Almanzo felt like he was in a fog after he arrived at the Ingall's. Caroline was so upset that she tended to washing dishes,mending clothes, and making coffee for Charles. She didn't want to think of her daughter alone and pregnant all by herself. Charles had hitched up the teams and brought out a map of Minnesota. "Almanzo, I'm sure Laura couldn't have gotten farther than between Sleepy Eye and Radner. We'll find her"
Almanzo reluctantly replied. "Whatever you say sir." Almanzo couldn't stand that thought of his Beth out in the cold by herself. He knew she was tough but she had a baby to consider as well. "I just don't get why she would want to do this to us and put her mother through this. Caroline is so devastated. She just tends to work so she can't think about it. Almanzo, do you know why Laura would do this"
"I don't know Charles. This is out of Laura's character. I know she told me she was pregnant first. She wanted me to keep it a secret until she could tell you but I guess someone beat her to it." Charles sighed. "It must've been Nellie Olsen who overheard it.She's hated half-pint for as long as I can remember"
Caroline walked out of the little house at that moment. "Super's ready!" She yelled. Almanzo and Charles ate before they left. They would only have a couple hours of daylight left. After supper was over, Charles and Almanzo discussed who would go where. Charles was going to head in the direction of Sleepy Eye to see if Laura had gone to see Mary and Adam. Almanzo decided to head out towards Radner.
Charles and Almanzo said goodbye to each other. Almanzo told Caroline to tell his sister what happened. He didn't know how long he was going to be gone. Almanzo decided to go towards the mercantile and ask Nells about the stage. He pulled up and saw Nells sweeping the deck. "Hi there Almanzo"
"Hello Nells. I came by to ask a quick question. Nells, do you know which direction the stage was headed in at around lunchtime today? Laura's taken off and I need to find her"
"Well, I'm not entirely sure seeing as I was fixing up the shop after a little plumbing incident with the missis but I'm almost positive it was headed to the north"
"Thank you sir"
"Your welcome Almanzo and good luck. Laura means a lot to everyone in this town and we all hope you find her"
Almanzo hurried on to the north. He hadn't seen anything suspicious yet. Just at that moment, Laura was waking up. "Where am I?" she thought. She looked around and everything was all blurry. She saw her books all over the place. She tried moving her legs but she was stuck. The seat of the stage had pinned her down. She was far to weak to lift it. She had remembered the accident and what happened. "My baby!" she screamed. The more she tried to move the bench, the more it hurt. She finally heard the sound of a wagon. She managed to move herself to bang agaisnt the glass of the door. "HELP!" She tried to scream. Her voice was more of a whisper. She started to feel faint again. She looked down at her dress, covered in blood. She was losing a lot. She tried moving the bench one last time and just as she had lifted most of it off of her legs,the stage started rolling down the hill. She hung on and saw that it was going straight down into the river. Laura was knocked unconcious again as she felt the water begin to surround her.
Almanzo was halfway to Radner and the sun was setting. Just then he saw it. He saw a picture of him and Laura. He knew that she must be closeby. A glimmmer of hope shone brightly in his heart. He raced his stage farther down. He saw Laura's bags strewn everywhere and he saw the stage toppled over. He also saw all the bows and arrows and the dead stage driver. He knew it must have been Indians. He ran to the stage. Just as he was running, the stage rolled down the hill it was on into the river. "LAURA! NO! LAURA!" Almanzo ran as fast as he could. He ran and dove into the river. He managed to open the door of the stage barely by breaking the glass with his foot. He saw that Laura was pinned underneath a bench. He lifted it up and barely got it to move. He grabbed her and swam back up to the shore. He held her in his arms and ran up the the hill to where his wagon was. He laid her down. She was bleeding badly. He took off his overshirt and tied it around the gash in her head. He then grabbed a blanket from one of her bags he found. He wrapped her in it. He then checked her pulse. She wasn't breathing.