Sally sat in her room and waited for someone to come to the house. She listened as her uncle and the gardener talked out in the living room. But, no one came. Where were her cousins and her aunt? She decided to go out into the living room and ask them what was going on but to her shock the door to her room was now locked. She couldn't get out. She knocked and yelled but her Uncle Steve or Larry Barber but no one answered.

As Sally walked around the room, she checked out the window. Her room was very high for her to jump from. Although, she was on the first floor there was a gully behind the house and the drop to the gully was at least twenty feet. She looked around for something that she could use for a rope or something and could find nothing.

The next morning Steve went to Sally's room and opened the door. He found her asleep on the floor in front of the door. She had slept there and when he woke her up he could see that she had been crying. He looked down at her and told her "Why all of the tears? Your Aunt Michelle and Aunt Mary will be here today. They are just a little late."

Sally looked at her uncle. She wanted to believe him, but. "Why did you lock my door last night?" she asked as she walked toward the kitchen to get some breakfast.

"I didn't want you wondering around. The woods are dangerous and dark." he told her.

Sally looked around and didn't see Larry. The car was gone too. She knew that it was at least three miles to the nearest cabin and during this time of year, there probably wouldn't be anyone there. As she was finishing her breakfast she saw Larry coming back. Her Uncle Steve went out to the car to meet him. Sally could see that they were talking maybe even arguing.

This was one of the times that Sally knew she had a few moments to check things around. She had seen on television how you could use a nail file to open a locked door and she knew that her mother had one in the bathroom. She was going to take it and hide it in her room. She went into the bathroom and found the file. As she left the bathroom her Uncle Steve and Larry came into the cabin.

Sally smiled at the two men and they smiled back at her. She went into her room to get dressed . There she hid her nail file under the mattress and went back into the living room. She spent the day watching movies. There was no cable at the cabin, but she had a recorder that she could watch. She looked at some of the movies that she and her mommy and daddy had watched together many times and felt like crying.

If Sally was going to escape from the room, she was going to have to be very quiet. She had her clothes all ready and made sure that her sneakers and everything were ready for the long walk. The woods were dark and dangerous. She had been out there many times, but never alone.

Meanwhile Larry had been to a town one hundred miles away and had called the Mason household. He had demanded a ransom of one hundred thousand dollars. It was supposed to be paid in small bills and he had said that he would call back in three days.

Perry had taken the call and recorded the whole thing. His hands shook as he placed the phone on the receiver. His fears were now confirmed, Sally had been kidnapped. He had the phone number and Paul traced it to a phone booth about eighty miles away. It was a long shot, but at least he had something. He contacted the police and they came out.

The sergeant listened to the tape. "Did you recognize the voice?" he asked.

Perry told him that no it had been disguised. That day the gardener was going to be there and they would ask him if he heard anything. Della had been up all night crying and now to hear that Sally had been definitely kidnapped, she was terrified.

Back at the cabin, the two men knew that they were going to have to leave Sally alone. Larry was going to have to go to the Mason home and act like nothing was happening and if Steve did not get back to his home, Mary would begin to wonder. He had called Mary and had told her that he had car trouble and was spending the night at Larry's. She had offered to come and get him but he had politely refused.

Within two hours Sally found herself alone in the cabin. Something told her that she was definitely going to be alone maybe forever. She was scared to death. The weather was good though and she thought that if she was careful, she could make it to the town before dark. Once she made sure that her Uncle Steve and Larry were truly gone, she headed out.

She walked in the woods keeping an eye on the road so she wouldn't get lost, and that worked at first. But, then she had seen a deer and had followed it for a short while. Sally turned and she couldn't find the road. Now, she was scared very scared. The woods went on for miles, her daddy had told her. She had only brought a few things to eat and it would get cold soon.

Meanwhile Larry and Steve had gone home. Larry had been questioned by the police and was glad to find out that he wasn't a suspect. He told them that he had seen nothing and had gone through his work just like any other day.

Steve talked to his wife Mary. She was very upset apparently someone had kidnapped her niece little Sally. They wanted a ransom of all things. Steve had told her how sad and said. "I am going to go out and find her. I will let you know what I found out."

Mary had protested, but he had insisted and she had given in. Steve and Larry genuinely wanted to help out with the search for Sally. Larry knew her because he was the gardener for the little girl's parents.

Larry and Steve were quite proud of themselves. They had bought themselves some time and soon they would be very wealthy. All they had to do was to keep Sally happy. As they pulled up to the cabin they carried a new toy for the little girl. But, as they walked in they soon discovered that Sally had left.

In the meantime it had gotten dark out and Sally was very lost. She had no flashlight or anything and curled up next to a tree. Thank goodness she had brought her favorite blanket with her. She also had an apple and as she ate it she sat there and cried.