Chapter 10 - THE SMART VICTORY
The brass doorknob of Lily’s bedroom door began to jiggle. It turned fully to the right, but the lock held.
A heavy silence settled over the hallway, broken only by the blaring alarm below. Then, the door handle rattled violently, shaking the wooden frame.
"Is anyone in here?" a deep, muffled voice growled from the other side of the wood.
The intruder didn't wait. He threw his shoulder against the door with a dull, heavy thud. The wood groaned, but the heavy dresser, braced securely against the bed frame and the brick chimney, didn't move even a fraction of an inch.
Infuriated, the man stepped back. He delivered a massive, driving kick right next to the brass lock. The wooden frame splintered, and the door cracked open three inches, revealing a dark gap.
The intruder smiled, reaching his gloved hand through the gap to try and push the dresser aside. But as his heavy work boot stepped through the cracked opening to gain leverage, his foot planted directly onto the smooth, rolling surface of Lily's glass marbles.
"Whoa—!"
The man’s leg shot forward as the marbles rolled under his weight. He lost his balance completely, his heavy frame crashing hard against the floorboards with a cry of pain. His crowbar slipped from his hand, clattering loudly across the floor.
At that exact second, a brilliant, blinding beam of white light erupted through Lily’s bedroom window, cutting through the rainy darkness and turning the room as bright as day. It was Mr. Harrison’s high-powered searchlight, mounted on his second-story deck, pointed directly into her room.
"Step away from the door! Police! We have you surrounded!" a booming voice shouted through a megaphone from the front driveway.
Below, the front door was kicked open as Mr. Harrison’s massive German Shepherd, Buster, let out a series of ferocious, echoing barks in the foyer, followed by the rapid, heavy footsteps of three police officers armed with flashlights.
Realizing his escape was entirely cut off and his ankle was badly twisted from the fall on the marbles, the intruder groaned, raising his gloved hands in the air as the officers rushed up the stairs.
Ten minutes later, Lily’s parents, pale and sobbing with relief, ran up the stairs and pulled the heavy dresser away, wrapping Lily in a tight, desperate embrace. The police chief walked into the room, shining his light on the wedged dresser, the bed braced against the chimney, and the scattered marbles on the floor. He shook his head in sheer disbelief.
"I’ve been on the force for twenty years," the chief said, looking at the brave nine-year-old girl with immense respect. "And I’ve never seen anyone, adult or child, use physics and technology to defeat an intruder like this. You are one incredibly smart kid, Lily."
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Lily smiled, leaning into her mother’s warm embrace, but her eyes drifted to the old phone still glowing on her desk. The old, dusty security camera had done its job, and Lily’s quick mind had saved the night.
[THE END]
