"Heard from Adam yet?"

His father paused at first, "No. The Mercerville Police have not heard from him."

"He should have been there by now, even in the worst of storms."

"I know, but here I am stuck waiting. I am afraid to leave the phone," His father said crossing his arms. Jason could tell that he was really concerned for his brother’s safety. Jason also was worried about his brother, but he knew from their cases that he was a very dependable and resourceful person---at least most of the time.

"I will go and look for him. Maybe he had some van trouble," Jason said, stretching out his six foot two frame. "I can take your car and--."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" His father said sternly.

"I am not going to sit here and wait for the phone to ring. I promise that I will check in," Jason said. "Adam might just be stranded."

"The storm is still too bad for you to go running all over the countryside," Mr. Kramer added, but he knew Jason’s mind was made up. There was a long pause between the father and son. Finally Jason spoke up.

"I promise. I will check in and I will be very careful. Someone needs to stay here in case some one calls and aren’t you waiting on an important call from Canada?"

"Fine, but you had better check in," Mr. Kramer gave in.

After grabbing a jacket, Jason got his father’s keys and set out to find his brother. The storm had finally moved out to sea, but the area was very foggy. He knew that it was going to be a long drive to Mercerville in the murky fog in the middle of the night.

As his brother was setting out to find him, Adam was wishing that he had his brother by his side. He was trying to figure a way out of their predicament, but nothing was coming to mind.

Almost in a hopeless tone, Adam finally said, "Okay, I have an idea. It is something that my football coach has always told me to do when in doubt."

Saddie turned to look at him. "What?"

"Run and don’t turn back. Just keep rushing forward."

"We are surrounded by a crowd of angry people and that is your big plan! A football play?" Saddie said almost in disgust.

"Do you have a better idea? The van is not going anywhere you know," Adam said, annoyed at Saddie’s reaction.

"Okay. We will run for it, but run for the house. If we can make it to the house, we will be safe," Saddie said reluctantly. "But first we will have to get past them. They have crowded around us."

"Let me handle that problem," Adam said as he slowly began to open the van’s driver door. Saddie also slowly opened her door.

When he was fully out of the van and had closed the door, he turned to face the crowd which consisted of middle aged men.

"What in the world is going on here?" Adam asked in a very innocent tone.

"Don’t you know who she is?" The one man stepped forward and said with a hoarse voice. The man reminded Adam of Jed Clampett off of the TV show "The Beverly Hillbillies".

"Not really, but she sure is a beauty uh? My daddy always said to help beautiful girls in distress," Adam said acting very impetuous and young. He did not dare look over at Saddie at this point.

"Did yo’r daddy say anythin’ about pickin’ up witches?" the man said again. Adam almost gagged. In the light of the torch, he could see the man’s rotten teeth as the man talked. Trying to keep his stomach, Adam stepped towards the front of the van. Some of the men moved to the side of the van to be able to listen to what Adam had to say.

"No, but my mother told me that there was not such thing as Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and of course, witches," Adam said sarcastically, just like a young teenager would.

"Well, that girl right thar knows the future. She casts spells and stuff," the man answered, not phased by Adam’s attitude. "You better get away from her before she bewitches you too!"

"Well, one thing I do know is that if she is truly a witch she will have a birthmark behind her ear," Adam said in reply to the man. As he moved over towards Saddie, the men kept moving back a little farther, making a path for them to run. "Let me borrow your flashlight and I will see for myself." The man nearest to Adam reluctantly let Adam have his flashlight. Saddie was looking at him like he had lost his mind, but went along with his story. He gently guided her over to a more open area as if to position her to be able to see better. As he got up close to her ear, he whispered, "Get ready to run for your life."

He looked closer behind her ear again and then suddenly jumped back as if he was horrified. This caught the crowd of men off guard. This is the moment that Adam was waiting for. He spun around and threw the flashlight and took off running towards the house. He pushed Saddie in front of him and grabbed her hand. The men were at first taken by surprise, but soon gave chase. He knew that they had to get to the house, but would they really stay out of the house? He hoped Saddie was right. The run uphill was exhausting, but they finally made it to the two-story run down house. As they entered the front door, Saddie pulled out a key. However, the front door opened without her having to even use the key. Once in the old house, Saddie locked the door behind them just as the men reached the front stoop. They could hear them contemplating whether or not to try to come into the house. But no one even set foot on the porch.

"We will be back Saddie Collins and you will come out of the house along with you little friend!" A voice yelled and the crowd disappeared into the darkness of the night.

The two stood in the living room area of the house. All of the furniture was covered with white sheets except for a rocking chair that sat by the fireplace. The house gave Adam an eerie feeling, but at the same time he was not scared.

"So it looks like we will be here for the night. I will go and get us some blankets," Saddie said as she went up the old wooden staircase. "I will be right back."

"I will try to start a fire to keep us warm. It is a little damp," Adam called back, but he only saw one old rotten log in the fireplace.

"Oh, don’t worry. We will be warm," Saddie said as she disappeared at the top of the steps. Adam just looked around the room. It was apparent that the house was not in the greatest of conditions, but it was very "homey". It had a picture of a family hanging from the one wall. He figured it was Saddie and her family. Then there was a painting of the ocean and a bookshelf filled with books. An old lamp was on a table in the corner by the bookshelf. As Adam glanced back towards the family picture, he could not but feel a deep sadness. He then thought about his own family. His father and brother were probably worried sick about him by now. He knew that he was lucky to at least have his family.

"I could only find a couple of blankets in the closet," A voice said as it interrupted his train of thought. "I guess we will have to share."

"That is fine," Adam replied. He was exhausted and figured that he would be able to walk for help in the morning during the daylight. He helped Sadie lay one blanket on the floor and the other one they used as a cover. Saddie snuggled up close to Adam’s back and they were both soon sound asleep.

Jason had been driving in the fog for some time. He had only passed two cars and he was getting more and more worried. He was driving along when he caught sight of something shimmering in the beam of the headlights. As he slowly drove closer, he gasped and hit the brakes. He jumped out of his father’s car and ran to his own van, for which was resting up against a tree. Jason looked into the van, but instead of his brother, all he saw was glass, his father’s papers and a large pine tree branch. He glanced around looking for his brother. He did not want to call his name out; fearing that maybe Adam was hiding for a reason or was attacked. He noticed the old roadway that led to an old house at the top of the hill. Jason knew that his father’s car would not make it up the drive so he went to get his father’s flashlight and quietly made his way to the old house in search of his brother.