After Edith had come and gone again, leaving Sydney's things behind, Emily suggested doing some work in the garden. It was a very nice day, she had flowers that still needed planting, and knew that Sydney didn't normally get a chance to do those kinds of things.

Sydney consented to this. As they were nearly finished with the flowers, she asked if they could go to a movie, as well.

"That's a good idea. It's been a long time since I've been to one."

Sydney smiled and turned back to the flower she was planting. They planted the remainder of the flowers first, then a few vegetables Emily had missed earlier. When they were finished, they watered all of them well with the hose.

"You did a very nice job, Sydney. Let's go get something to eat then get ready for the movie."

Sydney and Emily enjoyed the film very much, and the rest of their week was likewise pleasant, except for one or two bad dreams Sydney had.

She went home that next Friday. Edith greeted her at home, and they were both glad to see each other again. They shared stories of their week apart, then soon settled into their former routine.

Edith began to be concerned for Sydney a couple of weeks before school was back in session. Jack had still not come home, or gotten in touch at all. Sydney had grown truly withdrawn, and could go for days without saying a word. Edith tried many, many times to draw the child out, and failed. In the end, she could only hope that Sydney would be all right once she was in class and had others her age to talk to.

Then, about a week and a half into the school year, Sydney arrived home to find her father's car parked in the driveway.

She was so excited she ran up and threw the door open. She was surprised that she didn't break it.

"DADDY!" she screamed.

"SHHHHHH! Your father is asleep."

"Oh," she said, very disappointed.

"He just got back a few hours ago, and he was so exhausted. It was a long flight, so I told him to go sleep. I knew you'd be excited, but I think you can wait another couple of hours."

"I guess."

"Good. Go work on your homework. How is the seventh grade?"

"It's all right. I don't know many people yet, but I'm going to try to make some friends."

"That's good. Go ahead and get your homework done, then you can spend all night with your father."

Sydney only nodded, and went straight to her room. She did her work for a while, then decided to look in on her father.

When she opened his bedroom door, she gasped. The person on the bed asleep hardly looked like her father. His face and hands looked positively battered. He'd lost enough weight that Sydney could tell she didn't just imagine he'd lost it due to not seeing him in so long. As she stood there in shock, Jack opened his eyes and turned in her direction.

It scared her for a moment. He looked at her strangely, as if he didn't know who she was, then closed his eyes again.

"Daddy?" she asked softly.

"What is it?"

"What happened to you? Why are you so...so thin? What did they do to you?" Sydney had been convinced the entire time her father was gone that something bad must have happened, and she was right. She was staring at the proof.

"There was an accident. I'll be all right, I just need sleep. But you can come in, for a minute."

Sydney was relieved when he opened his eyes and recognized her this time. She walked over and sat on the bed.

"I missed you, Daddy. So much."

"I know. I missed you too. How have you been? Is school in yet?"

"I've been all right." Sydney could only hope Edith hadn't told him how quiet she'd grown. "School is fine. I'm in seventh grade now, Daddy."

"Seventh? That's fantastic, Sydney. How was your summer?"

"It was pretty good."

"That's good. I think I'm going to rest a little longer, all right?"

"Yes, Daddy. Will we be able to spend some time together later before I have to go to bed?"

"I'm sure we will, a little."

"Okay." Sydney left her father in peace and went to finish her homework.

Later that evening, her father finally came downstairs. He looked better now. He'd showered and shaved and was coming down for dinner. Edith took the leftovers out, and he ate heartily, as if he hadn't in years.

Even though he was so focused on the food, Jack noticed how quiet his daughter was. normally she would talk about all kinds of things, with great feeling behind her words. Now, the extent of her speech was to ask someone to please pass this or that dish.

At last, Jack put his fork down and asked, "Sydney, are you really all right? You've hardly said a word."

"I'm fine, Daddy. Don't worry, just eat."

Edith poked her head in from the kitchen. "Don't you lie to your father, young lady. You tell him what's going on." Sydney blushed and looked down at her plate.

"Because you were away from me for so long....I just got so lonely, and I hardly ever had anyone to talk to. I spent a lot of my summer at Emily's, helping her and talking to her and doing things. That was the most I talked all summer really, was to her."

"She hardly says anything to me," Edith spoke up.

"I just figured, when you did get back, you'd just be leaving again soon anyway."

"Actually, I've asked for a week off. I wasn't planning on telling you now, but since this conversation has come up, I thought it best to tell you now."

"Are you sure they won't make you come back early?"

"Yes. When they say I have time off, I have it. We'll have time to catch up. Are things all right between you and Edith? You always got along so well, it isn't like you to give anyone the silent treatment."

"I didn't, Daddy. It just got so depressing here, without you. That's why I spent so much time at Emily's."

"Ohh, I see. Well, hopefully you'll feel better now."

"I think so. I just thought you might never come home. I thought maybe because I'd been so... so bad the last time you were home."

"Sydney, if I could have been here I would have come. You're my daughter, and I love you. I hate being away so much too."

Sydney was surprised by what her father said, but was glad to hear it. "I love you too, Dad. I have a little homework to finish, then I'll come back. Just wait here, please?"

It only took her fifteen minutes to finish, and Jack waited for her. He was still very tired, but he could spare an hour or two with his daughter before she had to go to sleep. She came back down and found him in the same spot in the kitchen, reading the day's newspaper.

"What would you like to do?"

"Well, I'd like you to tell me about your trip, but I don't think you can do that, can you?" she asked.

"No, I'm sorry. There is plenty we can talk about. When did you find out you would be skipping a grade?"

"At the very end of the year. You'd left by then, or I would have told you."

"I know you would have. I'm very proud of you. Is the work more challenging for you now?"

"Yes, it's fine. Dad, did you go to a doctor? Your face... it just looks..."

"It looks awful. I know, and I'm sorry if it frightened you to see me. But it had been so long already I didn't think I could wait until it all healed."

"I'm so glad you came. Would it be all right if I... if I sat on your lap for a minute? I know I'm big for that and it's very silly to ask, but..."

"But nothing. Come on." Even Jack didn't understand why this all seemed so easy for him as compared to before. Whatever the reason was, he wasn't sorry. If he'd only known how little time he and Sydney would have together, he would have done even better.

After a while of being on his lap, Jack's legs began to go numb and told Sydney it was time to get off. She did so quickly, sorry she had hurt him. He assured her he was alright and told her to sit next to him. They talked for a little longer about Sydney's summer and school and how things had been with Edith before it was Sydney's bedtime. She had three more days of school that week and was more tired at night because she hadn't grown used to getting up earlier in the morning. He told her that they would do something together that weekend, and he planned on buying her something nice to make up for his long absence.

She got up to go to sleep not expecting him to go with her. Surprisingly, he tucked her in without even asking her if she'd wanted him to. He figured he already knew the answer, and Sydney was delighted by this. She was beginning to be glad about the fact that her father had gone away for so long because he had changed.

Sydney fell asleep that night with a smile on her face. Jack, for his part, was awake for a long time, due to the aches in his body and all the thoughts chasing themselves around in his mind. At last, though, he dropped off. Edith was likewise soundly asleep in her room. No one, therefore, heard the panel of glass get broken out of the front door.

An arm reached through and a gloved hand slowly unlocked all three of the locks on the door. It then disappeared back through the jagged hole and the door began to creak slowly open. A dark, masked figure entered carrying a gun. He closed the door softly behind him and move forward not making a sound. The first room he looked into a man was sleeping. The father, the dark figure thought. The next room was that of an older woman leaving the last room in the hallway. The dark man entered, finding the girl in her bed, vulnerable. He pulled the tape from his jacket and put it over the girl's mouth. Then he grabbed her out of bed, taking the comforter along with him as a silencer in case she would wake.

As this strange man made his way back to the front door, Sydney did wake up. When she realized she didn't know the person whose face she saw, and that he was carrying her toward the door, she of course wanted to scream. She couldn't, and so tried her best to kick him and get free. Only then did she realize her hands weren't tied. She could take the tape off herself. She did, before the person could stop her, and screamed once at the top of her voice. Then the man flashed the guy in her face. His voice was muffled by his mask as he said, "You see this? You just shut your mouth right now, or I'll kill you."

Sydney immediately fell silent, and even as her father rushed out from his room, she was being carried off to who knew where.

She felt herself being shoved into what she thought was the back of a van. Then there was a man's voice commanding the driver to go. She heard her father's voice somewhere too, and then a pinching and burning feeling in her arm. It was only a few seconds later, when she began to feel sleepy, that she realized she had been sedated.

Jack woke up at the sound of his daughter's scream and it took him a while to realize it hadn't come from her room. He rushed out, getting his feet caught in his sheets and nearly falling over. He ran into the living room in time to see the man walking out, holding a gun to his daughter's head. Jack was going to try to tackle him with his frail body in hopes of knocking the gun from his hand, but he wasn't fast enough. He discovered there were more men waiting outside in a van. Just as he came out the door, the van roared to life.