Napoleon Bridger Leep lay on his bed in the guestroom at the Eberhardt house. He was worried that Beatrice would do something to make those Mother Paula's people come after him again. He couldn't believe his own thoughts. After all this time, living in the wilderness and not having a worry in the world he was finally starting to crack up. Staying with Roy for the last few days had made him remember what it was like to have a home. He missed it a lot, and was dreading the return of Roy's parents, at which time he'd have to go back out to the wild. He had to admit, being tortured by the pancake people had shaken him, possibly shown him just how much trouble he could get himself into. He had no desire to be attached to that machine again. Maybe he should just run away again. The Mother Paula's people would be sure to find him at Roy's house if he stayed there. Yes. That's what he would do. Break off all contact with the world. He got up, packed his things, opened the window and ran out. It felt good to be out running again. He ran past Muckle's house, which was empty, and a little further down the street when-
PANG! He felt searing pain in his right foot. He looked down. He had stepped on a rat trap. A huge rat trap. He suddenly became very dizzy. Everything was a blur. He heard a voice call "Are you alright, son?" And then blacked out.
Half an hour after this occurred, James Howan got a call from Lonna Leep.
"The boy's in the hospital, what's going on?" She demanded.
"The hospital? Really? Where? Which one?" He asked, highly interested.
"What does that matter? I thought you was gonna kidnap him? How'd he end up there? If I get a hospital bill in the mail, don't be surprised to find it on your desk." Said Lonna angrily.
"Not to worry, Mrs Leep. We temporarily lost track of the boy. Do they want you to go to the hospital?" Howan asked.
"Course they do!" Lonna snapped.
"Don't. I shall take care of it." Said Howan before hanging up.
Roy was at home. Beatrice had left a little while ago and Mullet Fingers was still silent in his room. He wondered if Mullet Fingers was worried about the Mother Paula's people after him. At around six, Roy went in to check on him, but found the room empty with the window open. He ran to the phone and called Beatrice.
"It Beatrice home?" He asked.
"No, she's gone to a sleep over. Can I take a message?" Came Leon Leep's voice.
"Uh, just tell her to call Roy." He said.
"Will do." Said Leon before hanging up.
Great. Thought Roy.
Mullet Fingers had run away, Mother Paula's was after him and Beatrice wasn't available to help. This was bad. Very Bad.
The doctor watched as Mr and Mrs Leep entered the hospital. Mr Leep was dressed in a grey suit, bald and wore large round glasses. Mrs Leep was short, fat, had a long nose and a wart on the end of it. Both looked like business people.
"Ah, you must be Mr and Mrs Leep?" The doctor asked.
"That's right." Said Mr Leep.
"Well, your son is in here. He stepped on a large rat trap. Broken four of his toes and fractured his foot. We have him on some strong pain medication right now, but he'll be ready to go home in a little while. He will need crutches for about a month, maybe two." The doctor explained.
If she was not terribly mistaken, she thought she saw Mr and Mrs Leep exchange smirks, but said nothing incase she was. They walked into one of the wards and the doctor pulled back the curtains.
"Napoleon? Your mother and father are here to see you." Said the doctor gently.
The boy looked up. His eyes were barely open. He shook his head.
"No...those aren't...my parents...need...Beatrice and Roy." He said quietly.
"Uh, surely the medication he's on is making him delirious." Said Mr Leep quickly.
"Well, it's pretty rare, but yes this medication can cause delirium." Said the doctor.
"Me we take him home now?" Mrs Leep asked impatiently.
"I wouldn't recommend it, he should be able to walk with crutches when it's time to leave." Said the doctor.
"Excuse us for a moment." Said Mr Leep, taking his witch-like wife outside the ward.
"If we wait until the medication starts to wear off then we'll have a hell of a time convincing the doctor we're his parents." Said Mr Leep.
"She said she wouldn't recommend we take him now, that doesn't mean we can't, Mr Howan." Said Mrs Leep.
"Agnus, I like the way you think." Said Howan with a smirk.
They walked back into the ward and said "I think we'll take him now. We just want to get him home and into bed, I think." He said.
"Very well, can you carry him or will you need help?" The doctor asked. Normally, she would protest more, but this had been a long day for her and she was anxious to get home.
"Oh we'll carry him." Said Howan, picking him up from the bed.
They walked out of the hospital. "That was much easier than I thought." Said Howan.
"Indeed." Said Agnus the witch-lady as she opened the back doors of a black van and helped her boss get the boy into the back.
Roy was sitting worriedly in the living room of his house. Not knowing what to do, he was merely waiting for something to happen. And then something did. The front door burst open and in walked Beatrice, looking like she'd been through a tornado.
"I thought you were at a sleep over?" Roy asked.
She scowled. "I overheard Lonna on the phone again and she snuck up behind me, tied me up and stuck me in the back seat of her car. I smashed the window open and got out." She explained, holding up her bleeding hand.
"What was she saying on the phone?" Roy asked.
"Something about a hospital. I thought maybe the Mother Paula's people told her Mullet escaped and she's worried he's gone to the hospital. Where is he anyway?" She asked, looking around.
"Uh..." Said Roy "He...ran away. In fact, it's very likely he is in the hospital."
"What?" Beatrice exclaimed.
"Let's get on our bikes, we'll get there faster." Said Roy.
"No, we need some better help. If the Mother Paula's people are there they'll have an easy time getting around us. Do you know any adults that can help us?" Beatrice asked.
Roy thought for a moment. He could call his parents, at the first sign of trouble they'd be there in a flash. But no, that would be the last time he's left home alone. For a split second, he considered calling his history teacher, Mr Ryan. He'd always been keen to help Roy. No, that would seem stupid for him to call. Then, there was only one person left that Roy could think of. He didn't want to, but it was his last resort. He went through the drawer by the phone and found an old business card. On it was the name Officer David Delinko, Coconut Cove Police Department.
"You're joking. A police officer? Mullet's wanted by the police, have you forgotten?" Beatrice snapped.
"Do you know anyone else we can call? He's a good guy, he'll help us." Said Roy picking up the phone and dialing the number on the card.
Mullet Fingers was in a room again, however not hooked up to the machine. His foot was throbbing. He wondered if he could walk on it or not. Then, the door opened and James Howan, the witch-lady and some security guards walked in.
"Well, Mr Leep, have you been enjoying yourself today? How nice. You've made my life very difficult over the last few hours so now I'm going to makes yours a living hell." He said with a horrible grin.
"No you are not." Said a deep voice.
The door opened and a tall man walked in. He had grey hair that was slicked back and in a ponytail. He also wore a black suit.
"Mr Milcbuter! What a pleasant surprise! I didn't know you were flying out tonight!" Howan exclaimed.
"I hadn't planned to, until I got this fax." Said Milcbuter, producing a sheet of paper from his suit "It's from the boy's birth father. It counters his ex-wife's consent for you to torture the boy. I'm afraid that in that case, Mr Howan, you have no legal right to harm this boy unless both parents give their consent. Now release him." Milcbuter snapped.
Mullet Fingers looked up. "My...birth...father?" He asked wearily.
The security guards released the robes binding him to the chair and helped him to his feet. Milcbuter handed him his crutches. Howan snatched the sheet out of his hand and read it over. The fat witch-lady was trying to see it too.
"How do you know that's his signature? I can't read it." Howan snapped.
Now all the men and the witch-lady were examining the paper. "Look, who would waste time writing this up if it wasn't the boy's father?" Milcbuter snapped impatiently.
"Mr Howan is right. I think we should cross-reference this signature and make sure it's the real father." Said the witch-lady.
"Hey, where'd he go?" One of the guards asked suddenly.
They all looked around. Mullet Fingers was gone. His crutches were lying on the ground by the chair.
"That's not possible." Breathed Howan "FIND HIM! NOW!" He bellowed at the guards, who ran out of the room.
Howan, the witch-lady and Ted Milcbuter all hurried out of the room to Howan's officer.
Mullet Fingers was running as fast as he could. His foot was throbbing beyond compare, he felt like he was going to pass out. Suddenly, a large hand covered his mouth from behind and pulled him into a closet. He struggled.
"Stay quiet." Said a deep voice from behind him.
He heard footsteps run past the door of the closet. Then the voice said "There's an emergency exit to the right a little ways up. It says it's locked but it's not, trust me. Go now, hurry."
The closet opened again and he was forced out. He hesitated and then opened the door to see who had helped him. Strangely enough, it was empty. He didn't have time to wonder where the man had gone, more security guards were coming. He ran as fast as possible to the exit the man had spoken of. And it was as the man had said, unlocked. He ran out into the dark parking lot and away from the Mother Paula's building.
Officer David Delinko pulled up outside Roy's house. He hurried to the front door and went inside.
"Okay so what's the trouble Roy?" He asked.
"Beatrice's stepbrother. He's in danger. We don't have time to explain right now, we've gotta get to the hospital." Said Roy quickly.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Roy, I'm not going roaring off to the hospital without a good reason. Tell me what's going on." Said Officer Delinko.
Beatrice and Roy explained what had happened. "But, wait a sec. Your mom can't give permission for your stepbrother to be tortured, that's against child safety laws. If they tortured him she can go to jail for that. Giving permission is as bad as torturing him herself." Said Officer Delinko.
"Okay, fine, but that point is, he could be getting tortured right now for all we know! Let's just get going." Said Beatrice.
"Alright, into the cruiser, let's go." Said Officer Delinko.