The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

Back from the Dead

By: Sapphire

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Chapter Three: The Shadow She Saw

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They gathered around the kitchen table while Maggie and Price ate. Jonny, Race, and Jessie had eaten earlier that morning. "Where is Uncle Benton?" Maggie wondered, "and Hadji, too."

"They decided to stay in Nigeria and work out the major bugs in a system they set up for a friend of Dr. Quest's," Jessie told her. "Why?"

"I wanted to talk to him. I have a rather large problem, which is why I'm here in the middle of the week instead of at school," she explained. Jonny gave her a questioning look. "Someone's trying to kill me."

"Someone's what?" Jonny asked, incredulous.

"Explain," Race ordered.

"I was followed home from the library two nights ago, and I found a threatening message on my answering machine. I left for Maine right away, thinking I'd be safe here, but I was followed again, and I was shot at in the train station."

"I was just getting home on leave when I saw some maniac shooting in the station," Price picked up the story. "I was surprised when I saw Maggie hiding from the shooter. When she explained, I came with her."

"What about that?" Race demanded, indicating Maggie's bandages.

"We took two snowmobiles out yesterday, and we were shot at- on the trail that runs through the property. Maggie flipped her snowmobile trying to escape. I think the gunman stopped; there were footprints and an extra tread mark when I got there. Whoever it was probably thought she was dead. I thought she was, at first." Price's expression was grave.

"I don't know if he did or not," Maggie said. "I passed out. The next thing I remember, Price was asking me if I could hear him."

"You really are related to Jonny," Race said after a moment. "You have the same amazing dumb luck."

"Not so lucky," Maggie said, "I hurt my knee and I can hardly walk on it, and I think I badly sprained my wrist. I couldn't drive my snowmobile back, so it's still sitting out there in the field."

"We'll go get it later," Race said. "Right now, though, I should take a look under those bandages." He knelt down on the floor next to Maggie and peeled back the gauze on her knee. "That attack would explain the level three security," Race said. "Did you fix that up?" he asked Price. Price nodded. "You did a good job. I think a doctor should see it, though." Race put the gauze back in place then turned his attention to her wrist, unwrapping the ace bandage carefully. "You did the right thing coming here, even if it did throw me for a loop."

"You should have seen his face when Iris demanded identification at the front gates," Jessie said. Race squelched the snickering with a raised eyebrow and a pointed look. Jonny and Jessie failed dismally at trying to look contrite. Maggie yelped suddenly when Race finished unwrapping her wrist and pressed lightly on the bruised flesh beneath the wrappings. Everyone turned to look.

"I think we should take you into the emergency room," Race said seriously. "Your wrist is broken." Maggie looked over at Price. He was looking at the purple bruises around her wrist. When he met her gaze, she winced at his angry look. Jessie and Jonny looked between the two. They were sure there was going to be some yelling, but neither Price nor Maggie said a word. "Let's go, kids. Everyone comes. It's too dangerous for anyone to hang around here alone." Race carefully lifted Maggie up in his arms and carried her from the kitchen.

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Several hours later, a nurse wheeled Maggie into the emergency waiting room. She had a fresh cast on her arm, and a brace on her knee. She looked exhausted. Maggie signed the release forms, and she was taken out to the Quest van. Race lifted her in as the nurse gave Maggie a warning.

"Remember, don't over exert yourself and be careful on that knee, especially right away. Dr. Carson's orders."

"Yes, Nurse Mabel," she acknowledged. The others climbed into the van as Nurse Mabel gave a satisfactory nod, and they were on their way home.

"What took so long?" Jonny asked as they drove away from the hospital.

"My wrist was swollen, and I couldn't stand all the prodding at it. Dr. Carson kept plying me with painkillers, but they didn't work," Maggie explained. "Then she looked at my knee. The cut nicked my patellar ligament, which is why it hurts so much to walk. I have no idea what Dr. Carson did to my knee at that point because the painkillers finally kicked in. I still feel a bit loopy."

"How long do you have to wear the knee brace?" Jessie asked with a laugh.

"A couple of months, until the physical therapy I'll have to go through is over. The cast comes off in six weeks. Dr. Carson told me not to walk on my knee for at least two weeks, and with my left wrist broken, no crutches. I hate feeling helpless," Maggie sighed dismally.

Jessie was listening to Maggie when she noticed a pair of headlights behind them reflecting in the mirror. At first she ignored them, but as they drove farther and farther from town, she paid more and more attention to them. When everyone was silent, Jessie concentrated to see if the lights would turn off somewhere.

"Dad," she said slowly, "have you noticed the headlights behind us? I think that car is following us."

"I think you're right, Ponchita," Race said looking into the rearview mirror for the hundredth time. He, too, had noticed the headlights. "I hope everyone's wearing their seatbelt. Things might get bumpy." Maggie unconsciously pulled at her shoulder strap to make sure she was securely buckled in. Some of the others did the same. Now all eyes were on the headlights in the rearview mirror.

As the van neared a part of the road that wound along the seaside cliffs, the vehicle behind them came in closer. It was gradual, so as not to look suspicious, but they were already aware of it's approach. The vehicle started to inch up toward the back bumper, then started to pass the Quest van on the double yellow line.

"Oh no you don't, buddy," Race said as he pressed the gas pedal to the floor. The van shot around a curve in the road, cutting off the large pick-up behind them. Race moved the van into the center of the road to keep the pick-up from coming up beside them.

"They're trying to run us off the road, aren't they?" Maggie asked, trying to keep her fear from her voice.

"Not if I can help it," Race declared. The speeding van neared a blind curve. Race eased the automobile into the correct lane in case anyone was coming from the other way. The driver of the pick-up took his opportunity and slid in between the cliff wall and the Quest van. The only thing separating the van from the drop to the ocean was a little cable guardrail. The pick-up slammed into the side of the van, and the van scraped along the guardrail. Race fought against the driver of the pick-up, and the pick-up relented to set up another hit.

"There's no guardrail up there!" Jessie exclaimed pointing through the windshield. "If he hit's us there, we'll go over!" Everyone looked. She was right. Someone had taken the time to cut the cables; which was no small feat.

"Hold on!" shouted Race. Slamming on the brakes, he cranked the wheel to the left. The van skidded into a turn, whipping the vehicle around, and finally stopped with a screech of the tires. The passengers looked up, amazed they had not spun off the road and over the cliff. Race gunned the engine, heading in the direction they had just come.

"Where are we going now?" Price asked. "How are we going to get back to the Compound?"

"We're going to beat who ever that was to the other road," Jonny said.

"Other road?" Maggie asked in confusion.

"It was built years ago, for emergency use. The entrance is just up ahead. Guess you never knew about it," Jonny said. "If we can get just far enough ahead of that truck, it will look like we disappeared. Security will keep them from coming in after us if our little disappearing act doesn't work." Jonny watched out the back window as the pick-up turned around and came after them. The van started to go around a curve, and surprisingly, Race was slowing the van down. "Now, Race!" Jonny shouted. Race turned off into the woods.

"Jessie, pull out the laptop and tell Iris to guard the perimeter of the compound," Race instructed as he drove forward through the snow, in among the evergreen trees.

"Got it, Dad," she said pulling the laptop from the space under her seat. She flipped it open and logged on, connecting to the Questworld mainframe via a satellite link. Maggie turned in her seat to look out the rear window. The dense, heavily needled branches were concealing them completely from the road. "Just a few seconds…there," Jessie said tapping away at the keypad. "Level four security is activated. That should keep the pick-up from coming in after us." Race nodded, navigating the Quest van along the narrow, snow covered driveway.

A few minutes later he was pulling the van into the garage at the main house. Jonny bounded out of the van and ran to the computer station on the wall of the garage. He opened the wall panel and asked Iris for a situation report.

"Situation: Normal," Iris could be heard saying. "No entries or exits since 10:27 a.m.. Level four security activated, authorization, Jessica Bannon."

"10:27, that's when we left," Jonny said. "Everything is fine here."

"Good," Race said. "For now, you kids go find something indoors to do. I'm going to call Benton and find out what he has to say about all of this."

"How about we go to the lighthouse?" Jonny said. "Maggie, you haven't played Maze Demons in a while."

"I'd rather stay in the main house. I'll feel safer there." Maggie was carefully making her way out of the van. "Besides, I can't walk that far."

"That reminds me," Price said. "You're supposed to stay off that knee for at least two weeks." He picked her up and followed after Race. Jonny shut the van door and he and Jessie followed after Price and Maggie.

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…...

They spent most of the day playing Monopoly. Race hadn't been able to contact Dr. Quest, and was pacing the living room, waiting until a suitable amount of time had passed before trying again. Jonny finally won Monopoly. By then Maggie was exhausted and had Price bring her up to her room so she could take a nap. She lay awake for a long time, until there was a knock on the door. "Come in," she called. Jessie's head poked around the corner. "Hi, what's up?"

"Jonny and Price are being annoying, so I thought if you weren't sleeping, I could hang out in here." Maggie motioned her in, laughing. "Of course, Jonny always annoys me," Jessie said. Maggie laughed again. "Things started out as a Monopoly rematch, but somehow it turned into a bragging contest. And they're enjoying it, the egotistical jerks. I used to think Price was a nice guy, but it turns out he's just like Jonny: they both have over inflated opinions of themselves."

"Tell me about it," Maggie said. "Yesterday, before we went out on the snowmobiles, Price asked me if I liked him in his uniform. He said 'most girls like men in uniforms.' Of course, he meant himself."

"What did you say?" Jessie asked.

"I told him I wasn't most girls." They both laughed. "Actually, he does look good in uniform, but never tell him I said that."

"I promise," Jessie agreed with a grin. Then she turned a little more serious. "You like him, don't you?"

"Well, kind of, yeah," Maggie said. Her face was turning bright pink.

"Kind of!" Jessie exclaimed pointing to her face.

"Okay, so I like him. So what?" Maggie said defensively.

"You know something?" Jessie said, "I think he's falling for you. Don't you ever notice the way he looks at you?" Maggie shook her head.

"How does he look at me?" Maggie asked curiously.

"Like someone hit him over the head with a brick," Jessie said with a grin. "This morning, when my dad carried you out to the van, he was jealous. And I'll be he didn't even think twice about coming here with you, rather than going home to see his mother-" Suddenly they heard a sneeze from outside the door. Jessie and Maggie looked at one another in surprise.

"Go," Maggie whispered, pointing at the door. Jessie jumped up and ran, flinging the door open to reveal Jonny standing on the other side. "Jonny! How long have you been listening?"

"Gotta go. Price might be interested in what I have to tell him." Jonny dashed down the hall with a laugh. Jessie chased after him.

"Get him, Jessie!" Maggie called after them. "Don't relent until he promises to keep what he heard to himself!" Maggie laughed to herself as she listened to Jessie chase Jonny down the stairs and through the rooms of the lower level of the house. A few minutes later, Price came into her room.

"Do you have any idea why Jessie is chasing Jonny around like a mad woman?" Price inquired, shaking his head as a crash sounded from below.

"Yes," Maggie said matter-of-factly. "She's chasing him because I can't."

"Why would you go chasing after Jonny? What did he do?"

"The sneak was eavesdropping," Maggie said as she carefully pulled herself up to sit more upright against the pillows on her bed. Price nodded in understanding.

"That explains it," Price said with a smile. "Do you want to go downstairs?"

"No, thanks. I want to stay up here until supper. Watching Race Bannon pace up and down makes me nervous." Price settled into the chair by the desk, and sat back comfortably.

"Me too," he agreed. At that moment, Bandit wandered into the room. He walked up to the side of Maggie's bed, stopped, and looked up at her.

"Come on, boy," Maggie said patting a place on the bed beside her. Bandit jumped up and curled up next to her, licking her hand. She pet him affectionately. "How come you aren't tearing around after Jonny and Jessie?" Maggie asked the little dog. Bandit just looked up at her with big eyes. "I know what you mean, boy," she said with a laugh. Then a comfortable silence settled over them as they listened to the chase going on below.

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Jonny dashed into the living room from the library, Jessie hot on his tail. He ran up to Race, who was still pacing, and used him as a barrier between himself and Jessie. Jessie lunged one way then the other around her father, trying to grab onto Jonny, determined to catch him.

"Will you kids settle down?" Race asked in annoyance. "Go somewhere else and leave me out of this."

"Sure thing Race," Jonny said, dashing around the side of the couch.

"Come back here, Jonny!" Jessie demanded chasing after him.

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That evening, Maggie sat on a stool watching put away dishes as Jonny handed them to her, washed and dried. Jessie had finally caught him, and after extracting a vow of silence from him through her own brand of torture, he was penalized for his transgression and assigned the task of doing dishes- by hand. To his credit, he was a good sport and didn't complain. When the job was done, they retired to the library where Race had decided to resume his pacing. Though they tried to play a game of cards, the atmosphere was tense, and everyone turned in earlier than usual because of it.

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Maggie suddenly woke up and sat up in bed, looking around her room. She listened intently to the sounds of the night. As far as she could tell, there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Whatever had roused her from her sleep was a mystery to her.

Wide awake now, she decided to sit by the window until she was tired enough to go back to sleep. Using the furniture to steady herself, she managed to hop her way to the chair beside the window. Sitting down, she gingerly touched her injured knee. It was really sore. Carefully, she massaged the joint around the cut, then leaned back in the chair with a blanket around her shoulders and gazed blankly out into the dark night.

The moon slowly rose, its silvery light shining through the many panes of glass of the large Georgian window, creating a grid pattern on the floor. It was a beautiful night, and as the moon rose higher, it illuminated the scene beyond the glass. Maggie was startled when she saw a figure emerge from the dark, shadowy woods. The figure walked along, frequently looking at the house.

Fear crept over her as the figure stopped and seemed to stare right at her. Maggie got up and hobbled to the wall as fast as she could, regardless of the doctors orders to keep off of her knee. Jonny's room was right next door, and Maggie knocked on the wall their two rooms shared.

"Just a minute," came the muffled sound of Jonny's voice. Maggie rushed back to the window to see if the figure was still there. Whoever it had been was gone. Maggie was standing there shivering when Jonny came through her door.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Jonny asked, staring at Maggie. She motioned him to come over to the window.

"I saw someone," she whispered. "They came out of the woods and walked along the tree line. Whoever it was stopped and looked right at me. I'm scared."

"Are you sure you saw someone?" Jonny asked, raising his eyebrows in doubt. "You weren't just dreaming it?"

"I saw it," Maggie assured him. "I ran over to the wall to call you, and when I got back to the window, the person was gone." Jonny looked out into the moonlit night. Security was set to level four. No one could get onto the grounds without Iris sounding an alert- provided the intruder could get past Iris' defenses. He looked at his cousin. She seemed so certain…

"I'll check it out in the morning. If there was someone there, I'll find tracks. For now, though, security is on, and we're safe inside the house. Why don't you go back to bed and get some sleep. It's been a long day."

"I don't know if I can," Maggie told him. "I'm scared."

"How about if I crash in here," Jonny suggested thoughtfully. "I can get some extra blankets and sleep on the floor. Would that make you feel better?" Maggie nodded, and smiled faintly.

"You're the best," Maggie gave her seventeen-year-old cousin a hug. She hobbled back to her bed while Jonny got the extra blankets and some pillows from his room. He made up a comfortable place to sleep on the far side of her bed on the floor. Bandit came along with him, and curled up on the blankets beside Maggie.

"Bandit, you traitor," Jonny said with a smile. He didn't really mind. He knew Maggie needed the little dog's comfort more than he did. "Goodnight, Maggie."

"Goodnight, Jonny."

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Something was over Maggie's face. She couldn't open her eyes, and she tried to call out, but she couldn't catch her breath. Struggling, she tried to push whatever it was off of her. It wouldn't budge. She could feel something heavy pressing down on her chest, and she started kicking under her blankets, trying to get it off. As her air ran out, she felt her limbs become heavy, and it became harder to move. Slowly slipping into unconsciousness, she could hear the faint barks of Bandit who had been sleeping next to her on the bed.

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To be continued…

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