The door across from him was opened as well. Then two others, farther to the front of the hall. In the space of a moment the dark corridor filled with half-grown boys in pajamas. Whispers and giggles pierced Mouse through.
“What do you want?” Her voice sounded hoarse and breathy. Her throat was suddenly as clogged as the corridor.
“Girl-boy,” one of them said. Others chimed in, and in no time at all there was a whispered chorus of it: “Girl-boy! Girl-boy! Girl-boy!”
Mouse pressed her back against the iron bar of the emergency exit. Its cold cut through the jacket of her uniform like a blade.
“Girl-boy! Girl-boy!”
“The grown-ups say that you’ve never left the hotel,” said Maxim, and took a step toward her. “Is that true?”
Yes! she wanted to shout at him. Yes, it’s true! Because I’d die out there, and that’s just how it is!
Nothing, absolutely nothing, gave her such fear as the world Outside. She could not imagine herself standing on a street under the open sky. The thought of this vastness, this emptiness, cut off her breath.
She did not make another sound. Not even a whimper. Her heart galloped.
Maxim’s tone stayed amiable. “We have decided that you’ll miss out on a lot if you never go outside. It’s high time, don’t you think?”
“Girl-boy! Girl-boy!” whispered the husky chorus. More than a dozen boys, most of them with their voices breaking.
“Please,” whispered Mouse. “I haven’t done anything to anyone.”
Maxim shook his head, smiling. “Nor do we want to do anything to you. Just understand – we want to help you.
He gave the other boy a wave – he worked in the kitchen, in the butchery – and the stout fellow immediately grabbed Mouse by the shoulders and lifted her high like a bouquet of dried flowers. Maxim stepped past her, unbarred the door, and shoved her out.
Snow drifted about. And a cold, that caused the throng of boys to give out a groan and flinch back a step.
“It’s not far to the main entrance,” Maxim assured the wide-eyed Mouse. “Really, it isn’t. You don’t even have to go all the way around the hotel. At most half.”
Tears popped into her eyes. And then she kicked the butcher-boy’s knee with all her strength. He howled, let her go, slid down the wall and held his leg, whimpering. A few others laughed hatefully, but Maxim motioned them into silence. Two other boys jumped up – pages from the entrance hall – grabbed Mouse and turned her face to the open door. In the darkness, she could recognize the landing of an iron fire escape. Nothing else. Only night and driving snow.
She began to scream. She struggled, thrashed about, scratched, kicked, and bit.
“…want to help you,” she heard Maxim say again, then she received a shove and stumbled out onto the iron stairs. She stumbled, and was only at the last minute able to grab the railing. Never in her life had she felt such a cold. With a wail she tore his hands away, whirled around – and stared in Maxim’s smiling face. A bundle of fabric flew out at her – the old coat that he had held in his hand. In the same moment, the door slammed shut, and the iron bar on the inside latched back in place with a crunch.
“Let me in!” she cried in panic, and hammered with both fists against the door. “Please! Let me back in!”
No comments:
Post a Comment