Natty Stories/Page6

The Frantic Search
Sarah spoke to the police teams who'd been searching, and one of them began to try and get the satelite photos. The real difficulty was sorting out which could have been Natty.

The window of possibility was only about ten minutes wide, from when the attendant had last seen Natty to when Sarah had returned. But many, many people had exited the mall in that time.

Sarah sat at the police station, twisting her purse strap, guts roiling with fear, as specialists argued. Most cared more for the intellectual nature of the problem than the safety of one little girl.

Natty, I would give all the Helper paddles and good behavior in the world if we could only find you.

Of course, Charles came as quickly as he could. The Hell with work when your child was missing. When Sarah caught sight of him, she ran sobbing to his arms.

"Natty's gone! No one can find her! And it's all because I stuck her in that corner...and for nothing, really! Oh, God!" The shock and worry had finally gotten to Sarah and she was close to hysterics. Desperately worried himself, Charles tried to soothe his wife.

"We'll find her. And you were just cracking down on your new Penny, dear. You had no way to know. We will find her."

"Got it!" cried one of the techs. "This is the only possibility. Zoom in on the hovercar...there! License plate GRLO-124876! Where's it registered?"

As the home address of the probable kidnapper was found, both Sarah and Charles fell to their knees in thankfulness.

The Rescue
Slowly, slowly, I came back to consciousness. When I did, I found myself tied again. I began to wriggle against the bonds, trying to loosen them. I have got to get out of here. Somehow. Are Mommy and Daddy looking for me? But how could they find me? When will he come back. I have got to get out of here!

For a long time, I am able to put my fear and pain into fighting through the ropes. But eventually, I have to admit I cannot break free. And I have to cry. Shaking, deeply, deathly afraid, I admit that I am in very deep shit. And with that, the door opens.

No. Please, God, get me out of this. Somehow.

"Ready to play some more, little slave?" queries my captor. He begins to unbuckle his pants.

No. Not again. I'd rather be beaten black and blue.

He is on top of me, crushing me, violating me into a piece of trash...and then the door bursts open.

"Freeze!"

I have never been so happy to see anyone in my life.