Fenton Hardy waited nervously for someone to answer the door. He hadn’t seen Laura since she got out of the hospital, and he was anxious to spend more time with her.

It had taken some doing, but he finally was able to track down her address, and was now waiting on the front porch of the older style farmhouse for someone to answer.

But no one did.

Hmmm, he thought, that was curious, he was sure she was home. He figured her father would be at work but thought she would here….

Seeing the horse barn behind the house, Fenton decided to check it out. If she was out there, she would never hear him knocking.

“Laura?” he called out tentatively when he got to the doorway, “Hello?” 

“Fenton?” a white-faced Laura came rushing out of an empty stall and he was shocked by her appearance as he grabbed her arm to steady her. But she shook him off, grabbing him instead.  “Please, you have to help me….Help me find Paul!”

“Paul?” he asked, confused.  “Is he missing?”

“No!” Laura said, already moving away from him and towards one of the occupied stalls, “he took Grace out for a ride and I just know something’s happened to him!”

“Whoa, slow down,” Fenton said, worried by her frenzied pace to bridle a gray horse.  “How do you know something’s happened to him, then?”

The girl paused and gave him a serious look.  “When it comes to my brother…I just know. Now, either you can help me look, or you can get out of my way!”

“Okay…okay,” Fenton said, and then uneasily took the reins she passed him before hurrying over to get another horse for herself; but then she paused and looked back at him again.

“You can ride, can’t you?”

“Well…ummm,” but before he could say anything else, Laura rolled her eyes and snatched the reins back from him.

“Come on, we’ll ride double.”  Deftly, she mounted the horse’s bare back, and then reached down to help Fenton clamber up behind her.  He was amazed by how strong she was, and easily took his seat behind her, slipping his arms around her narrow waist.

Thank you Paul, he silently said as he could smell her perfume and felt her soft hair tickle his nose, I hope you’re okay…but thank you….

There was no other way Fenton could have thought of to get this close to Laura…no other way.

* * *

They rode for awhile in silence, both scanning the fields for any sign of Paul or his horse.  And then Fenton saw the black horse grazing calmly off to the side, and within moments, they had reached the horse.

Laura slid off and approached the riderless horse, who snorted softly when she saw her, and then moved towards the girl to see if she had any treats.

And she did.

The experienced rider pulled out a small bag of sugar cubes, and while the mare munched one, Laura’s blue eyes scanned the area looking for any sign of her brother.

Taking a firm grip of the reins, she walked Grace over to Fenton and handed them to him.  “Here, hold onto her.”

Cupping her hands to her mouth Laura called out, “PAUL!  PAUL!”  Grace started slightly, but didn’t try to run away – she was an experienced horse and didn’t startle at unexpected noises. And neither did the horse Fenton was sitting on, which was a good thing, or else he’d have been sitting on his butt!

Frustrated, Laura mounted the horse again, and Fenton could see the unconcealed worry on her face.

“He’ll be okay Laura….We’ll find him,” Fenton tried to reassure her, and she smiled wanly.

“I hope you’re right, Fenton Hardy…I really do.”

And they continued their search.

* * *

Paul opened his eyes to a terrible pounding in his head.

Oh great, he thought, the bruise ain’t on my butt this time….

Slowly and with great effort, he managed to sit up, and then waited for the world to stop spinning.  When he was sure everything that wasn’t supposed to be moving, had stopped, he glanced around looking for any signs of his horse.

“You know, Grace,” he said, although the horse was apparently nowhere around, “you and me gotta have a serious talk. This is getting ridiculous.”

And then he gave a big sigh of relief as he heard hoofbeats, and then saw a gray horse galloping towards him!

* * *

“Laura!  There!” Fenton cried, and pointed towards a lone figure sitting next to a fallen log in the distance.

Clicking her tongue, Laura nudged the horse into a gallop, frantic to make sure her brother was indeed all right.

* * *

“Paul!” Laura cried as she dismounted and grabbed him in a tight hug, “I was so worried….Are you all right?”

Grimacing as his head pounded with each word, the teenager managed, “Sorry Larry, but yeah, I’m fine.”

It was only then that he noticed Fenton still sitting on the gray horse. The cop had not gotten off yet, because in all honesty, he had lost feeling in different parts of his body and wasn’t sure what his legs would do if he tried to stand on them right now.

“Hi Fenton, nice to see you again,” Paul said, wincing as he did so. Laura saw the pain on his face and her worry was refreshed.

“You’re hurt!” she said, appraising him and not liking the bruise she saw on his temple.

“I’m okay,” Paul insisted, not wanting her to worry, “but this time I didn’t land on my butt—”  His voice trailed off and he pointed to the log he had wanted Grace to jump, and his sister groaned.

“That’s it, Paul Scott!” she said heatedly, “No more jumping for you and Grace – you’re both done! You could have been killed….What if you have a concussion – and where’s your riding hat?”  Laura continued on, mindless of how pale her brother was becoming.

He had given her a bad scare.

“Laura,” Fenton’s voice cut her off, and she turned to him.

“What?”

“I think your brother needs to get back to the house. I don’t think he has a concussion, but he’s not looking very well.”

Paul shot the cop a grateful look, and Fenton winked. It was the least he could for his future brother-in-law….

Turning back to her brother, Laura felt bad as she did notice how horrible he looked.  “Okay… for now. Come on, let’s get you home. Can you ride?”

Paul nodded his head.  “Yeah, just not too fast, okay?”

The girl faked shock and turned to Fenton with faux horror on her face.  “Ohmygod, Fenton! This is more serious then we thought. Someone has kidnapped my brother and left his body double!”

And then, after making sure that Paul was seated soundly on Grace, Laura smiled up at Fenton as he extended an arm to help her back up in front of him.  “You now, Mr. Hardy, if you plan on sticking around for very long, you are going to have to learn to ride!”

Fenton heard Paul add, “And she means horses, before you get any wild ideas, lover boy.”

Before Fenton could get out an indignant reply, Laura laughed, “Ignore my brother, Officer, he’s just jealous of your dazzling good looks.”

The ride back to the house was the longest in Fenton’s life, as he didn’t think his face could become any redder than it already was, as the brother and sister teased relentlessly.

It might have been the longest but it was also the most enjoyable…and he wouldn’t have changed it one bit!