Soda and Darry spent the next two hours calling everyone they could think of, trying to find anyone who might have seen Pony. They split the phone calls at first, but as they went on, Darry made more of the calls as he slowly regained his composure while Soda got more and more upset with the growing list of dead ends. Darry was in the chair next to the phone in the kitchen, and Soda was curled up on the couch, arms around a pillow, and his head resting on his knees. Darry was talking to one of their neighbors when the screen door banged open for the first time that day.
He quickly poked his head around, saw that it was Steve and sank dejectedly back into the chair, resuming his questioning. But Steve saw the look in his eyes, and his own eyes widened. He had never seen Darry look so haunted… so vulnerable. And he slowly turned to Soda. If Darry were that bad off, he could only imagine how his best friend was faring. He was unsurprised to see Soda staring blankly at the floor, arms wrapped tightly around the pillow. He sat down next to him gingerly.
"I heard about … about what happened in the lot," he said hesitantly, and Soda nodded almost imperceptibly. Steve sighed and tried again. "No luck in finding either of them, huh?" Soda shook his head, but he still wouldn't look at Steve. Not until Steve said, "Well, have you two called Dally? You know he's the first person Johnny would go to…"
Soda jerked his head up suddenly and stared at Steve. "You're right," he said hoarsely.
He jumped off the couch and yelled to Darry, "I'm going out, but I'll be back in a few minutes." He was out the door before Steve realized that he was still only wearing his socks, so he grabbed his sneakers and ran after him.
Steve caught up to him in half a block and handed him the shoes without a word. He waited while Soda shoved his feet into them, and then they fell into step with one another. After a few minutes, Steve said, "Where are you going to find him?"
"I'll ask around," Soda said grimly. And he did. Once they reached the stores, he asked every greaser he saw until one of them mentioned seeing Dally at Buck Merrill's the night before, so they headed straight there. Steve kept glancing nervously at Soda. He'd never seen him look so determined before, and he was afraid of what he might do to Dally. Normally, he'd worry the other way around, but he'd seen firsthand the kind of bond the Curtis brothers had. He pitied anyone who tried to break it. Pony might annoy him, but he knew better than to ever really criticize him. If he did, he knew he'd lose Soda's friendship for good, and that was the last thing he could handle. Soda was one of the few people in his life he could count on, and he knew better than to jeopardize that just because some 14-year-old kid got on his nerves once in a while.
When they got to Buck's place, Soda pounded on the door, and they were both surprised when Dally opened it. He tried to grin at them, but he noticed the look on Soda's face, and the grin was replaced by what Steve could only call nervousness.
"Come on in," he said quietly, and he led them up to his room. After they'd all sat down, Dally said abruptly, "so what are you two doing here?"
"Where's Ponyboy?" Soda asked bluntly.
"I don't know," Dally answered just as bluntly.
"Bull," Soda snapped. "If there were anywhere in the world Johnny would go in that kind of trouble, it would be to you."
Dally sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, Soda. I know you think that, but I haven't seen them since the drive in last night."
His voice was gentler than either Steve or Soda had ever heard it, and while Steve blinked in surprise, Soda felt tears stinging his eyes again. He looked away from Dally while he blinked hard to keep them back, and that's when his eyes fell on a familiar sight. Jumping off the bed, he grabbed his little brother's sweatshirt and turned to shake it at Dally.
"Dally, please!" he suddenly begged. "We're awful worried about him. You've… you've never seen Darry like this. Are they… are they ok, at least?"
Dally didn't answer. He was staring at the sweatshirt, silently cursing his own stupidity. Finally, he forced himself to look at Soda, and he said nothing, but his eyes conveyed the smallest measure of comfort. Soda let out a deep breath.
"You'll come by the house later," he said to Dally, and it wasn't a request. "Darry'll want to talk to you, and I'll need to give you a letter to give Ponyboy."
Without another word, he stood and walked out. Steve cast one last glance at Dally and then sighed and followed Soda back home. He wasn't looking forward to that conversation, and he was pretty sure that Dally wasn't either.