Chapter Twelve

Siri Tachi and Ferus Olin arrived at the scene too late. When Siri saw Orlando's dead body she asked, "What happened?"

"Sage Tex came and tried to kill Roxie," Blando said. "She accused her of cheating, but got angry at Orlando for defending Roxie. So when Sage fired at Roxie, Orlando took the shot and died."

"Where did Roxie go?" Siri asked.

"She ran off," Blando said. "I put a tracking device on her arm, but she must have turned it off or something."

"Brando…you and Ferus go and find her," Siri instructed. "Contact me if you see anything unusual."

"What are you going to do, Master?" Ferus asked.

"I'm going to look for Sage," Siri replied.

Ferus and Brando nodded and left.

"How about we split up and meet back here in an hour?" Brando suggested. "I'll go down the left alley and you go down the right."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Ferus replied.

Ferus reached out in the Force and sensed Roxanne down the nearby alleyway.

Roxanne felt someone reach out to her and she lost her balance and fell down, twisting her right ankle. She found the strength to crawl and lean against a nearby wall.

"Roxie?" Ferus said as he entered the alley. "Where are you?"

Roxanne wiped the tears from her eyes and heard someone talking to her and asked, "Who goes there?"

She pulled out her blaster and aimed at the alleyway.

Ferus heard the shot and followed the sound.

"Roxie don't shoot," Ferus said.

"Ferus?" Roxanne asked in disbelief as she lowered her blaster and looked away. "What are you doing here?"

Ferus rushed over to her and dropped to his knees and said, "I came to find you."

"Maybe I didn't want to be found," Roxie said as she winced from the pain her ankle was causing her. She hoped Ferus would not notice.

Ferus could sense something was wrong because Roxie's eyes went misty.

"Why did you run away like that?" Ferus asked.

"My father told me to," Roxanne said.

Ferus looked at her and she said, "I didn't know Sage was going to kill me. I had my back turned to her when she aimed at me. My dad saw and he took the shot before I could do anything about it."

"Roxie, I didn't say it was your fault," Ferus said gently.

Roxanne blinked back the tears but did not say anything.

As a tear slid down her cheek, Ferus reached out to wipe it away and wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Roxanne rested her head on his shoulder as he pulled her onto his lap.

Roxie winced when he did this and he noticed. "What's wrong, Roxie?"

"My ankle," Roxie said. "I sprained it and it hurts."

"I'll carry you home," Ferus said as he rested his head on the crown on her head and kissed her forehead.

Roxanne looked at him with great indignity and said, "I'm suppose to be the tough one around here. I'm six-years-old for crying out loud and I'm already falling apart."

Ferus laughed and said, "Relax and go to sleep."

Roxie sighted and finally fell asleep and he carried her home.