by Cindy Combs
"Any word on Rick?" Mac asked as his sons focused their attention on their respective stacks.
"He's out of ICU and should recover." Jim smiled. "He sent a message, asking if you'd like to help him search for the loot next summer."
Mac smiled. "Nothing keeps Rick down for long."
"He also invited the rest of us," Jim replied.
"Cool!" Blair exclaimed. He then turned to his brother who was opening the large envelope. "Where's that from?"
"The Rhodes in Fortuity. We made the front page." Sam turned the news page around to show them the headlines, 'WINSTON MADISON ARRESTED ON NUMEROUS FEDERAL AND STATE CHARGES' with 'Cascade Detective And Famous Photojournalist Rescue Brother And Father' in smaller print. A picture of Madison being led to an awaiting police car were accompanied by a picture of Sam, Blair, and Jim waiting outside the Cheyenne hospital.
"Hey, I think we pretty much rescued ourselves," Blair protested, trying to read the accompanying article.
"Famous?" Mac asked his younger son, a quiet smile stretching across his face.
Sam shrugged while Jim replied, "I'd say it's more like hero worship. Miss Rhodes was pretty impressed by her world-roaming colleague."
"Really?" Blair studied the slight blush on Sam's cheeks and smiled. "So our Jimmy Olsen has an admirer?"
"Indy, I only talked with her for maybe half an hour, tops."
"So," Mac drawled, swirling the juice in the glass. "What did you say?"
Sam rolled his eyes and was about to say something snide when a smaller envelope fell out of the package. He picked it up and pulled the single sheet of paper from inside.
"What's that?" Jim asked as he saw puzzlement enter Sam's eyes.
"It's from Toby Nighthawk. He said his grandmother insisted that he pass along a message."
"What message?" Blair questioned.
Brows wrinkled, Sam read, "It says, 'I'm looking forward to meeting the wolf and the big black mountain lion next summer'. Does that make any sense?" He looked up to find Jim and Blair staring at each other in shock. He traded glances with his equally puzzled father.
"Blair? Jim?" Mac prodded, becoming concerned. "Do you know something about this?"
Jim just shook his head and smiled as Blair looked heavenwards and announced, "Oh, boy."
The End
Author's notes 12/13/98: Whew! Finally got it done! Just so you all know, I am planning to write another story about our boys back in Wyoming with Dr. Rick next summer.
For my Before Dawn fans: Yeah, yeah, I know I said I'd be working on the next Roachia story, but the Before Dawn sequel just wasn't ready to be written yet. Since this story was just begging to take its place, I decided to go with it. However, I do want to say thanks for all the wonderful interest and support for the Roachia series - I honestly never expected many people to even like it! I've already started on the next Roachia story, a pre-sequel to Before Dawn. Then I plan to write either the sequel to BD, or a TS/Mac/Stargate SG1 crossover, depending on my mood by then.
Also, I'm leaving soon to spend the holidays with my parents out-of-state and may not have access to my email (not sure if Mom's computer is working or not!). While I normally try to answer emails pertaining to my stories within a couple days, I may not get back to you until after the holidays. Sorry about that, but I do promise to write back eventually.
