Guys, I am so sorry for the long wait! But, graduation and all my tests are finally over; so hopefully, I can get this story rolling again. Please, tell me what you think!

LOST

"Ough," Nancy groaned. Slowly she sat up on one of her elbows. Gently, she prodded the back of her head. She softly rubbed against the giant knot that had formed from where she had landed on the rock. She blinked her eyes open. The sun was glaring down at her, even through the thick canopy above. It was late mid-afternoon. She'd been out cold all day!

It took much of her strength, but she finally managed to sit all the way up. She squinted up at the sky, doing her best to get some sense of direction. She sighed; there was no point. She didn't know which way the rider had taken her last night and there was no way she would be able to figure it out on her own.

As soon as she stood, she fell against the building behind her, gasping. "Not so fast, Drew," she scolded herself in a hoarse whisper. She would kill for a drink of water. Her throat was parched. Her stomach growled, adding its protest. "I hear you," she cradled her stomach. She took a deep breath and stood again. She looked around her, setting her hands on her hips. There was nothing but woods in any direction that she could see for miles.

"Where am I?" she mumbled. Cautiously she made her way out of the pile of leaves and around to the front of the old building. The building turned out to be a barn. The once reliable wood had been permanently dampened by the humid air that constantly surrounded it. Nancy pushed lightly on the door until it slowly creaked open.

The barn was empty, save the random piles of old, scattered hay. She stepped into the large, dark barn. "Ugh," she crinkled her nose at the distinct smell of mold; but after a few breaths, she was used to the stale air. She rooted around a little, exploring the barn for a while. When she found nothing of interest, she went back outside.

What were you hoping for? she asked herself, Some clue to just pop up to give you all the answers? It's never been that easy. Why would it be now?

Sighing, she headed out into the woods. By now, she regained most of her strength, though she was still somewhat dizzy from hunger. The more fresh air she breathed in, the clearer her head became, the clearer her thoughts were, and the calmer she felt. For a moment, she just stood still, concentrating on her breathing. A small smile tickled her lips. She listened intently to all the chatter that surrounded her. She loved listening to the birds sing different tunes and the woodpeckers pound into their bark and the squirrels scamper from tree to tree. She listened intently until she had isolated one sound and then moved on to the next one. Suddenly, an idea struck her.

"Nancy! Why didn't you think of it sooner!" she exclaimed, slapping her forehead. Quickly, she scanned the forest around her for what she needed. It didn't take long for her to find a good-sized tree that would hold her weight. She swiftly climbed one with low branches. She climbed until she teetered in the wind, afraid to go any higher. Sticking her head out of the leaves, she gazed above many trees. She wasn't at the very top, but she could still see better than from the floor of the forest. She sighed again and started down. She couldn't see anything but more trees.

When she reached the bottom again, she pulled out her phone. "I didn't think so, but it was worth a shot…I guess." She thought for a moment. I haven't wandered too far from the barn, she thought, I could still go back…but what for? Then she remembered the man that had brought her here. "He was riding a horse," she looked up at the green sky above her, "…but why slow yourself down by riding through a forest?" She continued to pick at the question in her head. Something about it bothered her, but what? She slowly continued forward.

"He obviously wanted to get rid of me," she whispered, "but he didn't want to keep me or he would have tied me up…wouldn't he have? I don't understand. Why did he take me in the first place? Was it to keep me from going to John's?

"Oh, that doesn't really matter, does it," she huffed. "But wait," she smiled, "He must have known the area pretty well if he was willing to ride a horse through here…or…or maybe there was a trail that he was following." She snapped her fingers and quickly headed back for the barn. There might be some kind of a trail so the horse could make its way through, she hoped.

Nancy walked farther than she thought she should have had to go to reach the barn. "Oh, no," she groaned, "I must have passed it and not even realized it." It wouldn't have been hard to do. The sun was setting and it was already pretty dark out. Soon, it would be nearly black out. She wouldn't be able to see enough to go anywhere.

"Well, you really thought this one through, Miss Detective," she spat out, disgusted with herself, "You didn't even look for food or water. You didn't think about shelter for the night or possibly building a fire." She took one last look around, but it was too late, she couldn't see anything other than strange, dark blurs. Sighing again, she felt around for a nearby tree. At least, she thought, if the man does come back, he won't find me.

As short as her day had been, it had still exhausted her. She lay down at the base of the tree she had found and tried to get some sleep, determined to wake early the next morning.

"I'm really worried about her, George," Bess looked to her cousin, "This is all my fault."

"Well, she did go out to look for you after you stormed off into the night," George agreed.

Bess glared at her cousin, "You don't think I feel bad enough about it! I realize that. And now it's been almost two days since anyone has seen or heard from her!"

"It'll be two days tonight, which is in about…"George looked at her watch, "twenty minutes." Bess threw a pillow at her. "Hey! Hey! I'm just kidding around," she laughed and then her face quickly fell, "I'm sorry…I guess I'm more worried about her than I thought."

"You know she always takes care of herself, George, doesn't she?" Bess's voice started to choke a little.

"Yeah, that's right," George put her arm around the blonde, "She does."

"Where do you think she is?"

"I don't know…I don't know."

"Did you hear that!" Joe's head whipped around.

"What?" Frank dropped his pile of wood.

"Shh!" Joe insisted, "Listen!" Frank listened closely. The brothers had been out in the woods all day mushroom hunting. Morels liked to sprout up around Cedars, and were amazing fried. While searching, they had considered and debated a night in the woods. The boys had been gathering wood to build a fire when Joe had heard a twig snap in the darkness beyond.

"Joe, I don't hear anythi—" Frank stopped short just as another twig snapped loudly. It was getting closer, whatever it was. Suddenly, it started running…toward them! "Hide!" Frank hissed, scrambling to get behind the nearest tree. Joe ran in the opposite direction to do the same.

"Umph!" the boys heard a muffled groan as the thing that had been running tripped over Frank's wood pile. Cautiously, Frank stepped out into the clearing, slowly making his way to the lump on the ground.

Nancy groaned and held her side. She'd cut herself on something sharp when she'd tripped over this pile of…of what? Her hands patted the ground underneath her. It was a pile of sticks. She'd been traveling all day through the woods, hoping to stumble upon civilization. She ate berries and nuts and drank only from streams that were fresh and moving. After the sun had set, she'd become much more paranoid. The forest sounds were foreign to her. Something had sounded behind her; something that spooked her into a run. She ran into a clearing and then tripped over this stack of wood.

Nancy's first thought was, Why is there a stack of sticks piled up in the middle of this clearing? Then she wondered, Who put them here. That's when she'd noticed the stealthy movement behind her. It could be the man who brought me here, she thought quickly, he's the only one it could be; no one else knows where I am.

She held so still it hurt, waiting as someone crept slowly toward her. Suddenly, she jumped up and ran straight for the figure!