Between his coughing and shivering, Frank had trouble picking out what his brother said.  Squeezing the cold hand with his own, he tried to cheer the younger child up.  Although scared and cold himself, he was still the big brother so it was his job. “I…j-jumped…l-least you…you h-have an excuse.”

It worked, and Joe gave him a small smile before burrowing his face into the dark fur and letting out a deep sigh.  He was cold, wet and his chest hurt a little, but at least he had his two best friends in the world with him. 

His brother.

And his dog.

* * *

Eric Stokes couldn’t believe his stroke of luck.  He and the boys had come down to the wharf to steal a boat to pick up the stashed money, but when he saw Fenton Hardy and family getting ready to go out on the bay, he knew the opportunity was too good to pass up.

The idea of tossing one of the kids overboard had been brilliant, and he congratulated himself on the forethought.  He needed something to put Fenton off his game and make him realize they weren’t pussy footing around…and that had definitely done it.

Of course, they couldn’t have predicted the other kid would go kamikaze on them, but in the long run it worked out to their advantage, as it was one less person to cause trouble.  Sure, it was also one less to use against Fenton, but now he only had his wife left, so it just made her all the more important.

Stokes decided the pros and cons netted themselves out, so he wasted no further thought on it.

His mind was too busy thinking about the $153,000.00 that was safely hidden under the floor boards of the old abandoned fisheries cabin.…He rubbed his hands in excitement.  It would soon be theirs.

Glancing over at the stone-faced man piloting the boat, Stokes shook his head humorlessly….If Hardy actually thought they were going to let him go his merry way after that, he was in for a big shock. 

No sirree, Stokes had a bullet in his own gun with the name FENTON HARDY on it…and he was itching to use it.

* * *

Frank had no idea what time it was, although his growling stomach told him it must be close to lunchtime.  Both boys had fallen asleep, lulled by the dog’s body heat and exhausted from their swim. 

The older boy had woken first and although his clothes were still damp, he no longer felt like he was going to freeze to death.  However as he felt a stuffiness in his head and stifled a sneeze, he was sure a head cold was in his near future.

Disentangling himself both from the dog and his younger brother, Frank quietly checked out the area hoping to find anyone who could help.

The beach was a small pebbled one surrounded by thick shrubs at the base of a cliff.  Frank sighed at their luck.  He could see the dock in the distance and some boats in the middle of the bay, but nothing that was close enough to see two small boys and a dog.

Looking up at the cliff, he tried to figure out a way for them to climb it.  He wasn’t 100% sure, but he was pretty confident that the road ran just above them, and if they could climb up to it they would be able to get help.

There really wasn’t a choice.  He didn’t have anything on him to start a fire, and knew that Joe didn’t either, but without one they had little hope of a passing boater seeing them. 

Climbing would be their only chance.

Sighing again, he walked back towards his sleeping brother.  He hated to wake him up, because even in his sleep the kid looked exhausted.  But there wasn’t much choice.  He wasn’t willing to leave Joe here, and they needed to get a start up the cliff or else face spending a night on this beach.

“Joey,” he said, shaking the smaller boy, “Come on, you need to wake up.”

His brother’s clothes, like his, were no longer soaking but they were still damp.  Frank was relieved to feel that Joe’s skin no longer felt like ice.  In fact it felt very nice and warm…much warmer than his own. 

“Joey!” he said as he shook the kid a little harder, “Come on.  We need to go…now!”

Finally he heard some mumbling before weary blue eyes opened and looked at him. “M-mommy?”  Joe stammered and Frank chuckled, “No sleepyhead, it’s me.  Now come on, we need to go.”

Joe coughed again as he struggled to push Hero off him. The dog was lying on his leg, but got up and stretched when it felt the boy moving around.

“I don’t feel well,” the younger boy said as he slowly sat up. In truth he felt horrible.  His head was spinning and his chest hurt every time he coughed.

Frank turned back to his brother and frowned, “What’s wrong?”  The last thing they needed was for Joe to get sick. 

“I…I don’t know,” the little boy stammered as he absently twisted his fingers in Hero’s coat.  He was overcome with a strong desire to suck his thumb, but didn’t want Frank thinking he was still a baby.  He hadn’t sucked his thumb in a while now.  “I just don’t feel too good.”

“Me neither,” Frank confessed, “but we need to get help…for Mom and Dad. 

Nodding, the younger boy slowly rose to his feet, wavering slightly before Frank caught his arm and steadied him.  The frown on Frank’s face deepened as he saw just how weak Joe was, and he glanced again up towards the top of the cliff. 

While it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, the boys were actually very lucky in that they had landed on one of the few spots were they could walk to the top without ropes and a lot of hand over hand climbing.  However, it was still steep and quite high.

Looking back at his shaky brother, Frank contemplated making Joe wait on the beach. He could climb up and get help himself.  Biting his lip, he pondered his brother for a few moments before saying “Maybe you should wait here.”

But Joe was having none of it.  He did not want to be left behind...alone. Even with Hero around, the small boy didn’t want to be by himself.  “No way.  You’re not leaving me!”

The sound of utter terror in his brother’s voice made Frank wince for even suggesting it.  He knew his brother’s three biggest fears:  The dark…strangers…and being alone. But he had to offer.

“Come on then.  Let’s go.”  Frank led the way, with Joe and the dog following behind him. “This isn’t going to be easy.”

* * *

Laura Hardy sat glassy-eyed and just stared ahead.

Four hours.  It had been four hours since her babies had been left in the water to perish.  Four long hours.

They arrived at the island, and both she and Fenton had been hustled off the boat and into the small shack.  It was an old fisheries cabin that at one time would have housed a fisheries warden to help patrol the area for poachers, but now it was run down and long forgotten except by the three men who now stood in front of the Hardys.

Fenton’s hands had been bound behind him to keep him out of trouble but they hadn’t felt the need for the almost catatonic woman. Once the realization that her sons had perished had finally sunk in, she had gone into shock and hadn’t said anything since.  Her husband was growing increasingly worried about her, but with his hands tied, he was at a loss of how to physically comfort her.

“It’ll be okay, Laura.  You’ll see,” he said as he desperately tried to think of something. 

Laura turned soulful blue eyes on him as his words registered and her voice held such bitterness when she spoke that he felt like she had slapped him. “How can anything ever be all right again, Fenton?  My children are dead.”  Then she turned her head away from him and closed her eyes.

Right now it hurt too much to look at him.  Her babies were gone and it was his fault.  No, he might not have been the one who threw them to their deaths, but it was him that had put them in danger.  And it was him these crooks were trying to impress their seriousness upon.

Him and the three men standing less than six feet away.

* * *

The climb was slow and tiring work for the boys.  They had only gotten about half way up when Joe sank to his knees, too tired to go on.  His coughing was getting worse, and he felt like he was going to pass out.  The large dog nuzzled him, worried about the strange sounds that the little boy was making when he breathed.

Frank had gone on a few more feet before he realized his brother wasn’t following him anymore.  Hearing Hero whine he turned and carefully picked his way back down to his brother.  He moved slowly for fear that he would slip, for once he started to slide he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop.

“J- Joey!  What’s…wrong?”  he panted.  This climbing business was harder than he thought it would be. 

“I…I can’t,” Joe said, his voice filled with misery that he felt.   All he wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep.  Each breath was getting more difficult as his lungs just didn’t seem to want to work like they were supposed to.

Frank looked up at how much further they had to climb.  It was still a ways.  And then he looked back down at his brother before giving him what he hoped was a supportive smile.  Sitting down beside him he put an arm around his shoulders.  “S’okay.  I’m pretty tuckered too.  Let’s take a rest for a while.”  As much as he wanted to get to the road, the insightful youngster realized that if they didn’t rest up a bit, his brother would never make it.  Besides he really wasn’t feeling that much better than Joe.

His head was stuffy and his throat was beginning to feel a bit scratchy.  A cold was definitely in his future.

Joe gave him a weak smile and then leaned back against Hero, who had lain down behind him.  He closed his eyes and was asleep almost immediately.

Startled at how quickly his brother had nodded off, Frank laid his small hand on his brother’s forehead like his mother had done so often to both of them whenever they weren’t feeling well.  He knew that was a way to check for fever.

Now he wasn’t quite sure just how warm someone should feel, but as his hand lay gently on his brother he was certain it wasn’t how warm Joe was feeling right now.  In fact when Frank then put the other hand on his own forehead for reference, he was alarmed at how much of a difference there was.