My legs won’t co-operate with me though, they are getting numb. I think he may have been a little overzealous with the ropes, it feels like there is no blood circulating around my legs at all.

There’s a spider crawling over my head, I can feel it making its way across my hair, and down towards my ear. It must have crawled over the blindfold. If I shake my head it will probably fall off and scuttle away.

I’m not sure that I want it to though. At least I know that something else can survive, that has survived in this place.

Hey, I guess he is company. I haven’t seen another soul for hours, twelve, fifteen hour’s maybe? I’m so used to Frank being around me all time. Sometimes we might be in the same room for hours on end without saying a word, but he’s still there.

I used to be scared of spiders as a kid. I remember running out of my room and into Franks when I found one in my bed. He didn’t laugh at me, just took me back into my room and over to the bed.

Then he took the spider off the bed and put it into my hands. I remember being scared at first but as the spider crawled over my hand and towards my sleeve it tickled me and I started to laugh, and Frank laughed too. I was never afraid of them again.

Oh Frank, I want to talk to someone; I want to tell them how scared I am…. If I could talk to someone else the fear might go away.

Joe Hardy the brave detective…….I guess I’m only brave when someone else is scared, I can be brave for Frank, if he’s been hurt or is in trouble.

I was brave for Vanessa when Frazer kidnapped her. I sat in that cell and held her in my arms and told her everything would be ok, and by saying it I somehow believed it myself.

Now all I can think about is dying here, alone, without being able to talk to anyone, without being able to tell everyone that I love them, that I’ll miss them… that I’m sorry.

I’m sorry for going out in the van alone, sorry for not locking the doors, sorry for getting kidnapped and leaving them all at home worrying, trying to find me. I know what Frank’s like. He won’t eat, won’t sleep until he finds me.

Stop thinking Joe, stop panicking, be rational. What would Frank do?

That spider seems to making himself at home on my right shoulder, I can feel his legs brushing against my neck. Maybe he’ll listen to me. If I talk out loud maybe it won’t seem so alone. If I’m going to go mad it might as well be here.

"Hello Spider, pleased to make your acquaintance, I don’t think we have been formally introduced. My name is Joe Hardy."

"Perhaps you’ve heard of me, detective extraordinaire, football legend and all round great guy??"

"No"?? What’s that you say? "You’ve never heard of me?"

"Maybe you know Joe Hardy, younger brother of a detective extraordinaire, creator of troubles for everyone he loves, constant source of worry to all his friends, and general all round idiot? Have you heard of him?"

"Hmmm, I see you don’t feel like talking. That’s ok. I wonder do you mind if I talk for a while."

"You see I’m in what you might call a tight spot. Some random man grabbed me, gave me a couple of rather nasty blows to the head and brought me here."

"And the biggest problem, apart from the obvious fear of dying here of dehydration is that I don’t have any idea who they are or why they would do this to me, to anyone for that matter"

"What were you doing when it happened I hear you ask."

"Well I was going to meet my girlfriend Vanessa. You’d like Vanessa, she is beautiful, her eyes are the most amazing shade of pale blue, like an early morning sky, and her smile….I can’t even begin to describe her smile. Can you imagine the feeling you get after scoring the winning touchdown in a really important football game? That’s the feeling I get every time Ness smiles at me."

"Sorry spider, am I boring you, it’s hard to tell really, I hope not, because if you don’t mind I might talk to you a little more. I want to tell you about Frank, and Ness, Mom, Dad, Callie, everyone."

"I’m a lucky guy, do you know that, because I have all these people who love me, and who would do anything for me, not everyone can say that. Sometimes I wonder why"

"I think I’ll tell you about Frank first…."