Kidnapped For the Moment 4

The next morning, when Frankie saw the shape his sister was in, he arm wrestled the steering wheel from her, and drove her to Chickopee. It was halfway across the state, and he was pleased to see her fall asleep by Framingham. He didn't know much other than they were headed into Springfield first to a company called, "Yankee Doodle Title Insurance." He figured he'd wake Jane up when they got into Springfield. Not a bad day, so far. Jane had eaten an egg sandwich and was finally getting some sleep.

They had about an hour more to go,and Frankie liked to drive.

I had set up four different small animal traps, not killing ones, but their leg could be caught in some string. I hated to unravel my blouse along the hem...but I did need to eat. If I caught a pet or something I couldn't bear to kill, I could choose. I was cleaning out the fire circle when a man approached me. He was unshaven, long haired, wore a heavy coat and a big backpack. He was as careful in his approach as I would be with a wild animal.

"Hi. I'm Jake. Are you new here?"

That flustered me. "I, thought I was alone, although with the fire circle..."

"Oh, everyone shares that. I guess you're new to the life."

I looked my question at him. I didn't understand what he was talking about.

"Did your old man beat you?"

"Actually, no. I was kidnapped and escaped."

His eyes opened wide. "Wow! I' never seen that before! Where do you need to get back to?"

"Boston, but I don't where I am."

"Just a half mile from Chicopee Memorial State Park."

"Could you show me the way?"

"Absolutely. I never had an adventure before. This is cool."

"I have a shelter back by the rock overhang, if you want a place to put your things."

"They are getting a little heavy.

Thanks, Lady.

I winced inwardly. "My name is Maura."

Jake nodded."Yeah, It's a bad habit, trying to sound respectful without messing with your privacy."

"Oh, I see. That's fine with me, now that I know why. My shelter is over by that rise."

Jake looked at it and gave a low whistle. "Lady—I mean Maura, you really know how to build."

"Thank you." I want to check my traps because I could use some protein."

"If I hafta live outside I druther do it with you. I can tickle catfish, if your traps are empty."

"Good plan. Thank you." We walked up to my shelter. "Stash your backpack under the leaves. You can rest while I check my traps."

While Jake buried his backpack, and sat down to take his shoes off, I checked my traps. I could hear wings fluttering, and hoped it wasn't en endangered bird. Fortunately, it was a common bobwhite. I quickly broke it's neck and brought it back to pluck. Jake put his shoes back on and stood.

"My turn, Hope I can get a fish." He walked off to the pond, picked up a stick scrutinized the shore and leaned over the water, poking the stick in. I kept plucking. It was amazing how many feathers were on the quail.. Jake stuck his hands in the water, waited, wiggling his fingers, yanked them out, and had a fish clamped on his left hand.

"Does that hurt?", I asked.

Jake stood up and walked toward me. "Nope. Feels like sandpaper. My Dad and I used to do this before he died. You got something I can cut it up with?

I handed him the flint flake. He worked on the catfish, while I attended to the quail. Then he used sticks to stand them near the fire I built. "Where did you lean that?", I asked.

"Washington State. They cook salmon that way. Why did you put that huge long branch into the side of your campfire?"

"I learned it in Africa. You don't have to keep feeding the fire."

"Everywhere you go, you learn something new and useful."

Jane had her jaw clamped shut, the way she always did to keep from yawning. The room where they were looking at properties reminded her of the cold case file room. The Title guy was going through huge files that went all the way back to royal land grants. "Why do they have to do that. We just need to figure out where Maura is.", she thought. Frankie stifled a yawn too.

"This is all very interesting, but we have to find our friend. She's been kidnapped, and –bad things could happen to her." Frankie's voice sounded strained. Hey, Maura was family.

The title guy opened another file. "This one is nearby, in this county, and the owner of record is Rory Graham. So, let's see what we can find." He took out a map that looked different from any map Jane had ever seen. Big rectangles with names in them were interrupted by rivers, and ponds, or lakes. Houses were not shown, nor streets and roads.

The title guy pointed at one of the rectangles.

"This is the property I was talking about. It's a farm owned by Rory Graham, If I was going to hold someone hostage..."

"Hey! What's the address on it?" asked Frankie.

The title guy read another document. This place would make Jane crazy in one day.

"The legal address is 526 Penny Drive."

"That's it! It has to be!", yelled Jane. "How do we get there?"

TBC