She could make out Ned’s still form beside her. Nancy knew she needed to figure out some way to get the tree branch off them. All of a sudden, Nancy heard yelling in the near distance, someone calling her name and Ned’s. She looked around, but couldn’t see anything.

“Nancy! Ned!”

The voice was closer this time and Nancy realized it wasn’t her imagination. She pushed herself up as far as she could. She looked into the woods. She cleared her throat and yelled, “We’re over here! Help us!”

“We’re coming!”

Nancy continued to yell until Frank and George came into view. George ran to Nancy and gave her a hug. Frank knelt next to her.

“Ned’s unconscious. “We’re both pinned by the tree limb.”

“Hang on.” Frank moved over to the branch. He tried to move it, but it was too heavy. He looked at George and she hurried to help him. Together they were still unable to get the branch off.

Frank looked at Nancy. “We’re going to need some help. Just hang on.”

Nancy nodded. “Just hurry.

Frank yelled. “Joe! Bess! We’re over here!”

“Coming!” a voice yelled in the distance.

Frank glanced back at Nancy. He noticed her face was extremely pale and she was shaking. He pulled off his jacket and put it around her shoulders.

“I’m all right,” Nancy said, her teeth chattering.

“Keep my jacket on,” Frank said firmly.

At that moment, Joe and Bess came running toward them. Joe asked, “What happened?”

“Nancy can tell us later,” Frank said. “Right now we need to get the limb off their legs.”

“Let’s do it,” Joe said. He moved to the limb with Frank. Bess and George hurried over. The four of them lifted the limb away from Nancy and Ned.

Bess and George quickly moved back to Nancy and began rubbing her numb legs while Frank and Joe check on Ned. They slowly rolled Ned onto his back. A bruise was forming on his forehead.

Frank gently tapped Ned on the face trying to bring him around. After a few minutes, Ned’s eyes opened. Nancy struggled over to Ned and took his hand in hers.

Nancy said, “Ned.”

“Hi,” Ned said, quietly.

“Ned, where are you hurt?” Frank asked.

“My head hurts,” Ned said reaching for his forehead. He looked at Nancy. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“Come on,” Frank said. “Let’s get you two back to the house.”

“All right,” Ned said.

Frank and Joe lifted Ned to his feet. They put his arms around their shoulders and started back toward the house. Bess and George supported Nancy as they followed the guys back to house.

* * * * *

When they got back to the house, they went right into the living room. Aunt Maggie met them there and immediately took charge. Nancy and Ned slid out of their jackets. Bess and George hurried upstairs and came down with dry clothes for Nancy and Ned who then helped Nancy get into them while Frank and Joe assisted Ned.

Maggie called Doctor Matthew and was once again thankful he lived next door. Jeremy hurried into the living room with blankets, fresh from the dryer.

Nancy took the blanket from Jeremy with shaking hands and wrapped it tightly around herself. She glanced at Ned as he sat down on the couch, leaned back and closed his eyes. His face seemed so pale to her.

Joe built up the fire and Melissa came in with two steaming cups of Aunt Maggie’s special tea.

The girls left the living room with Jeremy and Maggie. When they were alone, Frank asked, “What happened to you two?”

“We heard a scream and went to check it out. It was the same scream as the night before. Then we noticed someone running through the woods. We started to follow, but lost the trail.”

“Are you sure you saw someone?” Joe asked, turning away from the fire.

“There was something in the woods,” Nancy said firmly. “We might have found whatever it was if the tree limb hadn’t fallen on us.”

“Bess and I did spot cougar tracks in the woods,” Joe said. “The scream you heard had to come from the cougar.”

At that moment there was a knock on the door. Frank turned and an elderly man stepped into the hallway carrying a black bag. “Maggie, it’s me, Dr. Matthew. I’m coming in.”

The man had gray hair turning white at the ends. He wore a pair of bifocals with thin rims. He also had a mustache that matched his gray hair.

Another man stepped into the hallway behind Dr. Matthew. The man appeared to be in his late thirties. He had slicked back black hair. He was wearing black jeans and a black leather jacket.

“Your patients are in here,” Maggie said coming down the hallway from the kitchen and ushering the doctor into the living room.

Frank and Joe stepped into the hallway as the doctor moved into the living room to examine Nancy and Ned. Frank was about to say something to the stranger when Melissa came down the hallway with a startled look on her face. “Jake, what are you doing here?”

“There are some problems at the arena. I need you to come with me and help take care of them,” Jake said.

Joe continued to the kitchen.

“That’s your department, Jake. I’m the performer. If the problems are technical, which is probably the case, then get it fixed. I know you can do that. It’s what I pay you to do.”

“You should be at the arena going over the material for the concert,” Jake said angrily, glancing at Frank. “And you shouldn’t be socializing with losers.”

Melissa glared back at Jake. “I told you to stay out of my personal life.” Melissa turned and hurried up the stairs.

Frank couldn’t believe this guy. Frank was about to say something when Jake turned to face him. Jake pulled a handful of papers out of his pocket and pushed them into Frank’s hand.

“Make sure she sees them.”

Jake turned and left the house slamming the door behind him. Joe stepped back into the hallway and looked at Frank. They both raised their eyebrows. Frank glanced at the closed door and wondered what Jake’s problem was. He had never seen anyone have such a temper. He took the papers and made his way up to Melissa’s room.

Frank knocked on the door. “Melissa, it’s Frank. Can I come in?”

“Sure.”

Frank opened the door and saw Melissa sitting on her bed cross-legged. She had her pillow in her lap and her arms wrapped around it. Frank saw her eyes were red and bloodshot, as if she’d been crying.

Frank walked over to the bed and put the papers down in front of her. “Jake asked me to give you these papers.”

“Thanks,” Melissa said keeping her eyes on the papers. She seemed to be avoiding looking directly at Frank.

“Jake seemed to have upset you. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” Melissa said. “But thanks for bringing me the papers.”

“You’re welcome,” Frank replied as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

As he walked down the stairs, he saw the doctor packing up his equipment. Frank met him at the door.

“Fortunately, neither of them were seriously injured,” he said. “They should get plenty of rest, lots of fluids and they should keep warm. I tried to convince Ned he should be in the hospital, because of his head injury, but he refused.”

“He’s pretty stubborn,” Frank said.

“Just make sure they rest and keep warm.”

“We will and thanks again for coming over.” Frank closed the door behind the doctor. He turned around and saw Joe coming down the hallway carrying two mugs of Aunt Maggie’s special chicken noodle soup. Frank followed his brother into the living room. He watched Joe hand a mug to Nancy and Ned. Joe sat down on the other couch.

As he sat there, Frank said, “I felt something was wrong last night. I wish I would’ve acted.”

“It’s all right,” Nancy said setting her mug on the table. She curled her feet up underneath her. “You got to us as soon as you could. That’s all that matters.”

“Are you sure you’re warm enough?” Frank asked realizing Nancy’s face was paler than before.

Yeah,” Nancy said pulling her blanket tighter. “I’m just tired.”

“Then get some rest like the doctor ordered.”