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Karissa wasn’t sure how long they had been hiding in the hole on the side of the hill, it felt like forever. Hopefully Tom had called the sheriff’s station and they were out looking for them right now. She was freezing and wet, with a headache from hell and too tired to come up with any clever ideas. She was afraid to run in the rain with Toby being hurt and two maniacs running loose with a knife.
“Can we make a fire, like in the movies? I’m really cold and scared,” Toby asked, his voice trembling. The little boy was leaning against Karissa and she was hugging him, trying to keep him as warm as she could with her own body heat.
Karissa looked down at the little boy with a worried face. She knew he was in a lot of pain and she felt helpless. Why couldn’t she have been like those pioneer women setting a broken arm with a stick and some vines. She was too afraid to move Toby’s arm and hurt him worse. “We have no matches, honey, and unfortunately I never learned that whole rub two sticks together thing. Why didn’t I join the Girl Scouts when I had the chance? Anyway, the bad guys might see the smoke and find us. I know you’re scared and cold, Toby. I am too, but I know my boss called your uncle and they’ll find us in no time. Didn’t you tell me your uncle Ethan was strong and brave?”
Toby looked up at Karissa wide-eyed. “Adults don’t get scared, Karissa.”
“I’ll let you in on a little secret, kid. Adults get scared too. We just get better at hiding it as we grow older,” she smiled at his shocked expression.
“Wow,” Toby whispered with awe as if learning one of the universe’s most hidden secrets. “My brother Kenny is ten and I’m only eight. Sometimes he calls me a baby ’cause I cry about stuff still, and I always wished I was older like him. You think he gets scared too?”
Karissa tightened her arms around the little boy in understanding, wishing she had thought to grab a jacket before leaving the house and maybe some granola bars like she usually did when she worked. “I have a big sister too, her name is Casey. I always wanted to be the oldest one, not the little one. It always seemed like she knew what to do and she did everything better than me.”
“Like me and Kenny,” Toby gave a nod of understanding. “No matter how hard I try I can’t do all the cool stuff he does. Like today, he didn’t want me hanging out with him and his friends ’cause he said I couldn’t ride my bike fast enough. I got mad and went off to practice and got lost in the woods.”
“Yeah, I know it’s hard being youngest, Toby,” Karissa answered, talking softly in a whisper so she could still hear noises outside. “But I discovered that no matter how old I got Casey would always be older than me so I just stopped worrying about it. I stopped trying to be like her and I was just me and it felt good. You know what she told me one day?”
“What?” he asked, sniffling and trying hard to hold his tears in and be brave like his brother would have been if he were here.
“She always wanted to be the younger one. She said when you’re the oldest your parents expect more and it’s not always easy,” Karissa explained patiently.
Toby thought about it for a minute and nodded. “Wow, you’re right, Karissa. I hear my dad always telling Kenny to watch out for me. I’m not easy to keep track of, poor Kenny.”
Karissa chuckled. “I got the feeling you liked to wander off by yourself. Now that I am an adult I appreciate my sister being older. She gives good advice because she knows a lot of things I haven’t learned yet.”
“This is all my fault. I’m scared the bad guys will find us but I’m also scared of how much trouble I’m gonna be in too. I broke the rules by wandering off in the woods alone. I didn’t mean to go far, but I was concentrating on practicing and got lost,” Toby confessed with a silent tear escaping.
Karissa kissed his forehead in sympathy, hugging him but trying to be careful of his arm in case it was broken. “Your parents and uncle love you, they might be mad you broke the rules but they will be so happy when they find us. I bet there will be lots of hugs and kisses involved.”
Toby nodded, feeling better. “My uncle Ethan and Uncle Gabe were in the army for a long time. They will rescue us, Karissa, they are strong and know lots of cool stuff about the woods.” Toby grabbed her hand tightly and she whispered a silent prayer for them to hurry up. She didn’t look forward to having to face Gabe again after so many years of hating him for dumping her and breaking her young heart, but
beggars couldn’t be choosers. She’d choose seeing Gabe over the bad guys any day. She was getting sleepy and that wasn’t a good sign. It was getting harder to keep her eyes open. She’d close them for one minute then try to think of an idea.
Chapter 4
Gabe walked through the woods, glad the rain had stopped for a while. It was still windy and he could hear thunder rumbling and see flashes of lightning in the dark sky. They had to find Karissa and Toby quickly. They had found the car smashed against the tree and he swore his heart had stopped beating for a minute. He ran to the car, scared of what he’d find, only to find it empty. He was worried one or both of them were injured. He called it in to let everyone know what he had found. Ryan was calling the EMT to have them on standby. But she must not be hurt too badly if she got out with Toby and ran, he reminded himself. He saw the hill in front of him that Casey had described and prayed hard he was in the right area. They had been searching the woods for over an hour and the longer they were out here the quicker hypothermia could set in and cause Toby and Karissa serious problems. He was sure whoever had been chasing them was long gone. There were search parties all over the wooded area and people yelling out Karissa and Toby’s names. He had his gun on him just in case but he was more worried about finding them quickly than running into anyone.
“I remember this hill,” Patty Lewis, a longtime resident, said excitedly, looking at Gabe. “Casey always talked about her hidden fort where she and Karissa would hide from her dad. It was hidden by bushes and you couldn’t see it by view. She showed it to me once when we were kids.”
“Everyone spread out and start to look behind the brush,” Gabe told his group, feeling hopeful and quickly sending up a prayer of thanks. He knelt low to the ground despite the wetness and peeked behind bushes until he found a small opening. It was dark and quiet and he hoped they were okay and not seriously injured.
“Toby, Karissa?” he yelled, shining his flashlight until it landed on two pale sleeping faces huddled together. Karissa had dried blood on her forehead and her sandy blonde hair was wet and muddy and lying tangled around her shoulders. She had her arms wrapped protectively around Toby who was also sleeping.
He yelled to his group. “Over here, we need blankets.” He pulled Toby out first. Toby groaned weakly and opened his eyes sleepily. “Uncle Gabe? My arm hurts bad.”
“I got you, buddy. It’s going to be okay now.” He wrapped the blanket Patty handed him carefully around Toby’s little cold body and handed Toby over to one of the men to hold while he got Karissa out. She never once stirred as he picked her up and wrapped her in blankets and that worried him. He lifted her in his arms. “Patty, radio Ethan. We need an ambulance ready as soon as we get there.”
They carried them until they got to the road and put them in Gabe’s police cruiser.
Once they got to the White residence it was chaos with Ethan’s sister and husband crying over Toby and the attendants saying Karissa needed to go to the hospital immediately since she was in shock and not responding.
“Casey and Roy are meeting the ambulance at the hospital,” Ryan said to Gabe, patting him on the back. “Good job. You found them just in time.”
Kari cried all over Gabe in thanks and he patted her awkwardly on the back and mumbled about going over to the hospital.
In the hospital waiting room it was crowded with half the town waiting for news. Gabe and Logan both stood against the wall while Ethan and his family had thanked all the volunteers for their help and Ryan assured everyone finding the two men would be their top priority.
Doc, as everyone called the longtime town doctor, came out to address the anxious crowd. Doc was in his fifties and knew everyone in town. “Toby is awake and besides a broken arm, some cuts, and bruises he will be just fine. He wants his mommy and daddy.”
