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Episode 10: Jonah's Vigilantes!

Jasmine walked into the small bar, looking around for Ben. She hated wearing the brown cloth dress the farmwoman had given her with a passion, but it was worth it to fit in a little. However, her hatred for the dress was matched by Ben's hatred of the hat he was to wear, one almost exactly like the one that was stolen from Jonah.

She spotted that hat and walked over to where Ben was sulking at a table, jabbing at bacon with a fork. "Ben," she said.

"What?" He said bitterly, finally managing to get the greasy thing attached to the metal. Once he had accomplished this, he suddenly realized that he didn't want to eat it after all. "Did you find anything?"

"I have one lead," she said, putting down an old photograph. "And that's it right there."

Ben took it and looked it over. "So this is why you look so sour." It was a picture of Jonah with his arm around a blond girl in a similar cowboy outfit, both laughing.

"Give that back," she snapped. "It's an awful picture of him anyway. It makes his face look ugly."

He laughed. "Come on, let's find that girl. I've seen her in here before."

"You have?" Jasmine looked hopeful.

"Yeah, she was talking to the bartender an hour ago. I scanned her mind and all I got was that her name was Joan and she worked with a bunch of kids."

"How old is she?" Jasmine watched him stand up. "Do you know?"

"Fifteen, maybe sixteen," he said. "Around our age."

"Alright, lets go then," she said. "I have to rip her eyes out."

"Isn't that a bit much for a picture?"

"I think it's just fine," Jasmine growled, dragging him out of the door. As cute as this dragging thing was, Ben thought, there is a line, and Jasmine was getting pretty close.

The streets were dusty and crowded in this small California town, and the only thing Ben wanted was his safe, empty, quiet room. There was the noise from the people and from their minds, and he couldn't close off without the Professor's help. He held onto Jasmine's arm so as not to lose her.

Jasmine immediately picked up the familiar scent of Jonah as a small boy passed them. She reached out and grabbed his shoulder, and the boy looked up. He couldn't have been older than eleven or twelve. Staring into her eyes, his shoulder suddenly passed through her hand and he ran.

"No," she shouted. "Get back here!" She ripped out of Ben's grasp and bolted after the boy. Ben, arm still outstretched, was lost.

"Jasmine?" he called. "Jasmine, wait!"

Moving out of the crowd and leaning against a wall, Ben suddenly realized that no matter how good he was at being a leader, he was pathetic alone.

...

Jasmine chased the boy through the streets, finally losing him in an ally. She sniffed at the air. The smells of both the boy and Jonah were strong here. He had come this way. But where did he go?

She followed both scents to the far wall, sniffing desperately, getting more and more exited as the smells got more powerful. Putting her hands against the wall, she pushed. She was surprised as the wall slid open, revealing a small doorway she could crawl through.

"Found you," she whispered.

The boy was now running down a dark hallway just beyond the secret door. She clambered through and chased him, reaching and almost catching him. Somehow he could slip through her grasp even when she had her hands on him.

"Jonah," the boy cried. "Intruder alert, Jonaaaaah."

She ran after him into a small round room, and she immediately locked eyes with Jonah Danger, standing up from the table at the far wall and pulling his revolver. He stared at her, and she was frozen only for a moment before launching at him and throwing her arms around him.

"I found you," she said again. "Jonah."

"Jazz?" He said softly. "Jasmine, what th' hell are yeh DOIN' here?"

"She sounds fancy," said the blond girl Joan.

Jasmine looked around at the others. There were four of them. Joan was one, along with the small boy she had chased. The other two were a red haired teenage girl in pigtails and a scruffy looking stable boy. All were wearing similar outfits to Jonah.

"Who is she, Joe?" The stable boy asked. "Ah ain't never seen her before."

"Jasmine," he said. "Ahd... like yeh to meet mah friends. The girl with the pigtails is Mary, and the stable boy is Mark. The boy you chased is Peter."

The small boy waved.

"And this..."

"I know," Jasmine snapped. "Joan, right?"

Joan nodded. "Right."

"You're coming home right now," Jasmine demanded, grabbing Jonah's arm. "It's not safe here, you're going to die."

"What? Jasmine, ah can't," he said loudly.

"Why not?"

"One of our teammates went missing," Mary said. "We have to find him before the sheriff does."

"The sheriff?" Jasmine asked incredulously. "Who the hell ARE you guys?"

"We're the Vigilantes," Mark said. "Welcome to our hidey-hole."

"Did you come here alone?" Jonah asked, looking at the doorway.

"No, I..." Jasmine looked too. "I thought Ben was right behind me..."

"Ben? Alone in a crowded place like out there?" Jonah pushed past her. "Ahll go get him. You stay here, alright? Ahll be back."

As the secret door closed behind him, Jasmine sat down, scowling. "That's what you said LAST time."

NEXT: Finding Forrest!