Laura took advantage of the delay to finish untying Richard. She had made surprising progress even in the dark, and now that she could see the task took only a moment. Richard rubbed his wrists, wincing, and she saw that he had a long gash on one side of his head. He was very pale.The voices drifted away. Laura went to the bus driver and freed him too. He looked worse than Richard. One eye was purple and almost closed, there were abrasions on his cheeks, and his left wrist was swollen and discolored. He must have put up quite a fight. Laura hoped he had inflicted his share of injuries. The thought of Abdul with a similarly swollen face and a black eye was immensely satisfying.A hissing sound from Richard made her turn. “Window,” he whispered, pointing. “Get out that way. You’ll fit. We won’t.” Laura regarded the small aperture dubiously. It was about six feet up on the wall in a deeply recessed space that looked no more than two feet high and three feet long. It seemed too small for anybody to get through.
