Lying in a heap, at the foundation of the building directly below Janet’s window, the foursome remained motionless hoping the sheriff and his goon wouldn’t see them. A moment later, the light went out, and a door slammed shut. Systematically, a few other lights went on in some of the other rooms, and eventually off again, but that was all. No sounds were heard. Untangling themselves, they wasted no time getting to their feet.
“Where to?” Jake asked Seth.
“Over there!” he pointed to the outer buildings a short distance away.
“Wait!” Janet whispered tersely. “Not without Sally!”
“Sally?” Tommy asked.
“My friend! The one I came looking for in the first place! I can’t leave her!” She started toward the east end of the building, but Jake held her back.
“We can’t do anything about her right now,” he began.
“I won’t leave her!”
“We’re not going to leave her, but we have to find a place to hide and make a plan.” He pulled her in the opposite direction. “Come on! Before someone finds us!”
Reluctantly, Janet complied, and they all hurried to the west end of the bunkhouse. Seth took a look around then motioned for everyone to follow, using the shadow of one lone tree part of the distance for cover.
Reaching the first building, Seth checked the door, but it was locked. Darting to the second building, he discovered it too was locked. He waited and watched for a moment, then darted back to his friends who had taken cover on the shadowed side of the first building. The moon had made its way above the nearby low hills and was beginning to cast its bluish glow on the surrounding landscape.
All four made their way around to the back of the building and waited in the shadows. Across the valley to the west, the peaks of the towering mountain range were beginning to glow in the wash of moonlight. Some of the small high-altitude glaciers glistened above the tree line. A few lights from town were scattered along the main highway. All four secretly wished they were each back in town sleeping soundly instead of waiting in the chilly night air of the Quail Club compound. More cars arrived, and there seemed to be a bustle of activity in the guest lodge and kitchen areas. Actually, as Janet explained, the kitchen was at one end of a large dining hall and that this evening was to be quite a big “to-do.”
“So we heard,” Seth remarked offhand. Janet gave him a quizzical look but didn’t say anything. He wasn’t looking at her anyway but instead was examining the back wall of the building. “Now what do we do?” he whispered.
Before anyone could answer, they heard a soft crack behind them. Stopping short, all four slowly turned around and found themselves facing two dark-clad figures wearing facemasks. One held a rifle pointed directly at them. Four sets of hands slowly went up. Four hearts stopped beating for an instant and then sank to the pits of their stomachs. They had been caught!
The two men never spoke a word but motioned for them to follow. One led the tiny group around to the front of the building, the other followed with the rifle. At the door, the first man quickly produced a key and opened the padlock. He pulled the door ajar enough for everyone to squeeze through then closed and locked it again. Jake tried to look through the cracks in the siding to see where they went, but without success.
“I wonder who they were?” Seth asked out loud.
“Do you think they’ll come back and let us go if we promise not to tell?” Tommy spoke up, trying to sound hopeful.
“Tommy,” Janet spoke up. “I just want you to know how much I appreciate you trying to rescue me...twice…all of you, actually!” She glanced around at all three, then took Tommy’s hand and pulled him closer to her. He obliged and held on tight, mostly out of fear.
“Well, I’m not gonna sit around here and wait for those guys to come back. We have no idea who they are. They could be on the sheriff’s payroll, for all we know,” he surmised. “Heck, they could be going to get the sheriff right now!”
“So what are we going to do?” Janet was beginning to sound more anxious and less defiant.
Jake quickly shined his light around the interior. There were metal paint buckets, some rusty, an empty gas can tossed in a corner, some sacks of compost that had split open spilling their contents; and an old wooden ladder leaning up against one wall, in addition to an assortment of ropes, tools, and other items either hanging from nails on the walls or lying around on the dirt floor.
“You might want to turn off your light,” Seth suggested. “Someone might see the light through some of these cracks.”
Jake agreed and flicked the light off. Heading toward the only door, he noticed a small knothole in it about three feet up from the floor. Kneeling down, he was able to see through it well enough to watch for the sheriff or anyone else who might be approaching.
Seth, in the meantime, had walked to the back of the building near the spot where he had noticed some loose boards earlier when they were outside. The faint moonlight helped define the individual boards of the building, and he found what he was looking for. Pushing aside some of the clutter, he attempted to budge them enough to create a space big enough to squeeze through. But the sound of rusted nails against weatherworn wood made him wince, and he stopped immediately, looking in Jake’s direction, who quickly took another look through the knothole, then signaled Seth to continue. A few more pushes and he was able to dislodge two boards enough to create an opening about sixteen inches wide. Giving a soft whistle, Jake, Tommy, and Janet stood ready to escape from their confinement.
Leading the way, Seth wedged himself through the opening, a moment later reaching back through to help Janet. Tommy was next, followed by Jake.
“It sure seems quiet over there,” Jake remarked, pausing a moment to listen.
“They’re probably having dinner,” Janet replied smugly, “getting ready for their big evening.”
“Yeah,” Jake looked at Janet, “some big meeting,” he began slowly then suddenly took a good look at Janet, exclaiming, “Your hair! And that...that...dress!” It was pink, too short, and easily fluttered in the evening breeze, revealing far more than she wanted any of them to see.
“Never mind about my hair and dress!” She glared at them. “We need to get my friend outta there before all the fun begins!” she said sarcastically and started to head for the corner of the building.
“What are you doing?” Jake grabbed her arm.
“I’m not going anywhere without Sally!” she responded, the defiance back with confidence.
Jake held tight. “You can’t just sashay back into that bunkhouse, sidle up to your friend, and calmly invite her to accompany you off the premises!”
“Focus on what I’m trying to tell you!” she said sternly as the boys just kept staring in disbelief. “Oh, good grief!” she was disgusted. “Jake! Give me your jacket,” she demanded. “Now!” He complied, and Janet tied it around her waist. “Okay, now can I have your attention?”
“Yes,” Jake replied. “But let me explain to you one more time…”
“I’m tired of explanations!”
“Look!” He raised his voice. “I want to get your friend as badly as you do. No one should treat women this way! Okay? But we have to go about this the right way! Storming into that bunkhouse right now isn’t going to help.” He paused long enough to take a deep breath. Then lowering his voice, he continued, “We need to get away from here as quickly as possible without being seen. We need to find an honest sheriff who can raid this place legally.”
Janet stood there for a moment, thinking about what Jake just said. She knew he was right. But at the same time, she was worried sick about Sally and what she might be going through. Tears started to come. She nodded her head in agreement then turned away so they wouldn’t see her crying.
“Hey, Janet,” Seth called to her gently, “I know how you feel. I want to find my mom too.”
Turning around, she wiped her face and looked at Set
h. “Your mom?”
“Yeah. It’s a long story,” he began.
“But we don’t have time for long stories right now,” Jake interrupted. “We have to get moving…and now!”
Jake was worried that they had been standing around far too long as it was. He couldn’t understand why someone hadn’t already been out actively looking for Janet. But not wanting to find out at the moment, he glanced around the side of the building to get a look at the main buildings and the open area of the compound where several vehicles were now parked. He hurried back to the group and suggested a plan.
“Let’s just start walking away from the building out across the open fields toward the lights of town. We’ll try to use this building as a shield for as long as possible.”
“Sounds good! Let’s go.” Seth started out. Tommy was at his heels without a word. He had been taking everything in, wide-eyed and uneasy. He really hadn’t thought about the risks or any danger they might encounter. This was definitely intense, and the sooner they could get back to town, the better he’d like it!
“You coming?” Jake asked Janet as he started to follow the others.
“Yes,” she sounded defeated. “I’m right behind you.”
“We’ll get help for your friend. I promise.” The two of them took off in the direction of Seth and Tommy, using the light of town as their beacon.
The going was rough. The ground was uneven with rocks underfoot and wild grass brushing against their legs. They hadn’t gone too far when Jake turned around to see how Janet was doing in her skimpy clothes and dainty shoes. Even her shoes were pink, he had noticed earlier! But what met his eyes now sent a jolt through his entire body. Janet wasn’t behind him anymore. She was back at the outbuilding they had just escaped from the peering around the back corner of it. Jake called to Seth and Tommy to wait up.
“We have a problem!”
“What?” Seth asked looking around.
“It’s Janet. She’s back at the shed. I have to go back and get her. You both wait here! But stay down. If we’re not back in twenty minutes, go get help as fast as you can!”
Seth and Tommy agreed and crouched down in the tall grass but kept an eye on Jake and Janet. Jake took off running, trying not to trip and fall or twist an ankle in the process. He was within a few feet of the shed and called to Janet. She either didn’t hear him or didn’t want to because she started to move around the side of the building heading in the direction of the bunkhouse.
“Janet!” he whispered loudly, not at all pleased with her decision.
She froze for a moment and ducked back into the shadows of the shed staring out into the darkness of the field.
“Janet! Wait up!” Jake had now gotten close enough for her to see him.
“You didn’t need to come back,” she said stoically. “I can take care of this myself.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” There was a tone of sarcasm in his voice as he finally reached her side.
“Well, I’m not going to sashay back to the building, as you suggested I would. I am going to go get Sally though.”
“So what’s your plan?” He just looked at her.
“If you must know, now would be a perfect time to rescue her because everyone is eating, even that stupid sheriff!”
“And you don’t think anyone will be guarding the bunkhouse?”
“I...,” she hesitated then replied, “No! I don’t! I think everyone is eating. Why wouldn’t they be?”
“Right. The sheriff knows you’ve already escaped, and he’s okay with that. Sure. Everyone is eating, and no one is looking for you!” He was definitely not happy with her plan or her reasoning.
“Don’t tell me what to do!”
“Someone needs to! This is crazy!” He took her arm. “You’re coming with me and the guys.”
Janet resisted and pulled to get away. Jake kept his grip and tried to pick her up to throw over his shoulder. She started to fight back and screamed at one point. Clapping his hand over her mouth, Jake whispered in her ear with as much authority as he could muster. “Either shut up and come with me or I will leave you right here where they can find you.” He had barely made his remark when voices could be heard coming from the other buildings.
“What’s going on?” Janet asked.
“Oh, nothing much,” he remarked dryly, “other than you just alerted everyone where you are!”
“Oh my gosh!” she was trembling. “If you had just left me alone, I could have handled this!” She attempted to sound convincing, but without success.
“Okay. You have two seconds to make up your mind. Stay here, or come with me!” his voice was terse.
“He’s right,” an unexpected voice broke in.
Janet froze, and Jake whipped around to look at a dark-clad figure standing behind them. An icy chill ran down his back. They’d been found…again.
Chapter 20