A Work Day Gone Wrong

 by Zoey and Sara

Photo Prompt #12 It's a Deal

Parker & Jerry’s POV 

Parker watched the movement below, he turned to his friend, Jerry, “Hey Jerry, look down there,” he said,

“What?” Jerry said, “I don’t see anything too interesting,” he added.

“Look harder,”

“Oh! I see what you mean, the people down there, I’m gonna guess they are that rich Carter family.” Jerry said

“Yep, they are, how about we kidnap one and get a huge ransom for him?” asked Parker.

“Let’s take two!” Jerry exclaimed, 

“Two? I don’t know about that,” Parker said,  he checked out the land, it was pretty hilly but they could see the ranch if they looked carefully.  “We might be able to get away with two.” he said

“We could! I say let’s take them tonight,” Jerry said

“Alrighty.” Parker agreed. They made their way through the mountains and set a spot near the ranch but not too close so they could sneak there that evening and kidnap the Carter’s. “I say we take the young girl and the man working there.” Jerry said, pointing, little did he know the girl was a Carter and the man was a ranch hand!  

“Sounds like a plan,” said Parker.

That evening Parker and Jerry made their way to the ranch, the girl was sitting near the barn while the man was near her talking. 

 

Andi and Riley’s POV

 

”Riley, you’ll never believe what I had to do today. I helped can peaches. And you know how bad I hate being in the kitchen and not outside helping with the horses,” said Andi.

 As Andi voiced her frustrations to Riley little did she know what was about to happen.  Riley was about to try and cheer Andi up when all of the sudden things went black.

 Andi couldn’t tell who her captor was, She tried to get free but whoever it was had a strong grip.

They were stuffed in the back of a wagon and they rode off. 

 

Jerry and Parker’s POV 

 

“See, Parker, I told you we could get away with two.” 

“I guess you were right. We got away with two.” answered Parker,

“Where do we take them?” asked Jerry,

“Um..” they hadn’t thought that far ahead. 

 They rode along and thought, they were so deep in thought they didn’t notice someone coming, “Hey, what's in your load?” a man asked, gesturing toward the wagon

“Um it’s..” Jerry’s voice trailed off, he looked sideways at Parker, 

“We have a load of coal, we are taking it to town.” Parker said boldly. 

“Interesting, my name is Chad Carter, what’s yours?” the man asked.

“Nice to meet you Mr. Carter, my name is Parker and this is my friend Jerry,” said Parker

“We need to be on our way,” Jerry said and slapped the reins and the horses took off at an even trot leaving the man staring after them. “What’s their hurry?” they heard the man say and he rode the other direction.

“I can’t believe you told him our real names!” Jerry hissed.

Parker turned pale, “I forgot.” he said “It was a mistake.”

“If he traces us he’ll find us, we need to change our names!” Jerry exploded

“Relax! Okay! We can change our names! To what?” 

 

Chad’s POV

 

Chad watched Parker and Jerry go, “Those names sound familiar, Parker, Jerry. Hmmm…” Chad said thinking, “Well, I better go,” Chad turned Sky to the ranch and loped there.

He arrived at the ranch and noticed right away his sister, Andi didn’t clean the stalls, “That girl,” Chad sighed,  he spotted Diego coming in, “Hey Diego, have you seen Andi?”

“No señor, no la he visto a ella ni a Riley en el último tiempo -no sir, i have not seen her or Riley in the last while-” he answered.

“Okay, thanks,” Chad said and left, I bet Andi and Riley went for a ride together, she’ll have it when she comes back, Chad thought and he went inside.

 *********

“Mother?” Chad wandered into the living room, “Where in the world is Andi?” he asked.

“I thought Andrea was with you, but she must be upstairs” Mother said 

“No, I haven’t seen her all day,” answered Chad “Now that I think about it, Riley has been gone all afternoon as well,” just as he finished his sentence suddenly there was a sharp rap on the door. “That must be them now!” he started to walk over and added “But why would they knock?”

He opened the door to find a piece of paper under a rock. He had a slight idea why. He picked it up and unfolded it,  his face turned ashened and he dashed inside, “MOTHER!” his yell could be heard all out though the house,

“Chad?” Mother entered the room.

“The knock on the door wasn’t Andi and Riley, it was someone that put this rock on our steps.” Chad explained. 

“Well, what does it say?” Mother asked. 

“If you want to ever see your precious brother and sister again you will have $4000 cash. Pay up quick or else.” Chad read aloud.? Andrea is in her room so it can’t be her.” Mother said.

“Is she, Mother? Check.” Chad said, Mother hurried upstairs.

Chad reread the note, he couldn't believe this, was it Mitch who was kidnapped? He was very confused. He heard Mother coming down the steps and turned to her, one look at her face told the answer.

“Andrea’s gone.” Elizabeth’s voice confirmed his fears.

“Oh no,” Chad sighed, “It must be Andi and who else? Not Justin, he’s in town. Mitch maybe?”

“It could be,” Mother agreed, “the note said brother and sister.” she added.

Chad nodded.

Suddenly the door opened and Mitch stepped in. 

“What's with the somber faces?” he asked with a smile

“You don’t know?” Chad was disbelieving, if it was Mitch where was Andi?

“What?” Mitch lost his smile 

“Andrea is missing.” Mother’s voice was low

Mitch broke in before she could finish, “I’m sure she will be back soon,” he said.

Mother didn’t answer but held out the note, Chad watched Mitch as he read it. “Call a family meeting. I’ll tell Justin in town.” Mitch raced outside. 

As soon as Mitch went out the door Chad started thinking that maybe they had mistaken one of the ranch hands as a Carter. Little did he know he was right.

Mitch’s POV

 

Mitch went straight to the barn and tacked up Chase, “What’s the hurry?” the foreman voice came behind him,

“No time Sid!” Mitch kicked Chase into a gallop and they were off to town. He reached Justin and Lucy’s house and banged the door. Lucy opened it, “Where’s Justin?” Mitch asked

“He’s in his office, why, what's the matter?” Lucy noticed his upset face.

Mitch didn’t answer but remounted Chase and left.

As Mitch made his way over to Justin’s office he started thinking. 

What brother could they be talking about? It definitely wasn’t Chad and of course it isn’t me. So who could they be talking about? 

He reached Justin’s office and barged in. 

Justin’s clerk Tim looked at him in shock. Tim didn’t like when Justin’s siblings barged in without an appointment.

“It’s an emergency Tim, Andi’s missing.” Mitch said.

He opened the door to Justin’s office and found his brother looking at stacks of papers. 

 

Justin’s POV

His brother Mitch came barging through his office door. 

”What’s wrong?” he asked Mitch.

He couldn’t imagine what could be wrong. His brothers normally weren’t the ones barging in his office. It was usually Andi. 

 

Mitch’s POV

 

“Chad found a rock laying on the step that said if we wanted to see Andi and our brother again that we would have a  ransom.” 

“I still can’t figure out what they meant when they said brother.”

 

Justin’s POV

“What brother are they talking about?”

“You said Chad was the one who found the rock right?”

Mitch answered and said yes. 

Hmm, I wonder what they were talking about when they said brother. 

He turned back to Mitch and said “Let’s go!”

When they arrived at the ranch they handed their horses over to the ranch hands and rushed inside. 

As soon as they sat down at the table everyone started talking at once. By the end of the conversation they had come to the conclusion that it was Riley that they were talking about.
 

Chad’s POV (Before Mitch and Justin returned)

 

He watched Mitch go and turned to Mother, “Mother, round up the family in the house. I’ll be back.”

He turned and went outside, it can’t be Justin, was the only thing on his mind. He saw Sid standing at the edge of the barn watching the driveway. He spotted Chad and hurried over, “Chad, what is going on?” he asked

Chad shook, he was flustered by everything going on, he sank to the ground, “Chad?” Sid placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“Sid,” Chad couldn't finish but held the note out

 

Sid’s POV

 

Sid’s face grew hard, “It’s Andi and Riley, isn’t it?” he asked.

Chad was puzzled so Sid hurried to explain. “Riley has been missing all afternoon, I asked the other ranch hands and they said he was seen chatting with Andi last. Maybe they got kidnapped and not a brother of yours.”

“I don’t care!” Chad was upset, too upset just to sit and wait for Mitch's return. He leaped to his feet. “Riley is almost as good as a brother! I can’t let him and Andi get taken away. I can’t!”

Sid frowned, “Relax, Chad, it’s in God’s hands.”

Chad sighed and answered, “I guess so,” he turned to go inside but Sid stopped him.

“I last saw Andi and Riley near the barn, about two hours ago, if they were taken then they aren’t far.” Sid said.

 

Andi and Riley’s POV

 

They still don’t know who had taken them, But they were going to find out soon. 

Two men pulled the bags they had stuffed on their heads off. 

One of the men looked about 30 and the other man looked like he was younger and probably about 20. 

“What do you want with us?” Andi asked.

“We just want a little ransom,” the older man said.

The younger man jabbed him in the side. 

“Don’t tell them that.”

“Well, why not?”

“You have a point.“ The younger man agreed.

“Who are you? And what do you mean a ransom?” Riley asked.

”My name is Parker,” the younger man said.

“My name is Jerry,” the older man said.

“And we knew a Carter brother and sister could bring in a good amount of money.” Parker said. 

Andi was puzzled. What did they mean by a Carter brother and sister? And how much did they ask for them? 

”Where did you bring us?” Andi asked. 

Jerry frowned, “I can’t answer that.” 

“Fine, where are we?” Andi asked

“I can’t answer that either.” Jerry said

Riley leaned over and whispered, “What’s going on? Why did they say Carter brother and sister, I’m not a Carter!”

“Riley,” Andi warned and Riley kept quiet.

Riley looked around, he had to find out where they were! He spotted something he had seen before, it was a hidden trail he and Dakota had explored, “Andi?” he whispered so the kidnappers couldn't hear. Her eyes widened as she saw the trail but she didn’t know why Riley was pointing it out. 

“What? Do you know where we are?” Andi whispered. 

“Me and Dakota have come down this trail before! I know how to get us back home.”  Riley said excitedly. 

 “We can talk about it after they're asleep.” Andi said.

Parker and Jerry soon fell asleep. Andi and Riley sat as close together as they could and talked about what their plan to escape was going to be. 

 

Chad’s POV 

 

As he reread the paper tied to the rock, he noticed scratched on the rock there was P & J.

All of the sudden Chad exclaimed, “I met 2 men earlier today named Parker and Jerry, and the initials on this rock are P & J, Parker and Jerry! And I saw the direction they went!”

“That’s awesome! We should head that way right now!” Mitch said. 

“Let’s go!” Chad answered.

They ran outside to tack their horses up.

 

Andi and Riley’s POV 

 

“How can we sneak off without them waking up?” Andi asked. 

“The best thing we can do is go as soon as we can.” Riley answered.

Andi and Riley got up and started walking down the trail, staying to the side of the road to where they could get of the road if someone started coming. 

They saw someone on horseback galloping towards them. They were about to step off into the woods when Andi realized who it was.

“It’s Chad, Riley!” Andi exclaimed.

They mounted behind Chad and took off.

 

Back at the Circle C

“That’s Chad!” Justin exclaimed. 

Chad, Andi and Riley came into the house.

“I’m so glad you are safe Andrea!” Mother exclaimed.

“How in the world did the people who kidnapped you mistake Riley as a Carter?” Mitch asked.

Andi and Riley said at the same time, “That is a whole other story for another day!”