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			  RIVER DEEP, MOUNTAIN HIGH

 		         by Jeanette Larsson (c) 1998

				CHAPTER THREE

Back at the camp, everyone was sitting around the fire, and Billy was 
singing songs. Mila couldn't keep her eyes off of him, but for the most 
part, Billy's eyes were focused on Sydney. She was looking down at the 
ground, and Garrett, sitting next to her, was getting annoyed.
-Oh, why doesn't he just shoot us and get it over with? It would be less 
painful, Garrett grunted to himself, only loud enough to make himself heard 
by the people sitting closest to him.
-Hey, Garrett, lighten up. It's not *that* bad, Nancy pointed out. 
-No, you're right, it's worse, Garrett said to Nancy, sitting on Sydney's 
right side.
-Besides, who else would be the entertainment? It's not like any of you have 
any talents, other than shopping, of course, she added, giving Sydney a look 
of recognition.
-Well, Sandy could sing, Saja tried, sitting on Nancy's right.
-Yes, now why didn't I think of that? Nancy said scornfully. Like that's all 
we need.
-Hey, it's not a bad idea, Owen interjected. He looked around. But where is 
she?

-Where am I? Sandy yelled. Someone? Please! Can anyone hear me? She looked 
around, trying to orientate herself. She had been blindfolded shortly after 
the person had grabbed her, and taken to this place. But just a minute ago, 
someone had removed the blindfold, and then disappeared. It looked like she 
was in a cave of some sort. Darkness surrounded her, and she could hear the 
sound of dripping water. The space was only lit up by random placed candles 
in large candleholders, standing on the ground. She was tied up and seated 
on one of the large stones in this dungeon. 
She cried out once more, and her voice echoed, bouncing off the stone 
walls.
-Where am I? What am I doing here? What do you want from me? Is anyone 
here?
A hooded man came out of the shadows. Sandy drew a startled breath. He came 
out into the light, and she could see that around his neck he carried a 
large snake. Sandy screamed.

-She was here a minute ago, Mila said, looking around. 
-Where could she have gone? Callie wondered.
-Oh, she's probably just off walking somewhere, she'll be back, Sydney said 
nonchalantly.
-Yes, Sydney-O here's probably right. Who knows what's going on in Sandy's 
mind half the time? Nancy asked.
-But it's not like her to just leave without telling anyone, Glory said 
worriedly.
-It's exactly like her, Sydney intervened. One minute she's there, the 
next...
-Hey, I found something, Callie called out. The rest of the gang joined her 
down at the shore.
She was holding a torch made of wreckage in one hand and a rosy scarf in the 
other. 
Isn't this Sandy's? She held up the scarf. 
-No, that's mine! It's my Hermes-scarf! Sydney said. Well, I loaned it to 
her once, you know, to cover her hair when it turned all orange...? I guess 
she never returned it.
-Well, we do have slightly more important matters to take in here, Neil 
interrupted. This indicates that she was in fact here. 
-Hey, doesn't that look like footsteps? J.T pointed at the strip of shore, 
where the sand was still wet from the water, yet the water hadn't washed 
Sandy's footprints completely away. They followed the tracks, with Callie in 
front. After a while, the footprints had disappeared. Callie desperately 
looked around for any other tracks, and further up on the shore she saw 
something.
-Hey, look at this. It looks like someone has struggled with someone else. 
She pointed at some marks in the sand, it looked like a small pit made from 
kicking sand away, and then dragging marks, long, fairly deep groove 
leading deeper into the dark forest.
-What if one of those "someone's" was Sandy? Glory shuddered.

Sandy kept on screaming. The man said something in a foreign language, and 
held the snake out to her. She stopped screaming and just trembled with 
fear.
-W-What do you want from me? Sandy stuttered, trying hard not to scream.
Another man came out of the shadows. He was wearing a mask, so Sandy 
couldn't see who it was. But when he spoke, she recognized his voice, but 
she wasn't able to place it.
-How did you get here? He said in English.
Sandy braced herself to answer, trying to sound more angry than scared.
-You're asking me? As some of you may recall, I didn't ask to come here.
-I didn't mean *here* here, I meant how did you get to this island?
-Oh! Well, me and my friends went on a cruise, but we got lost and ended up 
here.
-Your friends?
-No, I-I mean, it's just me.
-Hey, there's nothing for you to worry about, as long as you do what I tell 
you to.
-And what is that?
-I understand that you and your friends have found a map...
-How did you...? She stopped, realizing that she had just confirmed his 
suspicions.
-Good, so I was right. This is what I want you to do. You tell me where the 
map is now, I'll send someone to get it, and then we'll both be on our way.

-Come on, Callie urged. Saja instantly followed, but the rest of the gang 
remained down on the shore. Callie turned around in surprise.
-You're not coming?
-It's dark, Mila tried.
-Yeah, and what tracks are we gonna find in the dark? Owen said.
-I can't believe you guys! Sandy's our friend! Saja exclaimed. A moments 
silence.
-I'll go with you, Glory said.
-No, you know what? Why don't you guys stick around here? You never know...
Callie and Saja started to leave, when Jimmy stopped her.
-Hey, Walker Woman. You sure you want to go out there in the dark?
-Why not? I have to face my fears sometime, might as well be now. She 
turned to leave. Jimmy stood there for awhile, looking after her as she and 
Saja followed the sliding marks deeper into the jungle.
-They look good together, don't they? Nancy came up behind him. And so 
alike they are. Now how many couples can say that? She smiled at him and 
walked away. Jimmy stood there with a tortured look on his face.

-I need to talk to you, Garrett whispered in Sydney's ear and pulled her 
away from the others.
-What is it? she said, sounding a little tired.
-What's up with you and Pistol Boy over there?
-Excuse me?
-Gunn. Remember? Mila's boyfriend...
-I know who you mean, I just don't know where you got that preposterous 
idea from.
-Oh, please. He couldn't keep his eyes off you. Just like you couldn't even 
look at me. Sydney looked down, avoiding his eyes.
-It's not like it's my fault. I didn't ask him to come after me!
-So it's true. When did it start?
-When you wanted me to get him away from Mila.
-So it was because of me, if I hadn't forced you to...
-No, it wasn't your fault.
-Come on, I told you to get him away from her, using yourself as bait. I 
practically drove you into his arms. You must admit I have a part in this.
-Ok, you do. But I'm not interested in Billy Gunn, Garrett. You think, after 
all I've gone through with you, I'd suddenly lose interest?
-Yeah. He smiled. We *have* been through a lot. The things I've done... and 
you've done.
-But we always found our way back to each other.
-Right.
-So trust me, I'll get him off both our backs.
-Do you have a plan? She gave him a questioning look.
-Do you even have to ask? They both smiled.

Back in Swans Crossing. The Tool n' Die. Ralph came up to the door, dragging 
his skateboard with him. He pulled on the handle but it wouldn't open. He 
noticed a sign hanging on the door, saying BE BACK LATER. With a confused 
look on his face, he turned to leave, and just when he was about to, he 
spotted a garbage bin with its lid out of place. Being the butler he is, he 
went over to it to put the lid back in place. The garbage bin was full with 
little white paper bags.

Later that day...
-Mr Han? Are you there? Ralph came in through the door to the library. Mr 
Han came out from behind a bookcase.
-Oh, sir Ralph. What brings you here?
-Yes, I was wondering if the new books on astronomy had come in yet.
-No, I'm afraid not. I was expecting the shipment to come in last week, but 
it seems the transport's been delayed.
-Oh, well. I suppose that's nothing we could do anything about. Oh, by the 
way, I stopped by the garage earlier but it was closed.
-well, I believe young Mr Clayton is the one in charge there now.
-Oh yes, that's probably it. You see, Miss Rutledge has left for a weekend 
trip, and I suppose her friends have gone with her, that including Mr 
Clayton. But I tell you, it's not like young Mr Clayton to simply leave the 
Tool n' Die unattended. I was sure he would hire a replacement. But then you 
never know with the young people of this town.
-I suppose not, sir Ralph.
-Nice speaking to you, Mr Han. As always.
-A pleasure. As always, he added.

-Hey Callie. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. It's hard enough to see the 
tracks by this light, but it will be practically impossible to see once this 
fire dies out.
-I think this torch can burn a little while longer, and when it goes out, 
I'm pretty sure it'll be morning soon. They kept on walking for awhile, but 
suddenly Callie jumped behind a large bush and pulled Saja with her down on 
the ground.
-What...? Saja began, but Callie put her hand over his mouth to quiet him 
down. Saja looked questioningly at Callie, who now sat down on her knees, 
looking at something in the dark. She had put out the torch the minute they 
hit the ground, luckily it was wet on the ground, so nothing had caught 
fire. Saja kept looking out into the darkness, and once his eyes adjusted 
to the night, he could see what Callie was looking at, the two men in dark 
clothes and black masks creeping about in the jungle.
-What was that? Saja whispered when they had passed.
-I don't know, but I think they were heading towards camp.
-Maybe we should...
-No, the others will be alright, those two don't stand a chance. Something's 
going on, and I have a feeling the sooner we find Sandy, the better.

-No! Wait, come back! Sandy's shouting echoed in the cave. The masked man 
had left as soon as he had sent two men away. Now Sandy was all alone, 
except for the snakes crawling around on the floor. She was terrified and 
trembling.
-Please, she begged. I really don't like snakes that much. Please take them 
away from me!
But there was no one there.

-Hey, Gunn, Garrett approached Billy.
-Yeah, what's up, mate? He said, sounding a bit tired.
-I'm not your "mate", I don't even like you.
-Well, I guess we've got something in common then.
-You and I will never have anything in common, got that? 
-What's the problem? 
-I want you to leave Sydney alone.
-Excuse me? What have I done?
-You know. You're coming on to her - and I don't like it one bit.
-Oh, and what are you going to do about it...mate? 
-I'll... Garrett stepped closer.
-Hey, Garrett, Mila came up to them. Garrett backed off. Is there a problem? 
She said wondering.
-Not now that you're here, Mila darling, Billy said and put his arm around 
her.
-Oh, please. I feel nausea coming on. Mila was too busy looking into Billy's 
eyes to hear what Garrett said.
-I'm sorry, Garrett, did you say something?
-No, not a thing, he mumbled and walked off.
-I heard that! Sydney exclaimed angrily. You're still jealous of Billy's 
relationship with Mila, aren't you?
-Sydney, come on. You're all that matters to me, you know that.
-Really? I'm not so sure anymore.
-Well, believe me when I say you're the only girl I've ever cared so much 
about. He smiled a reassuring smile, and she leaned in towards him and 
buried her head in his chest. Over her shoulder, Garrett watched Mila and 
Billy in disgust.

-I hope Sandy's all right, Glory said, sitting with J.T at the camp fire.
-Ah, don't worry. Now she's got Callie and Saja to look out for her.
-If they can find her, that is. And how come they had to look for her? All 
of us should have volunteered. Callie's afraid of the dark, yet she still 
went out there.
-So, what are you saying? That I'm some wimp that have no guts?
-No, J.T, that's not what I...
-Sure it is, Garrett interrupted. And she's right too.
-Oh, since when have you got any guts? I didn't see you volunteering 
moments ago.
-Well, that's just... Garrett stepped closer, and so did J.T.
-Stop it! Why do you always... She stopped in the middle of her sentence.
-What? J.T asked concerned.
-Did you hear that?
-What?
-Oh, it was just Rocket Boy here's legs shaking, Garrett joked
-You wanna see some shaking? J.T grabbed Garrett by the shirt, but Garrett 
easily knocked his hands away.
-You guys... Glory said pleadingly. J.T pulled a punch at Garrett, which he 
easily blocked. Sydney just smiled a bit, feeling somewhat proud of Garrett, 
until someone grabbed her from behind.
She felt something cold against her throat and drew in a startled breath. 
Garrett, who was just about to punch J.T, froze and called out to her.
-Sydney! J.T turned also. Behind Sydney stood a masked man in dark clothes, 
holding a knife against her throat.


                               To be continued...

***If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc., email Jeanette 
at jan.larsson@d.lrf.se