Starlight Starbright

These good fellows don't belong to me but I promise when I'm done to pick um up, dust um off and with a kiss on the cheek return them safely home.

"Not the glittering weapon fights the fight, but rather the hero's heart." Old Proverb.

Chapter 11

Bobby sat in his living room with three police officers.

"When was the last time you heard from her Mr. Starlight?"

"She was going out to do an errand, she didn't even say where. It's been hours, something has happened to her. Why don't you quit asking me a thousand questions and go find her."

The officer looked at the distraught husband. There were so many possibilities it was difficult to even know where to start. Did she even leave of her own free will? Did she ever have any intention of returning? "You said that her sister recently died?"

"Yes, she passed away a couple of days ago, from a car accident. The funeral was tonight. I had to call and postpone it. I know Amy would never miss that."

"Could your wife have been so grief ridden that should would have done something to herself?"

Bobby cringed at the idea, although it had crossed his mind. "No, she was doing okay with Amanda's death and the funeral arrangements were important to her. She was giving the eulogy also. Something's happened for her to not come back home."

"Okay, our possibilities are, with your help, the grocery store on Main Street, the County bank branch on Elm or the Electric office on Carter. Is that correct?"

"Yes, those were the bills we had set aside to pay this week."

A second officer came up and pulled him over to the side, sharing information in a quiet voice. The young officer returned and sat back in front of Bobby.

"I have just been informed that the County bank branch on Elm was robbed a few hours ago. Witnesses have said that a woman was taken as a hostage. One of them has now identified the woman as your wife."

Bobby's world fell out from under him in that instant. There was no breath in his lungs; his heart seemed to have stopped beating. How could this be happening? The officer saw the man go white as a sheet in front of him and as he yelled for help they lowered the grief stricken husband to lie on the couch.

Roy made a list of all of Johnny's favorite camping places. He then called the 51 crew to his house for a lunch meeting. After notifying the police he set to making his way through the list of phone numbers again. He marked which ones said no, separate from those that he couldn't get a response. Those he would go check himself. Joanne worked on packing him a bag because she knew he would soon be hitting the road.

As the men gathered in his living room he and Hank updated them on the whole story, from beginning to the end. As the reality of Johnny being missing sank in each one was ready to do whatever was necessary to find him.

"Cap, Johnny took me camping in some spots that were pretty remote. I don't know if there's even anyone to contact there," Chet said.

"Mark um on the map. We will search each one ourselves if we have to. The police are looking for the Rover but beyond that they said that since he's an adult he has to be listed as missing for 72 hours before they can involve a full search," Hank said.

After Joanne fed the group a hearty lunch they set out. Hank and Mike were teamed up. Chet and Marco were another team and Roy set out alone. Each man had a map, a destination to search and a check in time. They agreed to all call Joanne for a central point.

As Roy drove down the highway he sent out a silent call to his partner, Come on Junior give us some kind of sign so we can find you. But for now the call was unanswered. Even so, Roy drove ahead with no intentions of giving up until his brother was found.

Johnny got the wound cleaned up and a pressure dressing on it to slow down the bleeding. Her color was pale beneath his olive skinned hands. He looked up to see Red watching him.

"Are you done?" He asked in an annoyed voice.

"She needs a doctor and a hospital. This bullet has to come out or she won't make it," Johnny told him.

"Well she can have all the care in the world once we have the money for her. We didn't did get much for all the trouble of that bank job but she's gonna top it off. I'm sure her husband will pay a pretty penny to get her back." He flung a finger her direction.

"She's not married," Johnny said before thinking.

Red was on his side of the bed in heartbeat, snatching him up like a rag doll. "Whatda' mean she's not married. How do you know?"

Johnny had to struggle to fight down the nausea and the gasping pain in his side, "Sorry, I just guessed."

Red put him down with a thud on the floor as Carl came into the room, "What are you doing in here?"

"This pretty boy says the chick isn't married."

Carl came over to her side and held up her hand showing Johnny the ring on her finger, "Oh she's married all right and that marriage is gonna make us rich. Red take him out and tie him up. We have a phone call to make."

Johnny flinched as Red reached for his shirt collar. Grabbing it he started pulling him backwards. Johnny struggled to get his feet underneath him but wound up out of breath and near passing out again. He was pulled up into the chair by the fireplace and his hands untied again. Before he could even think about stretching out his shoulders they were jerked back behind him as he was retied from behind. Next his feet were bound to the feet of the chair also.

Carl looked at him with disgust then took his fist and punched him right in the stomach. Johnny gasped and tried to stay conscious. He needed to know what they were doing, where they were going.

"We just gonna leave him here?" Red asked his partner in crime.

"Sure, where's he gonna go?" Carl sneered. "Let's go and make this quick."

As darkness fell Roy was heading back to his car. Another spot unsuccessful in finding Johnny. He drove back to the main road and found a payphone to call home.

"Hey hon, any news yet?"

"I'm sorry babe. Nothing so far. Hank and Mike still have 3 more to check but they're not sure they can do it till morning. Marco and Chet just called in and they have 2 more left to check."

"Okay. I'm going to head back into town and stop by his place. Maybe there's something there that I missed before. When the guys call in tell them to get back home, we will try again when the sun is up."

Roy said his goodbyes to Joanne and hung up the phone. His body suddenly heavy with exhaustion he looked into the sky full of bright stars, "Johnny, we're trying. Don't give up on us."

Johnny blinked until his head cleared up some. He looked around to see that both men had finally left. He remembered they were heading out to make a phone call. Calculating in his head the time to get to the main road then to town he guesstimated he had about an hour before they returned. He looked into the bedroom to see that Amanda was still asleep. She stirred slightly but was then out again. Just enough for him to know she was still alive.

The chair was on the hardwood floors so he tried to scoot it over to the fireplace. With each scoot he had to bite his lower lip and hold his breath. After a few minutes he made it where his hands pressed against the rough stone that rose up to the ceiling. He began rubbing his wrist against it while his mind planned what he would do next.

With his hands now loose he reached down to untie his feet but standing up was only good for about a second as he went right back down into the chair. Okay, fine. A little slower this time. He slowly stood, keeping his hands on the arms of the chair and let the world stop spinning. He then worked his way into the bedroom and reached into the closet to get his backpack. After putting in a few essentials, knowing that he couldn't carry much, he next dug through the first aid kit again. Lifting off his shirt he took the wide tape and began to wrap it around his rib cage. The support felt good and he knew he needed all the help he could get right now.

After redressing in a couple of layers he then took his sleeping bag, unzipped it and rolled Amanda into it, tucking two more down throws around her he zipped her up until only her face was showing. Next he moved back to the kitchen and looked at the clock. His time was growing short, his heart beat quickened. He grabbed a couple of bottles of water and the big bag of trail mix. It wasn't much but he would need something to give him strength to get through this.

Grabbing her by the shoulders he then pulled her off the bed, trying to keep her feet end from hitting the floor too hard. That being his biggest exertion so far it left him out of breath and dizzy again. Leaning against the bed he paused until his eyes could focus on just one dresser instead of three. Putting the light load backpack on he grabbed her again and began dragging her to the front door. Stopping to put on his own coat, gloves and hat Johnny looked down at the sleeping face behind him.

There was a reason she was here. He didn't know how but he felt a calling to save her. This was his chance to put right what went wrong the last time and he had no intention of sitting around for the idiot brothers to come back and decided their fates.

He opened up the door and was greeted with a gentle stillness in the air that was as quiet as anything could possibly be. The moon was out and the stars were bright. Pulling her to the edge of the porch he reached underneath the stairs and pulled out an old red sled. There was enough snow on the ground to help him move her easier with the sled. Loading her on and making sure she was strapped down he pulled one of the blankets gently over her face to keep her warm.

Tying the sled rope to his lower waist, low on his hips to avoid his own injuries he began walking. They would return soon and find them gone. He knew if they were found the price would be unbearable and most likely deadly. He looked to the north east sky and entered the woods. There was a phone at the Rangers post; there he would call the one person who would help him. Roy.