Chapter 28
Keith decided he couldn't just sit there and wait. Well, he could, he just wanted to be absolutely sure that the jerk was really dead at the bottom of the ravine.
He painfully pushed himself up from his seated position and held onto the tree until the world stopped spinning. This was getting to be a little too much of a regular thing for his tastes. He really needed to get this fever under control or he was likely to be dizzy for the foreseeable future.
He winced as he pushed away from the tree and walked very slowly to the edge. He stopped before getting too close knowing that his balance was already a bit of a risk to then look down. He finally spotted a small tree close enough to the edge to hang onto and lean over without risking taking a header himself.
By the time he limped his way over to it, the sun was starting to go down behind the trees and were those rain clouds coming in? He sure hoped not, but with the way his luck had been lately, he wasn't too hopeful. He turned from the ominous clouds and glanced down. He thought he saw a lifeless form lying at the bottom, but he couldn't be sure. The light had become too dim. Shit.
What if the guy wasn't dead down there and was already hiking his way back up the cliff? Keith wasn't about to stick around and find out. He'd be taken hostage again as sure as he was standing here.
Ok, he needed to find a hiding place; one not too far away so that he'd be around when Carol brought back help.
He hugged his arm close and limped into the edge of the woods. He also needed to think about keeping warm and dry if those clouds he saw were real. It got mighty cold in the woods at night not to mention the fact that he might soon be wet.
He found a small bower that suited his needs just perfectly. The ground was covered in pine boughs and the space was fairly tight with fallen logs on either side. He could squeeze himself in between and conserve as much body heat as possible. Oh, who was he kidding, he was burning up with fever, getting cold might just do him good. No, that couldn't be right. Whenever he'd gotten a fever his mother had said he needed to stay warm. If it did rain, all bets were off.
Why in the world was he having this argument with himself? He needed to squeeze into this spot for safety reasons. Staying warm or not, was not the only concern at this point.
Keith sighed while slowly and painfully working his way into the space. Once settled, he gave way to the coughing attack that seemed to be coming more frequently and then closed his eyes hoping for the oblivion of sleep.
xoxo
Reuben drove like a maniac to get to the gas station by the required time. He hadn't even stopped to see if the FBI had gotten a fix on the kidnappers. He didn't really care because if they hadn't and he didn't make the drop point, the consequences were unthinkable.
He pulled his car to a screeching halt just as the phone started to ring. He bounded out and pushed a man out of his way so that he could get to the phone. As he picked it up, he paused briefly remembering that he had left the duffle in his unlocked car. He spun around to make sure he kept an eye on it.
"Kincaid here." He barked into the phone.
"Very good. You've done exactly as I've asked. Next stop is fifteen miles due east of where you are. Another pay phone at a diner. You better get going, you've got 10 minutes. Hope you don't mind speeding." The kidnapper chuckled and hung up.
Reuben sprinted to his car and absently noticed a nondescript car pulling onto the road not too far behind him. Must be the FBI, was his absent thought. It brought him some comfort, but he'd rather they found Keith and let Reuben fend for himself. Keith was the one in danger, not him.
xoxo
Carol walked until it was too dark to walk, then she sat down for a few minutes to assess her situation. The flashlights had been in the bundle with the sleeping bag. Neither she nor Keith would have the comfort of light in the dark forest. She momentarily worried about the fact that she might be approached by wild animals with nothing to fend them off with. She could not afford to be eaten by a bear.
The ridiculousness of that thought made her laugh out loud.
"Get control of yourself, Carol." She talked to herself hoping the sound of her own voice would help her to calm down. "No need to panic. It's just the woods. Most of the animals out here are more afraid of you than you are of them, right?"
"The operative word there was most." Carol reminded herself. "Knock it off. You will not panic. Keith's counting on you."
Carol felt a little better after finishing her pep talk.
What to do next? She couldn't just wander around in the dark. She'd end up walking in circles.
She needed water. She'd left the canteen with Keith knowing that with his fever, he needed it worse than she did. She tilted her head sideways as she thought she heard the faint sounds of rushing water. Could she be this lucky?
She began to walk with her hands out in front of her to stop her from walking face first into a tree. Within a couple of minutes, she was certain she heard rushing water. She hurried her steps only slightly as the woods were dense and she really didn't want to end up with a broken nose.
A few more minutes and she broke out of the woods and almost stumbled into the stream. The moon was filtered overhead but bright enough for her to see the water and she almost laughed out loud at her luck. She fell down on her knees and drank her fill.
She glanced up as the darkness seemed to get deeper. She noticed clouds blowing past the moon and thought she might have seen darker, more ominous clouds further away. Would it rain? Oh, God please, no. Keith was too sick to get wet. She felt tears forming as her frustration grew. She had no time to dawdle to decide her next move. She just needed to keep moving.
With the help of the dimming moon, she decided to walk by following the banks of the stream. She knew from the position of the moon that she would be walking in the direction she'd decided on when she'd started. She was heading due west.
Hopefully toward her rescue.
xoxo
Keith jerked awake. His eyes blinked open only to find total darkness. He snickered lowly. Good, Laurie hadn't found him yet.
His fever was raging high and Keith was reliving a memory from his past. He and Laurie were playing hide and seek in the house. It was raining out and his mother had insisted they find something quiet to do as Danny was down for his nap.
Laurie had suggested hide and seek and Keith agreed if she was 'it' first. He told her to count to 100 before looking for him. He knew that gave him extra time because Laurie always had trouble once she got over 50. He knew she was too honest to come until she'd actually counted to 100. She might even go looking for their mom to help her. He had plenty of time to hide.
He'd found a beauty of a hiding place too. He was in the attic. The attic was full of old musty boxes. Laurie always said it probably had loads of spiders, so she wouldn't come and look for him there until a last resort.
He'd been sitting there for a good 15 minutes behind a bunch of those musty old boxes, when he realized how dark it was. At first it didn't bother him, but as time went by, the few shadows he could see began to make him think about critters that were bigger than spiders. What if there was a big rat in the attic with him? He tensed as he thought he heard something scurry across the floor. Naw, it had to be his imagination. His mother would never allow a rat in her house much less a mouse.
The wind rushing through the trees made the tree branches sway around Keith's hiding place. In his mind, the swaying branches were moving ghosts inside the attic at home. He tensed further and started chanting quietly, 'come on Laurie, find me'. He knew he would be declared the loser if he came out too early. How much longer did he have to wait?
xoxo
Reuben rushed through the door of the diner and screamed. "No! Don't touch it!" At the tired looking waitress who was moving to pick up the ringing pay phone.
"No problem, honey, it's all yours." She said while giving him a strange look.
"Kincaid!" He yelled just as abruptly as soon as he picked it up.
"That one was close. I almost hung up on you." The kidnapper said in a chastising voice.
"Well, I'm here. How much longer are we going to do this? I thought you wanted the money. No more games. Where do I meet you?" Reuben's fear of almost missing the call made him courageous; or was it foolish. He wasn't sure.
"You don't get to make demands, you hear me?" The kidnapper snapped.
"Sorry, it's just that I will not be the reason that the Partridge Family looses their son. I can't be that reason." Reuben just said it like it was.
"Awww, my heart bleeds for you." The kidnapper said sarcastically. "Good thing for you, I'm sick of this little game too. Your next stop is the drop. You better be by yourself. If you're not, I've got a gun that says you WILL be the reason that this little bird don't sing. You don't wanna break his Mama's heart do you?"
"You know I don't. I'll be alone." Reuben assured him and glared holes into the FBI agent who came strolling into the diner and sat down nonchalantly at the counter allowing the waitress to pour him a cup of coffee.
"There's an old abandoned gravel pit another 5 miles due east of you. Pull in and drive up to the shack. Turn off your car, no lights. Get out and wait for me. I'll come to you." The kidnapper hung up before Reuben could acknowledge him.
"He says I have to be alone. You make sure of that." Reuben said as he walked by the FBI agent. The agent nodded and let Reuben walk away.
xoxo
Carol had been walking for a good two hours following the stream. The moon was growing dimmer and dimmer but so far she'd avoided too many mishaps. She'd tripped only once and was limping slightly from her injured toe.
She rubbed her hands up and down her arms hoping to generate some warmth. She looked ahead and had to blink several times; was she hallucinating? She stopped walking to be sure she saw what she thought she saw. It was a low burning campfire. She was sure of it.
She almost laughed out loud she was so happy.
No, wait. What if it was the other kidnapper? She couldn't just blunder into their kidnapper's camp. She'd have to be smart about this.
She moved slowly and quietly along the streambed and tiptoed into the camp. There were two sleeping forms curled up in very warm looking sleeping bags, their heads the only part of their bodies sticking out of a small v-shaped tent. She shivered at the thought of being snuggled up in the sleeping bag with Keith just the night before. Why did it seem like a lifetime ago?
She was trying to decide the best way to announce her presence when a voice said quietly, "Don't come any closer. I have a weapon."
"Don't shoot. I need help." Carol said quickly.
"You're a girl?" The guy said as he sat up and turned on his flashlight pointing it directly at Carol, blinding her.
"Yes, I am and I need help. Please." She added quickly.
"What are you doing out here? Josh, wake up, man." The first man said to his friend who groaned and rolled over.
"Holy shit Trey, what's a girl doing in our camp?" Josh said as he rubbed his eyes and expertly wiggled his way out of his cocoon.
"I'm not sure yet. Says she needs help." Trey was already on his feet. "Alright, I was lying about the weapon, though this flashlight could do plenty of damage used properly. Don't be scared, we won't hurt you, right Josh?"
Carol had been having second thoughts about approaching two male strangers, but guessed it was a little late for that.
"We were kidnapped. I need to get to the police." Carol blurted out.
"We?" Josh asked as he took his own flashlight and moved it around beyond Carol looking for another person.
"Yes, Keith and I. I had to leave him behind. He's hurt and we knew he wouldn't be able to walk very far, so I went for help." Carol had been fine until now, all of a sudden the tears opened like a flood gate. In a voice that was now almost indistinguishable because of her crying she begged. "Please, help me. Help us. Please."
xoxo
"What took you so long?" Keith said to Laurie as she finally, carefully walked up into the attic and found him among the boxes. He felt like he'd been there for several days at least.
"I was trying to find you." She defended herself. "It's not that easy when you hide in the darkest and scariest spot you can think of."
"It may be dark, but it's not scary." Keith could talk tough now that he wasn't alone any more. He walked back to the door now that the game was over only to find that the knob wouldn't turn. Laurie saw his actions and figured he was teasing her.
"Keith Partridge, you let me out right now." Laurie demanded.
"What, don't tell me Laurie Partridge is afraid of the dark?" Keith teased her just to cover his own moment of panic.
"No more than you are. You sure looked scared when I opened the door and found you looking wide-eyed at who knows what." Laurie said bravely.
"I wasn't scared, you just blinded me with the sudden light when you opened the door." Keith tried to cover.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Laurie shoved her brother and reached for the door handle herself.
He watched her turn the knob with the same result he'd had – nothing. "Hmmm, must be jammed."
"Knock it off, Keith. You locked it when you jiggled it before." Laurie demanded.
"I did not. It just won't open." Keith jiggled the knob again with the same results.
"Let me try, again." Laurie slapped his hand away from the knob and grabbed it. She turned, but it just slid in her hand. "What did you do to it?"
"Nothing. Honest." Keith said in his defense.
"Keith, get us out of here." Laurie was close to crying and moved closer to her brother as she looked around at the scary darkness all around them.
"Laurie I can't. The door is jammed." Keith reminded her.
"What'll we do? We'll die in here." Laurie whispered her fear.
"Naw, we won't die. Mom'll find us." Keith assured her.
"She won't look for us until dinner time. She'll just be glad we're playing quietly and not waking Danny." Laurie reminded him.
"So, we wait until Danny wakes up. When mom comes up to get him we'll yell for her to come and get us out." Keith said bravely as he watched the moving shadows close in once again. But, he had to be brave for his little sister. He put his arm around her shoulder and slid down the wall pulling her with him. "We'll be fine. You'll see."
"You're sure?" Laurie asked as she shivered against her big brother's body.
"Positive. I'll protect you." Keith assured her and spent the next couple of hours doing just that.
xoxo
Reuben stepped from his car and grabbing the duffle bag, he leaned against the hood of the car to wait. He shivered in the damp wind even under the windbreaker he'd put on before leaving Shirley and the kids back at the house.
He wasn't standing there for more than 5 minutes when he heard a noise from behind the shack he'd had no trouble finding.
"You alone?" A disembodied voice said from the shadows.
"Of course." Reuben answered immediately.
"You got my money?" The voice asked.
"Right here." Reuben tapped the bag with his foot.
"Open it up and let me see it." Came the reply.
"It's pretty dark out here. You sure you can make sure it's real?" Reuben wanted to get a good look at this guy and unless he came out of the shadows, there was no hope of that.
"Oh, I'll look at it alright. Just open the case." He was instructed.
Reuben leaned over and unzipped the bag. He picked up one of the stacks making sure that the bill on top was visible. "Happy?"
"Not yet, but I will be very shortly." That comment was followed by an almost gleeful laugh.
"Where's Keith? No money until I get Keith." Reuben put the money back in the bag and zipped it back up.
"He's not here. You think I'm dumb enough to bring him where you could get the drop on me?" The kidnapper reasoned.
"Get the drop on you? I'm alone. You were here before me. You should've put Keith in the shack and we could have exchanged and parted ways." Reuben reasoned back.
"That's one option. Too bad this isn't your show. It's mine. Now toss the bag over here." Reuben was instructed.
"No." Reuben said bravely.
"What do you mean no?" Came the angry retort.
"No money until I get Keith…..and Carol." Reuben almost forgot to ask for her. Man, how could he forget!
"You wanna die, man?" The guy asked almost conversationally.
"Not particularly." Reuben answered honestly.
"Then don't be a hero. Toss the bag over. I'll tell you where to find Partridge and his girlfriend." The man demanded.
"No." Reuben said again. "I don't part with this money until I have the kid. I promised his mother."
"Oh well, in that case." The guy started reasonably and then spat. "Are you f*cking nuts? You are not giving the orders here. Piss me off any more and I might just kill you, grab the money and then go shoot the kid just to make me feel better. Understand?"
Suddenly all of the bravado went out of Reuben. He decided that asking nicely was worth a shot. "Look man, I cannot disappointment Shirley. I promised her I'd bring him home with me."
"You're breaking my heart man." The guy said sarcastically. "Toss the bag over or I will shoot you."
"Alright, fine. Here." Reuben tossed the bag.
"Good job. Thanks." The man said and hefted the bag onto his shoulder.
"Where's Keith?" Reuben yelled to the man as he walked away.
All he received for his question was a maniacal laugh.
"You son of a bitch!" Reuben didn't think about his actions he simply ran after the man with blood in his eyes.
xoxo
Keith knew he was floating somewhere between reality and a dream world. He could feel his body shivering with cold yet burning up with fever. The shivers racked his body and caused him immense pain. Partridge, you are a wreck, was all he could think as another shiver caused him to bite back a moan of pain.
When the pain was at its worst, he knew he was in the woods hiding out waiting for Carol to bring back help. He knew it because his shoulder ached something fierce, his lungs burned and his body was hot and heavier than he could ever remember it feeling.
At other times, he was a little kid and he had Laurie by his side. They were locked in the attic trying to keep each other calm while they waited for Danny to wake up from his nap.
She'd been crying, telling him how scared she was. He'd joked and cajoled her into laughing. It had kept him calm trying to keep her calm.
She really was his best friend.
He would wake up from this half-dream state thinking about her and how bad she must feel about letting him talk her into helping him sneak out of the house.
He'd owe her the biggest apology and she'd make him pay for this for a very long time. She might even give him the silent treatment. Oh, he hated that probably most of all.
She'd given him the silent treatment only after their worst fights. Most of them since they'd both hit puberty. As soon as he started liking girls, she became little miss women's lib. Yeah, like she was even old enough to be labeled a woman at that time.
What made it even worse was when Laurie started liking the same boys that liked her. That meant dating and that meant overprotective older brother went into active mode.
Those two converging issues had caused some of Keith and Laurie's biggest arguments to date. It had gotten worse once the group had made it big. Laurie would accuse Keith of using his fame to get dates. Well, yeah, of course he did. Was it his fault girls were even easier for him to get now that he had some fame to go along with the looks that had had girls falling at his feet before? Laurie sure thought so at times.
But she was one to talk. Her looks made guys fall all over her too. Was it his fault that sometimes as an older brother it was his duty to scare a few of them off? I mean, knowing what he knew about some of those guys there was no way they were getting near his sister.
Laurie not talking to him was a small price to pay for keeping her safe. Well, it was a small price, until he needed his best friend to talk through an issue with. Or until she wasn't talking to him when he needed to work out a song that was giving him fits. She was always such a good sounding board. She never pulled her punches, yet she would tell him something sucked in such a way that he was never insulted. She was so good to him and vice versa.
He wondered idly what she would do if he never came back. Would she be alright without an older brother?
Would she be alright without her best friend?
