Sorceress' Scheme

"Anything?" Jenny asked him.

"Not really," he replied. "How about you guys?"

"I didn't find anything in Mike's room or mine," Micky replied. "I checked it just in case. But there wasn't anything there."

Jenny told Micky and Thomas what she'd discovered. "I don't know what's normal for Mike, but I get the impression they left in a hurry."

Thomas thought a moment. "Me, too," he replied. "No evidence, but I get that feeling, too."

Micky decided he was just way to curious to bother to hold it in anymore, but just as he was about to open his mouth, Thomas interrupted him.

"I think they did leave in a hurry," the boy told them. "I don't know why, though. They didn't take the car, and they didn't tell Mom where they were going. That gives me the impression that they didn't go voluntarily. Because no matter where they were going in such a hurry, they would have told Mom they were leaving. And I don't think all of them would go."

"But then wouldn't there be signs of a struggle?" Jenny asked.

"Not necessarily," Micky replied, recalling the bright white flash of light that Mike and Peter had disappeared in a few months ago.

"Whatever happened with that?" Jenny asked.

Micky and Thomas appeared to have not heard the question. "The question is, who, and why," Thomas continued.

Before any of them could say anything else, the phone rang, and Micky went to answer it. Thomas and Jenny could hear the sounds of a conversation in the background. Neither said a word, as both were immersed in their own thoughts.

A moment later, Micky returned to the others. "C'mon guys," he urged. "We're going to the airport."

"Airport?" both asked in unison. "Why?"

"Gotta pick up a friend," Micky replied. He turned to Jenny. "I think she can explain this a bit better than I can."

After calling Nicole to let her know where they were going, Micky drove them to the airport.

"Why exactly are we going to the airport again?" Jenny asked, when they had been on the road for about ten minutes.

"Long story," Micky replied. "Friend of ours just got in from Alaska."

"Alaska?" Jenny and Thomas both asked in unison.

"Who do you know in Alaska?" Jenny asked.

"You've never met her," Micky informed both of them. "And I haven't seen her since right around when you were born, Thomas. So it's been awhile. But Peter and Mike were just out to see her."

"Oh," Thomas replied. He knew who Micky was talking about.

But Jenny was clueless. "So who is she?"

"Her name's Fiona."

Thomas and Jenny decided to wait in the car outside the airport since they didn't know Fiona very well. Micky ran inside and located her gate easily. Finding Fiona herself was another story.

"Micky! Micky! Over here!" he heard a voice calling him. But the room was full of people departing and arriving from their flights and he couldn't tell who it was. They were all talking at once, and he couldn't even be certain if the person was shouting 'Micky' or 'Vicky' or even something different, like 'Janie' or 'Joey'. He followed the sound of the voice and eventually located Fiona.

She was standing by a window, somewhat separated from the rest of the crowd. She had a small suitcase and a large duffle bag at her feet and was holding a small bundle in her arms.

Micky hadn't seen Fiona in more than ten years but she didn't look much older or different than she had then. Her golden blond wavy hair was just as long as always, stretching down to the middle of her back. Part of it was pulled back from her face, but most of it was left to fall free.

She wore a thin white cotton dress with red flowers lightly sprinkled around the skirt and a blue knit sweater tied around her waist. It had no doubt been colder when she'd left Alaska.

"You should really move to California," Micky told her as he flashed a grin. "You'd fit right in."

"I'm sure I would," Fiona replied. She reached down with one arm and took the suitcase while Micky grabbed the heavy duffle bag. "But you haven't met my newest yet." She smiled and showed him the bundle she carried. "Meet Robert."

It was a good thing Fiona hadn't brought much luggage, because Micky's convertible didn't have much of a trunk. She climbed into the squished back seat with Thomas while Micky piled the suitcase and duffle bag into the cramped trunk.

"Shoulda brought the other car," he realized belatedly as he walked back to the driver's seat. It was too late, now.

"-Considering moving out here," Fiona was saying as he put the car into gear and backed out of the parking space. "I've always loved warm weather."

"You? Never," Micky told her as he started driving.

"You're probably right," she admitted, and he laughed at that.

"Jenny, Thomas, meet Fiona. Fiona is an old friend I guess. Fiona, Thomas is Peter and Nicole's oldest kid. I think you met him once when he was a baby. And Jenny is another friend of mine. She worked with us during the tour."

"Nice to meet you," Jenny told her.

"Can I hold the baby?" Thomas asked. Fiona nodded and handed him over.

"His name is Robert," Fiona told him, and he nodded, brushing it aside.

"I can tell," he replied. Fiona just smiled. They rode in silence for a few minutes. Then Fiona asked Micky about Jenny.

"Does she know?"

Micky shook his head. "Not yet anyway. Haven't decided if I should tell her. Besides it's a long story."

Jenny watched wordlessly. She knew it would probably be pointless to ask them what it was she didn't know.

Fiona nodded in understanding. "I think you should," she told him. She might be of help in the future."

Micky looked at her in the rear view mirror but said nothing.

A short while later they arrived home. Jenny, Micky, and Fiona informed Fiona of what was going on at home - with Mike, Peter, and Davy not being there and Nicole having three of four kids sick.

Fiona raised an eyebrow at the mention of that. "I think I'll go over there and see what I can do to help," she offered. "That is if you don't need my help."

"No problem," Micky replied as he popped open the overstuffed trunk. "We'll take care of Robert over here. Don't want him getting sick or anything."

Fiona nodded in agreement as she walked next door. Micky and Jenny began to unload the car and Thomas brought the baby along.

Davy was positively certain that he had never felt helpless in his life. He had no clue where he was, had no clue where the others were, had no idea why he was wherever he was.

All he knew was that he was in a small cell that appeared to be a cave. A cave with no windows and no door and therefore no means of entrance or exit.

He was alone in that small stone place. The last thing he could remember was being on the beach. He had been sunbathing. Sarah was supposed to come by and then they were going to go get a bite to eat later. Mike and Peter had been up in the Pad, working on a song together, and Micky had been out on a date with a girl he hadn't yet met. He had the funny feeling Micky was hiding whoever she was from him but couldn't prove it.

For now, however, whoever Micky had gone out with for the night was irrelevant. He was currently in this small cave and had no idea where the others were. No way to contact them. No way to know if they were also captured or if it was just him that was here.

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