"Joe's over an hour late," Chet said after the boys had returned to the living room. They had spent almost half an hour looking at the house, then gone outside to view the garden. "We need to look for him," he added as Kreg entered the room.
"Joe has not returned?" he demanded, looking at Jima who shook his head.
"We better look for him," Biff repeated Chet's earlier statement.
"No," Kreg told the boys. "We will search for him. It is growing dark and you might get lost as well. Come," he ordered Jima, leaving the room.
"We will find him," Jima said confidently, following his brother from the room.
Two hours later, Joe still had not been found. "We'll look for him tomorrow," Mr. Hardy told the boys who looked at him mutinously.
"We will keep searching," Kreg promised their guests. "But you must wait for daylight."
"We need to get Frank back to the manor," Mr. Hardy told them.
"You're right, of course," Phil said, speaking for the others as well as himself.
"If Joe returns, we will call you," Jima promised them as they made their way up to Frank's room.
They lifted Frank and took him to the truck. Mr. Hardy thanked the Jima and his family profusely for their help, then climbed into the back with Frank, Chet and Biff. Arriving at the manor, they took Frank inside and back to the room he had been in earlier.
"Are you certain he is okay?" Mrs. Duvalier questioned, seeing how still Frank remained.
"Just exhausted and in a bit of shock," her husband assured her.
"Where is Joe?" she asked, looking around and not seeing him. Dr. Duvalier led her out of Frank's room, explaining what had happened since his departure earlier.
"Will you boys stay here while I call Laura?" Mr. Hardy asked after the two had left the room.
"Sure," Chet and Biff said at once.
"Are you going to tell her about Joe?" Phil asked.
"Not until we know something," Mr. Hardy answered, not looking at any of the boys. If he looked at their worried faces, he would sucumb to the feelings he was trying so desperately to keep in check.
After Mr. Hardy returned, he sent the boys to the guest house. "Get some rest," he ordered them. "There isn't any more we can do tonight."
At the guest house, Chet made dinner while the other two boys set the table. "We can't just do nothing," Biff said, sitting down.
"We won't", Phil promised, sitting down in the chair to Biff's left. "Tomorrow morning, Chet will take Mr. Hardy to the cave. The Duvaliers can watch Frank and you and I can start looking for Joe."
"Mr. Hardy's losing it," Chet commented, bringing over two dishes and setting them on the table.
"Can you blame him?" Phil demanded. "First, he thinks his eldest son is dead, then a zombie. He gets Frank back and now Joe may never be seen again."
"Don't say things like that!" Chet snapped, returning to the stove for a bowl of mixed vegetables.
"We're going to find Joe and get out of this place," Biff declared with a slight shudder at the thought of where they were in the world. "I don't care if we don't get the bad guys this time. Just as long as we all get out of this place safely."
****************************************************************
"J...J...Joe." Frank emitted the cry, his head moving back and forth as the drums, which had been quiet the previous evening, began their normal rythm. "J...J...Joe!" Frank screamed louder.
"Easy son," Mr. Hardy said, moving closer to Frank and holding his hand. "It's alright."
"W...wh...where's J..J...Joe?" Frank demanded, his fearful brown eyes looking into his fathers.
"He's at the guest house with Biff, Chet, and Phil," he lied. "They were exhausted and I made them go get some rest."
Mrs Duvalier, having heard Frank screaming for Joe, came into the room, a glass in her hand. "Have him drink this," she said to Mr. Hardy. "It will help him to rest."
"Thank you," Mr. Hardy said, taking the glass and holding it up to Frank's lips. Frank drank the contents, then lay back and closed his eyes. In minutes, he was in a dreamless sleep.
*********************************************************************
"Wh...where's Joe?" Frank asked the next morning when he awoke, seeing his dad, the Duvaliers and Chet, Biff and Phil standing around his bedside.
All heads turned to Mr. Hardy. "What is it...?" Frank demanded sitting up in alarm. "What's wrong? Wh...where is he?"
"Easy, son," Mr. Hardy ordered, gently pushing Frank back onto the bed and sitting down beside him. "Joe's missing," he broke the news as gently as he could.
Frank tried to sit back up but his father held him down. "Wh...when?" Frank demanded, his speech still hampered by the drugs he had been given.
"Yesterday," Phil spoke up. "After the, um, ceremony. Joe just vanished."
"Yo....you said he w....was tired and in the gu..guest house with the r...rest," Frank looked at his father with accusing eyes.
"You were too weak to be told the truth last night," Mr. Hardy asserted. "And we hoped Joe had just been following a lead and would return."
"Wh...where d...did he disap...pp..pear from?" Frank stuttered. His brain functioning properly despite the horror he had lived through.
"The plantation next to this one," Mr. Hardy answered. Frank looked at his father so Mr. Hardy explained that was where Frank had been taken to recover from being zombified.
"W...we ha..." Frank began but was cut off by Chet.
"We will find him," Chet vowed. "You just rest and get better."
Frank shook his head and was going to reply but Phil spoke up before he could say anything. "Chet's right," he insisted. "You need to rest. If we can't find Joe you're going to need to be at full strength to help."
Frank wanted to argue, but couldn't. Phil was right. If he was going to be of any help to Joe, he was going to have to get over the lethargy he was feeling. His entire body hurt, especially his head. He wanted to sleep but when he tried, he kept having the same nightmare. He kept seeing stars in the night sky and then he felt the dirt begin to weigh him down.
Frank frowned. He didn't want to admit he was afraid to go to sleep, at least, not to anyone but Joe. Joe had always been the one Frank turned to when he was scared. As kids, Joe had been the brave one, ready to fight any monster which might slip out of the darkness. When Mrs. Hardy had turned off all the lights and left the boys room for the night, it was Joe who would crawl out of bed and turn on a lamp while Frank lay still beneath the covers, eyes wide as he stared at the shadows moving by the window.
Frank needed Joe now but Joe, it seemed, needed him more. Frank closed his eyes, trying hard not to think of the darkness as it began to surround him, but of seeing his brother, alive and well, smiling at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
************************************************************************
Joe struggled with the ropes which bound him but to no avail. His wrists were completely raw and bleeding. Joe slumped and closed his eyes. 'How was he going to get out of this one?' he wondered. He shook his head and began working on freeing himself once more.
Half an hour later, Joe was still working on the ropes around his wrists. They had loosed a bit but Joe thought this was more from the lubrication his blood provided than from his effort at straining the rope. Joe froze as he heard footsteps approaching. He only hoped his captor would not check to see if he had made any progress in escaping.
The steps stopped briefly as the door opened. A short man was framed in the doorway briefly. He said a few words, pointing to first the north, then south then east to west, before entering the room.
Joe shot the man a peculiar look for had the motions been carried out upon the man's short chest, the sign of the cross would have been made the way a Catholic would when kneeling before a cross.
Another man followed the shorter one inside. Joe's eyes widened. He knew some of the workers on the Jima's plantation were involved, but was shocked to find out Milan was involved. Joe thought if anyone had been involved it would have been Kreg or Anthony. Were all of Jima's brothers involved after all? What about Jima? Was he, too, involved?
"Joe has not returned?" he demanded, looking at Jima who shook his head.
"We better look for him," Biff repeated Chet's earlier statement.
"No," Kreg told the boys. "We will search for him. It is growing dark and you might get lost as well. Come," he ordered Jima, leaving the room.
"We will find him," Jima said confidently, following his brother from the room.
Two hours later, Joe still had not been found. "We'll look for him tomorrow," Mr. Hardy told the boys who looked at him mutinously.
"We will keep searching," Kreg promised their guests. "But you must wait for daylight."
"We need to get Frank back to the manor," Mr. Hardy told them.
"You're right, of course," Phil said, speaking for the others as well as himself.
"If Joe returns, we will call you," Jima promised them as they made their way up to Frank's room.
They lifted Frank and took him to the truck. Mr. Hardy thanked the Jima and his family profusely for their help, then climbed into the back with Frank, Chet and Biff. Arriving at the manor, they took Frank inside and back to the room he had been in earlier.
"Are you certain he is okay?" Mrs. Duvalier questioned, seeing how still Frank remained.
"Just exhausted and in a bit of shock," her husband assured her.
"Where is Joe?" she asked, looking around and not seeing him. Dr. Duvalier led her out of Frank's room, explaining what had happened since his departure earlier.
"Will you boys stay here while I call Laura?" Mr. Hardy asked after the two had left the room.
"Sure," Chet and Biff said at once.
"Are you going to tell her about Joe?" Phil asked.
"Not until we know something," Mr. Hardy answered, not looking at any of the boys. If he looked at their worried faces, he would sucumb to the feelings he was trying so desperately to keep in check.
After Mr. Hardy returned, he sent the boys to the guest house. "Get some rest," he ordered them. "There isn't any more we can do tonight."
At the guest house, Chet made dinner while the other two boys set the table. "We can't just do nothing," Biff said, sitting down.
"We won't", Phil promised, sitting down in the chair to Biff's left. "Tomorrow morning, Chet will take Mr. Hardy to the cave. The Duvaliers can watch Frank and you and I can start looking for Joe."
"Mr. Hardy's losing it," Chet commented, bringing over two dishes and setting them on the table.
"Can you blame him?" Phil demanded. "First, he thinks his eldest son is dead, then a zombie. He gets Frank back and now Joe may never be seen again."
"Don't say things like that!" Chet snapped, returning to the stove for a bowl of mixed vegetables.
"We're going to find Joe and get out of this place," Biff declared with a slight shudder at the thought of where they were in the world. "I don't care if we don't get the bad guys this time. Just as long as we all get out of this place safely."
****************************************************************
"J...J...Joe." Frank emitted the cry, his head moving back and forth as the drums, which had been quiet the previous evening, began their normal rythm. "J...J...Joe!" Frank screamed louder.
"Easy son," Mr. Hardy said, moving closer to Frank and holding his hand. "It's alright."
"W...wh...where's J..J...Joe?" Frank demanded, his fearful brown eyes looking into his fathers.
"He's at the guest house with Biff, Chet, and Phil," he lied. "They were exhausted and I made them go get some rest."
Mrs Duvalier, having heard Frank screaming for Joe, came into the room, a glass in her hand. "Have him drink this," she said to Mr. Hardy. "It will help him to rest."
"Thank you," Mr. Hardy said, taking the glass and holding it up to Frank's lips. Frank drank the contents, then lay back and closed his eyes. In minutes, he was in a dreamless sleep.
*********************************************************************
"Wh...where's Joe?" Frank asked the next morning when he awoke, seeing his dad, the Duvaliers and Chet, Biff and Phil standing around his bedside.
All heads turned to Mr. Hardy. "What is it...?" Frank demanded sitting up in alarm. "What's wrong? Wh...where is he?"
"Easy, son," Mr. Hardy ordered, gently pushing Frank back onto the bed and sitting down beside him. "Joe's missing," he broke the news as gently as he could.
Frank tried to sit back up but his father held him down. "Wh...when?" Frank demanded, his speech still hampered by the drugs he had been given.
"Yesterday," Phil spoke up. "After the, um, ceremony. Joe just vanished."
"Yo....you said he w....was tired and in the gu..guest house with the r...rest," Frank looked at his father with accusing eyes.
"You were too weak to be told the truth last night," Mr. Hardy asserted. "And we hoped Joe had just been following a lead and would return."
"Wh...where d...did he disap...pp..pear from?" Frank stuttered. His brain functioning properly despite the horror he had lived through.
"The plantation next to this one," Mr. Hardy answered. Frank looked at his father so Mr. Hardy explained that was where Frank had been taken to recover from being zombified.
"W...we ha..." Frank began but was cut off by Chet.
"We will find him," Chet vowed. "You just rest and get better."
Frank shook his head and was going to reply but Phil spoke up before he could say anything. "Chet's right," he insisted. "You need to rest. If we can't find Joe you're going to need to be at full strength to help."
Frank wanted to argue, but couldn't. Phil was right. If he was going to be of any help to Joe, he was going to have to get over the lethargy he was feeling. His entire body hurt, especially his head. He wanted to sleep but when he tried, he kept having the same nightmare. He kept seeing stars in the night sky and then he felt the dirt begin to weigh him down.
Frank frowned. He didn't want to admit he was afraid to go to sleep, at least, not to anyone but Joe. Joe had always been the one Frank turned to when he was scared. As kids, Joe had been the brave one, ready to fight any monster which might slip out of the darkness. When Mrs. Hardy had turned off all the lights and left the boys room for the night, it was Joe who would crawl out of bed and turn on a lamp while Frank lay still beneath the covers, eyes wide as he stared at the shadows moving by the window.
Frank needed Joe now but Joe, it seemed, needed him more. Frank closed his eyes, trying hard not to think of the darkness as it began to surround him, but of seeing his brother, alive and well, smiling at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
************************************************************************
Joe struggled with the ropes which bound him but to no avail. His wrists were completely raw and bleeding. Joe slumped and closed his eyes. 'How was he going to get out of this one?' he wondered. He shook his head and began working on freeing himself once more.
Half an hour later, Joe was still working on the ropes around his wrists. They had loosed a bit but Joe thought this was more from the lubrication his blood provided than from his effort at straining the rope. Joe froze as he heard footsteps approaching. He only hoped his captor would not check to see if he had made any progress in escaping.
The steps stopped briefly as the door opened. A short man was framed in the doorway briefly. He said a few words, pointing to first the north, then south then east to west, before entering the room.
Joe shot the man a peculiar look for had the motions been carried out upon the man's short chest, the sign of the cross would have been made the way a Catholic would when kneeling before a cross.
Another man followed the shorter one inside. Joe's eyes widened. He knew some of the workers on the Jima's plantation were involved, but was shocked to find out Milan was involved. Joe thought if anyone had been involved it would have been Kreg or Anthony. Were all of Jima's brothers involved after all? What about Jima? Was he, too, involved?