My Brother's Keeper
James, Hayden and Oliver Hardy. Three brothers who don't necessarily get along. James is 17, Hayden is 16 and Oliver is 10. Their grand-father is Joseph Hardy. Son of Fenton Hardy, world famous detective. They are always at each others throats for the stupidest reasons, such as who does the dishes, or who does certain chores. Oliver always made peace.
One day, the brothers and their parents had just finished lunch together and their dad, David, had just asked the boys to do the dishes.
"I'll wash." James said plainly.
"You washed breakfast. It's my turn." Hayden argued.
"You can wash dinner. I want to wash." James rebutted. Oliver always put the dry dishes away. He didn't want to be in one of these fights.
"Just get over it! It's Hayden's turn to wash. James you can put away if you don't want to dry." Oliver said getting sick of his brothers fights.
"Oh, okay Oliver." James conceded.
The boys cleaned up and sat down in the living room. Their Grandpa Joe was over and he made casual conversation until the boys mom, Amanda, ordered them outside.
"What do we do outside?" Hayden complained.
"Take Oliver to the park. I don't care. Just go outside. It's too nice to be inside." Amanda retaliated.
The boys went outside and James and Hayden took Oliver to the park near the woods. When they arrived, Oliver tore around like a maniac. The older boys soon lost track of him. They walked in separate directions and just stayed away from each other.
Oliver meanwhile had purposefully tried to loose his brothers, if only to get on his own. He hated being looked down upon as a baby. He was 10 years old. He could take care of himself.
He escaped to the woods and wandered around for a bit. After about an hour he decided to head back, thinking his brothers would be looking for him. 'I doubt it' he thought to himself.
Then Oliver realized that he hadn't been paying attention to where he had been going. He looked around and saw nothing familiar. He started to panic. 'No, clam down. You can find your way back. Just be like Grandpa Joe. Follow the clues' he thought to himself to settle his nerves.
He wandered around for a bit trying to find something familiar. He did. But that was because he had seen it a few minutes before."I'm going in circles!" He yelled at himself frustrated.
Oliver then heard voices coming from his left. Angry voices. Indiscernible now, but as he moved closer, he could make out the words.
"I swear I didn't tell anybody!" A scared voice cried.
"I think I believe you." An evil voice hissed.
"Oh thank you sir. I promise I won't tell anyone." The scared voice reassured the evil one. By this time Oliver could see the men.
There were two men holding a frightened looking man with shaggy, unkept hair. The man with the evil voice had black slicked back hair and was wearing a grey suit and burgundy collar shirt with the top button open. He looked to Oliver like a man who got what he wanted.
The man in the suit smiled evilly as he responded to the shaggy man, "no I don't think you will." He pulled out a gun and shot the unkept man right between the eyes.
Oliver let out an involuntary shriek. He quickly put his hands over his mouth to try and stifle the sound, but to no avail. The boss man looked sharply in his direction and saw him.
"Get him! He saw us." He shouted to his henchmen. Oliver raced away but knew he couldn't out run them.
Eventually, the men caught up to Oliver. They dragged him back to the spot where the boss man was. He was screaming until one of the men put his hand over his mouth.
"Now now, who do we have here? A little spy? What's your name kid?" He asked as he advanced on Oliver. "But one scream, and you die right now."
The henchman removed his hand. Oliver kept silent. The boss man put on a scowl and smacked Oliver across the face. Oliver reeled back and cried out.
"I have ways of prying loose your tongue boy. I need to know what you saw and heard. So we will take you along." He said casually.
Oliver was terrified. These men were going to take him away from his home. As much as his brothers fought, he loved them. His parents were going to have a fit. His grandparents were going to insist on looking for him. He knew Grandpa Joe and Grandma Iola would find him.
The men dragged him to a waiting car, tied him hand and foot, gagged him, blind folded him and threw him in the back seat. They drove for, what seemed to Oliver, like hours. But in reality it was about 30 minutes.
The car pulled up a gravel road or driveway, and Oliver could smell forest, so he assumed that they were still in the woods. The car stopped and Oliver was carried out and brought into some kind of building. The man carrying Oliver went down a flight of steps and dropped him in a room.
Oliver heard the footsteps recede and he was alone.
In the meantime, James and Hayden decided to head home. They met back at the playground to find Oliver. When they couldn't find him, they started to panic.
"OLIVER! Where are you!" James shouted trying to find his little brother.
"Oliver! Please come out!" Hayden yelled. After an hour of searching, they headed back home to tell their parents and Grandpa Joe.
"What do you mean you can't find him?" David asked.
"He was playing on the playground and we kind of lost track of him. When we wanted to go home, we couldn't find him." James explained.
"You were supposed to be watching him! Now he's gone." Amanda scolded.
"Now now, lets not fight amongst ourselves. We can't afford to do that. What we need to do is figure out where he went after you lost track of him." Grandpa Joe said reasonably.
They all agreed and went to the park to find any sign of Oliver. Grandpa Joe knelt to the ground and soon found Oliver's tracks in the damp ground.
"He wears shoes with the picture of an alligator on the sole." He said pointing at the footprints. They followed the prints to the woods. They eventually found a scuffle of prints both Oliver's and bigger prints like full grown men. They followed drag marks to another spot.
"Looks like Oliver was dragged to this one spot where more tracks lead off to the left." Grandpa Joe stated.
They followed the tracks to a set of tire tracks.
"I'm afraid to say that Oliver was kidnapped." Grandpa Joe said dejectedly. Amanda let out a sob and collapsed into David's arms. "I think he saw something he wasn't supposed to see, and they kidnapped him to keep him quiet."
"Does that mean they will kill him?" Amanda said panicky.
"No. They need to know what he saw and heard, in order to know wether they can let him go. But he knows from my stories that he needs to keep quiet." Grandpa Joe said reassuringly.
"Can you find him dad?" David asked worriedly.
"Yes! Of course. Anything to find my grandson." He said putting an arm around David's shoulders.
They made their way back to the house and Grandpa Joe phoned his brother Frank. They spoke about finding him and then he left.
James and Hayden sat alone in the living room while their parents were in the kitchen talking.
"I'm going upstairs." James said.
"This is your fault you know." Hayden said with malice.
"MY FAULT! How is this my fault?"
"You were supposed to be watching him. You're the oldest."
"I thought you had him covered! And just because I'm the oldest doesn't mean I have to take responsibility for Oliver."
"STOP IT YOU TWO!" David screamed from the living room doorway. Amanda was behind him her eyes red from crying. "I have had enough of your fights. We are a family. We need to stop fighting amongst ourselves. It's the only hope of our finding Oliver. This family is not falling apart because of you two."
The two boys hung their heads in shame.
"Now, I don't want you apologizing just because I say so. I want you to mean your apology. Don't speak to each other until you mean it." David stormed off to his office.
James and Hayden looked at each other and a silent understanding passed through them. But they both weren't ready to apologize yet. They walked off to their rooms and had a good thinking session.
After about an hour of pondering, James knocked on Hayden's bedroom door.
"Come in."
"Hey. Umm..."
"Yeah my thoughts exactly."
"I've been thinking. We need to pull ourselves together, if we're going to find Oliver. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry. From the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry for always fighting and getting under your skin."
"I feel the same way. We need to settle our differences and work as a team. I'm sorry too. For every thing."
The two brothers embraced and from that point on, they were as close as their Grandpa Joe and his brother Frank had been at their age.
While his family was searching for him, Oliver was still in the downstairs room of the building he was in. He didn't know how long he was there for.
Finally a door opened and the sound of footsteps reached his ears.
"Take off the blindfold." The boss man's voice told another man. Oliver's blindfold was taken off and the man who had done it gasped and staggered back.
"What's wrong?" Asked the boss man annoyed.
"Don't you now who this is? This is Oliver Hardy, the grandson of Joseph Hardy. A world famous detective. You can be sure our plan will be foiled by him."
"And how do you know that?"
"Because they always win. I've have experience with them many years ago. When Joe's son had just graduated high school, and my boss had me and another man kidnap him to get to Hardy."
Oliver remembered that story. His dad had been kidnapped to keep Grandpa Joe from solving a case. They got him back and solved the case putting many men in jail.
"Really? So they would pay ransom for him?" The boss man asked with an evil smile.
"Sure I guess, but it would lead to your demise or life in prison."
"Good. Get me a phone." The sidekick left and returned with a cellphone. "Now, Oliver, I am going to call your daddy. I may let you say hi if you're good and don't do anything stupid." Boss man said as he untied Oliver.
Boss man dialled his home number and waited for it to be answered. He put it on speaker.
"Hello?" Asked David.
"I have Oliver. If you want to see him alive again, bring me 10 thousand dollars in 3 days. We will meet at the gazebo in the high school yard. Any questions?"
"How do we know you have him?" Asked Grandpa Joe from the other end.
"Well here he is." Boss man handed the phone to Oliver.
"Daddy? Grandpa Joe?"
"Oh Oliver! I'm so sorry! We will find you!" David said frantically.
"I know. Just hurry daddy please." The phone was taken and boss man's henchman covered his mouth.
"3 days Hardy. Or he dies." He hung up abruptly.
Oliver was frightened for his life, but also knew that his dad, brothers and grandpa would save him.
"Now, Oliver, we must change locations. And for that you must be cooperative. So, we must put you to sleep." Boss man said as he took out a rag and soaked it in a dark liquid.
He then put over Oliver's mouth and nose. Oliver struggled and kicked but he was soon sleeping like a baby.
After the phone call, James and Hayden both started talking at once.
"We need to get the money." Said Hayden panicky
"He sounded okay." James said at the same time.
"Time out!" David said "we are going to get the money. Dad, do you still know the bank manager?"
"Sure do. He'll probably loan us the money, if we promise to give it back." Grandpa Joe said.
"Sounds good. We have three days so Hayden and I are going to track them down and find Oliver. We have talked and have decided that we owe it to him for all the fights we had." James said standing up and going next to Hayden.
"James is right. We need to find Oliver and show him that we love him enough to risk dying for him." Hayden responded. The boys said this with a we-won't-take-no-for-an-answer tone. And their parents realized this. So did Grandpa Joe.
"Right. We will plan a rescue while you guys track them down." David said realizing that his older sons needed to do this, if not for themselves, for Oliver.
The boys gathered provisions for their journey and headed out right away. No time to loose.
They decided to start at the place where the tire tracks were found.
"Let's follow them as far as we can." James suggested.
The boys followed them and soon arrived at the highway.
"Shoot. Where too now?" Hayden asked when the tracks stopped.
"Look. They just slightly turn to the right when they leave the forest." James explained.
"So they went towards Northport." Hayden concluded. The brothers went back to their house, got the car and James drove them to Northport.
When they stopped there, they parked the car and got out to ask around the town. Hayden was not watching where he was going and walked right into a little old lady walking down the street.
"Watch where you're going sonny." She said a little grumpily.
"Sorry ma'am." Hayden apologized.
"Well just keep an eye out next time."
"Maybe she's the one who needs to keep an eye out." James murmured.
"What was that?" The lady said.
"Nothing ma'am."
"Oh yes it was. I'm not deaf." She poked him with her cane.
"Sorry ma'am. I apologize."
"Yeah well just remember this." She whacked him over the head with her purse. "That'll teach you too be polite." She walked off.
James staggered back. Hayden chuckled at him.
"Nice going pea brain." He teased.
"You're one to talk." James said back. They continued on. "Maybe we should call dad and Grandpa Joe and tell them where we are." James suggested. Hayden nodded and pulled out his cell phone and called his father and grandfather.
He told them everything and where they were.
Oliver woke to a pounding headache. He was not bound, but he was in a locked room with no windows and one heavy oak door, that was bolted and cross-barred. He was lying on a small cot on one wall, and there was a small sink with a toilet on another.
Oliver let out a groan, and sat up painfully. He had to get out. His family would get the money, but the boss man would just kill him anyway. His brothers wouldn't come for him. They didn't even get along with each other for more than five minutes at a time.
'I guess I'll just find a way out by myself.' Oliver thought to himself. 'But that's impossible. No windows, and one door. Great.' He thought sarcastically.
Just then the door opened, and in walked the boss man holding what looked like a riding crop. Grandpa Joe had taken him and James and Hayden out for riding lessons so he knew what it was, and what it was used for.
"Now my dear Oliver, we have less than 24 hours until your time of either deliverance or death." Oliver shuddered, boss man smirked, "I have pressing matters to attend to, don't cause trouble or I might shorten that date." He said smacking the riding crop on the palm of his hand. He left, bolting the door again.
Oliver leaned back against the wall utterly spent. 'Please hurry.' He silently pleaded to his family.
Just then, scuffling sounded from the other side of the door. Oliver stood up and prepared himself for what came next. The door unbolted and framed in the doorway was the last person Oliver had expected to see.
His big brother James ran forward and hugged him tightly. Hayden following. The brothers embraced in sweet silence.
"I'm so sorry Oliver." Cried James with tears flowing down his face.
"We should have been like brothers should be. Not bickering like an old married couple." Hayden put in with a chuckle.
"It's okay. Explain later, right now we have to go before...oh no." Oliver said as he turned towards the open door only to see boss man standing there pointing his pistol at the brothers.
His mouth was bleeding and his hair was tussled. The sarcastic smile he had on before was gone replaced with an evil frown.
"I have had enough of you Hardy's. The line ends here." He cocked the gun.
A few minutes before, Hayden and James had found the bad guys hide out and decided to sneak in and find Oliver. They found a back door with a padlock and broke it with a nearby scrap piece of metal.
The brothers snuck in and found their way to the main hallway. James peered around the corner and saw two guards outside a barred door.
"Oliver must be in there." James hissed to Hayden who nodded in return.
James signalled when they had their backs turned and the brothers ran down the hall towards the guards. They jumped them knocking them out with two punches. Just then another well dressed man came out of another door and ran to join in the fight. He put up a good fight but Hayden dispatched him.
They lifted the bar and burst open the door. James stood in the doorway for a few moments before running to his little brother and pulling him into a fierce hug. Hayden soon joined. They apologized and Oliver forgave them.
"It's okay. Explain later, right now we have to go before...oh no." Oliver said looking at the door. James turned and saw the well dressed man, who was apparently the leader, pointing a pistol at the three brothers.
"I have had enough of you Hardy's. The line ends here." He cocked the gun.
James and Hayden stood up shielding Oliver with their bodies. Then James lunged for the gun. The man fired it hitting James in the shoulder sending him to the ground. Oliver squealed and Hayden jumped on the man. They wrestled for the gun neither getting the upper hand.
Just then, Oliver, who had recovered from his fright jumped on the gun and attempted to get it. He wrenched it from both their hands. He aimed it at the bad man and screamed, "STOP!"
The room froze. The boss man stood up and raised his eyebrows.
"I bet you don't even know how to use that thing." He said smirking.
"Try me." Oliver hissed and cocked it.
"Oliver, give me the gun." Hayden said putting out his hand.
Oliver then realized that he was holding a gun, and shakily gave it to Hayden, who used it to knock the boss man out. Hayden then took off his sweater and put it on James's shoulder to stanch the bleeding.
"Oliver, hold this on James's shoulder while I call the police and 911." Hayden instructed. Oliver obeyed. Hayden dialled and told the operator what happened and where they were.
"James? Hayden? Oliver?" A familiar voice called from the hallway.
"Dad! We're in here!" Hayden called back.
David Hardy stopped short when he saw the condition in the room. His eldest on the ground bleeding, his youngest running into his arms and his middle child holding a phone with a desperate expression on his face.
David scooped Oliver into his arms and held him close. Joe Hardy came into the room followed by two police men. They apprehended the boss man and Joe hugged Oliver while David checked on his oldest.
"He's been shot dad." Hayden said, worry clear in his voice. "The am ulna e should be here soon." David nodded.
Just then sirens sounded from outside and the police went to meet the ambulance and take the criminal to jail. A few minutes later, James was being wheeled out and put in the back.
"I'll go with him. Oliver needs you now." Joe said as he saw David torn between his sons. David nodded his thanks to his father and climbed into a squad car with Oliver on his lap and Hayden next to him.
The chief drove and they followed the ambulance. During the ride, Oliver recounted his side of the adventure.
"Then the bad guy left and I heard noises outside the door. Then James and Hayden burst in and apologized for all their fights. I forgave them. Then the bad guy came in and..and..." Oliver froze reliving the horrible time when James was shot.
"Then he shot James and we fought for the gun. Oliver got it and then I took it and knocked the bad guy out." Hayden reiterated for his father. "That's when you came in."
"Okay. We'll go to the hospital, get you all checked out, and see if James is okay." David said hugging Oliver tightly.
"James? James? Can you hear me? James Hardy open your eyes this instant." Said a voice back in the void of James' fogged brain.
"Wha... Who..." He stammered incoherently not opening his eyes just yet.
"JAMES!" Yelled the voice. James recognized it as his fathers.
James opened his eyes and saw his father, brothers and mother standing around his hospital bed.
"Oh good." David said relieved.
"What happened?" James asked weakly.
"You were shot. You lost so much blood, we thought we lost you." Amanda said, her red-rimmed eyes glistening with new tears.
"I'm fine now. Aside from being a little hungry." James said managing a weak smile. In reality he felt like he got hit by a bus.
"James?" Asked Oliver.
"Yeah little buddy?" James responded.
"Thanks. You to Hayden. I would have never gotten out of there if it hadn't been for you two." Oliver said clambering up onto the bed with James.
"And we will make sure that it doesn't happen again. We were both so caught up in our own desires that we didn't keep a closer eye on you. We will do better." Hayden promised.
"Now that that's all settled, how about we go get some dinner." Grandpa Joe said, having heard the conversation from the door way. "We can bring it up to James's room and eat together."
Everyone agreed and they were soon all eating sandwiches and having a good time as a family. Then the nurse came in to tell them all that visiting hours were over and they had to go home.
"James needs to kept overnight for observation." She said.
"Alright. Bye James. See you in the morning." Amanda said lovingly to her oldest. The family left and James drifted off to sleep.
James was released from the hospital in the morning with strict orders for bed rest.
"No problem there." James said as he had lots of reading material to go through.
THE END