Frank wasn't sure, but he thought he heard someone screaming. Then he realized that someone was screaming. And that he couldn't see anything, and someone was lying on top of him. That plus the fact that his head was beginning to ache was not making a wonderful day. At least, that's what he briefly considered while trying to get back his bearings.

He could feel the rough floor underneath his back, and moving his hand to the object above, again touched wood. He remembered pulling on the door, then events seemed to have gotten slightly jumbled. They must have pulled the whole wall down. But no, the door was the only thing on top of him, besides TJ that is. He felt TJ roll over and push up, lifting the door with the help of Rebekah, who'd screamed as the whole thing had taken place. Frank quickly wriggled out from under his friend, and helped to set the door aside. TJ stood, blinking and touched his forehead gingerly. A small patch was beginning to swell.

Rebekah hovered about them, asking if they were okay, and both boys assured her they were fine. Frank cautiously led the way out of the cabin and surveyed the surrounding area. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he waved to the other two, and the followed him down off of the hill on which the cabin was located. As they stood, looking around, Frank noted the clouds that sat low on the horizon. "Recognize where we are?"

Both shook their heads. "Probably at least a couple of hours away from where we met our 'ghost'. Welcome to the great state of New York!" TJ quipped in a low tone, attempting to grin. Rebekah looked solemn, although she smiled at the attempted humor. "What are we going to do now?"

Frank rubbed his forehead as he thought. "Our first priority is to get back to Joe and the others. They're probably worried with us being gone so long. I hope Joe doesn't get one of his crazy ideas and wind up in the hospital again."

TJ looked slightly amused. "Does he go there often?" Frank seemed distracted for a moment. "Well, not that often, but way too much, and he often manages to drag me along for the ride." TJ nodded sympathetically and was silent.

Frank continued to look at the surrounding terrain. "Hopefully we can find some sort of trail or something, that would give us an idea as to which direction we have to go. Wish we had the compass," he continued in a wistful tone, "but Biff had that with him, and I don't know as it would do us much good in our present predicament." Turning back to the others, he gestured to the area around the cabin. "Let's see if we can find anything of use."

They spread out and covered the area thoroughly, leaving no stone unturned. Rebekah found something first; under one of those proverbial stones. "Hey guys! Come here!" They came galloping up, and arrived breathless. "Food!" Rebekah beamed and held up two cans of cherry pie filling.

"Not exactly my idea of a nutritious breakfast, but who's complaining?" Frank joked. The atmosphere visibly lightened as the otheres reacted to his humor. "Anybody going to open the can?" TJ produced a multi-tool, and had the cans open in a jiffy. They spread the filling on slices of bread, part of a loaf that was also in the food stash, and each grabbed a bottle of water as well.

"We better continue searching," Frank remarked as he wiped the remnants of the impromptu meal off of his chin, "and keep an eye out, we know for sure that someone comes or stays here often; bread doesn't keep too well in this environment." He eyed the sky pointedly. Clouds were starting to pile up on the horizon, threatening rain. Rebekah shivered at the thought.

They replaced the rock that covered the food stash, and continued to poke around the area. Frank was shoving aside some bushes when he heard a faint sound drift into the area. He stopped his searching and noticed that the others had halted as well. Frank pointed up, and they nodded. Jumping Frank caught a branch above his head and pulled himself up into the tree, climbing higher to put himself out of sight. Looking downward, he saw TJ give Rebekah a boost into a tree and then hurry off to another. Before he got there, the sounds of an altercation became louder, and Frank waved at the boy to hurry. Instead, TJ dropped to the ground and remained motionless.

Looking downward, Frank watched as a man and woman dressed in camouflage fatigues and neon yellow shirts stormed into the clearing in front of the cabin. They were arguing loudly, and Frank could make out fragments of the conversation as it drifted upwards.

"Hear you and see you...better for surveillance...won't be happy that we've failed to break them..." The words drifted off as the man rated his companion soundly. She turned and glared at him, pointing a finger at his chest to emphasize the point she was quietly making. His face turned red, and Frank surmised that a major fight was about to ensue, when they caught sight of the broken door.

Instantly their faces went pale, then the man sprinted toward the cabin, shouting at his female companion, who sped over to the food stash and lifted out the rock, then rushed behind the cabin. When both returned to the clearing, they appeared to have calmed down somewhat. "They haven't messed with the radio; what about the gear?"

"Untouched. They found the food stash though."

"Alright, let's get out of here for now; they can't cause us trouble here. We have other orders anyway." They hurried back the way they had come.

Frank and Rebekah joined TJ on the ground. Frank pointed in the direction the two had taken. "We've got to follow them and find out where their going. Keep under cover as much as possible, and be quiet." Spreading out they followed the fading noises made by their previous captors.

* * * * *

Joe studied the ground intently, hoping to glean a clue from the area at the bottom of the cliff. When he turned around again, Chet looked at him hopefully and he had to shake his head. "There isn't anything here. I hate not having any clues!" He slapped his leg in frustration. They'd been here for an hour and a half looking around, and hadn't accomplished anything. Biff and the others looked up, startled momentarily.

Chet walked over and threw his arm around Joe's shoulders. "Cheer up, they'll turn up eventually. Besides, there's always a clue, you just don't always see it." Joe looked at Chet and rose to his feet, a strange gleam in his eye. Chet grew slightly nervous and moved away a little, withdrawing his arm. "Chet, you're right! We don't always see the clue!"

The others in the group stared in confusion at the blond haired boy. "What?" Chet managed.

"We don't always SEE the clue! Don't you get it," Joe continued, when looking at his audience and seeing blank looks, he realized they didn't, "the area is perfectly wiped clean of any traces of anyone being here! Obviously someone didn't want us to find them. They may have been kidnapped!"

Chet looked stunned. The others looked no less shocked. Although the idea had crossed their minds, they all had passed over it. Biff recovered first. "So, what do we do now?"

Joe, characteristically, rushed off headlong while answering. "We've got to look farther out, that's all!"

Several hours later, Chet wiped the sweat that was accumulating on his face. Joe was a total bundle of energy right now, tirelessly running around, looking for the slightest clue. Funny, Chet thought as he surveyed the ragtag group of searchers, you would never know that Joe loves sleeping in mornings. The hill that they were standing on had a pretty steep pitch, and one had to be careful where they stepped or you could easily turn an ankle.

Biff and Joe were racing to the top, hoping to get a view of the outlying land. The others decided to take a break, and several canteens came into play, the water quenching their thirst. "I hope Frank has water wherever he's at." Chet muttered to Jared, who was sitting next to him. Jared slowly screwed the lid back on his canteen and nodded. "We ought to have thirty guys out here to search instead of just us, but it'd take too long to get it all arranged. Especially when they might turn up today."

Chet was about to ask Jared about search protocol, when they heard a shout from below. Mike was standing with Paul at the edge of the woods and both gestured frantically to the hill above. Chet whipped around and saw to his horror, Joe and Biff were caught in a landslide. And it was heading straight at them.

* * * * *

Frank stood at the edge of the stream, staring hard at the single rope stretched at head level between two trees. Beside him, Rebekah fidgeting nervously, glancing first at the water, and then at the rope. TJ gazed at the rope from his other side. They all turned to one another. Frank spoke.