Frank Hardy felt decidedly uncomfortable. Something was wrong with his mattress, surely. And where was his pillow? Opening his eyes a crack, he was unsure of what he was looking at. His vision was blurred. He was sure, however, about the dull ache he felt in his head. He shut his eyes tightly again and tried to bring his hand up to his face, but couldn’t. He opened his eyes again and, this time, saw more clearly the concerned face of Vanessa Bender looking down at him. Hopefully, thought Frank, he was not at home in his bedroom! He struggled to sit up, but felt a restraining hand on his arm.

‘Just take it easy,’ said Vanessa, softly. ‘Don’t try to sit up so quickly.’

Frank took her advice and rested his head back down on the uncomfortable bed. What had happened, he thought to himself. We were looking at the stars. We were camping! Yes, that’s it! He struggled to sit up again and this time he made it.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked Vanessa. His brother’s girlfriend had red-rimmed eyes and looked a little worse for wear, but she managed a smile for him.

‘Just like your brother,’ she whispered. ‘Concerned about the girl, even when it’s you who’s been whacked across the head. How do you feel? You’ve stopped bleeding at least.’

Vanessa peered at the wound above Frank’s right eye. Frank again tried to raise his right hand to his face, but he still couldn’t. Looking down, he realised why. His right wrist had been handcuffed to Vanessa’s left. A chain led from the handcuffs to the metal frame of the bed. Vanessa gave him a wry smile.

‘I thought we might get to know each other a bit better on this camping trip, Frank, but I didn’t think we’d get this close!’

Frank took a glance around the gloomy and untidy, one-room cabin.

‘Tell me what’s happened,’ he asked her. ‘My memory’s a bit shaky. Help me to fill in the blanks.’

‘Well,’ Vanessa sighed, ‘we were sitting watching the stars when I felt a sharp prod against my back.’ She shivered a little as she recalled what had happened next.

‘He marched us back to this cabin,’ continued Vanessa. Frank nodded, trying not to move his aching head too vigorously.

‘Yeah, I remember now,’ he said. ‘He had us stop so that he could light a cigarette and I left the binoculars for Joe to find. How did I hurt my head?’

Vanessa paled a little at the memory, although Frank was sure he saw some anger in her eyes.

‘When we arrived, you tried to convince him to at least let me go. He just laughed and hit you across the head with the gun. He knocked you out. After that he dragged you this bed and handcuffed us together. You were out for about half and hour. I’ve been so worried about you.’

‘Where’s the guy now?’ asked Frank.

‘I don’t know,’ whispered Vanessa, fearfully. ‘He left some water for us within reach and told me to tell you not to try anything. Then he went. Before he left, I used my scarf to clean some of the blood off your face,’ she continued, blushing slightly. ‘It seems to have stopped bleeding for now. He hit you pretty hard.’

Frank felt his forehead with his unshackled, left hand and noted that the wound had, indeed, stopped bleeding. There was a large lump where he had been hit. The guy hadn’t been mucking around, he thought to himself. It occurred to him that poor Vanessa had been sitting in this lunatic’s cabin while he had been unconscious for more than half an hour. It can’t have been easy for her.

‘Are you okay Vanessa?’ Frank asked her softly. Vanessa managed to give him a shaky smile.

‘I’m better now that you’ve woken up,’ she admitted. ‘Although it worries me that you can’t remember everything. Is your vision okay?’

‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ said Frank, despite the pounding above his eye.’ Did the guy say anything else to you? Did he…did he hurt you?’

Vanessa shuddered involuntarily again, but maintained a brave face.

‘He said he was off to have some fun,’ she told Frank, ‘and that he had some ideas for games we could play later. But he didn’t touch me. He took my scarf with him though. He said he wanted something to remember me by.’ She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Frank tested the handcuffs and the attachment to the bed frame.

‘Can we get out of these?’ Vanessa asked him hopefully. Frank shook his head.

‘No. Not without a key or some bolt-cutters.’

So you don’t happen to have any on you today? I must say I’m a little disappointed. Joe’s always telling me you’re perpetually in a state of readiness for anything,’ Vanessa scolded him. She sounded so serious that Frank began to apologise and even reddened slightly.

‘Well, um. There are some bolt cutters in our emergency kit, but I didn’t, um, think I’d be needing … well you know..to keep them in my pocket.’

Vanessa laughed.

‘Oh, come on Frank! Don’t be so hard on yourself. I’m only kidding.’

Frank smiled at her ability to joke given the present circumstances, but then brought his hand up to his brow as the pounding intensified.

‘Here,’ said Vanessa, moving back a little so that she could sit with her back against the wall. ‘Lie down and rest your head on my lap. You’re still in pain. And don’t give me any of that "I’m okay" nonsense either. Joe’s realised that doesn’t work with me. You may as well learn the same lesson.’ Recognising that resistance was pointless, Frank did as he was told. It did feel better to be lying down. Vanessa’s cool fingers stroking his forehead also provided much welcome relief.

Frank looked around the cabin and his gaze rested on two mobile phones sitting well out of their reach.

‘I suppose one of those mobiles is mine,’ he mused aloud.

‘Yep,’ sighed Vanessa, ‘and the other one is Joe’s. He gave it to me to mind. The guy’s taken the SIM cards from them, so I really don’t know why he bothered to put them there.’

‘I bet Callie is giving Joe a hard time about you having his phone,’ said Frank wryly. His heart sank further when he imagined Joe and Callie finding them gone. Knowing his brother, Joe would have found the clues he had left by now, but without a phone, help would have been impossible to summon. And what of the man who had kidnapped him and Vanessa? Was he now after Joe and Callie?

‘Do you think Callie and Joe have had a screaming match yet?’ Frank asked Vanessa. She patted his hair lightly as she laughed softly.

‘They’ll have had their fireworks,’ she told him, ‘but they’ll be fine. I just hope they get help quickly,’ she added wistfully. ‘They would have got an awful shock when they discovered us missing.’

Frank was embarrassed to admit that he didn’t share Vanessa’s faith in Joe and Callie’s ability to get along. But he did very much admire Vanessa’s spunk and positive attitude. Now all they could do was wait and see what would happen next.

…..

‘Fruit,’ said Joe as they made their way along.

‘Salad,’ said Callie.

‘Green,’ said Joe.

‘Frog,’ said Callie.

‘Prince Charming,’ said Joe.

‘That’s two words,’ Callie told him.

Joe Hardy halted and rolled his eyes.

‘Does it matter?’ he demanded. ‘I agreed to play this stupid game to keep our minds off worrying about Frank and Ness while we search. Big deal that my answer is two words. You don’t have to be so pedantic!’

‘Oooh, big word!’ returned Callie. ‘Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Lead on.’

Joe continued to make his way through the forest, hopefully in the direction of where Frank and Vanessa were.

‘Romantic,’ said Callie.

‘Candles,’ said Joe.

‘Flame,’ said Callie.

‘Eternal,’ said Joe. ‘And I know it’s a big word for me, but pretend you’re not surprised.’

‘Forever,’ said Callie, stifling a giggle.

‘Scarf!’ exclaimed Joe.

‘Forever scarf?’ was Callie’s puzzled response to his exclamation, but then she hurriedly walked towards Joe who had leapt ahead of her. There, dangling from a tree branch, was a soft, purple scarf.

‘It’s Vanessa’s,’ said Joe, in an almost reverential tone. He plucked it from the tree and examined it closely.

‘Maybe Frank and Vanessa left it as another clue!’ said Callie excitedly.

Joe shook his head, his mouth set in a grim line.

‘No. Someone left this for us to find. But it wasn’t Vanessa and Frank.’

He pointed to a note that was attached to the scarf:

‘Return to camp and wait for the next part of the game’ Callie read aloud. Her eyes moved to a dark stain covering a large part of the scarf around the note.

‘What’s that?’ she whispered, although she was pretty sure of what it was given Joe’s tensed shoulders and grim face.