Before he left the house, Darry made two phone calls. One to his boss to get the day off and one to Rachel Banks. He was going to meet her at the Dingo in half an hour. As he walked off the porch, Dally and Two-Bit showed up.

"Don't do it Darry." Dally told his friend.

"Think about the boys." Two-Bit added.

"I am thinking about them. I'm doing this for them." Was the reply.

"No, you're not! What are you gonna do shoot her? Where will they be then?"

"Dal, just go home and let me do this."

"Not until you give me the heater."

Darry stared at his friends. "I don't . . . " He started, then stopped. "I have to protect my family."

"There has to be another way. Look Darry, you're scared and upset. We get that, but this is not the way to do it." Two-Bit told him.

Dally didn't really want to fight his friend, but he had to get the gun before Darry left.

"I don't have time for this." When Darry turned to walk away and Dally saw the gun, he hauled off and punched him and grabbed the gun.

"Two-Bit, take the heater and get out of here."

"Okay Dally." The older boy took off.

"Now go and talk to Rachel." Dally calmly walked away to join Two-Bit unaware that Johnny had watched the drama as it unfolded. After parking the truck, Darry prayed that she would listen to reason. The woman smiled when she saw him.

"Darry, I was so glad to hear from you. I hope you are ready to agree this is best for everyone."

"Actually I'm not." He sat down across from her.

"Then I don't understand what this meeting is about."

"I came to tell you there is a court order barring you from coming around either of my brothers. Why are you doing this? Why are you here anyway? You and Mom haven't spoken since I was eleven years old. What happened?"

"We lost contact. As you know we were best friends since we were kids. Just because we haven't talked doesn't mean anything. I know this is what she would want. For me to take care of her baby."

Darry watched her.

"Please don't rip my family apart. We may not have much, but we have each other and that's enough for us."

"Darry, think about how much of a struggle it is just to pay the bills along with everything else. I can easily take care of Ponyboy. Take part of the burden off you."

"My job is to take care of them. Soda and Ponyboy are not burdens, I love them and will do anything for them." He stood up and left.

While Darry was talking to Rachel, his brothers and friends were making plans of their own. Scared that Rachel would somehow get the youngest child, they decided to hide him. Johnny would stay with Pony until it was safe to come home. They hurriedly packed a bag.

"Hurry guys, they have to be gone before Darry gets home." Soda told them.

Pony wrote a note and put it on the bed. The plan was to sneak them into the attic at Buck's so one of the gang could be close to them. Twenty minutes later the gang walked in to find Darry reading Pony's note. It said: 'Darry, I don't want to go live with a stranger. Please don't try to find me. I'll be fine. I love you and Soda. You little brother Ponyboy.'

"Soda, where's Ponyboy?" Darry asked him. Soda shrugged and went to the kitchen aware that Darry was following him.

"Where is he Sodapop?"

"I don't know Darry."

"Well since Johnny's gone, I assume they are together. Anyone want to tell me where they are?" He looked at the group. No one answered him.

"I gotta get ready for work." Soda finally said.

"No one is going anywhere until I find out where those boys are." He leveled a look at his brother.

"Soda, don't you think I know you by now? If you thought Pony was missing, you would be out there tearing the streets up looking for him. Since you don't even look worried, you either know where he is or know that he is safe."

"We need to go buddy." Steve broke in.

"Fine, I'll find him and we'll talk about this later Soda."

In the meantime the boys in question were sitting in the attic.

"Johnny, we can't stay here. Soda and the guys will get in trouble if Darry finds out. We have to leave."

"Where would we go? Dally said to stay here."

"I don't know. Let's just go."

The dark-haired boy knew what Dally said but he also couldn't let his friend go alone. So once again they left. When Dally and Two-Bit came that evening, all they found was a note. Dally called Soda to tell him the news.

"Soda, the boys are gone."

"What do you mean gone?" Soda questioned.

"The note said no one should know where they are. They left."

"Damn, someone will have to tell Darry. I guess I will."

"I'll get Steve and Two-Bit and we'll head over that way." Dally offered.

"Thanks Dal." Soda hung up and stopped by Darry's door.

Taking a deep breath, Soda pasted a smile on his face and strolled into the room.

"Darry?"

"What Sodapop?" He was still a little upset at him because he wouldn't tell where Pony was.

"I need to tell you something." His voice was quiet. Darry moved over so he could set beside him.

"I did know where Ponyboy was, but now I don't. Him and Johnny took off." He looked down not wanting to see the anger in his oldest brother's eyes. Darry lifted his head up.

"Soda, do you like not knowing where Pony is?"

"No man, it feels awful."

"Yeah it does."

"I'm sorry. We were just scared." Soda said.

"Don't you think I get scared? Soda, when I don't know where you or Pony are it scares me to death. You boys are the reason for everything I do. I wouldn't know what to do if something happened to one or both of you." Darry pulled his brother to him when he started crying.

"It's all right. We'll find them. Pepsi-Cola, I'm not mad. It will be fine."

They heard the door open, then the gang came in.

"Any idea where to look Dal?" Darry asked still holding Soda.

Pony and Johnny were walking by the woods when suddenly Johnny stopped and looked around.

"Ponyboy, run." He yelled.

Four soc's were following them. When they took off, two of the soc's followed them. The other two went to get more beer for the fun they would have later after they caught the greasers.

Branches whipped at their faces as the two boys ran down the narrow dirt path. Once deep in the woods, Johnny jerked Pony down so they could catch their breath.

After buying beer and stopping to brag about their plans later on, the two soc's left not noticing the group of young men that silently followed them.

"Come out, come out little greasers." Andy called. He stopped in front of the boys. Johnny jumped up and pushed the guy away.

"Run Pony, run." He screamed, then saw his friend being chased. All of a sudden he heard a scream and they came running back and left.

"Ponyboy!" There was a desperate edge in his voice. He heard a faint cry.

"Help me. Johnny, help me."

"Where are you?" Johnny called.

"Over here. I'm scared. I want to go home."

"It's okay. I'm coming."

Johnny drew in a sharp breath. Pony had fallen and was huddled on a narrow ledge. He heard a whistle and whistled back. His eyes widened at who came into view.