Greg didn't hear what she hoped Miss Lissi hadn't done, because Lissianna chose that moment to let the kitchen door ease closed. She then led him father along the hall to another door. This time she didn't pause, but slid straight into the room, pulling him behind her. Greg had no idea what room it was they now stood in. He was surrounded by darkness. It made him hesitate and pull on Lissianna's hand when she suddenly started forward, but she merely held on firmly and tugged him along.
It wasn't until she hissed the question "Are you reciting?" that he realized he'd stopped. Gritting his teeth, Greg immediately continued reciting one hundred bottles of beer on the wall, starting at one hundred since he wasn't sure where he'd left off.
It seemed like they walked forever before she finally paused. In the next moment there was a hiss as she tugged a set of curtains open. It was still gray dawn outside, but there was enough light for him to make out the French doors she'd revealed.
Greg saw Lissianna reach for the door handle, then they both stiffened at the sudden growl that came muffled from the other side. It took a moment for him to make out the huge black dog on the lawn outside. Julius, he guessed. The animal was huge, definitely not a lapdog.
Greg heard Lissianna curse, then she went quiet. Her silent stillness lasted so long he gave a start when she suddenly turned to him.
"I want you to wait here. I'm going to the other end of the room and open a door there. When Julius comes through that door, I want you to slip out this one, okay?"
Greg nodded.
"Keep reciting." Lissianna slipped away, disappearing briefly into the shadows before she was revealed when the curtains at the other end of the room opened. Greg supposed the French doors ran the length of the room, which meant they were in the library. He'd been here yesterday. It was three walls of floor-to-ceiling books, with the outer wall being fronted with glass French doors. As he recalled, it had seemed a warm and welcoming room in the afternoon. Funny how a little darkness changed things.
"Get ready."
Greg heard the whisper and reached for the door, his gaze finding and locking on Julius's dark form outside. He heard the click and swish of the other door as it opened, saw the dog's black head jerk in that direction, then the beast was off. Greg almost opened his door and rushed from the room then, but managed to stop himself as he realized that if he opened this door before the dog was actually coming through the other one, the animal might hear and change direction.
"Now." The whispered word shot from Lissianna's mouth, and a heartbeat later, Greg had his door open and was sliding through. He glanced toward the other door as he did and saw the dog rush inside and right past Lissianna, hurrying in his direction. Even as he started pulling his door closed, he saw Lissianna slipping out the other one, and closing it as well, trapping the dog inside.
Lissianna was at his side in a heartbeat. Greg didn't get a chance to wonder how she'd moved so quickly, in the next second, she'd taken his hand and begun dragging him along the back of the house. Greg stumbled along behind her, only remembering to recite after they'd covered half the distance. When they reached the corner of the house, she broke to the left, still pulling him along. He had no idea where they were going until a small house began to take shape in the darkness ahead. Greg guessed it was the cottage Vittorio and Maria lived in and--at first--thought she was taking him there, but then she angled to the right and ran him up to a small shed instead.
The shed was padlocked. Lissianna reached out, grabbed the metal lock and pulled. There was a screech Greg recognized as the sound of nails being wrenched from wood and while the lock stayed firm in its hasp, the hasp itself ripped right off the door.
"No key, huh?" he asked dryly, both impressed and a little envious of her strength.
"Recite," Lissianna ordered as she tossed the metal aside and pulled the shed door open to reveal a lawn mower, a bike, and various other items.
"One hundred bottles of beer on the wall," Greg recited doggedly, but he was thinking, What the hell are we doing here?
Lissianna gave him the answer when she grabbed the bike by the handlebars and dragged it out of the shed.
"What are you doing with that?" Greg asked with bewilderment, following her around the shed.
"Escaping."
"On a bicycle?" he asked with horror.
"It's just to get us to the road."
"But... a bicycle?'
"Martine and Vittorio are guarding the cars," she reminded him. "I could control Vittorio, but not Martine."
"Yes, but..." When she'd said bike, he'd thought motorcycle. But this was pink, with a pink-and-yellow basket and pink-and-yellow plastic streamers coming out of the handles... it even had a bell. Unable to accept that they were making their great escape by bicycle of all things, he said lamely, "But it's a girl's bike."
"Yes, it's a girl's bike," Lissianna agreed tersely. "It belongs to Maria's granddaughter. I'm sorry if it doesn't suit you, and I'll happily leave it behind if you'd like to see if you can outrun Julius?"
Greg's eyes widened and he glanced anxiously back the way they'd come. "Julius is locked in the house."
"Julius will be barking his head off. Someone will hear him, realize we've escaped, and let him out. We might get lucky, and they might not hear him from the front of the house until we've reached the road, but if Maria is still in the kitchen--" She paused as a dog's barking suddenly broke the silence of the night. It was coming from the direction of the library, but it was definitely outside.
"You can stop reciting," Lissianna said grimly. "Get on the bike."
Escaping on a bicycle suddenly didn't seem such a bad idea. It was certainly better than getting your butt bitten by a dog you were trying to outrun, he decided as he tried to mount it. Greg threw his leg over the bike with more enthusiasm than caution and was reminded quite force-fully that it was a girl's bike. He was busy cursing about whoever had designed girl's bikes and why they felt they needed that bar across the top as Lissianna mounted the bike before him.
"I'll pedal," she announced. "Wrap your arms around my waist."