Chapter 12: More "Kidnapping"

A special edition of the Blackwell Journal-Tribune was released Wednesday.  The story gave a vivid portrayal of the kidnappings, including details Auburn and the police didn’t even know about.  With a customary small-town flair for the dramatic, Naomi Wells went all out in writing the feature story.

Few criminals in history match up to the Purple Porcupine.  His cunning and resourcefulness draw comparisons to that of Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes’s longtime rival.  The Blackwell Police say they have never dealt with as capable a foe.  No one is safe until the Purple Porcupine is behind bars.

The Associated Press did not contribute to this report.

Maybe not, but other news agencies got a hold of the article, and they saw its potential immediately.  Services in Wichita, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa brought it to prominence, and it wasn’t long before the story was minor national news.  “Mysterious Criminal Terrorizes Blackwell,” “Children’s Disappearances Unaccounted For,” “Town Lives in Fear of the Purple Porcupine”—reporters had a ball.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Reynolds discussed her fears with a coworker over lunch.

“My daughter’s at home by herself all day,” she said.  “She’s kind of an invalid.  If the Purple Porcupine ever hits our house, I don’t think she’d be able to defend herself.”

“I’d feel the same way,” Mrs. Reynolds’s secretary told her.  “Keep in mind, though, these two instances have occurred at night.  You’ll be home to protect her in the most dangerous hours.”

“I don’t know,” said Mrs. Reynolds.  “The parents of the other girls were home too, and they didn’t hear anything.”

“Lock your windows,” said the secretary.  “It’s pretty obvious what happened.  Both those families left their windows unlatched.  The criminal snuck in, gassed the girls so they couldn’t protest, and left without them even knowing what was happening.  You’ll be a less likely target in this town if your windows are locked.”

“We usually do lock ours,” admitted Mrs. Reynolds.  “Hopefully, it won’t take the police long to figure out who this criminal is.  I wonder what he looks like.”

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It was a she, actually, and the Purple Porcupine bore a striking resemblance to Mrs. Reynolds’s daughter—especially because it was her.  In fact, as her mother sat at lunch, brooding over her daughter’s safety, Auburn sat at home, laughing hysterically over a newspaper report that compared the Purple Porcupine with the villain from the latest James Bond film.

“I’m getting pretty good at this, aren’t I?” she told herself out loud.  Auburn wasn’t doing anything tonight.  Two nights in a row of activity would have the police on red alert.  Thursday night, however, she intended to strike again.  Once that was accomplished, she’d go and tell Brittany the whole story.

“Who’ll I get on Thursday?” Auburn wondered, poring over her copy of the list.  She already had an idea, though, and she decided on Penny Thurston’s brother.  Last time she’d been at the hotel, she’d found several boxes of Hot Wheels cars, and she gathered from Richards’s sordid plan that Will would get a kick out of these.

Better yet, Penny lived off S. 11^th Street, in the west part of town as opposed to the northeast corner.  Auburn didn’t know how crime-ridden that part of town was when compared to the others, but she guessed that the police would be concentrating most on the area she’d struck twice.  This would hopefully make getting to Will easier.

Only one problem presented itself.  Richards’s plan for Will didn’t involve the window, which meant he hadn’t noted on the list what Will’s room was.  It was up to Auburn to find the room, without alerting anyone else in the household.  That was very important to Auburn’s plan.

Contrary to some people’s suspicions, she did not use gas.

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Thursday night, it was clear something had changed in Blackwell.  A full moon shone brightly in the cloudless sky, but there were other lights that Auburn hadn’t seen much of the first two nights.  Headlights.  From patrol cars.

Chief Morris had his men on high alert, looking out for any unnatural activity whatsoever.  Crossing Highway 11 was a job; just after Auburn got over safely, one of the police cars went by.  Hiding behind a sign, Auburn just missed being spotted.

She was starting to enjoy Blackwell at night.  No one else was out, really.  Of course, there were a handful of cars, but that was pretty much it.  The sidewalks were empty, save for the Purple Porcupine.  All the noise came from chirping crickets or soft evening breezes.  The cool, night air was a welcome relief from the oppressive summer heat felt during the daytime.

Finding the Thurston residence also proved to be an adventure for Auburn.  Blackwell had that north-south/east-west street setup, which meant it was easy to find your way around, but it also meant that there were a lot of routes you could take just to get to the same place.  Auburn tried taking 8^th Street south, but it ended on her, and she was forced to work her way around.  Every now and then, a prowl car would come down the street, and she’d be forced to duck behind a bush—the night was so quiet, though, that she could usually hear these well in advance.

The Thurston’s house was only one story tall, which made things somewhat easier for Auburn.  She wouldn’t have to go all the way upstairs to find Will’s bedroom.  But which one was it?

Auburn made a circuit of the house, hoping there’d be something in Will’s window that made it obvious.  All the windows had white, slatted blinds, however, and these were all closed.  There was nothing in the blinds distinguishing one from another.

Alright, thought Auburn.  I’ll sneak in somewhere else and see if the doors will tell me something.

She made her way down to the front and was just about to open the window next to the door when she froze, listening.  What was that sound she’d just heard?

A car, coming from the side street nearest the Thurstons and getting louder every second.  Auburn ducked into the bushes just before a police car came wheeling down the street, on patrol.

Peeking through the leaves, Auburn followed its progress.  The car drove slowly down S. 11^th Street, then stopped.  Right in front of Penny’s house!  As if the officer knew something was up!

Auburn didn’t know whether to run or remain in place.  For now, she went with remain in place.  If the officer found her, she could always make up something.  After all, she was unarmed, and no one had disappeared yet—

But the officer didn’t get out of his car.  In fact, Auburn could see him talking on his phone.  Was he calling for backup?

Auburn gulped.  This isn’t looking good.

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[Inside the police car]

“Hello?  Yeah.  Yeah.  Listen, Harriet, I’ve told you a hundred times not to call me when I’m driving unless it’s an emergency—that’s not an emergency—no, it’s not—I could care less about the Jones’s dog digging up our flowers at twelve o’clock at night—Harriet?—Harriet?

“Oh dear,” Officer Lauderdale mumbled to himself, flipping his phone shut.  “I’ve gone and put my foot in my mouth again.  Good thing I don’t get off ‘till eight this morning.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Auburn breathed a sigh of relief as the patrol car pulled away from the curb.  She waited until it was out of sight, then turned her attention to the window.  It was unlocked, and in she went!

Her foot came down on something small and hard that went skittering across the room, nearly causing Auburn to fall.  She caught herself just in time to keep from banging into the ground, then, she groped around, trying to figure out what she’d slipped on.

Ah-ha.  There was another one…and another one…and another one…Hot Wheels cars, of course.  Richards hadn’t been kidding when he’d discovered Will’s love for the things.  They were all over the living room.

That’s fine, thought Auburn, but which one’s his bedroom?  She meandered down the hall, hoping to figure out just which door he lay behind.  The floorboards creaked slightly, no matter where Auburn seemed to step.  The sound wasn’t really noticeable to anyone else because of the air conditioner; Auburn just hoped it didn’t turn off while she was in the house.

Eventually, she made it to the hall the bedrooms were on.  The master bedroom was obviously at the end; it was the only one with double doors.  Against the side of the house were two doors, one with the knob on the left, and another with the knob on the right.  Between these was a third door, leading to a room smaller than the two on each side.  It didn’t take too long for Auburn to guess what it was.

A jack-and-jill bedroom, she thought to herself.  Uh-oh.  I hope the doors are closed in between.

If that wasn’t the case, or if Penny got up at all while Auburn was talking to Will…well, things would go wrong, that’s for sure.

Figuring out which side was Will’s wasn’t very hard.  In fact, both the Thurston kids had hand-painted signs over the doors, saying whose room was whose.  Will’s, of course, had a race car painted on it—his artistic skill (or lack thereof) betrayed the fact he was only six.

Now, though, Auburn faced a problem.  She didn’t know whether the doors to Penny’s and Will’s sides of the bathroom were open or not.  If she knocked on Will’s door, Penny might overhear if the doors were open.  If she didn’t knock, she could be quieter, but Will might make noise when he saw a total stranger in his house.  Auburn would have to be very careful about how she played this.

She finally decided not to use Will’s door at all.  Instead, she cracked open the door to the jack-and-jill bathroom and looked inside.  As it turned out, both doors were closed.

Ah-ha, she thought to herself.  Perfect—no, almost perfect.  Slipping into the room, she quickly pressed the lock on Penny’s door into place, just to prevent unnecessary guests when talking with Will.

Then, she slipped back into the hall and knocked on Will’s door.

She heard rustling from behind it, then footsteps moving across the floor.  I sure hope he doesn’t scream when he sees me, she thought, kneeling down on the ground so she wouldn’t tower over him.  As it turned out, Will’s reaction contained a lot less surprise than one might have expected.

“Are you another one of Penny’s friends?” he asked.

“Shh! keep your voice down!” Auburn said, looking nervously over her shoulder.  “Yes, you could say that.  I’m Auburn Reynolds, and I’m trying to help Penny out.”

Quickly, Auburn went through her story, hoping it would have the same effect it had on Valerie and Allie.  She got concerned when Will didn’t show any emotion, but when she mentioned the Hot Wheels cars at the hotel, his expression changed totally.

“Do they have the black one with the 68, the Castrol one, the milk wagon, and the—”

“I don’t know,” said Auburn, “but they have a lot.  Plus several of the tracks you can race them on—”

“What are we waiting for, then?” asked Will.  “Let’s go!”

“Shhhh!” said Auburn.  “Okay.  Grab your stuff and follow me.”

Fortunately, Will didn’t take nearly as many things along with him as Valerie and Allie, though he did make sure to grab a whole bag of race cars.  While Auburn was waiting, she dropped the trademark sticker at the usual place.  Then, thankful that the air conditioner was still on, she led Will back to the front door, and they stepped out into the street.

“We’ll turn right on Blackwell, then head all the way down to—”

“It’s the Larkin Eyesore, right?” Will asked.

“The Larkin what?”

“Eyesore,” said Will.  “It’s another word for hotel.  Every time we drive pass that building, my mom always tells me it’s an eyesore.”

Auburn giggled.  “Yes, that’s the one, but I’ve got something to explain to you on the way there.  Come on,” she said, and the two walked off into the darkness.

Behind them, there came a knock on Penny’s side of the bathroom door.

“Will, are you in there?”

“Will, I don’t see a light on in there.  Did you lock me out?”

“Will, I’m thirsty.  Come open this door.”

“Will?  Will?”

Penny didn’t quite resort to yelling, not wanting to wake her parents.  Instead, she slipped out of her room and over to the hallway door.  Trying the handle, she pushed the door open and flicked on the light.  Seeing the room was empty, she wandered across to her door and unlocked it.  Then, turning to Will’s door, she started for his room.

“Wilbert Allan Thurston,” she said, just like her parents did when they got angry at him.  “How many times does Mom have to tell you?  When you get done using the bathroom, unlock my door so I can—Will?”

She saw the room was empty.

“Now that’s funny; where did he go?” she asked herself.  Tiptoing around, she searched for a glimpse of some trace to her brother’s whereabouts.  Moonlight shining through a slat in the blinds glinted off something white on the bed.

Penny picked it up and looked at it.

Then, she screamed.

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“Calling all cars!  Calling all cars!  Kidnapping reported at 409 S. 11^th Street.  Purple Porcupine suspected.  All units, proceed to 409 S. 11^th Street.  I repeat, all units proceed to 409 S. 11^th Street.  Where’s the off-button for this thing…”

Rookie radio man or no rookie radio man, Lauderdale got the message instantly.  He was driving by the Rivoli when the call came through, and he wasted no time making a U-turn and speeding down to S. Blackwell.  Siren blaring, he raced down Blackwell like it was a dragstrip, not even pausing to check for trains at the 5-track wide crossing.  The rows of hopper cars were stationary; otherwise, he never would have arrived.

As his cruiser flew past, Auburn and Will poked their heads out from behind a hopper car.  “Phew, that was close,” Auburn said.  “Let’s hurry!”

“I want to play with the track!” said Will.  “Can I do it tonight?”

“Oh…um,” Auburn thought a moment.  “Yes.  Yes, Will, you can.  Just let me get something ready for you first.”  She decided to blackout one of the third floor windows, so Will could put a light on when they reached the hotel.

They were just two blocks away when Auburn heard another siren, this one coming from directly in front of them.  Seeing lights reflecting off buildings, she pulled Will behind a bush.  “Keep down,” she said.

Will laughed.  “Are we playing gangster?”

“Sort of, Will.  Sort of.”  Auburn kept her eye on the street as a patrol car started down it.  A bright searchlight came on and started playing the underbrush.

“Quick, flatten yourself,” said Auburn.  As she and Will got down, Auburn heard another siren.  At first, she thought it was the echo, but a motor noise soon confirmed that it was another car, coming off of Third Street.  If they’d waited any longer before getting down…

Auburn squeezed her eyes shut, then held her breath as bright light streamed through her eyelids.  The light was on the bush—would they notice her and Will?

Then, a second later, it was gone.  Auburn tentatively raised her head, in time to see the two cars meet halfway down the block.  “Any luck?” the officer in one yelled.

“No one back there,” said the other.  “Let’s try some other streets.”

The car that had just passed Auburn kept going; the one coming toward her turned around and followed.  Both cars put the opposite blinker on and headed in separate directions down Main Street.

“Come on,” said Auburn, taking Will’s hand.

She resisted the urge to run.  Yes, they would get to the building faster, but fast movements were easy to spot.  If she and Will were walking, they stood a good chance of seeing a policeman before he could spot them.  Auburn couldn’t take it the other way around.

Regardless of their slower pace, the two reached the building and clambered through the window.  Hearing voices, Valerie and Allie came down to investigate.  Neither seemed to know Will very well, but they were happy enough to meet him.

“We’ll torture him when you’re not around,” Allie grinned at Auburn.  Valerie rolled her eyes.

“I think she’s joking,” she said to Auburn, “but I’ll protect Will if she’s not.”

Relieved to have made it to the hotel, Auburn couldn’t help laughing.  “That’s fine,” she said.  “Now, why don’t you all help me get a room set up?  Will wants to play with some cars.”

“In the middle of the night?” said Allie.

“Oh, yeah,” said Valerie.  “Our parents aren’t around, so we don’t have to go to bed at any certain time, do we?”

“No, you don’t,” Auburn grinned back.  “Only, you can’t use a light at night, except in rooms without windows or rooms where the windows have been sealed up.  Otherwise, someone will see you, and they’ll get suspicious.  Then, if you’re found, Jimmy and Brittany will be stuck doing everything Richards tells them again, and we don’t want that to happen, do we?”

Allie shook her head, and Valerie said, “You can count on us, Auburn.  We won’t do anything to let anyone know we’re here.”

“That’s the spirit,” said Auburn.  “Now, who wants to black out a room?”

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It was nearly three o’clock by the time Auburn crawled back into her room, completely worn out after her exciting evening.  Good thing Mom and Dad are working tomorrow, she thought to herself.  I think I’ll sleep until ten.

As long as she didn’t wake up first, because if she did, she’d be too excited to get back to bed.  Tomorrow was the day she’d tell Brittany what was going on and get one of the most important members of the Brotherhood Club on her side.