High Meadow

by Joan Wolf

  When Kate was under great stress, her response had always been to retreat into herself. Yet the feel of Daniel's arms, the warmth of Daniel's presence, was a comfort.

  She knew that he was as distraught as she was, that his loss would be almost as great as hers, and it helped to have him close.

  The sun rose, and the second day of waiting began.

  * * *

  28

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  When the grandfatherly-looking man had asked Ben and Todd if they wanted to use his pool basketball hoop, the boys had said, "Cool." When the man said his unit was on the other side of the resort and they'd have to go in his car to get it, the boys had thoughtlessly hopped in the car. It wasn't until the car had left the grounds of the resort that it occurred to Ben that he had done the very thing he had always promised his mother he would never do: He had gotten into a car with a stranger.

  "Hey!" he called. "Mister! You told us you were taking us to your room."

  "I will, boys, I will. I just need to make a little side trip first."

  "We can't make any side trips. Our parents will be looking for us."

  'Just sit tight, sonny, and everything will be okay."

  Todd said loudly, "Take us home!"

  "I will, I will. I just want to get a few pictures of you first."

  By then Ben was really scared. "Stop the car," he said.

  "I'll stop soon," and the man kept on driving.

  In the backseat, Ben and Todd looked at each other out of frightened eyes. "We're being kidnapped," Ben said in a low voice.

  "I'm scared," Todd said.

  "I'll open the window and yell," Ben said, and put his hand on the window button. He pressed, but nothing happened. The windows had been locked from the front.

  "Maybe we should jump out," Todd said.

  But the door was locked as well.

  "Let us go, or we'll tell the police on you," Ben said.

  "No one's going to hurt you, boys, so just settle down back mere."

  Ben sat in tense silence, thinking. At last he whispered to Todd, "When he slows down for a light, let's both of us jump on him."

  Todd nodded, but the car suddenly swerved into the front parking lot of a Holiday Inn. A man who had been standing there jumped into the front seat. It all happened so fast that Ben and Todd didn't have time to react. The car was driving off before they thought to do anything.

  The new man was younger than the driver, and he looked like a disgruntled vulture. "Good. You've got them."

  Ben felt his heart sink. It would be hard to jump the driver with this second man in the car. "Where are you taking us?" he demanded. "What do you want?"

  "Relax, kid," the vulture said. "No one's going to hurt you."

  Ben and Todd sat side by side, their shoulders touching for comfort.

  "They're gorgeous," the vulture said to the driver. "One blond and one dark. Perfect."

  "What are you going to do with us?" Todd asked in a quavering voice.

  "I told you, we're not going to hurt you. We're just going to take some pictures of you, then we'll take you home. There's nothing to be scared about. Just cooperate, and you won't get hurt." He turned to give them an evil stare. "I've got a gun in my pocket. Don't make me use it."

  Todd shrank even closer to Ben.

  These are very bad men, Ben thought. I have to pay attention to where we're going so I can tell Daddy.

  So it was when the car finally pulled off the highway, Ben noted the number and street name on the exit sign.

  "When they let us get out of the car, let's make a run for it," Ben whispered to Todd. Todd nodded.

  The car pulled up in front of a large warehouse-style building. There was no one in sight. "All right," the vulture said, "we get out here."

  Ben got out of the car first and, as the vulture grabbed his arm, he bent his head and bit him.

  "Ahhhh . . ." the vulture cried. "The little bastard's bitten me."

  In the split second that the man's grip had loosened, Ben broke away and began to run down the street. The man was after him in a flash, overtaking him with his longer stride, and jerking his arm behind his back as he returned up the street.

  "We've got a fiery one, eh?" the grandfatherly-looking man said. "If that translates to the movie screen, we'll have a real winner."

  With both boys under firm control, they marched them into the building. The door opened on a cavernous, almost-empty room with high windows and plywood flooring. In one corner were pushed together a bed, a sofa, and a bathtub. Another corner held an assortment of lights on stands. The room also contained what looked like a very large dog crate, about five feet high and five feet in diameter. The two boys were pushed into the crate, and the door was locked behind them.

  "There's a bucket in there if you have to pee," the vulture said. "And there are two bottles of water and some power bars in there also. We'll see you tomorrow."

  "Tomorrow?" Todd said in a panicky voice. "You can't leave us here until tomorrow!"

  The grandfatherly man said, "Don't worry none, sonny. You just do what we want you to do in front of the camera, and you'll be back with your families in no time."

  The men went out and the warehouse door closed behind them. Todd started to cry.

  Ben said, "We have to get out of here, Todd. These men are going to make us do something bad."

  "How are we supposed to get out? They've locked us in a cage!"

  "I don't know," Ben said. He felt like crying, too. He said, "We won't do what they want us to do, and maybe then they'll give up and let us go."

  The day dragged on. Their captors had thoughtfully provided them with two soiled-looking sleeping bags, which the boys sat on. Solemnly they recited the Lord's Prayer and asked God to help them. Then, when it grew dark and the light ceased to come in through the windows, they crawled into the sleeping bags and tried to sleep. Ben prayed some more.

  The sun had been up two hours when the big doors to the building crashed open and five men, all holding guns, came in in a rush.

  "Jesus Christ," one of them said when he saw the boys in the cage.

  Ben and Todd pressed against each other.

  "Is anyone here besides you?" one of the other men demanded.

  "No," Ben managed to say. "They went away yesterday and left us alone. Who are you?"

  "It's all right, kid," the man said. "You're safe now. We're the police."

  It was an hour later when the parents of both boys showed up at the police station.

  "Mommy!" Ben cried, and ran straight into her arms, wrapping his own arms around her waist and pressing his face into her breast. "Some bad men kidnapped me, Mommy. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got in the car with them."

  "I could murder you," Kate said, holding him so tightly that he could scarcely breathe. "Do you know what you've put us through?"

  "I'm sorry. I was so scared. But I prayed, and the police came."

  "Oh God. Oh Ben. I am so glad to have you back."

  Daniel said, "We've been praying too, son."

  "Daddy!"

  "Give me a hug," Daniel said huskily, and Ben went into his arms.

  The Robbins family was going through a similar reunion scene and when both families had calmed down, an officer in plain clothes said, "We need to get a statement from each of the boys. You can be present when we do it."

  They took the two boys separately, and Ben and Kate and Daniel went into a small room that held a table, four chairs, and a tape recorder. Ben said anxiously, "I'm sorry I got in the car with that man, but he looked nice. He was old. I didn't mean to do anything wrong."

  "You didn't do anything wrong, Ben," the policeman, whose name was Brown, assured him. "It's the men who took you who did something wrong. We need you to tell us all about them so we can catch them."

  "Ben will be happy to cooperate, Officer," Daniel said.

  Kate said, "Has Ben eaten anything this morning?"

  "The policemen bought us donuts, Mommy."r />
  The detective said, "Begin from the time you got into the car, Ben."

  "The man said he had a pool basketball game that Todd and me could play with. That's why we got into the car, to go and get it. But when he drove outside the resort, we got scared. But he wouldn't stop to let us out. We tried to open the windows and the doors, but they were locked. Then the other man got into the car and told us he had a gun."

  "Would you know these men if you saw them again, Ben?"

  "Yes."

  "Good. Then what happened?"

  "They took us into the building and put us into that cage. They said they would be back in the morning to take pictures of us and after they did that we could go home."

  Kate interrupted, "You were in a cage?"

  "Yes."

  "My God."

  "The night was very long," Ben said. "I prayed and prayed that God would help us. Then, in the morning, the policemen came."

  A tall man in a blue blazer came into the room and the policeman with them shut the tape recorder off. "I'm Lieutenant Tiffany," the new man said. "We picked up the two men who kidnapped the boys. Does Ben think he would recognize them?"

  "Ben," Detective Brown said gravely, "would you be able to pick those men out if they were shown to you with a group of other men?"

  "Sure."

  "Good," said Lieutenant Tiffany. "I'll arrange for the lineup then."

  "I gather that this was a pornography ring," Daniel said.

  "Yes. They produce videos of children engaging in sexual activity and market them for big bucks. We've been on their trail for a while, and this morning we staged a raid on the warehouse where we'd been told they shoot the films. It was just luck that we happened to find your boys."

  "I think it was God," Ben said.

  Kate said softly, "I think it was, too."

  They had to wait while the lineups were being arranged, then Todd went first to view them. Ben seemed to have recovered some of his old confidence now that he realized he wasn't in trouble with the law for what he had done. When it was his turn to look at the lineups, he picked the two men out instantly.

  "Those are the guys Todd picked, too," Lieutenant Tiffany told them. "Good job, Ben."

  Finally, they were free to return to the resort. Once they were inside their unit, Kate said to Ben, "Never ever do anything like that again."

  He hung his head. "I won't, Mommy."

  "I can't believe you got in that car!"

  "He was an old man, Mommy. I didn't think he was bad."

  Daniel said, "I don't think there's any point in dwelling on this any more than we have to. I'm sure that Ben has learned his lesson."

  "I'm sorry, Mommy. I'm sorry I scared you."

  Kate hugged him. "Thank God you're safe." She let him go and sniffled. "Let's have some lunch."

  "Good idea," Daniel said. "Particularly since we didn't have any breakfast."

  "I can make us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."

  "Sounds good to me. Unless you'd like to go out?"

  Kate shook her head vehemently. "I want to stay right here."

  "Okay, then peanut butter and jelly it is."

  They sat around the table, eating their sandwiches, and Ben said, "Why did those men want to take pictures of us?"

  Kate and Daniel exchanged a look.

  You tell him, Kate thought.

  Daniel said, "They wanted to take videos of you with your clothes off. Then they would sell the videos to bad people who like to look at naked children."

  "They were going to make us take our clothes off?"

  "Yes."

  "Yuck."

  "Precisely."

  "Why would anyone want to look at videos of naked children?"

  "Some people are just sick, Ben. It's hard to explain."

  "I knew those men wanted us to do something bad. They were happy that Todd was blond and I was dark."

  "God," Kate said.

  Daniel looked at her. "We were very lucky."

  "Yes, we were."

  "Are the police going to put those men in jail?"

  "They'd better," Kate said.

  Ben said with concern, "If they don't, they might kidnap more boys."

  Daniel said, "I'm sure they'll put them in jail, Ben. And your being able to pick them out of the lineup will be a big part of their evidence. You went through a frightening ordeal, but the good thing is that you will have helped to put two very bad men in jail."

  Once lunch was over, Daniel said to Kate, "Why don't you take a nap? You didn't get any sleep last night, and you must be exhausted. I'll keep Ben under my eagle eye, I promise."

  "You didn't get any sleep, either."

  "I'm used to it. Sometimes our flights don't get into places until three or four in the morning. I'll be fine, and Ben will be fine. Take a nap."

  "Nana takes naps, but Mommy doesn't," Ben said.

  "Well she's going to take a nap today."

  Kate looked at Ben, then she looked at Daniel. "I feel as if someone has just hit me over the head with a sledgehammer, but I don't think I could sleep."

  "Then lie down and rest. Ben and I will go down to the pool, and I won't let him out of my sight."

  Her great light eyes searched his face. "All right," she said at last. "I'll rest."

  "Good girl."

  "Will you swim with me, Daddy?"

  "Sure thing. Let's go and get our bathing suits on."

  When Kate finally lay down her brain was filled with frightening images of Ben in a cage. She was afraid to think of what might have happened if the police hadn't arrived.

  Thank you, God, for saving him. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

  She didn't think she would be able to sleep, but sheer exhaustion eventually took over and she did.

  They went out to a restaurant for dinner. "I never got to the Animal Kingdom," Ben said sorrowfully. "Or to MGM."

  "We'll come back again someday," Daniel said.

  "We will? Promise?"

  "I promise." Daniel looked at Kate. "It was a random kidnapping, Kata. Those men never knew he was my son."

  She nodded. "To think that I was afraid to send him to Colombia, and this happens—at Disney World!"

  "When we get home, I think Ben should get some counseling," Daniel said. "I was almost kidnapped once, and it's an experience that stays with you." He looked at Ben. "I still get nightmares about it once in a while."

  "You were almost kidnapped, Daddy?"

  "Yes. I was much older than you, though, and I was able to get free and run away before they could get me in the car."

  "How old were you?" Kate asked.

  "Nineteen. It was during the war against Pablo Escobar, when he was kidnapping people to force the Assembly to vote against extradition to the United States. As I said, I got away. But the experience stayed with me, which is why I think Ben should get counseling."

  "What is counseling?" Ben asked.

  "You just talk to a doctor about what happened and the doctor makes you feel better about it."

  "Did you go for counseling, Daddy?"

  "No, but I wish I had."

  "Okay, I'll go."

  Kate said, "We'll have to pack when we get home. Our flight leaves at ten in the morning and we have to be there two hours in advance."

  They put Ben to bed at eight o'clock, then Daniel returned with Kate to the living room. She looked at him and said, "They almost made a pornographic video of him, Daniel."

  He reached out and drew her close. "I know. I know. God was very good to us." He could feel her trembling and held her closer. "He will be all right, Kata. But I do think we should get him some counseling."

  "I think that's a good idea." She rested her cheek against his shoulder. "It's always been my greatest fear— losing Ben. And then it happened."

  "It happened, and no permanent harm has been done." His hand came up to caress her hair. "You can relax now. Ben is safe."

  "I'll bet he won't ever sneak out on us again."

/>   He loved the feel of her hair under his fingers. He curved his fingers around the nape of her neck. It was so tender and vulnerable, her nape. He loved it.

  She said, "Thank God you were with me. If I'd had to go through that alone . . . well, I don't know how I would have done it."

  He slid his hand along the line of her jaw to her chin and tilted her head up. Then he kissed her.

  Her mouth opened for him as soon as he asked, yielding, responding, telling him without words that whatever he wanted of her he could have.

  "Kata. Love." His voice was almost a croak, and his mouth moved over her face, kissing her eyelids, her cheeks, then coming back once again to her mouth. She was arched up against him, her slender body taut and trembling. He slid a hand beneath her white shirt and touched her breast. He felt her nipple stand up hard against the palm of his hand, and he groaned.

  He tried to regain his self-control, but it was fast slipping away. She leaned back from him a little and gazed up into his face. Her eyes were purely aquamarine, her mouth was a little swollen from his kisses. He put his hand on her arm, pulled her off the sofa, and led her upstairs to his bedroom.

  The feel of her under him was exquisite. He kissed her again and again and her body arched to the demanding urgency of his.

  All he wanted was to have her. But he had to be careful. He had to be gentle. This was Kata, who had given him her virginity. He couldn't hurt her.

  But he could feel the passion ignite in her. He took her nipple into his mouth, and she cried out. Her eyes were closed. "Kata?" he panted.

  She opened herself to take him in even as she held on to him tightly. The last time he had made sure she had an orgasm before he entered, but this time he couldn't wait. He drove in, deep into the heart of her, and her heat and her moisture welcomed him. He drove her up the bed and she took him even deeper, as if the joining of their bodies could heal the suffering of these last two days.

  After, she lay nestled quietly in his arms, and he felt his heart would break with love for her. She was his. She had never been anyone else's. He held her close against him, and he knew the course of his life had somehow changed. Nothing would ever be the same now that he had held Kata in his arms.