Chapter 12

Sara knew that voice, she knew that face, and she knew that boy that was standing only a few feet away from her. Sodapop's face was beaming a huge smile from ear to ear. Both Sara and Soda flew at each other. "Oh, Sara! Where have you been? Everyone has been looking for you." Soda scooped Sara up and was squeezing her so tight, but Sara didn't mind. For she had her arms tightly wrapped around Sodapop's neck. Soda couldn't believe that he was actually holding his sister in his arms; it was such a great feeling.

"Where have I been? Where have you been?" Sara asked back in a sassy tone, but Soda knew he had it coming, he just didn't expect it to come from her.

"I best get you back inside. Darry is just about to have a heart attack trying to find you." Soda placed Sara back down on the ground and firmly grabbed her hand as they walked back towards where he had left Darry and Ponyboy.

"Is he mad?" Sara asked with concern.

"Um, what do you think?" Soda tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. Sara just shook her head yes. "Try not to worry too much though; he might be madder at me than you right now."

"Really?" Sara's voice piped up a little.

"Don't be so happy there little lady. You know how fast Darry changes his mind. One minute he's mad at me and the next he can be mad at both of us." Just as Soda turned from looking down at Sara, they both heard the voice from whom they were just talking about.

"Sara?" Darry's voice squeaked out. Sara looked up to see Darry, Pony and a group of people with orange shirts coming towards them. Sara wasn't completely sure of the expression on Darry's face, so instead of running over to him and squeezing the daylights outta him, she stood straight and tall and held on to Sodapop's hand. Soda on the other hand did understand the expression on Darry's face and knew that Darry's face was saying exactly how Sodpop was feeling. Soda slipped his hand away from Sara's and lightly placed his hand on her back and gave her a little push towards where Darry had quicken his step and was moving a lot faster towards them. Sara cocked her head up and looked up to Soda as if she was asking are you sure? Soda gave her a nod and Sara turned and looked back at Darry and the crowd that was walking along beside of him. Sara started off with a speed walk towards Darry but it then turned into a jog and Darry quicken his speed walk to a jog and when the two were within feet of each other, Darry slowed down and went down on one knee and Sara leaped into his arms. Darry's big framed engulfed Sara. "Sara, where have you been?" Darry had moved his hand up and was rubbing the back of her hair, just letting himself relax some while holding his sister in his arms.

"Darry, I couldn't find Soda. He wasn't where he said he was gonna be. I got scared. I couldn't remember where you were so I went back to the car." Sara was talking so fast that Darry was having a hard time keeping up with her. "Darry, I don't wanna ever have this happen to me again." Darry couldn't help but grin at Sara's request.

"I don't want it to ever happen again, either." Darry stood back up with Sara still in his arms. He turned to see that Sodapop was still hanging back some, and knew that he needed to make things right with him. He walked towards Soda and stopped just inches in front of where Soda had been standing looking down at the hole in his sneaker. Darry reached over and grabbed Sodapop's chin and lifted his head up so that Darry could see his eyes. Darry noticed that Sodapop's eyes had glossed over with water. Darry knew that what he had said was wrong and that now they had found Sara he needed to apologize to Sodapop. "Soda?" Darry started to say, but Sara's voice interrupted Darry's apology attempt.

"Soda, don't cry. You found me. You should be happy." Sara let one of her hands go from Darry's neck and she flopped it around Sodapop's neck.

"They're tears of joy, right Soda?" The three Curtis members turned to see that Ponyboy was now standing next to them. Soda let out a little laugh.

"Yeah, something like that, Pon." Soda quickly swiped the tears that were getting ready to leak down his face.

"Soda, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did. It wasn't entirely all your fault, I know that. Stuff happens right?" Darry finally found his word to say to Soda.

"Why does all this crap keep happening to us?" Pony asked. "I'm tired of all this."

"Let's just not let this kind of stuff ever happen again, how about that?" Soda said back to Darry but had also turned to direct the statement towards Sara.

"That's for sure!" Darry cracked a genuine smile towards both Sodapop and Sara. Darry grabbed Soda's shoulder to give him a half hug, while Sara was getting ready to hug Soda, Soda looked up and noticed a sad expression on Ponyboy's face.

"Come on, Pony. You too!" Soda was trying to reach for Pony.

"Group hug!" Sara yelled. Pony leaned in between Darry and Soda and for a small moment in time the four Curtis siblings held each other tight.

"Hey, who's seen enough of this place? I'm ready to go home, what do you guys think?" Soda asked pulling away first from the group hug they were all just sharing.

"ME!" Both Sara and Ponyboy said at the same time.

"Good, it sounds like a plan then." Darry said as he was also pulling away from the hug and was setting Sara down on the ground beside him.

"Excuse me, Darry?" Carl said approaching the Curtis family. "Can we assume that it's safe to call off the search now?" Carl was holding out his hand towards Darry, who gladly accepted the hand shake.

"Yes. This is my sister Sara. Thank you so much for helping us find her. You have no idea how grateful we are for your assistance today."

"Darry, I'm just glad that it all worked out and we didn't need to call in the police." Carl moved closer to Sara and bent down and looked her in the eyes. "Little Lady, you sure did have your brothers here real worried. But if there is ever a next time, find an adult and tell them you're lost. They can help you find your way back to your brothers. And here, I think you might want this." Carl stretched out his hand towards Sara.

"Mr. Bear! I was coming back for you, really, I was." Sara grabbed Mr. Bear from Carl and added, "Thank you, Sir."

"You're welcome. " Carl said ruffling the top of Sara's head. "Are you all set with everything, Darry?"

"Yes, I think we're all ready to hit the road. We have a long drive ahead of us." Darry flung an arm over Pony's shoulder and said, "Let's go home there, Champ." Pony glanced at Darry and let a small smile tug at his lips.

"I don't know about the champ part of it, but let's get outta here." Pony bent down to grab his bag, but Darry beat him to it.

"I've got it. Start heading out to the car, I'll be right there." Darry flicked his head towards the parking lot and Pony not arguing with him slowly started for the Steve's car. Darry shook hands again with Carl and his team and thanked them once again and turned towards Sodapop and Sara to get them moving towards the car as well. On the way through the parking lot, Sara had carefully placed herself in between her two older brothers, silently slipping her tiny hands into both of Darry's and Soda's. Once both boys felt her skinned up hands they pulled her hands up to take a look at them. "Sara, what happened to your hands?"

"I fell in the parking lot. That's how I dropped Mr. Bear. I hurt my knees too. But don't worry Darry, I cleaned them up myself." Sodapop scooped Sara up in his arms so that Darry could inspect her knees.

"I guess you did do a number on those knees of yours. But you did good cleaning them up. But when we get home I'm taking the peroxide to them. We don't need any infections "

"Ahh, Darry." Sara whined.

"Ahh, Darry, nothing. You heard me, Little Lady." Darry said just shaking his head at his sister. Sodapop gently placed Sara back on the ground and the three caught up pretty quickly to a slow moving Pony. "How are you feeling there Sport?" Darry asked coming up beside Pony.

"Not so hot, but I'll be ok. I just want to get home." Pony had his hands wrapped around his right side.

"I'll try to get you there as soon as possible." The Curtis members approached Steve's car and Darry opened his door while Sodapop opened the back door for Sara. But Sara hesitated by the open door.

"What is it, Sara?" Soda asked with a puzzled look on his face, not sure why Sara wasn't getting in.

"Can you um, Soda, can you let me ride up front with you and Darry?" Soda just looked over at Darry not sure what to say. Soda thought this was kinda odd that Sara would be asking this.

"What do you think, Dar?" Soda knew that Darry should be the one to give the ok.

"Well, it would probably be easier for Pony if he could lie down instead of sitting up. Pony what do you want to do? Would it feel better if you could have the whole back seat to yourself?"

"Dar, if it's going to cause a problem, I'll be fine. Honestly. One of us will probably fall asleep anyways." Pony was trying to be tough, but Darry knew that he would be better off without Sara back there.

"No, Pon. Sara, you can ride up front with us until we stop somewhere." Sara quickly shut the door and opened the front door and climbed in before Darry changed his mind.

"Thanks, Dar." Sara said waiting patiently for Darry and Soda to climb in.

"Don't thank me, thank Pony." Darry said shutting Pony's door and climbing into the driver's seat.

"Thanks Pony! Love you!" Sara yelled over her shoulder towards Pony who was trying to get comfortable in the backseat. Soda climbed in and pushed Sara to slide over. Sara slide over and it felt like they were back in Darry's truck again. But it was the feeling that Sara needed so badly. Now she felt so safe between her two brothers. Sara went to switch the radio on. "Chapel of Love" by The Dixie Cups was playing. Sara went to turn the volume up when Darry stopped her hand.

"I don't think so, Little Lady,"

"Can't blame a girl for trying." Sara remarked back.

"Since when have you picked up on these lines?" Darry asked.

"More like from who?" Soda smiled over at Sara and Darry. Sara paused for a minute, for she knew damn well from whom she has been hearing these lines from but thought twice about confessing so. So instead she just shrugged her shoulders and gave Darry her sly smile.

"I can only imagine." Darry started to pull the car out onto the road. The Curtis members were actually pretty quiet in the car. Which Darry didn't mind while trying to get out of the city limits. But once they were heading into the country Darry started looking around at everyone. Everyone seemed to be caught up in their own thoughts. Darry glanced into the rear view mirror and noticed that Pony was stretched out across the backseat and was using Sara's pillow under his right side and had her blanket rolled up with his head resting on it. His eyes were closed and by the expression on his face Darry could tell that he was in some pain. Darry was starting to feel bad for him, but then again he was still angry with him for not confessing to him that he was indeed hurt. He then turned his attention back to the road that was pretty much cleared of any other cars and nothing but squared corn fields and wheat farms on both sides of the road. Darry drove a little more before noticing that Soda too had fallen asleep and was surprised to see that Sara was still awake and was just watching the scenery roll by. Sara must have felt eyes looking at her for she turned her head slightly to look at Darry.

"What?" She asked him in that same sassy tone that he was really starting to hate.

"First of all, this sassiness that you have been using lately needs to go. I don't know what you think you're trying to pull with it, but it won't work on me. And I'm not going to tolerate it. " Sara knew that she was getting sassy these days but it was hard not to when she was around Two-Bit, Dally and Steve all the time. They always seem to being full of attitude and no one ever calls them out on it. But Sara hung her head a bit and was now looking at her dirty clothes. Darry reached over and turned down the music and Sara knew that this meant they weren't finished with the scolding yet. "Sara, you really had me scared today. What were you thinking going off on your own like that? Why didn't you just stay there and wait until Soda came for you?" Darry has been wondering this the whole time she was missing. Sara didn't know how to answer Darry for she doesn't know why she didn't stay there and wait like she should had. "Huh?" Darry prompted her to give him an answer. Still a few seconds after the prompt Sara just shrugged her shoulders. " Sara, this is serious. What happened today is serious. Why didn't you find someone and ask for help?" Darry had a million questions spinning through his head. He wanted some answers to them. After another few seconds Sara still hadn't responded to any of Darry's questions. Darry just let out a heavy sigh and took his eyes off of his sister and back onto the road. After about a minute of silence between him and his sister, he finally heard Sara's voice.

"I didn't ask for help, because no one ever helps us." Sara's voice was very flat but strong. Sara was looking down at her hands that were fidgeting in her lap. This statement from his 6 year old sister was bold and Darry was taken back a bit and needed to make sure he heard it right.

"Sara, why would you say that?"

"It's true isn't it? No one back at home ever helps us when we need it? All the people down at Social Services never help us; Mrs. Robert's doesn't help us. The fuzz don't help us, my principal and teachers at school don't help us. All the people that kids are taught to trust don't help us." Darry took his left hand off the steering wheel and ran his hand through his hair. Why on earth does his sister have to be so damn in tuned with everything that goes on around them? How he wishes that she could be living a sweet and innocent life and could just be a little naive.

"Sara, not everyone's like those people you just named. There are good people in this world, people that want to help us. Look at Carl today? He dropped everything he was doing to help to look for you. Look at Mr. Frizzle? He does good by Sodapop, and Frank and Joe down at the DX, they are good to us and Soda. And what about my boss, Mr. Day, he's a good guy. Sara, you can't think like that. There are good people who you can trust. I know to you it might seem like you can't trust certain people, because of things they have done, but it isn't like that for all people." Darry tried to get a good look at Sara in hopes that she was grasping what he was trying to tell her. Sara's head was still tilted down and she was still fidgeting with her hands. "Sara, do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Darry waited patiently for a responds from his sister. When there still wasn't anything Darry continued. "Look at Dally, now some people would say that he's a bad person. What do you think? Do you trust Dally?"

"Yeah I trust him, but I don't ever ask him for help with anything." Sara answered Darry as honestly as she could. Darry was happy that he finally heard from her, but he just wanted to scream at her out of frustration.

"Forget it, Sara. Just next time." Darry paused, "Well, there isn't going to be a next time, but if you ever do need help, find someone and ask them for help, please."

"Alright." Sara's soft, quiet voice answered back. Darry reached back over and turned the music up some. They rode in silence with nothing but the humming wheels on the concrete road and the light snoring coming from Sodapop. Sara had been thinking about something for a few miles now and thought while her two other brothers were snoozing that this would be a good time to ask. "Darry, are you mad at me for getting lost?"

"It doesn't matter if I was or not, because we found you safe and sound." He answered while lowering the visor down as they drove across the plains of Oklahoma with a windshield sunset in his eyes like a water color painted sky.

"It matters to me, Darry. I bet you're pretty mad and disappointed in me. Are you going to give me a whopping when we get home?" Darry had to let out a chuckle. He was kinda of happy to know that Sara was thinking about her choices that she actually thought he was going to punish her for this.

"Now why would you say that?"

"Because when Soda found me, he said that you were mad at him and would probably be at me too." Sara was carefully looking at her big brother preparing herself for her punishment.

"No, Sara, I think you learned your lesson from today. I don't think you need to get a whopping." When Darry said the last part he made sure that he was looking directly at her. He noticed that her whole body seemed to relax once he said there would be no whopping.

"What about Sodapop?" Sara inquired.

"What about him?" Darry asked back.

"Are you gonna give him a whopping?" Sara asked innocently. Darry could resist and burst out into a hard laughter, making Sara look up at him surprisingly. "Are you?" Sara asked again. "Because it was both our faults Darry. So if I'm not gonna get one, Soda shouldn't get a whopping neither." By this time Darry's laughter had startled Sodapop awake. Even though he was still groggy he is pretty sure he heard what Sara was saying about getting a whooping. Darry's laughter had slowed down in volume and tone and just looked straight ahead with a smile on his face.

"No Sara. I'm not going to give Sodapop a whooping. I think he might be a little to old for one of those, don't you think?" Darry smiled over at Soda who was now looking at Darry in disbelief .Once Soda knew that Darry was kidding Soda reached over Sara and punched Darry in the shoulder. "You better watch it Little Buddy, this conversation isn't over just yet between the two of us." This quickly took the smile off of Sodapop's face. Darry looked up in the rear view mirror and noticed that Ponyboy was now fully awake so he added, "Now Pony on the other hand, he might think he's to old for one, but after pulling that stunt last night with the rumble I'm not so sure what I'm going to do with him." Pony's eyes grew wide in horror, he wouldn't, he couldn't, Pony thought. But Pony knew deep down that just because there wasn't much talk about it last night or this morning that his little stunt would be forgotten all that easily, not when it involved his big brother.