Golden Bird

"So what do you think, Tom?" asked Edward.

"Can't really say. No sign of skid marks. No flat tire." The sheriff rubbed his chin and yelled over to his deputy, "Hey Stevens, she run out of gas?"

"No sir," answered the young man, "and the keys are still in the ignition."

"Her pocketbook is right here on the seat, and there are two bags of groceries in the back seat." added Joey.

"It's a puzzle." said Sheriff Tom Parker, shaking his head.

"Is that all you can say?" demanded David.

"Now calm down Mr. Wilson. We'll do all we can. Let's start with a search of the area. Each one of you team up with one of us and we'll spread out. The woods are pretty thick around here, so stay in groups of two, we don't want anyone else getting lost."

With that, the six men paired off and went in different directions, calling Sara's name. For nearly two hours they searched with no results, nothing, not a sign of her. David was loathe to quit when Sheriff Parker suggested they try again in the morning, but realized they were getting nowhere in the dark. What could have happened?

The Pearsons were well liked, and Sara particularly, so the next day, once the word got out, over fifty people showed up to join the search party. But though they scoured the area, they could come up with nothing that was Sara's, and no clues as to where she had gone. Even the local media got involved. The Cobb County Courier ran an article with a picture, channel three in Burlington did a piece about her disappearance on their six o'clock news, but still there were no leads.

* * * Sara was unaware of all the hubbub in Vermont when her eyes flickered open. She tried to focus, but the light stung her eyes and her head was pounding. She tried to move, but her body refused to cooperate. Her arms and legs felt as heavy as lead, but she could move her fingers and toes, so she knew she wasn't paralyzed. Where in God's name was she? What had happened? She struggled to remember and forced her eyes open. This time with more luck seeing.

She was in a room, a bedroom. No ... a motel room, there was another double bed next to the one on which she was lying. The beige drapes were drawn, but Sara could tell it was daylight. How could that be? She just left work ... no, she'd stopped to help that man, the one she met at the store who was driving to Canada ... Oh my God! She remembered him grabbing her, then ... nothing.