Chapter five
Leo leapt off the couch; he was surprised at how nimble he still was. After the first few moments of shock and panic he began to wonder who it could be. It couldn’t be his brother’s, they have keys and April would have mentioned if she were expecting someone. Leo crept over to the door, standing on his tiptoes he peered through the peephole. It’s her! His mind reeled. What should he do? What was she doing here? Did she know April? The woman knocked again. Leo chanced another look; it was defiantly the girl, woman who had hit him. Women had always fascinated Leo; they were confusing and hard to understand, always saying things they didn’t mean. Sometimes they could be terribly annoying even aggravating. But they had their good points; some were kind, gentle and nice to look at. He particularly liked the way they nipped in at the waist. But she was a human and humans; especially women meant trouble.
Carrie waited. This
was a stupid idea! Wait, the key! She removed the key from the wallet and
pushed it into the lock. It
fits! Carrie smiled as she started
to turn the key. Just a quick look
round, no one will ever know!
On the other side of the door Leo’s mind was racing. She has my key! He ran through the possibilities once
more. He could hide. But where?
What if she found him? What if
she waited for April to come home?
“What are you doing young lady?” Carrie spun round to see a stern elderly lady.
“Urm.” Carrie searched for an answer. “I’m a friend of April’s, from college. I came down to surprise her, but she doesn’t seem to be here.” Carrie never was any good at lying. The elderly lady raised an eyebrow. “Do you know where she is?”
“At work.” The lady offered.
“Do you know when she’ll be back? Carrie pressed.
“Around six I should imagine. She’s a strange one.” The lady muttered as she returned to her apartment. Carrie returned her attention to the door. She removed the key. I’ll come back at six, with any luck the granny from hell should be in bed by then.
Leonardo released the breath he had been holding. That was close. He returned to couch and tried to get comfortable. Great! His coffee had gone cold. Leo sat back and closed his eyes. The next thing he remembered was being woken by voices outside the door. He knew those voices well. His brothers spilled into the room. So much for secrets! Leo didn’t even bother to move, he just looked at them through one eye. Donatello pushed forward.
“April told us where to find you, you know Splinter has been worried and.” Don stopped in mid sentence. “What happened to you?
“Gee Leo you look like you were hit by a truck.” Raphael smirked. Leo’s eye narrowed, he didn’t feel like fighting right now. Michaelangelo stood back and didn’t say anything. Leo could tell by his face that worry had taken its toll. Don helped Leo to his feet, Michaelangelo helped support his other side. Raphael peered out of the door holding his hand up. He suddenly dropped it announcing. “Clear!”
“Let’s get you home.” Michaelangelo finally spoke.
At six in the evening April wrestled with a pile of paper work and her keys. She managed to get through the door. The apartment was dark and quiet. The guys must have picked Leo up already. April turned on the light and walked to the kitchen, she slapped her paper work down on the side. What a night, what a day for that matter! April made her way to the living room; she turned on the television and thumped down on to the couch. Friends came into view. Just what I need, a Matt le Blanc fix. Just as she got comfortable there was a knock on the door. “Great!” April huffed. People have the worst timing! She pulled herself from the couch and made her way to the door. She used one eye to look through the peephole. On the other side was a young thin woman with a long blonde bob. The woman knocked again. April placed the chain on the door and slowly opened it. “Can I help you?”
“Mrs O’Neil?”
“Miss.” April corrected.
“Hi, my name is Carrie Ryan and I think I have something that belongs to you.” She pulled the wallet from her rucksack for April to see.
“Just a minute.” April shut the door and released the chain, opening the door wide she stood and looked at Carrie. “Where did you find it?”
“I found it in the road, near Central Park. Since it had your name and address in it I thought I should return it.”
“Thank you.” April said as she took the wallet.
“Is it yours?” Carrie pressed.
“No. It belongs to a friend of mine. I’ll return it to him. Thanks again.” April shut the door in Carrie’s face, she hated being rude, but she didn’t want this woman asking any more questions.
Carrie waited a few minutes and then pulling a face decided to follow April. The tunnels were dark, damp eerie and that wasn’t even mentioning the smell. Carrie could imagine all kinds of slimy and hairy creatures crawling up her legs. She rooted through her rucksack in the dim light; the last thing she wanted was to get lost down here. She pulled out and old envelope and an eyeliner pencil. They’ll have to do! She had a hard time keeping up with April; she could tell that this woman had been down the sewers more than once. Carrie drew a rough map as she continued down the tunnels, she hoped to God that she could follow it back out! A thought crept into Carrie’s head. Aren’t there alligators in the New York sewer system?