understanding here. And definitely no salvation. He holds out his other hand to the girl.