"Oh, no!" Doug gasped into the telephone. "I don't believe it!"

"What is it?" Jo asked as she walked into the living room. Doug glanced at her and put his finger to his lips, then continued to speak into the receiver. "Uh huh...uh huh...God, I sure hope so...all right. Take care, now."

He hung up, then turned to his wife. "Andy's missing," he told her. "They found his jeep by the side of the road in the middle of the jungle, abandoned, in an area where there's a large tribe of headhunters."

"Oh, no!" Jo gasped.

"Erskine's beside himself with worry. That was Ada I was talkin' to. He was too upset to even come to the phone."

"No wonder! And they don't have any leads at all?"

"Not so far."

Jo glanced toward Jamie's bedroom, where she knew the teenager was either doing homework or on the computer. She knew how fond her daughter was of Erskine's son. How would she ever tell her? Maybe he'd soon be found and she wouldn't have to be told at all, she finally decided.

Several days later, there was still no word about Andy or his friend Paul. Jo was dusting the living room furniture one day when Jamie walked up to her. "What's going on?" the teenager demanded.

"Nothing. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, come on, Mom. I'm not totally stupid." Jamie rolled her eyes. "Everybody just creeps around, going through the motions but never saying anything. It's like somebody died, or something. What gives?"

Jo heaved a heavy sigh, seeing there was no way of putting the inevitable off any longer. "Andy's missing. They found his jeep abandoned in the jungle, but there was no sign of him anywhere."

"Oh, no!" Jamie looked as if she was about to cry. "I sure hope he wasn't attacked by a wild animal!"

"I hope not, too." Jo thought about the headhunters and decided it would be best not to mention that possibility to her daughter.

The following day was the last day of school. "Just think, next year we'll be seniors!" Taylor gushed when she met up with Jamie after the last period of the day.

"Yeah." Jamie didn't even smile.

"What's wrong, girl?" asked Taylor. "You look like your best friend just died!"

"Remember Andy, the missionary in the Amazon I've been keeping in touch with? He went missing a few days ago. They found his jeep abandoned in the jungle but no sign of him anywhere."

"Oh, no!" Taylor exclaimed. "Being a missionary sure is dangerous, isn't it?"

"Apparently so." To Jamie it had always sounded like a thrilling adventure; the dangerous aspects involved had never even occurred to her.

"But being a cop is dangerous too, and that's what you always wanted to be before you met him," Taylor pointed out.

"Yeah. I guess I must just somehow be drawn to dangerous occupations, huh?" Jamie gave a weak laugh.

"Hey, want to spend the night tonight?" Taylor offered. "We can get my Mom to take us skating tomorrow. That'll help keep your mind off things."

"That sounds like fun. Thanks."

When she got home, she told Jo about Taylor's offer. "That'll be nice," Jo agreed. "You haven't slept over there in awhile."

After dinner, Jamie packed her suitcase for an overnight stay. Bethany sat on the bed playing with her doll and watching her pack. "Where are you going?" the little girl wanted to know.

"To my friend Taylor's to spend the night."

"Can I come too?"

"You'd just be bored. We're not gonna be doing little kid stuff. We're gonna be doing grown-up stuff."

"I like to do grown-up stuff too-oo," Bethany said in a singsong voice.

"Ha. You don't even know what grown-up stuff is."

"Do so!" Bethany pouted. Jamie laughed.

When she was finished packing, Doug drove her to Taylor's house, where Taylor and Kennedy were both jumping on the trampoline. "Hi, Jamie!" Taylor called.

"Want to jump with us?" asked Kennedy. Jamie joined them and was soon having so much fun she'd forgotten all about Andy.

The following day, a couple's skate started, and Jamie and Taylor were approached by two boys. The shorter one had dark brown hair and eyes, and the taller one had red hair, blue eyes, and freckles.

"Hi, I'm Joel," the shorter boy said to Taylor. "Want to skate?"

"OK!" Taylor took his hand, and they skated away.

The taller boy gave Jamie a shy smile. "I'm Brett. Would you like to skate with me?"

"All right," Jamie replied after only a moment's hesitation. She thought about Andy and felt just a little bit guilty but tried to squash the emotion. It is only a skate, she told herself.

She enjoyed skating and talking with Brett, and later, he asked for her telephone number, and she gave it to him.

While Jamie and Taylor were skating, Jo received a telephone call. "Hi, this is Erskine. May I please speak to Doug?"

"I think he's in the garage," Jo replied. "I'll go get him."

"That's OK," said Erskine. "I just wanted to tell him Andy and Paul have been found unharmed and are now safe. They ran out of gas and took off on foot and got lost. They eventually arrived at a village of friendly natives who helped them find their way back home."

"Thank God!" Jo exclaimed. "So is Andy coming home soon, or will he be staying there awhile?"

"He's coming home tomorrow. We're going to meet him at the airport."

"Great! I can't wait to tell Jamie! She's gonna be so happy!"