For a minute, when the door had closed, the two just lay there staring at the ceiling, wondering at what had happened to them tonight, and what would happen before morning. Then simultaneously, they rolled on their sides to face each other. Laura laid her head on the pillow, and asked worriedly, "Monty, what do you think he's going to do?"
Monty had raised himself slightly on one elbow, and said quietly, "I really don't know what to make of this guy, Laura. Sometimes he seems OK, as though he might leave by himself and maybe leave us tied up here. Other times, he really seems dangerous."
"I feel the same way. I don't see how we can do anything but wait, but I keep thinking about those cases where hostages didn't do anything and got shot anyway. But what could we do now that he's got us locked in here, and he has all the guns?" Laura questioned.
Monty confessed, "I don't normally ever lie, but I did when I told him I had no rifle. Mine is down in the barn - I left it there when I was in a hurry to leave for the Cow Palace, and didn't want to take it to San Francisco."
"Yes, but we're locked in here. If we broke a window to get out, he'd hear it," Laura protested.
"There's another thing he doesn't know," Monty replied. "There is another way out of this room. The ceiling in the closet has a trapdoor to give access to the attic. If I got up in there, I think I could remove the ventilation grate in this end of the house and drop down to the ground. Then I could get to the barn and get the rifle."
"But could you get out of the house without him hearing it? And what would you do with the rifle?" Laura asked. This experience was like nothing she had ever imagined, or ever seen outside of a movie. She wanted to know details so that she could try to evaluate the feasibility of the plan.
"You could turn on that clock radio by the bed to give a little covering noise," Monty responded, answering her questions as he considered the actions he'd be taking. "I can move pretty quietly - I've learned to do that when hunting. There's no light in the attic, but the ventilation grills at each end will let in a little moonlight. He's at the very other end of the house, but I'd have to be extremely quiet anyway - and quick. I don't know how long he's going to stay in the kitchen."