Chapter 67

Her body began to plummet downward in an instant. If she fell like this, she would surely die, at the hands of Winston.

Thud.

Grace desperately spread her limbs to grab the walls on all sides. As her body slipped, her bare skin roughly rubbed against the metal, and with a snap, she stopped.

“Damn...”

She took a deep breath to steady herself. Once she calmed down, she started to worry about the loud noise she had just made.

‘No one must have heard it.’

She needed to get out of here before she was discovered. Despite the pain from her scraped knees and arms, she couldn’t afford to wait for it to subside and began to climb the air duct again.

‘I’m alive.’

Finally, her hand touched the first-floor entry point. She hooked her arm over the edge of the entry and slightly lifted the cover. The supply room was shrouded in pitch-black darkness.

After confirming that no one was around, she slipped out of the entry. There was no time to rest her trembling limbs. Exhausted, she put on her shoes, straightened her clothes, and stepped out into the corridor.

The entrance to the first floor had two exits: the front door and the back door. Grace first checked the window near the front door and sighed softly.

‘That bastard.’

The iron gate, the only way out of the compound, was still guarded by soldiers even at this late hour.

With no other choice, she headed for the back door. After confirming that no one was around, she picked up the thick rug lying in front of the door and carefully made her way to the annex’s backyard.

She pressed herself against the wall and looked up. All the windows, even Winston’s bedroom window, were dark and covered with thick curtains.

‘Sleep well, you bastard.’

I hope you don’t even dream about me escaping.

Grace quickly ran to the small pavilion in the backyard. The lush ivy on the wall and the high roof of the pavilion provided excellent cover.

She carried a garden chair to the wall two steps away from the pavilion. Climbing onto the chair, she confirmed that no sentry was patrolling on the other side of the wall. Grace then draped the rug over the dense barbed wire.

Swish.

Compared to the previous obstacles, climbing the wall was child’s play. Passing through the dark, empty garden and escaping through the servants’ back door of the mansion was surprisingly easy.

“I did it. I did it.”

Running across the apple orchard along the paved road that ran alongside the mansion’s wall, Grace suddenly stopped.

Only now did she realize that what was blurring her vision was not just her tears. Lifting her head, she felt large raindrops fall onto her face.

The smell of rain, earth, and grass.

If the pungent smell of blood had meant death and confinement, the current pungent scent meant life and freedom. Grace deeply inhaled the scent she had longed for so much.

In the darkness, surrounded by black walls, she cried, just as she had in the hot water, now in the rain falling from the black sky. But these were not tears of anger or sorrow.

“Freedom. I am free.”

Click.

One, two, three.

Click.

One, two, three.

Click.

Peter, who had been keeping time as if in a duet, rose from his bed at the sound of something hitting the window. The regular rhythm was clearly made by a person.

He opened the window wide and looked down, unable to believe his eyes.

“Grace?”

An unexpected figure stood below the window.

He quickly changed his clothes and went out through the back door of the boarding house. Seeing Peter, Grace, who looked like a drowned rat, smiled broadly.

“Peter.”

Peter, who had been on awkward terms with her, couldn’t have been happier at this moment.

“Get me out of here right now.”

“Wait... just a moment...”

Peter, who seemed to be thinking about how to get her out of Hailwood, nodded and led Grace out of the wall.

“Let’s go to the post office first.”

While walking on the dark country road, Peter lowered his voice and asked.

“How did you get out? Did Winston let you go?”

“No way. I got out on my own, of course.”

With a sense of relief, Grace smiled proudly and boasted.

“But no one was watching Winston’s place in the early morning? No one appeared on my way here?”

Peter was speechless at the question, assuming that one of her comrades was monitoring Winston to rescue her.

‘They wanted you to take your own life, of course.’

You don’t know.

Feeling awkward in front of Grace, who was visibly relieved to be alive, Peter tried to smooth things over.

“It was difficult because Winston’s side was always watching for suspicious movements. But I’m so relieved that you managed to escape safely.”

Upon arriving at the back of the post office, Peter led a horse from the stable and harnessed it to the mail carriage.

“Get in.”

He opened the back door of the small cart and removed the baskets and boxes. As Grace entered the empty carriage, she asked.

“Aren’t we leaving right away?”

“I need to call Nancy first. We need to decide where to meet. We can’t just leave blindly.”

“Nancy? So, she hasn’t been discovered?”

“Yes. Nancy is safe.”

Cramming herself into the cramped space and sitting with her knees up, Grace listened as Peter closed the door and disappeared into the post office.

The surroundings were quiet. The only sounds were the continuous rain and the occasional snort of the horse.

Grace shivered, listening for the footsteps of soldiers or the sound of a car engine, but heard nothing.

Peter was unusually quiet, and it seemed he was having trouble making arrangements with Nancy.

At least Nancy was still safe.

‘Does that make sense?’

Fred, worried about his sister, hadn’t revealed Nancy’s location and hadn’t gone there after escaping.

‘I was sold for a mere threat.’

It was frustrating.

Since Peter seemed to know the situation, Fred must have successfully delivered the news to Jimmy. If Fred had gone straight to the base, Winston, who would have closely tailed him, wouldn’t have needed to ask Grace about the base’s location.

‘It doesn’t add up.’

Once she started to suspect, she couldn’t stop. After comparing facts and speculations, Grace reached the most plausible conclusion.

‘Nancy might be under secret surveillance.’

Just as she was about to get out of the carriage to cancel the meeting with Nancy, Peter came out of the post office.

“We’re meeting Nancy at the border of Winsford.”

“I think we should cancel it.”

“Why?”

“It just doesn’t make sense that Nancy hasn’t been discovered.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Even if there’s a tail, Nancy can’t be caught in the early morning...”

“Just drop me off at a tram station near Winsford and give me money to get to Brayton.”

“In the early morning? You want to stand at a tram station, drenched, alone? And wait for the tram until morning, risking being caught again?”

“I’ll handle it.”

Peter, frustrated by Grace’s stubbornness, sighed and searched his pockets, muttering curses.

“I left my wallet in a hurry. Ask Nancy for money and to take you to the train station.”

“Peter, you probably think I’m being overly sensitive.”

“...”

“I don’t want to be caught again.”

Peter, looking at Grace with tired eyes, rubbed his face and spoke in a soothing tone.

“Grace, I don’t want to be caught either. We need to leave now to get back to Hailwood before the post office opens. If I’m seen driving the carriage around in the early morning, Winston will get suspicious.”

It was a cold but reasonable argument.

“...Let’s go.”

Grace, realizing she couldn’t put others in danger because of her, gave in and closed the carriage door.

The carriage began to move with a jolt. Leaning against the wooden wall, Grace let out a long sigh.

‘Maybe I’m just being overly anxious and irrational.’

I won’t be caught. I won’t be caught. She repeated the words, taking deep breaths.

‘I managed to escape the annex, the hardest part, in one go. How can I be anxious now?’

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like fate was on her side.

The location of the bathroom wall was perfect. Not only had she carefully chosen a spot without pipes by listening to the water flow for days, but there were no wires either.

“Idiot.”

It was a taunt directed at Winston, who was sleeping, unaware that his pet mouse had escaped from its cage.

Most of the torture devices in the torture chamber were tools, making it easier to break through the wall. The fact that the room wasn’t regularly inspected suggested that they believed the torture chamber was an impregnable fortress.

‘I know its weaknesses better than anyone, having worked there.’

Grace smiled softly. While working in the torture chamber, she often imagined how she would escape if she were ever trapped there.

And she had brilliantly realized one of those imaginations. She was proud of herself.

‘In the end, it’s my victory, Leon Winston.’

Thinking about how the bastard would feel defeated when he realized she was gone at breakfast time, she felt drowsy. Exhaustion and the cold were taking their toll. Grace began to struggle with drowsiness.

‘Don’t fall asleep. It’s not time to sleep yet.’

The carriage, running on the rain-soaked road, stopped. Expecting it to move again soon, it didn’t. She heard Peter getting off the driver’s seat and approaching.

‘Have we arrived already?’

She must have dozed off. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she tried to sit up in the cramped carriage when the door suddenly opened.