rated *
This fanfic occurs one year after Yesterdays, Todays, and Tomorrows
Hold On to My Love
by Treanna
Part One
“Jim, no!” Trixie screamed herself awake.
Moms ran in to find her daughter in tears. “What is wrong, honey?”
“Oh, Moms,” Trixie cried. “I had the most horrible dream about Jim. He was hurt and calling for me, but I couldn’t get to him.”
“It is just a dream, honey. Why don’t you ring him and talk to him? I am sure he won’t mind.”
Trixie shook her head. “It is only seven and I know that Jim and Brian only got in a few hours ago. I have agreed to meet Honey in a couple of hours anyway, so I will check on him then.”
Moms smiled. “Planning a picnic today?”
Trixie grinned. “Moms, it has been the best and worst year I have ever endured. First, waiting for Jim to tell me how he felt and then Reanna coming into the picture. But then Jim and I started again, and it has been really worth it. We have talked more over the last year, about his past, and his future, than we ever did before and I feel I really know him now.”
“Know him and love him?” Moms smiled.
Trixie nodded. “I never ever stopped loving him, but I lost trust in him. But now I am ready to enter the next phase of our relationship again. That is why I wanted to have this picnic with Jim. It was almost a year ago, that Jim was going to tell me how he felt, and we have only held hands and he has kissed me on the cheek occasionally since then.”
“And now?”
“Oh Moms, I have missed being with him as girlfriend and boyfriend. I want him to know today, that if he wants to, we can pick up from where we left off.”
“And you think he will say no?”
Trixie shrugged, and her mother hugged her laughing.
“Oh Trixie, if you could only see the way he looks at you when you are not looking. I can assure you that you will make James Winthrop Frayne the happiest man alive today.” She stood up. “I have breakfast to prepare, honey, so how about you get dressed and join me for a coffee.”
“Would love to, Moms.”
Trixie got out of bed and headed for the shower. As she was getting dressed she thought about the last year. Her first year at college was exciting, and she had made some terrific friends. She had seen Jim at least one weekend a month, and their relationship, though at first rocky, had become more solid as the year had progressed. She began to smile in anticipation of feeling Jim’s arms around her again and his lips against hers.
She shuddered delightedly at the thought and then hurried downstairs to enjoy a leisurely breakfast with her parents and two brothers. She discovered that Brian had come home, but had decided to go to Honey’s for breakfast.
After breakfast was over, Trixie headed up to the Manor House. Brian and Honey were sat on the front steps waiting for her.
Trixie hugged her older brother. “How are you?”
“A little tired, but I couldn’t sleep, so I came over here to have toast with HONEY.”
Trixie groaned at the pun. “So did Jim join you?”
“I haven’t seen him yet. His car is here, but so far Jim has not surfaced.”
Brian grinned. “Then it is about time that he did.” He stood up and headed inside.
Honey laughed. “You seem rather anxious to see my brother.”
Trixie smiled. “Most definitely.”
“I am glad that you and Jim are becoming a couple again. It has been hard to see you two apart over the last year. But on the other hand, I have seen how both of you have grown together more than you were before.”
“I have learned so much more about Jim than I ever did before.” Trixie smiled.
“And, so, a picnic today to start from where you left off.”
“I hope so."
Brian walked outside again, with a frown on his face.
“Is he still asleep?” Trixie asked, and Brian shook his head.
“I don’t understand it, but it seems like Jim’s bed hasn’t been slept in.”
“What?”
“And I can’t find his suitcases either.”
“Maybe he was just too tired, and fell asleep on the lounge suite or something.”
Brian shook his head. “I asked Miss Trask, and she told me that she has been through every room in the house this morning and she has not seen Jim.”
Trixie headed down the steps and the others followed. She ran towards the garage and hurried over to Jim’s car. She was shocked to see that it was open, and his keys were still in the ignition. She looked in the back, and his luggage was still there.
“Something must have happened to him.” Honey began to cry and Brian put his arm around her.
Trixie pulled out her cell phone and rang his number. She rang it through twice, but no one answered.
Trixie looked up at her brother. “I think we need the police and the Bob-Whites.”
Trixie hurried back to the house, her heart in her throat. “Please be okay, Jim. I can’t lose you my darling.”
Some distance away, a woman smiled at the cell phone in her hand. She then looked at the man in front of her. “Soon, Jim, I will have both of you and then I will finally have my revenge.”
Part Two
“Honey, you must eat something.”
Trixie shook her head at her mother. “Moms, it is after one and Jim has been missing for eleven hours. How can I eat when he is out there somewhere, maybe even hurt?”
“Trixie, you need to eat,” Brian told her. “You will be no good to Jim if you are fainting from hunger.”
He handed her a sandwich and after a moment’s hesitation took it. Moms smiled at her son and he smiled back.
Trixie ate the sandwich and then stood up. “I can’t just sit here. I am going for a walk.”
“Don’t go far, Trix,” Brian said. “Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler are ringing soon to let us know if the police have any leads on where Jim is.”
“I have my cell phone. Ring me as soon as you hear anything.”
“Honey, take some water. It is very hot out there.”
Trixie smiled slightly. “I already have. Jim taught us to always have our survival kit with us and always to have water. He said...” She then faltered. “I will be back soon.” She whispered as she hurried out of the door.
Trixie walked towards the chicken coop. She was tired. They had spent all morning combing the surrounding area, and no sign of Jim had been found. Where he parked his car, it was impossible to tell which direction he had taken. Trixie sighed as she sat down on a fallen log.
“Oh Jim, honey, where are you?”
Suddenly, her cell phone began to ring and when she checked it, saw it was his number.
“Hello, Jim, are you okay?”
A female began to laugh and a feeling of dread fell over her.
“Hello, Trixie, how are you?”
“Reanna, where are you and where is Jim?”
She laughed again. “Jimmy is here with me and is also eager to see you too.”
“Then tell me where he is!”
“First, head off into the preserve and I will call you again in five minutes. I want to make sure that you are not going to leave some clues for your nosy family or friends.”
The phone went dead. Trixie stood up knowing that somewhere Reanna was watching her. She headed out into the preserve, hoping that no one was watching. She had been walking for a few minutes when her phone rang again.
“Where is Jim?”
“Impatient, aren’t we, my girl? Your precious Jim, is in the place where your stupid dog and his friend gorged themselves on hamburgers. Bring anyone with you and all you will find of your precious Jim is a cooked piece of meat.”
Trixie began to run. By the time she had reached the old barn, she was panting heavily. She crept up to the barn and looked inside. She was shocked by what she saw.
Jim was in the middle of the room. His hands were tied above his head, and the end of the rope had been thrown over the rafter and tied down, so that he was held there. His feet barely touched the ground. The roof of the barn was missing where he stood, so sunlight streamed down on his bent head. He was shirtless and Trixie could see redness already on his shoulders and chest. She also knew that dehydration would have set in, and if he did not get water soon, he could die. Everything she knew to do vanished as she hurried over to him.
“Jim, honey, please be okay.”
His eyes opened slowly. “Trix, get out of here, baby. Run. Please.”
Trixie got out her water and put it against his mouth. “Drink, Jim.”
He drank thirstily, his eyes closing as if the sun hurt his eyes too much.
While he drank she quickly checked him over. He had a head wound that was congealed with dried blood. His body felt hot, but clammy to the touch and his face was so pale.
“Trix, you have to get out of here,” he rasped. “Reanna will be back soon. Please baby.”
“I have to get you out of here, Jim. I can’t leave you.”
“Go, get help."
She grabbed her phone out of her pocket ready to call home. But neither saw the figure creeping up behind them.
Trixie heard Jim calling her name. But her head hurt too much to answer. Gradually she opened her eyes to look into his worried ones.
“Oh baby, why did you come?”
Her hands were above her head, and when she tried to move them they hurt. She looked up. She was tied in the same way as Jim was. Her feet were barely touching the ground. She groaned and then she heard a laugh.
“So, Miss Immature has woken.”
Trixie turned slightly to see Reanna grinning at her.
“Let her go, Re,” Jim pleaded. “She did nothing to you.”
“Only made you send me away.”
“What do you want?” Trixie asked.
“Well, money would be wonderful, but revenge is sweeter. I am going now to deliver a lovely ransom note to the Wheelers. And then I am going to have a little sleep. Then I will come back and...” She laughed. “Do you remember the story of the tin soldier and his beloved ballerina-- how they fell into the fire and became one? Well, Trixie, my dear, you and Jim will be eternally together. I am going to set fire to this barn and by the time anyone arrives they will be unable to figure out where you stop and Jim finishes.”
They heard her laughter as she walked away. Trixie dropped her head as tears threatened to fall down her cheeks. Jim moved closer until their bodies were touching. She looked up into the dearest face she knew.
“I am so sorry, honey,” he told her. “If I had sent Re away the first day she came none of this would have happened.”
“Jim, you couldn’t know.”
“Even so, this is one mess I am unsure how to get out of.”
Trixie looked into his eyes. “Jim, don’t you dare give up.”
He smiled slightly. “How could I give up when I am with you, Trix?”
Trixie leant forward and rested her head on his chest. She was scared, really scared, for the first time in her life. And her dream had come true. Jim was in danger. But she was, too.
The sun beat relentlessly on their heads for the next two hours. Trixie felt herself losing consciousness on a few occasions, but Jim’s quiet voice always brought her back. When the sun finally began to disappear, both breathed a sigh of relief.
But in Trixie’s mind was the dread that now Reanna would return and set the barn on fire.
“We have to get out of here, Jim,” she told him and he nodded.
Her cell phone began to ring again, and they looked at each other in despair. Reanna had put both the cell phones on the floor, just out of their reach and every time one rang they hoped that someone outside would hear the ring.
Trixie could also see that Jim was weakening fast. Even though his head wound had stopped bleeding, she was not sure what injuries he might have inside.
She saw a slight smile on his face.
“What are you thinking about, Jim?”
He looked down at her and smiled. “What I would rather be doing now than what I am.”
“And what would that be?”
“Making love to you.”
“Jim!”
“You asked. And tell me, Miss Belden, what would you rather be doing?”
“Having the picnic I planned for us today.”
“Why?”
Trixie sighed. “I wanted to be alone with you.”
“We are now, hon.”
“I know, but I wanted to tell you something that was very important.”
“And what was that?”
She looked into his eyes, and knew that she might never have an opportunity to tell him later.
“I wanted to tell you, that over the last year, even though I was really hurt, I have learnt to trust you again.”
“You don’t know how happy that makes me feel.”
“And I wanted to tell you at the picnic that I love you.”
He smiled. “You just did.”
“I know, but I wanted it to be so romantic, with some of Moms yummy food and a bottle of wine.”
“Oh,” He sighed. “What I wouldn’t give for some of your Moms famous cooking and a huge glass of wine or water or anything.”
Thunder crashed above them and Trixie jumped.
She looked up. "Please, rain,” she sighed.
“Trixie, I came home these holidays to talk to you, too.”
“Have you found someone else?” she asked him, dreading the answer.
“Trixie Belden, I wanted to tell you how much I love you and to ask you a question.”
She smiled at his words. What else could make her more happy?
“I love you, Trix,” he repeated. “Would you consent to becoming my wife?”
“Jim!”
“That is not the answer I expected. I know that a year ago I broke your heart, but over the last year I have watched you grow more lovely and more womanly. Not holding you in my arms has made me realize how much I want you there permanently. I know now that I cannot live without you in my life.”
“I love you, too, Jim, and I will marry you whenever and wherever you want.”
He leant towards her and kissed her gently. As he did Trixie heard a small creak. She moved away and looked up.
“Jim, the beam that is holding us up is cracked. Maybe if we use our combined weight, it may crack and we will be able to get free.”
“It could pull the whole roof onto our heads.”
“If Reanna comes back, will it matter?”
He shook his head. He looked up and then down at her. “Put your arms around me if you can, baby. It will save your wrists when we lift up our legs.”
“Jim?”
“Just do it, baby.”
Jim put down his head and she slipped her arms around his neck. As he stood up again her feet left the floor. He grunted and then, closing his eyes, he lifted his feet off the ground.
A loud crack was heard as Trixie heard Jim grunt in pain. Then suddenly she was falling with Jim on top of her. Trixie closed her eyes as huge pieces of wood fell down on them and as the heavens opened and the rain began.
After a few minutes there was silence except for the pitter-patter of rain. Trixie opened her eyes. She was pleased to hear Jim groan and move above her.
“Are you okay, baby?” she asked.
He nodded. “Just don’t ask me to move too much in a hurry.”
She moved and wiggled until she was out of the wood.
“My knife is in my back pocket, Trixie. Cut the ropes and get to the phone.”
Trixie did not look at Jim as she reached inside his pocket. In a couple of minutes, she had her ropes untied. She hurried over to her phone just as it began to ring.
“Hello!” she gasped.
“Oh Trix, thank God. I have been trying to ring you for hours. Where are you?”
“Brian, I am with Jim and he is hurt. Reanna tied us up and left us in the sun all day.”
Doctor Brian took over. “Tell me where you are, Trix, and we will be there as soon as we can.”
“Where Reddy ate the burger,” she choked. “But please, hurry, Reanna could return at any moment.”
“On our way.”
Trixie hurried over to Jim and she began to move as much of the wood off him as she could. When he was almost clear, he turned from his stomach to his back groaning loudly.
Trixie knelt beside him. “Are you okay?”
“I have been better. I think that I may have broken my left leg.”
“Jim, I am so sorry. You protected me and you got hurt.”
“As it should be, honey.”
He reached over and took her hand. “It will all be okay, baby. Brian will be here shortly and we can call the police. Hopefully, they can catch Re before she leaves.”
Trixie looked about her. “What if she comes back?”
“Maybe you need to head for home and bring Brian here?”
She shook her head. “I won’t leave you. I couldn’t live without you either."
It was there that Brian, Mart, and Dan found them ten minutes later. Mart lifted up his sister as Brian checked out Jim. Trixie heard horses' hooves and then her father, Mr. Wheeler, and Regan appeared.
Brian had brought his bag with him and Jim’s leg was soon strapped up for the journey back.
The rest of the wood was removed and the two fathers lifted Jim gently up. There was no other way back but to ride. Jim was lifted onto Jupiter and his father got up behind him. And gently they rode off. Trixie’s father helped up his daughter in front of him and Regan gave his horse to Brian.
“You are needed more than me, Brian,” he told him. “I can get back with the boys here.”
By the time the boys had arrived back there was already an ambulance at the Manor House. The police had also arrived. They took a quick statement from Jim as he was being loaded into the ambulance. Trixie was put in with him and they drove away, sirens screaming.
Sitting in her car, she observed the whole thing. She hit her hand hard on the steering wheel and swore. She then turned on her car and headed the opposite direction of the ambulance. She had someone to see. Someone who would understand what she was feeling. Someone who she knew would help her exact her final revenge.
“Well, are you going to help me or not?”
“I told you I was. But what do you want to do?”
She smiled. “I have a plan.”
“Is it foolproof?”
She laughed. “You can bank on it. This time there won’t be any mistakes. And we can both have our revenge.”
He laughed too. “It has been a long time coming.”
"Then let's get to work. We have a lot of planning to do.”
* * *
Trixie woke up and moved something she regretted instantly. She found that if she lay still the pain was bearable.
She turned her head when her door opened and a nurse walked in with a tray.
“Good morning, Trixie. How are you feeling this morning?”
“I ache.”
The nurse smiled as she put down the tray.
“I should think you would.”
“How is Jim?”
“He is fine. Doctor Belden is with him now. I have some breakfast here for you if you are hungry.”
“Starving, but I am not sure if I can pick up a spoon.”
“That's why I'm here. How about I help you eat breakfast?”
Trixie nodded. “I want to see Jim.”
“Once you have had breakfast, I can help you with a shower and then I can take you if you would like.”
“I don’t know if I could work a shower this morning. I ache too much.”
“When you came in last night, the nurses gave you a quick clean up, but you really could do with a shower. You don’t want Jim to see you like this, do you?”
“So I look that bad?”
The nurse again smiled. “Let’s just say that you will look a lot better once you are a lot cleaner.”
Trixie nodded.
Getting out of bed was one of the hardest things Trixie could remember doing in a long time. But the shower was oh so nice and she began to feel human again. The nurse helped her dress in a pair of deep blue satin pajamas that her mother had brought the night before. She even helped her with her unruly mass of hair.
“Feeling better?” the nurse asked as she helped her into a wheelchair.
“Much better. Thank you.”
“Now, how about I take you to see your man?”
“Oh yeah.”
When they arrived at Jim’s room, it was empty.
The nurse frowned. “I wonder where he is?”
They then heard noise coming from the bathroom and the nurse walked over and knocked on the door.
There was silence.
“Mr. Frayne, are you okay?”
“I am in here with him, Elly," Brian’s voice came out of the room.
“Well, Jim has a visitor so hurry up in there.”
Jim said something quietly and Brian laughed. “We will be out in a jiffy.”
Elly turned to Trixie and smiled.
“My friend Anna had Jim this morning. She came in to give him a bed bath and he flatly refused, much to her sorrow. Even the Matron coming in would not sway him. Obviously, he has enlisted Doctor Belden to help him.”
Trixie smiled. “Co-conspirators they are.”
“I will leave you now, but when you want to go back to your room just buzz and I will come and fetch you.”
“Thanks again for your help.”
“Anytime.”
As Trixie waited she thought about what had happened last night.
Her memory was a little fuzzy, but she remembered reaching the hospital and her parents being there. She vaguely remembered Jim taking her hand before she was taken one way and he the other. She remembered being examined and being taken to her room. But there her memory ended. She looked up at the drip that was attached to her arm. Elly had told her it was to rehydrate her and it would probably be removed sometime in the next couple of hours.
She looked up as the bathroom door opened and Jim came out, sitting on a bathing chair. He smiled when he saw her and she could see that his shower had exhausted him.
“Hi baby,” he told her as Brian stopped by the bed and helped him stand up. She saw the pain on his face as he sat and then laid on the bed.
Just then the Matron walked in. She walked over to the bed and put the sheets on him.
“Young man, you have inconvenienced my staff enough this morning. And Doctor Belden you should be ashamed of yourself.”
“Yes, Matron,” they both said quietly.
“You have nothing, Mr. Frayne, that I nor my staff have not seen before. I will not have my staff bothered by the likes of you. Understand?”
He nodded.
“Then I have said my piece. Doctor Johnson will be in shortly to see you.”
She then turned to go. But as she passed Trixie, she winked.
When she left Brian sighed.
“Never again, mate. Next time you are on your own.”
“Would it have been that bad for a nurse to help you this morning.\\? I had to have help too,” Trixie said.
“But what if the nurse had been a male?” He saw the slight blush on Trixie’s cheeks. “I rest my case. I am quite capable, with the help of my friend, to shower myself, broken leg and all.”
“I have to go,” Brian said. “I have rounds to do in a few minutes and Doctor Johnson is not as forgiving as Matron is.”
“Thanks, man," Jim told him.
Brian took his hand for a moment. “You are welcome.” Brian walked by and kissed his sister. “You okay, sis?”
“Sore, but I am fine.”
“Good. Then I will leave you two together for a few minutes. Both parents should be here shortly.”
He pushed Trixie up to the bed and then left.
“Hi, baby.” Jim smiled down at her. “Are you sure you are okay?”
“I think that you got the worst of it.”
He smiled. “My arms feel like they could drop off at any moment and my leg aches, but apart from that I am fine.”
“What about your head?” she asked, looking up at the plaster on his head.
“Reanna hit me with a piece of wood when we got to the barn.”
“Why did you go with her?”
“She had a gun. I considered trying to take it away from her, but she told me she already had you and if I didn’t go with her, you would die. She took me to the barn and made me stand in the middle of the room. She then walked behind me and the next thing I knew I was tied up.”
“How did she get you up there?”
“She had some kind of winch. When she hit you on the head I was only partly conscious, but I heard a noise of a motor.”
“When I saw you I thought that I had lost you or I was going to.” She sighed. She reached up her hand gingerly onto the bed and he covered it with his own.
“When I was standing there in the sun I knew that if I didn’t get water I would die. But I was determined I wasn’t going to. I held on to your love and I am sure that it sustained me. When you were suddenly there giving me water I wanted you to stay, but I wanted you to go.”
“All my detective instincts flew out of the window when I saw you. I knew that she had to be around, but I didn’t care. And I always want you to hold on to my love. Because I will always hold on to yours.”
“If I had a little more energy, I would pull you into my arms and kiss you until you can hardly move.”
She grinned. “If I had energy, I would let you.”
It was then that everyone chose to descend on them. All the Bob-Whites, the Wheelers, and the Beldens arrived at once.
“I am glad to see that you are both looking better," Honey told them as she gently hugged them both.
Jim looked down and smiled at Trixie.
“I am more than better.” He grinned at everyone in the room. "I am going to be a married man in the not too distant future.”
Everyone gasped in the room and all eyes focused on Trixie.
Jim watched her face. “Well, I thought I was. Trixie, don’t you have anything to say?”
She looked up at him. “I don’t think...” She then stopped. She watched the look on Jim’s face and smiled. “I don’t think our family have congratulated us yet.”
He frowned at her and then grinned. “Trixie Belden, you are going to get it when I am able to move.”
"I hope so.” She grinned back as the room erupted into laughter, tears and congratulations.
* * *
“I know that you are not too keen on Jim and me marrying while I am still at college Moms, but I know it will work.”
“I know you do, honey. And I know that you are changing colleges so you can be together, and I know that you already have permission to have a married quarters but...” she trailed off and Trixie gave her a hug.
“Moms, we have been through so much together. I just want to be together as man and wife.”
“I know you do and I will stop worrying. But you have grown up too fast and both your father and myself are finding it difficult to let you go.”
“Moms, we will be living at Ten Acres when it is rebuilt. I will be almost as close as I am now.”
“Well, with Brian and Honey already engaged and Mart following in your footsteps, we are going to have three weddings in the near future.”
Trixie smiled. “Moms, I wanted to talk to you about that. Honey and Di and I...”
She didn’t finish as the phone began to ring.
“I’ll get it,” said Trixie. “Hello?”
“Trixie, is that you?”
“Who is this?”
“This is Melanie Jones.”
“Oh, hello, Melanie. Is there something that Dad wants?”
“Mr. Belden wants you and your mother to come to the bank immediately.”
“Why?”
“Please, Trixie, just come. And don’t let anyone else know you are coming.”
“But--" Trixie said to a dead phone.
She walked back into the kitchen.
“Who was that?” Moms asked.
“It was dad’s secretary, Melanie. She said Dad wants the two of us to go straight to the bank and not tell anyone where we are.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. But she seemed very edgy.”
“Then we had better go.”
Trixie felt that something was wrong. She had a feeling that she was being watched. She looked on the table and saw a safety deposit slip sitting there. She slid her engagement ring off her finger and put it on top of the paper, hoping someone would understand. Then she followed her mother out the door.
Trixie searched in her bag as they neared the bank.
“What’s wrong, honey?”
“I left my cell phone in my room. I know that Melanie told me not to call anyone, but I really feel uneasy about all of it.”
“Melanie has been your father’s secretary for years now and he has total trust in her. Maybe your father has planned a surprise for us.”
Trixie nodded, but the old gut instinct she was feeling at the moment told her otherwise.
As they entered the bank Trixie could see Melanie serving an old woman. She waved to her and Melanie nodded. She seemed distracted so they continued to the offices. The door of her father’s office was slightly ajar and Moms opened the door and walked in. Mr. Belden sat at his desk and Trixie instantly saw the fear on his face. As they both hurried over, the door slammed shut. Trixie and her mother turned and a man stood in front of the door.
“Well, hello, gorgeous. Long time no see.”
“What are you doing here?”Mrs. Belden gasped.
“I told you I would be back.”
“What do you want?”
“Revenge, money.” He smiled. “Oh, I don’t know. What are you offering?”
Suddenly Trixie understood. And all of her gut instincts had again been proved correct. She took a step forward and looked the man up and down.
“So you are Danny, I presume?” she said.
His laughter echoed around the room.
“I heard that you were a good little detective, Trixie. So your mother told you about me?”
“Only a little. And what she told me was not good.”
“How remiss of her. Helen and I shared many wonderful moments. She can’t have forgotten them.”
“Danny, why are you here and what has this got to do with my daughter?”
“Ah, all will be revealed shortly. But for the moment I want to tell you about my life. I have spent most of the last twenty years in and out of the slammer. If you had given me a chance, I am sure that you could have changed me.”
“I caught you with Amanda in your swimming pool. What was I to do, join you?”
He laughed again. “The prissy Miss Helen doing anything wild. I think not. But then look whom you ended up with.” He turned to Trixie’s dad. “Hey Pete, did you ever imagine that I would come back into your life like this?”
“I came to see you in prison to try and make peace. We had been friends for a long time and I didn’t want us to end our friendship on bad feelings.”
“Bad feelings,” he almost spat it out. “How do you think I would feel? You took my girl away from me!”
“I never took her away, Danny, you pushed her away.”
Danny waved the gun he was holding towards Peter. “You want that I should show your lovely wife and daughter what a bullet at close range can do to a man's skull?”
Both men eyed each other off unwavering. Then Danny turned to Trixie.
“And you, my dear, I have a little surprise for you. It is the reason that you are here. I have someone that wanted you in on the deal.”
Someone knocked at the door and Danny smiled as he opened it. The older woman who had been at the teller walked slowly in.
“Is Mrs. Jones all tied up nice and tight?”
The woman nodded.
“Then how about you show yourselves to these nice country people.”
As the old woman slid her hands up to her hair, Danny smiled.
“Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Belden, I would like to introduce you to my lovely daughter.”
Trixie gasped at the woman in front of her.
“REANNA!”
Jim walked up the steps of Crabapple Farm. His limp was only slightly noticeable and he only leant slightly on his cane. Walking into the kitchen he turned to Brian and grinned.
“If feels so good to have that cast off. I thought I would never get the okay to have it removed.”
Brian headed for the refrigerator. He took out some juice and grabbed two glasses.
“It was a pretty bad break, Jim. It took a little longer to mend than we thought.”
Jim sat down at the table and Brian joined him.
He smiled his thanks as he took a long drink from the glass. He then put it down and then looked around.
“I thought Trixie would be here to find out how I did?”
Brian frowned. “So did I. I noticed Moms car wasn’t here. Maybe they went to do a little shopping or something.”
Jim pulled out his cell phone. “I’ll just ring her and find out where they are.”
When he rang, he could hear her phone ringing. The familiar tune of the Muppet Show wafted down the stairs.
Brian stood up. “Maybe she is upstairs. I will go and check.”
A couple of minutes later he reappeared with her phone in his hand.
It was Jim’s turn to frown. “That’s weird. She is usually so careful about taking it with her.” It was then that he noticed the ring on the table. He picked it up and stared at it for a moment. “Now, that is weirder. I have not seen her without the ring since I placed it on her finger.”
Brian picked up the paper the ring had been laid on. “This is from the bank. I get the feeling that something is not right here.”
Jim stood up. “Then I think that we should head for the bank and find out.”
“I am going to ring the other’s first.” Brian told him. “Just in case we are wrong.”
But a few minutes later they were hurrying out the door. No one knew where they were.
They were shocked when they came to the bank and found police there.
As soon as they stopped Jim hurried out as fast as he could. Spider was waiting nearby.
“What is going on?” Brian demanded.
“I am sorry to tell you this Brian, but your mother, sister and father are in there and they are being held hostage.”
“WHAT!”
Jim headed towards the bank and Spider stopped him.
“Jim, you can’t go in there.”
“They have Trixie.”
“I know, mate, but we are doing everything we can.”
“What do they want?” Brian’s voice was hardly more than a whisper.
Spider shrugged.
“Then how do you know they are in there?”
“The police station got a call from some man, who told us that he has Mr. and Mrs. Belden and their daughter, and if anyone tries to break in they will die. And about twenty minutes ago we heard what sounded like a gunshot.”
Jim felt like he was going to collapse. Brian’s arm around his shoulders steadied him.
“So now what?”
Spider looked at both of them and sighed.
“We wait.”
He then left them to go back to his men. It was only a few minutes later that the other Bob-Whites arrived.
The next ten minutes passed slowly for them all. Honey, her arms around her brother and fiancée, tried her hardest not to cry. Di held on to Mart and he held her back, needing her comfort. Dan spent his time moving between the police and his friends, giving them what updates he could. Jim was hardly conscious of anyone else around him. Even though the streets were now packed with nosy onlookers he saw no one but the bank in front of him.
“Why didn’t they call us sooner?” he asked.
“Because they tried to call Brian at the hospital, but you had already left. They then called the house, but no one was there. By the time they finally reached Mart he was already on his way.” Dan told him.
“If they want money, I can get whatever they want.”
“They haven’t made any demands as yet. The negotiator for the police has talked to the man but so far he just laughs and says that he is doing it for payback and to make his daughter happy.”
“Who is it?”
“All we know is that his name is Danny. Do you know that name?”
Brian and Jim both shook their heads.
They were shocked a minute later when another shot rang out. The scream that came from inside the bank was definitely Trixie’s.
The police ran towards the bank and the Bob-Whites followed as another shot rang out from inside and another blood curdling scream stopped them in their tracks.
One hour earlier
“Yes, my name is Danny and I have little Miss Belden and her lovely parents here. So if anyone tries to join us I will personally speak at their funerals. Got it.”
He then laughed and then put down the phone.
Turning he smiled. “Now we won’t be disturbed.”
“What is the purpose of this, Danny?” Peter Belden asked.
“That will all become clear in time, Petey boy. I have waited for such a long time to have the advantage over you and now I want to savour it. Both men stared at each other for timeless moments before Danny looked away.
Moms put her arm around Trixie and smiled. “It will be okay, honey.”
Trixie nodded. She noticed that Reanna watched them together and felt suddenly sorry for her.
Moms must have noticed, too.
“I am sorry about your mum, Reanna. She was a lovely woman.”
Reanna shrugged. “I guess so.”
“Jim liked her.”
Reanna's head shot up. “Of course he did. Jim likes everyone except me.”
“Jim doesn’t hate you,” Trixie told her. “He doesn’t understand why you became so bitter and angry. The girl he remembers smiled most of the time and was lots of fun.”
“I haven’t had much to smile about over the last couple of years. When Mum left it was hard to stay on the farm and Dad gave me a way out.”
“What about your stepdad and brothers?”
Reanna was quiet for a while. “They did not want me to go but I know that they were just feeling sorry for me.”
“But they lost a wife and mother, too. And then to lose you as well must have been really hard”
Reanna searched Moms' face for a while. “Why do you act like you care? Are you so afraid of dying that you will pretend to be nice to me to try to prevent it?”
Reanna was surprised by the hurt look on Moms' face.
“My mother would never pretend to be nice to someone even if it meant her life. Are you so cold-hearted that you can’t see real compassion when it is staring you in the face.”
Reanna stood up. “You don’t know me at al, do you, Belden? I am a mean, heartless woman who is only out to seek revenge on you for taking my man off me.”
“Well, I am sorry if I don’t see that. I have always had a perfect life. I have two wonderful parents and three terrific brothers.” She smiled slightly. “Well, most of the time. But you have had such a hard life and I can understand why you are so bitter. But it is not too late to change the person you are. I know that we could get you help if you really wanted it.”
“Who said I did?”
When she walked away Moms again hugged her daughter. “It warms my heart to see that you care about someone who has put you through so much.”
“Watching how she watched us made me realise how much she has lost and how much she risks losing now. Her father's influence on her has been really bad.”
Her mother nodded. “Danny was a rough nut, but once, a long time ago, he was actually nice.
They then became aware of male voices raised.
“Petey boy, you think that those policemen out there will just pat me on the head and say see ya later?”
“We can call it a misunderstanding, Danny. So far nothing bad has happened. We can all just walk out of here right now and sort it all out.”
Danny laughed. “You think that I am that stupid. And for nothing bad happening shall I show you what bad is.”
The shot of a bullet was loud in the small office and Trixie stifled a scream as she saw her father flung off his chair.
“Daddy, what did you do?”
Peter Belden, helped by his wife, sat back on his chair.
“Aw girly, I just winged him. He wanted proof I meant business and I gave him proof.”
Peter always had a spare shirt in his office and Helen was quickly tearing it to make a bandage for the injury on his left arm. She could tell by looking that the bullet had only grazed his shoulder but it still bled quite profusely. It took a while for the bleeding to stop. She then bandaged it and then turned to Danny.
“Enough is enough, Danny. The police can now call it attempted murder. Give yourself up before it becomes any worse. Think of your daughter.”
He laughed. “My daughter is as lily-livered as her mother. She certainly didn’t inherit that from me. I always wished she had been a boy. Then he could have at least helped me in my business.”
“You robbed banks. What kind of business is that?”
“A very lucrative one I can tell you.”
Moms and Trixie could see the hurt in Reanna's face. But her pain was soon masked by anger.
“I am sorry that I turned out to be a disappointment, Dad. I never knew you felt that way.”
“Aw kid, stop being such a crybaby. You are in this as deep as me. Remember what you did to Frayne and his girl and remember you came to me.”
With that Reanna became silent. She went and sat back down.
Danny smiled. “More like it, girl. Women should know their place.”
“No wonder Reanna is so confused with a psychopathic father like you.”
Any other words Trixie could say was stopped as he moved forward and slapped her soundly across the mouth. “I said women should know their place. And, girly, that included you.”
Peter Belden moved to rise and Danny pointed the gun at his wife.
“Move, Belden, and you will instantly become a widower.”
Trixie moved and sat down and her mother sat beside her, giving her a piece of her father’s shirt to wipe the blood from her mouth.
She sat there for a while longer and then like a caged animal began to move around the room.
“Sit.”
“I have had enough of this. I can’t sit a moment longer.”
Danny stood up and turned the gun towards her. “Sit.”
“Dad, no.”
“Keep out of this, girl.”
“No! I can’t do this anymore. This is wrong.”
“I said sit, girl, or the gun might go off sooner than expected.”
“Dad, please. Mum always told me that you were once a decent person. Why can’t that decent person let these people go? They didn’t do anything wrong. We did.”
Danny looked at her angrily. “He took away the only thing that ever mattered to me. And his daughter took away the only thing that mattered to you. They need to pay.”
“It was my fault that I lost Jim and, by what I have seen today, your fault that you lost Mrs Belden.”
“I will show you what revenge is, girl.”
As the gun pointed towards Trixie went off, Reanna jumped in front of her. Trixie screamed.
Trixie grabbed Reanna as she fell and lowered her gently to the floor.
“You murderer!” Trixie shouted.
Danny stared at his daughter as realisation hit him.
Trixie could not stop him as he put the gun to his own head and fired.
The bloodcurdling scream that came from her mouth was mirrored by her mother, as blood sprayed around the room as Danny fell to the ground
Spider put up his hand.
“Stop there, guys. It is too dangerous.”
“Trix is in there!” Jim yelled.
Spider nodded as he put his hand on his arm. “I know, mate. I will bring her out, I promise.”
The Bob-Whites stood together as the police made their move.
“Be okay, baby,” Jim sighed.
Trixie opened her eyes and looked at the man laid in front of her. The horror of what happened caused her to begin to shake. Her parents were behind her instantly and then her father was pinning them down to the ground as the police stormed the building.
Spider was the first one in the room and looked around him in shock. A man lay dead, a bullet had splattered his brains around the room. A girl lay on the floor, blood pouring from a wound on her chest. And the Beldens huddled into a ball.
Peter Belden looked up and Spider saw the wound on his shoulder.
“Thank God,” Peter Belden sighed when he recognized who was in the room.
Jim’s leg was aching, but he didn’t care. Even though only a couple of minutes had passed, to Jim, it seemed like a lifetime. When the ambulance men ran in with a couple of stretchers, he couldn’t wait any longer. He hurried over as quickly as he could move, the rest following behind him.
A policeman stopped them at the door.
“Let me in or I will knock you down," Jim growled.
“Let Jim and Brian in!” Spider called from the door. As they walked towards him he stopped them. “It isn’t pretty in there, guys. But Trixie and your parents need you.”
Jim walked hurriedly into the room. He saw Reanna being placed on a stretcher, and then he saw the face of the man that caused it all before it was covered over with a sheet. But his eyes moved quickly passed them to find her.
She was sitting on a seat with a policewoman beside her. She had a blanket draped over her shoulders and Jim could see her body shaking. He could also see blood on her face and on the front of her tee-shirt. He hurried over to her. The moment she saw him she jumped up and flung herself into his arms. His leg gave way and they collapsed onto the floor. He pulled her closer into his arms.
“I am here, baby, and you are safe.”
“Jim, I was so scared. He hurt Daddy and then he was going to--” A sob tore from her throat as Brian knelt beside them.
“Trix, I want you to go to the hospital now. We want to check you out.”
“Daddy?”
“He is fine, sis. He and Moms are on the way to the hospital. We need to take you now.”
“Jim.”
“I am not going anywhere, baby.”
She nodded.
Spider helped Jim to stand as Brian carefully and gently picked up his sister into his arms and laid her onto the stretcher. She instantly reached out and Jim took her hand. She was wrapped up well and then the stretcher headed for the ambulance outside. The other Bob-Whites, knowing she was okay, were already on the way to the hospital.
Inside the ambulance something was put into her arm and a few minutes later the world around her became shadows and the voices dimmed. But she could still feel Jim’s hand holding hers and his love warmed her chilled body.
When she awoke it was the next morning. From the window she could see rain pouring outside. She looked around the room. Laid on a chair beside her, his injured leg on a stool, Jim slept.
Trixie sat up and then gingerly swung her legs out of the bed.
Jim instantly awoke. “Trixie, are you okay?”
She nodded. “I need the bathroom.”
He stood up and walked slowly over to her. He helped her stand and took her arm as she walked towards the bathroom.
“There are some fresh clothes in there if you want to have a shower.”
She nodded. “Don’t leave me.”
“I will just be outside the door, I promise.”
Her body washed clean and wearing a new pair of pajamas, she walked out of the room. Jim was waiting like he had promised. She moved into his arms and he held her gently.
“I thought I would never see you again,” she whispered. “There was so much I wanted to say to you and I thought that I might not be able to tell you.”
He led her back to the bed and then sat on the chair beside her.
“Then tell me now.”
“I was thinking about when we went to Australia and you first mentioned Reanna and what has happened since then. I remember the first time we kissed like it was yesterday and the day we lost Reddy.” She sighed and he gently squeezed her hand. “I remember Reanna coming and all the hurt that was caused. And then when she tied us up and threatened to burn the barn down. And when you told me you loved me and wanted to marry me.”
“I hurt you so much, baby.”
“Since the first day I saw you, I think I was falling in love with you," she told him. “You became such an important part of my life, I couldn’t imagine my life without you. When I was sitting in that room and I saw Daddy get shot, I just wanted time to tell you how much I loved you and how much joy you have brought into my life. For awhile I lost my trust in you, but I never lost my love for you. I wanted you to know that. You have always been and always will be the only man I will ever love.”
Jim stood up and sat beside her on the bed.
“Oh baby, I just wish I had never hurt you. I just wish Reanna had stayed on the farm. But you have shown me over the years what a wonderful and loving person you are and how much you have forgiven me. I am so glad that you trust me again. It was on of the hardest years I had ever gone through. Knowing I could have lost you tore at me more than losing both my parents. I want you by my side now and always. I don’t want to spend another day without you in my arms. I cannot live without you, my Trixie.”
She lay her head against his chest and he held her tightly.
Two weeks later
She stood over the grave and sighed. It had been such a terrible waste and she knew that the hurt would never really go away.
Arms around her warmed her heart and she lay against him.
“You okay, baby?”
She nodded. “I just wanted to say goodbye before we left.”
She felt him nod.
“Did you ring?”
“I spoke to him this morning. Apparently, she is doing better, but it will be a while before she is released. The physical scars are healing, but the emotional ones aren’t.”
“So what will happen to her?”
“She still has to answer charges, but the lawyer Dad got for her says that she should get a suspended sentence if she agrees to seeing a psychologist on a regular basis. Her stepdad wants her home again and she wants to go.”
“Do you think she will be okay?”
She again felt him nod.
“Now that her real father is gone, she should be able to move away from her. But it will be a long journey.”
She turned into his arms.
“We have to go, sweetie. If we don’t head off soon, we won’t get there before dark.”
She nodded as she took his hand.
She looked back at the gravestone as Arty ran through the woods and disappeared again.
Trixie laughed. “Well, Reddy, old boy, like father, like son.”
James Frayne and Trixie Belden Frayne walked away to face a new day together. Because together is the only way either one would have it.
The End
A huge thank you to Niki for all your help, especially helping me with my Reanna hassles. You are wonderful. Thank you all for reading my story and to Random house, I receive no remuneration only gratitude for the one who gave birth to Trixie and the other Bob-Whites.
edited by Niki