[For an assignment sophomore year. Read this post first. Names shortened to first initials.]
Once upon
a time, the way many exciting, fun-filled, and action-packed stories
start, a group of five talented heroes came together to form
Superteam.
Their
names were as follows: Ellye, who was a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and
an unparalleled swordswoman; [J] “The Snake”, who was an
expert in all things electronic; [J2], the Samurai Ninja; a girl
by the alias of H-Ventura, who could understand animals; and [S]
“Cute Kitty”, who had the senses and agility of a cat. These five
were hired by the CIA to help on secret missions, but that is another
story.
Our
story begins on a particularly slow day in Smithton Missouri, before
the quintet had known of their special talents…
Ellye
heard the sound of a car and a motorcycle pull into her driveway. She
closed the book she’d been reading, and got up from where she was
sitting, outside at the picnic table, and walked over to the gate.
Her cousins, [J], [J2], and [S], came over from where they’d
parked [J]’s Ford GT and [J2]’s Kawasaki Ninja dirt bike.
Ellye opened the back gate and let them in.
“Hey
E,” [J] said as he passed. [S] and [J2], or [J2], as they
called him, both raised their hands in hello as they all walked up
the steps of the front porch and into the house. [J] sat at the
table and was followed by Ellye and [S]. [J2] leaned against the
wall.
“What
are you guys doing today?” Ellye asked.
“Hanging
out with you,” supplied [S], resting his head on the table. Ellye
nodded.
“So
what do you want to do?” she asked.
[J2] tapped his chin and mocked thinking. “Hmmm….how about we…race
four wheelers? And my dirt bike?” He looked at the others for an
answer.
Ellye
laughed. “I saw that coming,” she said, “Sure.”
The four
of them went outside and to the barn, where Ellye had two four
wheelers. They rode all afternoon on the vast back pasture and only
came in when the sun began to sink below the horizon.
Going
inside, Ellye asked, “Do you guys want a sandwich or something?”
There was a chorus of yeses and into the fridge they dove for ham,
turkey, and lettuce sandwiches.
As they
finished, [S] asked, “Do you guys want to watch a movie? It’s to
dark to do anything outside.”
[J2]
swallowed his last bite of sandwich. “I think we should play
shuffleboard.” And so began the ritual argument that was shared
between [J2] and [S] every weekend at Ellye’s.
“I
really feel like a movie tonight, c’mon,” [S] would wheedle.
“But
we can play teams in shuffleboard,” [J2] would counter.
“Movie.”
“Shuffleboard.”
“Movie.”
As they
quibbled, Ellye shook her head and went to the window. It was
evening, and the sun’s light was fading quickly. [J] joined Ellye
at the window. He looked for a minute, and then said curiously, “Who
do you think is at the end of the driveway?”
Ellye
jerked her head in that direction. Sure enough, a car sat at the end
of the driveway with its lights on. Ellye squinted. It didn’t look
as if anyone was in the car, or near it. “Maybe they…” but they
never found out what they may have done, because the next second,
Ellye, [J], [J2] and [S] heard a bark, and then a whine from the
backyard.
Ellye
ran to the back door, flinging it open in her rush to see what was
wrong. Her dog, Indiana Jones, had been in the backyard, sitting
quietly in a chair on the porch. Now though, she was gone. Instead,
the companions could see a dark figure running to the car holding a
squirming bundle in its arms.
“Indy!”
cried Ellye, running to the back gate. She flung it open and hastened
to the driveway. [J] was right behind her, followed by the other two
boys.
“Quick,
get in the car!” [J] told her, jumping in the driver’s seat of
his Ford GT. Ellye threw herself into the passenger’s seat and [S]
got in the back. [J2], however, swung himself onto his motorcycle. He
started it, peeled out, and began following the dognapper in hot
pursuit. [J] did the same, speeding up the gravel road behind him.
The gravel road ended, and the chase proceeded onto the highway.
[J2]
tried to block the criminal into going into the ditch, but failed,
and resigned to following him closely.
The man
turned onto three more roads in quick succession, but still the
others followed. Then, came the moment they almost lost him. The
dognapper turned left onto another road, that couldn’t be seen
easily from [J2] and [J]’s views. [J2], who was going top
speed, couldn’t slow to get on the curve, and he passed the turn.
As he turned to get back on track, [J], who was farther behind,
said, “I know how we can keep on his tail, we’ll take the
shortcut.”
“What
shortcut?” asked [S].
“This
one,” said [J], “hold on,” and he tore off across a field to
their left, cutting right behind the dognapper. [J2] caught up and
got behind them, and they raced after the man together.
After a
short chase, the man made another attempt to throw them off, and this
time it worked. He tore around the edge of a warehouse, that seemed
to pop out of nowhere, and was gone. As the others made the same
turn, they couldn’t see or hear his car. [J] and [J2] stopped, and
everyone got out.
“He
must have…I don’t know, maybe he went inside?” [J] threw out
into the silence.
The
others shrugged and went to the warehouse door. Inside, it was dark,
and they couldn’t see the man, but they saw someone else.
A girl
was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. [J2] rushed over and
untied her, helping her up and taking the gag from her mouth. “Who
are you?” he asked.
“H,”
said the girl. At their questioning looks, she said, “Just H.”
Ellye
asked, “How did you get here?”
H
sighed. “I was chasing the dognapper, and, he caught me here
earlier today. I’m glad you guys found me.”
“Is he
here?”[ J] asked next.
H
nodded. “Just went through that door,” she said, pointing to a
door on the other side of the room.
“Let’s
get him!” cried Ellye, “C’mon.”
The
group followed her through the door into another room, which must
have been forty or so feet long.
They ran
half the length of the room, and then stopped suddenly. A giant pit
lay in the center of the big room, ten feet across and flush with the
wall. It was ten feet deep, and in the bottom, sniffing ravenously
in their direction, was a razorback.
Worse
still, the only way across was a thin, suspended tightrope that
stretched straight across to the other side of the pit. If one of
them could make it there, a board was propped against the wall that
could let the others cross. Also, they could spy steps leading up to
a doorway on the opposite wall.
“We’ll
never make it!” cried Ellye miserably.
“Yes
we will,” [S] said from behind her. Everyone looked hopefully at
him.
[S] was
ten, and, being the youngest, most people probably would have thought
that he would be a cumbersome burden to have on a mission such
as this. That was not so.
[S]
stepped forward and over to the tightrope. He looked down once at the
hungry razorback, and it gnashed its long, bloody teeth at him and
snarled. [S] gulped and stepped one foot carefully on the rope. Even
more slowly, he set the other down beside it. Everyone held their
breath.
Balancing
on only centimeters of rope, [S] slid his feet forward. He stared
straight ahead, as if fearing that if he looked down, that would be
the direction he would go. Again, he slid forward. Now he was almost
halfway. Another two times he slid forward, passing the halfway
point.
Just as
he moved forward again, his foot slipped from the rope. His body
tilted forward; H gasped.
[S]
caught himself in a graceful cartwheel, landing nimbly on both feet
at the other side of the pit. The razorback growled.
The
other four, still watching from the opposite side, exhaled. [S]
sprinted over to the board, and laid it near the tightrope, crossing
the pit. It just fit.
[S]
stepped on one end, and [J] on the other as H crossed. [J2]
followed, then Ellye. [J] was the last to cross. He slid along it,
much like [S] had on the rope, while the board creaked and warped
beneath him. With no weight on the other end, it began sliding closer
to the hole. Just as [J] stepped onto solid ground beside[ S], the
board tilted precariously and fell into the pit. It split at the
bottom with a resounding crack.
The
companions looked at each other for a moment, and then let out sighs
of relief.
“That
was a close one,” [J] said, as they climbed the steps to the door.
Here they stopped again. [J2] reached for the handle, and swung it
open. As they stepped inside the dark room, they all gasped.
Inside
were rows and rows of dog cages, stacked head high and filled with
whining, yapping dogs. The bare-bulb light that hung from the ceiling
swung back and forth, casting light briefly over the dogs’ thin
faces. Several of the animals were lying in their cages, barely
making a sound. H’s hand flew to her mouth and she cried out.
“Where
did he go?” [J2] whispered to the others. They shrugged.
“Wait,”
H said. She cocked her head, listening. “He’s here. Third row
from us,” she said over the yapping dogs.
The
other four looked at her in surprise. “How did you…?” Ellye
began.
H got a
look of wonder on her face, and told them. “The dogs told me.”
She stated matter-of-factly. At the stunned looks on the others
faces, she said, “No, seriously!”
[J]
shook his head in amazement, but said, “I’ll stay and guard this
door, you guys try and sneak up on him.” They nodded. “Be
careful!” he added, as they tiptoed along the rows of dogs.
As they
cleared the third row, they could see a figure standing in the
middle, holding a large pipe, and grinning evilly. His lips were
pulled back in a devilish snarl, and he laughed coldly. Ellye stepped
forward.
Another
pipe lay on the ground at her feet. She kicked one end, and it flew
up. Catching it, she set herself into a battle stance in front of the
man.
For a
moment everything was still, even the dogs barks seemed to fade.
Then, the man lunged at Ellye. She ducked back as he swung his pipe
at her, and she counter-attacked. Her make-shift weapon crashed into
his, and there was a resounding ring. The dogs barked louder still,
until H yelled, “STOP!” Amazingly, the animals did, falling
silent as the man swung again at Ellye. As she looked around her,
surprised by the sudden quiet, he swung low and this time hit her
right leg. As Ellye fell to her knees though, she flung out her
weapon and collided with his side.
The man
stumbled backward toward [J2], who caught him with a quick side
kick, and the man fell. He got up again though, and stumbled toward
[S]. [S] moved agilely out of the way, and the man crashed into a
wall.
Ellye
stood, leaning on her pipe for support. The man regained his balance,
picked up his fallen weapon, and charged her. Ellye, thinking for a
brief moment that he looked a lot like a jouster, lifted her own pipe
and rammed it into his chest as she ducked to the side. The man
stumbled backward again, gasping for lost breath. As he hit the wall,
Ellye placed her pipe against his throat, and applied what pressure
she could muster. The man dropped his pipe, and, gasping, held his
hands up in surrender.
“Guys,
could I get a little help?” Ellye called out, and in moments [J2]
was at her side with a length of rope, tying the man’s arms and
legs.
Ellye
let [J2] handle the man, and slid down against a row of dog cages,
sighing.[ J] came over and stood in front of her. “I found how to
open the dog cages; it’s all on an electronic circuit. Come here
and I’ll show you.” He reached out a hand, helped Ellye up, and
took her and the others to where a small number pad was fixed to the
wall. He pressed a few buttons, and all the cages opened. Luckily,
the dogs seemed to sense the need to wait, and stayed in their cages,
which eliminated a lot of confusion. One dog did run to the group
though, and Ellye scooped it up, letting it lick her face happily.
“Indy!” she cried, hugging her little Jack Russell Terrier.
In the
end, the group called the police, and a dognapper who had been
terrorizing the area of [Town] and [City], [State], was sent to
jail. After this, a member from the CIA contacted the group, and all
five signed up as secret agents, and they lived happily, and
adventurously, ever after.
