Page 43 of No Escape

It always took me about thirty seconds to calculate the square root of eleven to seven decimal places, and I’d used that occasionally to measure time accurately in my head. I began simultaneously counting my pulse throbbing in my temples as I began solving the square root. I was sure that I was going to find my pulse was over 250. I was stunned to find that it wasonly175, a level commonly reached by fit people involved in heavy exercise.

I heard some grunting sounds from the direction of the hives. I was tempted to open my eyes, but I had promised to trust Oscar to keep them closed for a minute, so I waited until my internal clock assured me that at least a minute had gone by.

When I opened my eyes, Oscar staggered toward me, grunting, and waving his arms in front of him. Only the outline of his face and head were visible, as everything above his shoulders was buried under a thick coating of bees.

For a moment, I could only stare at him in complete horror. Then, although I admit it wasn’t one of my better responses to a crisis, I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Chapter Twenty-One

Lexi Carmichael

“Oscar!” I shrieked, stumbling backward. “They’ve swarmed you.”

Although his head was covered with bees, he must have been able to hear, because he began waving his arms even more urgently. I presumed that whatever he had planned, Oscar must have spooked the bees so that they began attacking him, swarming his head and shoulders. He couldn’t speak and the best he could do was grunt at me, clearly in desperate need of help.

There wasn’t time to run back to the castle. He might be dead by the time I returned with help. It was up to me to save my father-in-law.

“Hold on,” I said as bravely as I could. “I’ll save you.” Although my hands were shaking violently, I looked around for a tool or something to get the bees off him. Several steps to my right, I found a dead branch about five feet long. The branch was about an inch thick, and at the end it had several smaller branches growing out of it with a few small, dry brown leaves attached. It would be perfect to shoo the bees off his head and keep me at a mostly safe distance. I had to get a grip on the fact that I’d probably get stung. But I couldn’t leave him at the mercy of the hive.

I grabbed the branch and turned back toward Oscar. When I saw him on his hands and knees, most likely succumbing to bee venom, I almost passed out.

“Hang on.” Brandishing the branch in front of me and giving myself an internal pep talk, I approached him and the bees.

To his credit, he must have sincerely cared about me, because he leaned back on his knees and tried to wave me away. It was unbelievable. He was dying from a bee attack and yet his instinct was to protect me.

Determined, I stepped closer, raising my branch carefully over Oscar’s head, intending to brush the branch near his face to scare away the bees, so he could breathe again. But as I started to lower the branch, I felt a tickle on my right forearm. Looked down, I saw a bee had just landed on it.

Swallowing a shriek, I jerked my arm back, dropping the branch directly onto Oscar’s head with a thud, knocking him to the ground.

A cloud of bees scattered from his body, so I did what any self-respecting bee warrior would do—I shrieked and ran, certain they were coming for me next. I was rounding the edge of the maze when I heard a call from behind me.

“Wait, Lexi, don’t run away. I’m fine!”

I turned, and to my astonishment, I saw Oscar walking a little unsteadily up the path from the hives. He was alive. Thank goodness, my blow must have knocked the bees off in time to save him. As he approached, I could see some blood dripping near his ear.

“Holy beehive. Oscar, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m okay. Something heavy must have dropped from a tree and hit me in the head, scaring the bees away. I had limited vision with the bees around my face, so I couldn’t see what it was.”

I stared at him, not sure what to say first. “You couldn’t see?”

“Not well. What did you think of the bees?”

“I think you’re crazy lucky to be alive. They swarmed you, Oscar. I couldn’t even see your head.”

“The bees weren’t hurting me, Lexi. I put them on my head on purpose.”

“You didwhat?” My heart was beating at a crazy tempo, and my knees visibly shook.

“I wanted to show you how gentle they are. I opened one of the hives and took out a small mass of them and put them on my head. I expected them to form a sort of beehive hairdo where you could see that they are harmless if you treat them with care and understanding. Unfortunately, I must have grabbed a queen, because as soon as I put the mass on my hair, many of the rest of the bees in the hive swarmed to protect her. They weren’t stinging me, but there were so many, they quickly covered my face and mouth. I didn’t want to open my mouth to try and tell you not to worry, for obvious reasons. The best I could do was grunt to let you know I was okay and to stand back while I gently removed them.”

“You put them on your head?” I repeated, still not comprehending. “On purpose?”

“Yes. I realized I must have frightened you when you screamed. Unfortunately, I tripped over a rock and landed on my knees. Then the next thing I remember, something hit me on the head. I was lying facedown on the ground, and the bees were gone. I got up and saw you running for help and realized you must have misunderstood what I was trying to show you.”

“Misunderstood,” I said weakly. “Yes, that’s what is was. A misunderstanding.”

“When I fell to the ground, a few of the bees must have been upset with being smashed, so they let me know they felt threatened. I have a couple of stings on my neck and hands, but it’s no big deal. I’ve been stung hundreds if not thousands of times. Fortunately, I only swell up for a short period of time, and my body is quite used to it.”

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