Home Again

by Lisa Emme

  “It’s what? Did you go pee?”

  “No!” Dougie answered indignantly. “I’m not a baby.”

  Allie helped him stand up. His bottom was wet. She looked down. The ground was wet as well. She stood up and looked around, Spike dancing around her playfully. The rain was falling steadily but that didn’t account for all the water now streaming down the sides of the pit. What the hell? Allie stood for a moment and frowned in thought.

  “Oh my God!” she exclaimed, throwing her hand over her mouth with a glance at Dougie. The boy cowered behind her trying to keep out of the rain. Her mind raced. They were in a pit at the bottom of the trail. They were at the bottom of a gully. If it didn’t stop raining soon, more than Dougie’s bum was going to be wet. They would be swimming. She squinted down at the floor of the pit. A puddle had already begun to form at the lowest spot.

  Allie wiped the rain from her face and took a deep breath. They had to get out of here. She stepped over to the rope and looked around the top edge trying to spot the tree root she had seen earlier. If she could get the rope looped over the root, maybe she could climb out. It would be hard with only one useful arm, but she was nothing if not sufficiently motivated.

  It took four tries to get the rope over the root and fastened securely. Finally though, she snagged the root in just the right place. She gave the rope an experimental tug; so far so good.

  “Okay, Dougie. Mommy’s going to try and climb out. When I get to the top I’ll lower the rope back down and I’ll pull you out, just like how I lowered you in.”

  “And then we can go home?”

  “You bet.” She gave him a quick hug. “Okay. I want you and Spike,” she swooped up the little dog and tucked him back into Dougie’s shirt, “to stand out of the way.” Dougie giggled and squirmed when the little dog’s wet hair brushed against his bare skin.

  “Oh, he’s cold, Mommy.”

  “Don’t worry, you’ll warm each other up in a minute.” She pushed him back against the far side of the pit. “Now stand there and watch, okay?”

  “Okay. I’ll be a mascot.”

  “Yeah, that’s a great idea. You be my mascot and cheer me on.” She tousled his wet hair. “Thanks buddy.” Dougie smiled up at her. She turned and grabbed the rope, searching the far wall for the first good handhold.

  “Go Mommy. Yay!”

  ***

  Rowdy pulled the truck up to the old, weather-beaten double-wide and skidded to a stop on the gravel. Mike was out the door before the truck had even completely stopped. He approached the trailer cautiously and peered in the window.

  “There’s someone inside. Could be Seth.”

  Rowdy strode straight to the door and banged on it with a fist. “Granger! Open up. It’s Rowdy.”

  “Door’s unlocked,” came the muffled reply.

  Rowdy opened the door and stepped in, followed closely by Evan and Mike. Mike looked around. What a dump. Seth sat on a ratty old recliner, a nearly empty bottle of whiskey dangling from his limp hand.

  “ Whaddayou want?” Seth slurred out. The man was drunk. He had a purplish bruise on the side of his face.

  “Where are those delinquent sons of yours?” Rowdy demanded.

  “Don’t know. Don’t care.” Seth threw up his hands in disgust, sloshing whiskey in the air. He looked at the bottle as if surprised to see it, then shrugged, and took a long sip. “I told him, no. I told him, leave it alone. But would he lisshen?” Seth shook his head vehemently. “No. Hit his old man, he did.”

  Mike frowned. Damn. He was hoping Seth would give them more information. Mike listened for another moment as Seth rambled on and on. He would be of no help. He turned to look at Evan and Rowdy. “Come on. This is a waste of time,” he said with disgust.

  Back in the truck, Mike called Brian to give him the bad news and was relieved to get some better news in return.

  “Come back to the ranch,” Brian said. “I got a lead on Dustin, the younger son. Somebody’s checking it out right now.”

  ***

  “Argh!” Allie grunted in effort as she hauled herself up another foot. Her broken arm dangled uselessly at her side. Her other hand felt shredded by the rope, but she held on, hauling herself slowly up the side of the pit. She stopped and looked up for the next spot to place her foot.

  “Hurry Mommy! The puddle is getting really big.”

  Allie looked down at Dougie. She was at least ten feet up, almost there. She held the rope tightly and moved her foot up to the next foothold. She tested it with a bit of weight and it held. Next, she slid her hand up the rope until her arm was stretched up over her head. Then, taking her weight on her hand, she began to use the rope to pull herself up to standing at the level of the new foothold.

  “Yay Mommy!” Dougie cheered and clapped his hands; nothing like having your own cheerleader to keep you going.

  Allie’s muscles screamed with exertion, but she continued to pull, slowly climbing up the wall. She had just reached the level of the new foothold when CRACK! Oh no! No no no no no! The root snapped and the rope slid off. She dug her fingers into the side of the pit trying to find purchase but it was too late. Time seemed to stand still as she felt herself fly backwards.

  “Mommmmeeeee!” Dougie shrieked.

  She hit the ground below with more of a splash than a thud and that’s probably what saved her from serious injury. Her back slapped the water of the puddle. It felt like the equivalent of doing a belly flop on your back. Pain radiated up her broken arm as the air whooshed out of her lungs. She lay stunned, trying to catch her breath and watched the rain fall down.

  ***

  Mike rushed into the office at Circle D. “What’s the news?” He stopped short at the sight of Brian’s face. “No…oh no.”

  “Wait, Mike. Don’t jump to conclusions.” Brian quickly held out a hand to stop him. Mike suddenly felt light headed. He staggered to the nearest chair and sat down then looked up at Brian.

  “Look, the news isn’t good. But don’t give up.” Brian sat down beside him.

  “What have you learned?” Mike rasped out. He leaned forward to rest his face in his hands.

  “The Roland detachment found Dustin Granger in town at the Coffee Bar, an internet café.”

  Mike sat up. “Great! Does he know…”

  Brian shook his head. “He was waiting for a call he was supposed to get from his brother David. David is supposedly stashing Allie and Dougie somewhere and he was to send the GPS coordinates to Dustin before he made arrangements to pick up the ransom.”

  “But…?”

  “But David didn’t call in when he was supposed to and Dustin has no idea where he was going.”

  “Damn it!” Mike leaped to his feet and started pacing. “He must have some idea. Surely they discussed their plan?”

  Brian shook his head. “According to Dustin, it was all David’s idea. He planned it and set things in motion. Dustin was just along for the ride, and the payout at the end. The Roland detachment have a couple of guys trying to weasel out any more information that could be of help, but it may take a while.”

  “Fuck!” Mike raked a hand through his hair. Every single lead was turning up empty. He looked at Brian suspiciously. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Brian got up and walked over to the desk. He frowned and then handed Mike a printout. “They just faxed over David Granger’s rap sheet. It’s not pretty.”

  Mike looked over the sheet in growing horror. It listed charge after charge, all of them involved assault, the majority against former girlfriends. “Son of a bitch!” He threw the sheet on the desk. “We have to find her. We have to.”

  Just then Brian’s phone chirped. He pulled it from his belt and looked at the display. “Bingo!” he said to Mike then opened the phone. “Yeah, tell me you got something.”

  “Are you okay Mommy? That
looked like it hurt.”

  Allie spluttered and pushed herself up on her elbow to get her head out of the puddle. A pain ripped through her side. “ Ahhh!” She splashed back down in the water.

  Panting, she tried again. The pain was still there but she was expecting it this time. She managed to get herself propped up on one elbow and turned her head to look at Dougie. She barked out a laugh followed by a groan. “Yeah. Yeah, it hurt.” Slowly she tried to sit up. The world began to spin and she fell back into the puddle, water splashing up around her.

  “Mommy!”

  Allie groaned again and put her good hand to her head. She pushed herself back up on her elbow and gave Dougie what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “It’s okay little man. Mommy’s just a little dizzy. Give me a sec.”

  A moment or two later, when the world finally decided to stand still, she reached her good arm out to Dougie. “Here, pull your poor, old mommy up.” Dougie giggled and grabbed her arm, hauling her up to a sitting position.

  Allie blinked and looked around, wiping the moisture from her face. The water in the pit was now halfway up Dougie’s shins. They had to get out of there. Slowly, she managed to get to her knees and then staggered to a standing position, or at least a leaning against the wall position. Her broken arm pulsed with pain and there was a new pain in her side every time she tried to take a deep breath. Great. She must have broken a rib or something. She closed her eyes as the pain washed over her. “Ahhhh…hee hee heee.” Huh. Who would have thought that labour breathing would ever come in handy again?

  “Are you okay Mommy?” Dougie tugged at her pant leg.

  “I think Mommy just needs to sit down for a minute, little man.” Allie looked down at her son and smiled weakly. “Just for a minute.”

  She let herself slide down the rough wall; oblivious to the scrapes and scratches she was getting on her back. Nothing was worse than the pain she was feeling in her arm. “Just for a minute,” she said again weakly, closing her eyes. “Just a minute.”

  ***

  Dougie looked at his mother, concern etched on his little face. He was scared. She didn’t look too good. Spike wiggled inside his shirt and whimpered weakly. Spike didn’t look too good either. Mommy had said he was hungry. Dougie was hungry too. And cold and wet and, and… Dougie blinked back tears and wiped his nose with a little fist.

  He looked around. It was getting darker. He didn’t like the dark. He wished Dr. Mike was here. Dr. Mike would help them. He could fix anything, just like Mommy. Dougie frowned and looked at his mother again. His Mommy couldn’t fix this. His little brow furrowed further. Maybe he could fix it? Yeah, he could fix it for Mommy. Wouldn’t she be so proud? He walked over the side of the pit where his mother had tried to climb and looked up. It looked pretty high. He frowned again and balled his fists at his sides. I’m Super D and I can do anything. He took a deep breath then reached out and started to climb.

  ***

  The work yard in front of the Circle D office had become a mass of chaos as men - and women too, Mike corrected himself - marshalled to form search parties. Mike looked around hopefully. They were going to find Allie and Dougie. They just had to.

  Mike grimaced, thinking back to the call he’d finally had to make. Breaking the news to Allie’s aunt and uncle had been hard. He had put it off as long as he could, but he knew that eventually they would have to be told what was going on. At least he was able to give them a bit of hope.

  The Roland detachment had managed to pry some information out of Dustin Granger that would hopefully help them find Allie. It turned out that David Granger was into hiking and had spent a lot of time in the Badlands Conservation Area. Further prodding uncovered that David was particularly fascinated with the limestone pit area. Mike was unfamiliar with the Badlands, but both Evan and Brian had jumped at that particular news. The pits would be the perfect place to stash Allie and Dougie. Unfortunately it wasn’t a small area. The entire lower half of the Conservation Area was riddled with pits and caves.

  Duncan MacAllister had pulled out all the stops and had gathered a massive force of people to help with the search. Not only had he pulled just about every single one of his employees for the task, but word had gone out and it seemed like half the town had showed up as well. There were ATVs, dirt bikes and 4x4 trucks everywhere. There were even half a dozen or so folks on horseback.

  Mike turned his attention to where Brian was starting to speak to the crowd. He was impressed with his friend’s ability to command.

  “Okay people, listen up,” Brian shouted out. “Here are the teams…”

  ***

  Allie slowly toppled over and woke with a splash. She came up spluttering then gasped at the pain piercing through her side. “Ahhhh!” She pushed herself back up and looked around, blinking.

  “Sorry little man, I guess I dozed off…” Allie stopped and peered around. It was almost totally dark at the bottom of the pit. “Dougie? Dougie, where are you?” Panicked, she pushed herself up on unsteady feet. A wave of nausea flooded over her and she reached out to steady herself. Her hand hit the wall, causing water to spray out in all directions. What the…? She peered at the wall. What had been a trickle before was now more of a waterfall, cascading down the sides of the pit. Allie looked down. The water was to her knees. A terrifying thought tore through her. “DOUGIE!” Oh my God. Where was he?

  Regardless of the pain and dizziness, she frantically started wading through the water, waving her hand through its depths, searching for her son. “Dougie, oh my God, Dougie!” Tears streaked down her face. “Dougie!” She stumbled and fell, pain jarring through her as she landed on her side. She slapped the water in anger and fear.

  “DOUGIE!” Where was he? Had he drowned? Was he somewhere under the water? She thrashed around feeling her way from side to side. The pit wasn’t that big. Surely she should have found him by now?

  When she had covered the entire area of the pit with no sign of him, Allie fell helplessly to her knees. “ Dougie?” her voice came out as a hoarse whisper. Tears streamed down her face and she gulped air, trying to catch her breath. Okay, okay…get a grip. He’s not here. That’s a good thing. It means he hasn’t drowned. Realizing she was beginning to hyperventilate, she held her breath then let it out slowly. Okay, so if Dougie was no longer here, where was he? Had that bastard come back and taken him? She peered across the pit, her eyes widening in realization. Had he climbed out? She struggled to her feet and looked up to the mouth of the pit. Night was beginning to fall, it would be full dark soon. Was Dougie up there wandering around by himself?

  “DOUGIE!” she cupped a hand to her mouth and shouted. “Dougie, where are you?”

  ***

  Dougie stumbled along the trail, humming tunelessly to himself. Spike seemed to have rallied and was gamboling along in front of him, leading the way. Dougie didn’t like it out here. It was dark and the trees were scary. Maybe he should have stayed with Mommy. He frowned. No, he was Super D and he was going to rescue Mommy. He plodded along, following the trail. If he could find the road, Dr. Mike would be there. He just knew it.

  ***

  Mike scanned the surrounding area from the back of Evan’s ATV. They were paired up, two to a bike, so that one could drive, a task requiring full attention in this treacherous terrain, and the other could search for signs of Allie and Dougie.

  Evan brought the bike to a halt and pulled off his helmet. “We’ll have to leave the bike here and go on foot,” he said. “The area south of here is too unstable for the ATV.”

  Mike climbed off the back of the bike and pulled off his helmet, looking up at the sky. At least it had stopped raining. He listened as Evan checked in on his radio. So far there had been no sign of the van or David Granger. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

  “Come on. Have faith. We’ll find them.” Evan looked at him
in concern.

  “Yeah. Yeah. I know.” Mike looked around. “So where do we go - ”

  Evan’s radio crackled and Mike jumped. They listened as Brian’s voice came on. Mike held his breath and then looked at Evan. They had found a white panel van at the side of the highway. The plates listed it as stolen the day before. It must be the van they were looking for.

  “Where? Where are they?”

  Evan pulled out his GPS and looked at it. “Hop on, it’s not far.”

  ***

  Dougie stumbled again. He didn’t like it out here. It was too dark now. He wanted to go home, or at least back to Mommy, but he didn’t know which way that was. He had lost the trail a while ago, instead following the yipping and barking Spike through the brush. At least it wasn’t raining anymore. He didn’t like the rain. But he was still cold and wet and very hungry. His head hurt too, he had a headache. He wished Mommy was there to give him the purple medicine; it always made his head feel better.

  Spike dashed out from beneath a bush and barked at him, butting up against his leg. “Spike, don’t do that,” Dougie complained to the little dog. Spike kept pushing him with his nose. Dougie wished the little dog would just leave him alone. He wasn’t feeling well. His tummy hurt. He stopped, blinking rapidly, his face going slack. Spike growled and scampered out of the way as Dougie toppled to the ground, body twitching. The little dog whimpered and ran back to sniff at Dougie. He prodded him with his nose then curled up to lie down beside him.

  ***

  “No!” Allie splashed back down into the water. She had been trying to climb the wall for over an hour, but she just couldn’t manage with only one arm. The wall was too steep, too unstable. How the hell had Dougie managed to climb out?