Lost and Found
Chapter 2
The two men quickly left the Reed house and began to scour the neighborhood, yelling for Jimmy as they went. Several neighbors were still out and involved in the search.
Pete, looking over at Jim, could see that his friend was nearly at his breaking point with worry. Pete, too, could feel the worry mounting with every passing minute.
"JIMMY?" Jim yelled; and then again "JIMMY?"
"JIMMY!" Pete echoed.
Doing a quick visual scan of the block just west of the Reeds' house, Pete noticed a woman, down on her hands and knees, peering into a storm drain. He could hear her yelling Jimmy's name as she peered in. She then yelled something else into the storm drain; something that he couldn't quite make out before she quickly stood up and waved both arms in their direction, yelling, "I've got him…he's in the storm drain!"
Both men broke into a run, with Pete yelling to one of the neighbors, "Call the fire department and have them send out their rescue unit; tell them there's a little boy stuck in the storm drain." The neighbor quickly headed for his house to place the call.
Mikki, down on hands and knees, was yelling into the storm drain as the men approached. "Jimmy! Honey, it's okay…don't cry. I'm going to come in and get you, okay? Just hold on tight to whatever you're holding onto, honey. Don't let go, okay!"
"Move over Mikki, I need to get to my son." Jim tried to shove the slender, petite young woman out of the way.
Not budging, she stood up to face him and said quietly, "Jim, I can appreciate your worry…but you aren't doing Jimmy any good by panicking." Then looking at Pete, she said, "You; calm him down and keep him topside. He'll never fit down this storm drain, anyway. I'm going to go in and try to find him."
As she was lowering herself into the curbside storm drain, "That water is rising way too fast to waste time waiting on rescue. Get some help and pop the manhole covers off of every manhole on this block and up two blocks on either side; also pop 'em off of the cross street manholes for one block in each direction."
"Get some of the neighbors to block all traffic on these streets with their cars, and then have them kneel over the manholes, arms outstretched into the manhole…if he lets go of whatever he's holding onto, the rushing water in there is going to send him sweeping. We want to give him anything at all to grab onto. Tell them to keep their eyes peeled and grab at anything that looks big enough to be a three-year-old boy. And, mister…if you're a believer…pray."
Pete, used to being the one giving the orders, could only nod his head in understanding as he watched the young woman disappear into the storm drain. He could hear her hollering for Jimmy as he set about carrying out her orders. As he gathered the now milling neighbors and gave them Mikki's instructions, he kept his eyes on Jim, who had since knelt down next to the storm drain, eyes fixated into the blackness of the unknown. Having seen to it that the aforementioned orders were being carried out, Pete knelt down next to his friend to keep vigil in the torrential downpour. Placing a hand on Jim's back, "Jim, he's going to be okay."
Jim, nodding slightly, "I hope you're right, Pete. He loves the water…he's like a little fish when it comes to going to the beach. I just don't know if…"
"Jim, stop it. Don't do this to yourself. Why don't you go back to your house and let Jean know what's going on. I'll stay here and wait for the fire department, or for Mikki to get back here with Jimmy."
"Okay, I'll be back in a minute….can you still hear Mikki talking to him?"
Listening carefully, "Yeah, Jim…I can hear her yelling to him…and I can hear him calling out, too."
Slowly, Jim stood up and headed off in a jog towards his house.
Pete returned his attention to listening to the subjects in the storm drain. He could see the water rushing at a rapid pace and began to pray that Jimmy would be able to hold on until Mikki could get to him.
Suddenly, from down below, he heard Jimmy crying loudly and then the crying grew more distant. At the same time, he heard Mikki yell out "Heads up…he let go….being swept…" Then her voice, too, became distant.
Pete was immediately up on his feet, running and yelling to everyone that Jimmy had lost his hold and was being swept down through the storm drain under the street. He started to pray a little harder at this point.
A moment later, the man at the first manhole yelled out, "I've got him! I've got him!" as he pulled the scared little boy up through the hole, and hugging him tightly.
Pete was at his side in a heartbeat, taking Jimmy and hugging him closely, the whole time trying to see if he was hurt in any way. Jimmy, clinging tightly to Pete, was sobbing uncontrollably. Looking at the man in front of him and nodding his thanks, Pete then asked, "Did you see the woman?"
"No, sorry…I looked away as soon as I got Jimmy out of there. I'll keep watching, though."
"Thanks…I'll be right back; I want to get this little guy home to his parents."
"Go…I'll stay right here and keep watch. Should I try yelling for her?"
"Might not be a bad idea…name's Mikki."
Pete, carrying a now quietly sobbing Jimmy, jogged back to the Reeds' house and barged in through the front door.
Jean and Jim, seeing them, jumped up from the couch "OH Jimmy! Oh, thank God you're all right. Oh my baby boy…Oh...Pete, thank you!"
"Pete, I can't thank you enough" Jim stated.
"Thanks goes to your neighbor…he caught him as he was rushing by with the water flow, just up the block. Mikki hit that right on the cue." Pete said, though he still had a worried look about him.
"Pete? What aren't you telling me?"
"Jim…its Mikki…she hasn't surfaced yet…she should've been right behind him. The neighbors are still watching the manholes for any sign of her."
From across the room, came a nervous gasp. Immediately, Jim was at his neighbors' side, "Don't worry, Mrs. Hastings, we'll find her." Then turning to Jean, he hugged her and Jimmy and said, "We'll be back as soon as we can."
Jean nodded as she watched Jim and Pete head back out into the raging downpour, sending up a silent prayer that Mikki would fare as well as Jimmy had.