LIFE AFTER JACK
Chapter Twelve
Later that night, Jack and Rose
were talking about how they could get Paula out of jail. Earlier, they had
thought about just walking in and taking the keys, but they had decided that
there was no way that would work. They were thinking of all the possible ways
they could get them out. Jack even came up with the idea that they could take a
spoon and dig into the jail cell. Rose thought this was the craziest idea ever.
"Jack, those bars looked
pretty rusted out. I bet if we gave Paula a knife, she could cut the bars
down."
"Rose, that might
work," Jack said.
Jack went into the bedroom and
got his pocket knife. He asked Rose if the knife was good enough, and she said
that she thought it was.
At five o’clock the next evening,
Jack and Rose walked into the station as the gendarmes were changing shifts.
"Jack, what if this does not
work?" Rose asked Jack.
"It will," Jack
replied.
Jack and Rose walked up, and
Paula jumped up and asked what they were doing there. Rose started explaining,
while Jack took the knife out of his pocket. He walked over and handed Paula
the knife. Nicolette asked if she could come, too. Jack and Rose looked at each
other and said that she could. Paula sawed at the bars as Jack kept watch and
Rose talked to Paula. The guards were in the break room at the time.
They all slowly sneaked passed
the break room. One of the gendarmes had brought in pastries and they were all
busy eating them. They got to the door and saw the guards outside. They quickly
thought about how they were going to get out. Rose told Jack to see if the
window on the side would open. It did. They went over to it and jumped out. It
was about a foot off the ground.
When Jack, Rose, Paula, and
Nicolette got out of the jail, they went back to the apartment. They quickly
got Paula’s things and left. They drove around for a little while, thinking
about what they would do next.
"Paris!" Paula
exclaimed.
"What do you mean,
Paris?" the other three asked.
"Nicolette and I could get
on a train and go to Paris!" Paula said.
They all agreed that this was the
best idea. Jack turned the car around and headed for the train station. They
knew a train would be leaving at six o’clock for Paris. It was already 5:30.
They arrived at the train station
at 5:45. Paula ran up to the window and bought two tickets. They quickly ran
for the train. Jack and Rose waved to Paula and Nicolette as they got on the
train. Paula and Nicolette went to a window and waved back at Jack and Rose.
Rose and Jack went back to the
apartment and sat down with Opal. Jack jumped up as someone knocked on the
door. He opened the door and saw seven gendarmes there.
"We need to search the
apartment, Monsieur," one of the gendarmes said.
"Why?" Jack asked.
"Your friend Paula and her
cellmate are gone and we need to check to see if they are here."
"They are not, and I don’t
know where they are!" Jack said.
The gendarmes searched the
apartment and could not find Paula anywhere. They left and told Jack that if he
and Rose saw Paula and Nicolette to come down to the station. Jack and Rose sat
down and continued to play with their daughter. They went to bed and did not
think about Paula and Nicolette anymore.