Now it was time for panic. Steve and Larry were beside themselves. Where on Earth could Sally be? No one had seen them except the semi hermit that lived down the road. He was not talking, he thought that Steve and Larry were just friends of the poor people that had died in the car accident a year or so ago. He had not seen Sally, they had made sure of that by locking her bedroom door.

Jim Burns enjoyed the quiet life of living in a small cabin without lights or plumbing up in the woods. But even he had to go into town once in a while. This day he needed some supplies and had walked the near to five miles into town.

As he picked up some supplies, he heard the news of little Sally. He remembered the little girl as full of life. He had been so sad when her parents had died in that awful crash. He thought that her life would have been fine after she was adopted by Perry Mason. In his many years as a business man he had met and made friends with Perry and Della. They were good people and he wanted to help find the little girl, but he had no idea what or who would take her.

As Jim made the long trip back to his cabin he went by the old Capron place. There was something strange about the two men who had been up there and so he decided to go and say hello to them once again. There had been video games out as though a child had been there playing 'Oh no that couldn't be' as he thought of Sally.

Jim took a peak inside the window and to his dismay saw to bodies lying on the floor. Both the men who he had been talking to just the other day w ere dead. He went in and checked to make sure, but they had been shot.

Jim was tired, but hurried as fast as he could to get to the nearest phone. He met with the police and took them up to the cabin. The police asked him a lot of questions and he wondered for just an instant if he was a suspect. But, he had no reason to murder these two men. .

Meanwhile Sally had gotten up. She was hungry and very tired. The night had not been a good one. The sounds of the animals and the fact that it was dark and she was lost had not led to a good nights sleep.

But as she walked this morning she heard the sound of water and so she followed the sound. By mid morning she had found the water and took a long drink. She was very thirsty. But, she remembered something her daddy had told her a long time ago. One day when she and her other mommy and daddy had been out in the woods, her daddy had said. "Sally if you ever get lost in the woods and find water you are safe. Follow the flow of the water. It will take you to civilization almost all of the time."

This was the first time that Sally had hope and so she started the long walk along the water. Sometimes she couldn't follow the water all of the way , but she made sure that she could always hear the water. She walked for hours and it was again getting dark. All she had left for food was a few chips, but she had water. This night, she slept again against a tree.

Meanwhile the police were checking out the two men who had been found murdered in the cabin. They were two men from the Las Angeles area and one of them was indeed the brother in law of Bob and Nora Capron. But, they had found something in one of the bedrooms. It was a sweater and neatly inside had been sewn in the name Sally Mason.

Even in this small town news had gotten around that Sally Mason had been kidnapped. The police chief shook his head. 'Did these two fools kidnap the little Capron girl? If they did where was she?"

Perry and Paul had been doing everything they could to find Sally. Della was just beside herself and could not stop holding the baby when they got the call. It was the police from Wood Valley. They were at a cabin that had once belonged to Sally's parents and there had been a murder. Sally's uncle and a man named Larry Barber. We found a pink sweater with the name Sally Mason tagged on the inside.

That was his gardeners name. He got the address from the police and said that he was on his way. Perry turned to Della and told her "They just found Sally's Uncle Steve and our gardener :Larry murdered in Sally's parents cabin. They found Sally's sweater at the cabin. They and I think that Sally's Uncle Steve and our gardener got together and kidnapped Sally. There is only one problem, Sally is nowhere to be found." he told Della as he put his arms around her. The tears were in his eyes as they were in hers.

Perry told her tenderly "I am going to go get Paul and head right up there. As soon as I found out anything I will call." he then kissed his wife and his newborn son and hurried out the door.

Sally had been walking for hours when she saw a house in the valley. This looked like a home, a regular home, and she went down towards the house very carefully. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. A dog came running up with his tail wagging and she pet him. It was the first time in what seemed forever that she felt all right.

She stood there at the door and no one answered. She looked around and could see that there was no one at home. She thought that she might get in trouble if she went in. But, she would tell the people what had happened she reasoned it would be all right. .

Sally tried the door and found it unlocked. As she went in she saw a house with signs that there were children living in it. She hoped that this meant that she would be safe. She went into the living room and picked up the phone. She thought Daddy's at work I will call the office. She did and got the answering service. So she left them a message.

The lady at the answering service was brand new and knew nothing about the kidnapping and placed the information that Sally had given her into a pile of messages that were accumulating for Perry Mason. For some reason he had not been picking them up like he usually did.

Sally, in the meantime was very hungry and looked in the refrigerator. There she found ham and cheese and made herself a sandwich. Her mom and dad would pay them back when they picked her up she reasoned.

Perry and Paul were on their way up to the cabin as fast as they could. They were both worried that Sally might be lost in the woods.

In the meantime Sally fell asleep on the couch of the strangers home safe for the time being.