when she heard Johnie calling from the porch. Johnie was a sweet man. He was 25 years her senior and she had married him for security for her daughter Jessie. The marriage had been perfect except for one thing..... and her mind was constantly on it...... Now confronted with this handsome man, her thoughts wandered. She was snapped back into reality when she heard Johnnie's voice calling to her.

After some time, Everyone had their chance to stell their side of the story. Sally was taken to Jail. Dan asked Robin out and they are now engaged. Bruce and Scarlet got married and moved to Aruba. Mineare was made Mayor and the Spring Hoedowns were cancelled for ever.

Hope you enjoyed the story

Robin saw the face of the two lawmen, and began to weep with happiness and relief. Scarlet moaned again and opened her eyes a slit. Where am I? Bruce gingerly picked Scarlets slender body up out of the trunk. As he did this scarlet opened her eyes wider. OOOOO she thought, a handsome man. she nuzzled her head into his strong shoulder. Mineare picked Robin up out of the trunk and began to untie her bonds.

Mineare and Bruce had reached them and the man was standing up. Mineare grabbed his wrist and pushed him to the ground, snapping the handcuffs on as he did. Bruce jumped onto sallys lifeless body and handcuffed her also.
Just as they completed this task, they heard the yelling and screaming from the trunk. They raced over to the car and Bruce found the keys still in the ignition. They opened the trunk and was shocked to see what was inside.

Dan landed on top of Sally with a thud. Just as he did, he heard the yelling. GET DOWN ON THE GROUND! quickly he stood up with his hands in the air. DONT SHOOT, DONT SHOOT!

In the trunk of the car, Robin could hear the yelling. She recognized the voice of Sheriff Bigones and began screaming and banging with her free arm on the top of the trunk. Scarlet was moaning and beginning to move on top of her. SCARLET WAKE UP! Screamed Robin. HELP US HELP US she screamed.

Mineare and Bruce wanted to wait until sally's back was to them, before they made their move. They didnt know if she was armed and did not want to find out the hard way. On a country sheriff salary, they were not about to take any unnecessary chances. All of a sudden they saw a male figure appear in the doorway, They watched as ran out the door and jumped from the top step onto the back of Sally Jones. NOW! yelled Mineare to Bruce. They both sprang from their positions and ran toward the two people with their guns drawn. GET DOWN ON THE GROUND! they yelled.

Dan saw the light come on and peered out of the crack in the door of the closet. He readied himself to pounce on Sally. Just then she turned and went back out the door. Not wanting to loose his chance, Dan slowly pushed open the door and crept out. He looked around the front door and saw sally going back down the front steps. He could not let her go!

Mineare and Bruce were only feet away from car when they saw the light go on in the house. They crunched down low and waited. They saw sally coming back out of the house and start down the stairs toward the car.

Sally, carefully opened the front door. She listened for any movement. After what seemed like hours, she convinced herself it was ok to enter. Her nerves were on the edge, this plan had gone awry and was much more complicated than she planned. She opened the door wide to allow her to drag in the girls. Then flipped on the light in the foyer.

Mineare and Bruce could make out the grassy roadway well enough from the light of the full moon. they made their way along and soon a house loomed out in front of them. In front of the house was Sally's car. They stopped just out of site of the house and killed the engine. They both got out of the car with their loaded weapons and began to sneak toward the house.

Once up into the hole, Dan could see he was inside a house. The light from the full moon shown through a large front window. He stood up and moved toward the window, suddenly he saw headlights coming toward the house. He quickly ducked back out of the window. He hoped this was Sally, he would surprise her good. He moved quickly to the foyer and into the closet that was behind the front door, and waited.

Sally slowly got out of the car, keeping the window in her sights. Maybe it was her imagination? She started around to the trunk, then stopped herself. She decided to check out the house before exposing her treasures in the trunk. She moved toward the front door quietly. She didnt hear anything, nor see any more movement, but she was going to be careful just the same.

Mineare saw the car turn into, what seemed to be the forest. he slowed and waited until the taillights were no longer visible. as he approached the spot where Sally turned he saw a barely visible roadway. He turned off his headlights and turned into the path, as he did this Bruce loaded his guns.

Dan made his way through the tunnel, soon he came to a dead end, with a ladder leaning against the dirt wall. He gingerly climbed the ladder and pushed on the wooden ceiling of the tunnel. At first it didnt give, but with a little more effort, it began to move. He pushed harder, jumping up into the wood as he did. At last the wood gave and it flipped inward exposing a large dark hole. Dan carefully climbed up into the darkness.

Sally slowed the car and pulled into the grassy roadway. The roadway was very overgrown and barely visible to the road. She pulled up to the house and shut off the car. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted movement through the living room window. No, she thought, how could he have?

Mineare and Bruce hopped into the squad car and raced after the speeding car. Mineare radioed in to headquarters giving the description and plate number to the dispatcher. Several minutes later, he had his answer. Sally Jones, just as he suspected. They quickened their pace.
They could tell that Sally was slowing down, so they slowed in turn, they didnt want to give away their position. Mineare radioed the State police for backup and they continued the pursuit.

it is ok, no one seems to be adding to the other story anyway. go ahead the more people that get to tell stories the better.

Mineare was listening to the foremans story, when he heard the gravel spin in the drive way. He ran to the barn door and looked out. He barely made out the make and color of the car that sped up the road past the ranch. It was a blue chevy camero, late 80s model. He would have to call that in to his station to run a check on it.

After Sally had deposited Scarlet into the trunk with Robin, she drove to the Ranch. As she approached the driveway she noticed a car that she didnt immediately recognize. This was not good, she had to change her plans slightly. Sally pushed her foot on the gas peddle a little to hard and spun the gravel as she left the entrance to the drive and sped up the road toward the other holder place.

Sally ran up the stairs, taking two at a time and burst into the bedroom. The yappy little dog was still at her heals. she had to get rid of it. she opened the bathroom door and clasp scarlets hand that was now dry enough, she dragged scarlets lifeless body into the bedroom and closed the door on the yappy little dog. Sally went over to the bed and took the spread from it and layed it down on the floor. She then went over to Scarlet and, using her foot, rolled her onto the spread. She repeated this process several times until she was wrapped up in the spread. Sally picked up Scarlets body, hoisted it over her shoulder and left the room, making sure to turn out the light as she left.

Sally knew the ether would keep scarlet under for quite some time, so she closed the bathroom door. She walked through the bedroom, stopping briefly at the mirror to make sure she was presentable, and went out into the hall, closing the bedroom door after her.

Sally made her way down the stairs, the yappy little dog following her all the way. When she came to the bottom their stood a tall handsome cowboy, holding flowers.

Well hello, she said smiling widely. What can I do for you? Matt held out his hand and shook Sally's. Im Matt Jacobs. I have a date with Scarlet tonight, is she here? Oh Matt! I am Carol, Scarlets cousin. I showed up here this afternoon to surprise her with a visit. Scarlet had to run an errand for a sick friend, she said she would meet you at the restaurant. Oh, Matt said with clear disappointment in his voice, I was hoping to surprise her by being early and giving her these flowers. Well, dont you worry about that, I will put them in a nice vase on the table here and when you bring her home later, she will be surprised to see them here. That is a great Idea, Matt said. He handed Sally the flowers and tipped his hat and left. Sally waited a few minutes until she was sure he was gone and then tossed the flowers into the coat closet with glee. She wont be needing these any more.

When they arrived at the Ranch, they saw a light on in the bunkhouse so they decided that is where they would start. They went up to the door and knocked. After several minutes, no one answered. They decided to check the barn. When they reached the barn, they noticed a barely visible light coming from a stall. Once inside the barn they called out "anyone here?" The door to one of the stalls opened and out stepped Efptoha, the ranch's foreman. Bruce and Mineare walked over to Efptoha and held out their hands to shake. Efptoha shook hands with the Law men and they began to talk. Mineare said "We need some information about the missing cowboys. I know you know something and you need to tell us. We cant let any more men be victimized on our watch" Efptoha looked deeply into both men's eyes. He did not see any of "them" in their souls, so he decided to tell them what he knew.....

Mineare and Bruce left the party together. Mineare invited Bruce to stay with him during his stay instead of paying for a hotel. They dropped Bruce's suitcases at Mineare's house and headed up to the Ranch to do some investigating.

Dan pryed at the crack in the floor, he couldnt seem to find a hand hold. He looked around the room for something to use as a pry bar. Suddenly he spied a pair of spurs on one of the cowboy boots and went and got it. He dropped to his knees again and began prying at the crack. Just as he hoped he finally got the spur under the crack and the board lifted. Once the first board was up it was easy to pick up the rest. After several boards, dan could see there was ladder leading down into the darkness. He quickly pulled up the rest of the boards and climbed down the ladder. When he reached the bottom, he saw that he was at the entrance to a dark tunnel. Dan was afraid of dark tight spaces, but he knew he had no other choice. He entered the hole......

Sally would have to hurry to complete this mission. She wanted to stop by the ranch tonight also, but got sidetracted . Sally took out the bottle of ether and poured a generous helping on the cloth she took from her other pocket. slowly she opened the bathroom door. Sally almost fell backward from the loud screeching noise coming from the shower stall! Scarlet was singing? oh cant be she thought, from the sound of it, she had to have gotten her toe stuck in the drain hole or something. But Alas, no, it was scarlet singing, this would work to her behalf, scarlet would hear nothing or see nothing now, she was so absorbed in her performance. Sally readied herself and ran to the stall, threw open the curtain and pushed the ether cloth into scarlets open singing mouth. Almost immediately scarlet went under, sally struggled to hold the wet slippery naked body of scarlet as she went limp in the shower. Luckily scarlet was a thin petite woman and not to heavy for sally to handle. Sally gripped the slippery Scarlet in her arms and turned to move out of the shower stall. Suddenly scarlets body slipped and she fell on the floor like a limp fish. Darn It, Sally said, sally tried several times to grasp Scarlets arms to pick her back up, but it did not work, Scarlet was all lathered up with soap when sally attacked and was to slippery to pick up off the floor. Sally thought a few minutes on what to do and decided the only thing was to rinse her off first. Sally turned back to the shower and of course Scarlet had a hand held attachment to her Shower head. Sally put the water on full force, COLD, then detached the handle. Aiming directly at scarlet, she opened the valve to the head and ICY COLD water shot out of the shower head directly onto Scarlet's lifeless body on the floor. Sally laughed.......

Sally gave Robin an extra dose of ether so she knew she would be out for a long while. she parked two houses away from Scarlets, so not to be detected. when she got to the back door of scarlets house she noticed that the upstairs light was on. This would be a little harder than she expected. She let herself into the back door of scarlets house with ease, scarlet didnt lock her doors, she was a trusting sole. Sally made her way slowly up the stairs and to the room with the light. The door was ajar. Sally peeked in and could see that scarlet was not in the bedroom, but the door to the master bath was closed. Sally pushed the bedroom door open slowly and crept into the room and to the bathroom door. She heard the shower running. She glanced around the room and saw a low cut shimmery red dress laying on the bed, no underwear of course, scarlet didnt get her name for nothing. On the floor was a pair of 4" high Red pointy do me shoes. Sally thought, what a disappointed man there was going to be tonight, scarlet would not make this date.

The night grew long and still no one had come back to robin's house. Sally decided that she would have to come back later to finish her plan for robin and scarlet. She had more important work to attend to. She had to follow this feeling that plagued her all night. The felling of THEM.
Sally let herself out of the same door she came into. She had the key now, so she could come back any time.
Sally returned her tools to the trunk of her car and decided to check on Dan.

Driving up the west road toward the shack in the woods, sally drove past the ranch. Most of the cowboys from the ranch were at the post hoedown party at the Bucking Bronco Bar, downtown. Yet she felt the need to stop and look around the bunkhouse. May be one or two of the new hands had stayed behind and she could get a few more tonight.

Sally found some cheesecake in the fridge, not Limberger like her mother makes, but it would do. Suddenly Sally felt like she was being watched. She had had that feeling before, when she was in the woods earlier. She knew this feeling, Her mother had told her about THEM long ago. She hoped that they had not discovered her, but now that she had the feeling twice in the same night, she was certain they had come. This would put a monkey wrench in her plan for sure.

Sally made her way carefully through the alley way to the back of Robin's house. She knelt in front of the back door and took out the wax from her bag. carefully she filled the keyhole with the wax and after a few minutes she gently pulled it out. Now that she had an impression of the keyhole, she began to compare that to the multitude of keys she had on the ring.

When she finally found one that matched. she put it into the keyhole and turned. CLICK just like clockwork, the door unlocked. The door opened into the kitchen of the house. Sally was careful to keep the flashlight pointed toward the floor so not to alert the neighbors. First she checked the refrigerator to check for snacks, it might be a long wait for Scarlet to turn up to help her friend and she might get the muchies.

Mineare stared in amazement, Bruce? is that really you? Mineare and Bruce were cousins and had not seen each other since they were children. Yes Bruce said, I have been looking for you for years. I finally tracked you down to this god forsaken hole in the wall town. How the heck are you?

The two cousins hugged each other fiercely. They had been so close as children. After the accident, they were split apart and lost tract of each other.

So Mineare what great case are you working on now? Well Bruce, I have a case that has been going on for a couple of years now. Every year we have a big spring hoedown and we get new cowboys from the Lone star Ranch that attend. Every year two or three of those cowboys disappear mysteriously. The ranch says they just couldnt handle the work and went home. But I think different.

Dan quickly dropped the candlestick and backed away from the hideous pile. He looked around the room and confirmed his earlier findings of no windows, doors or seams in the walls. The walls appeared to be cushioned somehow, probably sound proof, he thought. Dan looked at the ceiling and through the faint yellow light he could see a hole, it appeared to be the remenants of a chimney. He remembered seeing a smoke stack on the side of the house when he came here, surely this could not be the same stack. It appeared large enough for him to crawl through, he just needed something to stand on. Frantically Dan looked around the room for anything that he could use. He started pushing things around, and as much as he hated to disturb the disgusting pile, he pulled on the mattress to look behind it. Under the mattress dan saw a crack in the floor. He got on his knees to examine it closer.

Sally reached robin's house, it was dark. good no one was home yet. she parked in the alley directly behind robin's house. she got out of the car and went around to the back of the car and opened the trunk. Inside she had a bag of tools that she kept for emergency repairs on the car. Her father had taught her early in life to be prepared for anything. Including him leaving her and her mother when she was 12. She reached into the bag and took out a crow bar, flashlight, skeleton key ring, can of wax, rope, bottle of ether, rag gag, blind fold and puzzle book.

After several moments of retching, Dan began to get hold of his senses. He slowly reopened his eyes to take in the scene around him. Cowboy hats, boots and belts with large gaudy belt buckles lay all around the floor. The soft spot he sank into when he fell into the room was a overstuffed mattress covered with rotting globs of food matter. Toward the wall lay a pair of gold candlesticks with 1/2 burned candles still stuck in them. He moved a little closer and picked up one of the candles and poked at the globs of rotted food. Cheesecake, yup, limberger cheesecake. Only Sarah Gerad, Sally''s mother, made such a cake. The smell was overwhelming.

Sally's burning eyes that were fixed on Robin's throat. Even from the long distance across the parking lot, Sally could see the delicate gold chain around Robin's neck and the tiny 1/2 heart that hung from it. The forever friends heart that she and scarlet wore. She wanted that necklace and she wanted scarlet to be her forever friend. She would get rid of the only thing that stood in her way tonight. Things were progressing faster than Sally had originally planned, but she was excited by the challenge. When a taxi cab drew up to the curb in front of the country club door, sallys heart sank. Robin had not driven herself to the dance tonight. That would throw a monkey wrench into her plan. Sally had a brilliant mind and a new idea began to hatch almost immediately. She started the car and sped out of the parking lot and headed for Robin's house.

Sally waited patiently as Robin lead Scarlet to a corner of the room. Private chat my ass, she thought to herself. Robin had never liked her and was jealous that scarlet at least was pleasant to her. The longer they talked the more vengeful sally became. Suddenly a plan began to hatch in sallys head. she bacame calm and peaceful. Yes that would work. She didnt wait for scarlet to come back, instead she ran out to the parking lot and got into her car. She would wait for robin to come out.

Dan stood up slowly, his hands sinking uncomfortably into the soft surface of the floor he was thrown on. His hands disturbed the surface causing a fresh waft of that rotten smell. It was so dark and quiet in this place, It unnerved Dan. After he was standing, he put his arms out in front of him and began to shuffle along, grasping out for any vertical surface. When he reached a wall, he moved along it inch by inch, looking for a door. The surface was smooth and seamless, there were no openings or apparent seams. This thought frightened Dan more than he would ever admit. He turned from the wall and swung his hands through the air looking to touch any thing he might recognize. Suddenly he felt a chair dangling from the ceiling. a light? he pulled hard on the chain and a soft yellow light bulb came on. It took several minutes for Dans eyes to become adjusted to the new light. What he saw made Dan fall to his knees Retching helplessly....

Sally knew that the source of her discomfort was leaving, she decided she would deal with that later also, right now she had to get back to the dance. She circled around the woods line until she came to the front of the county club.
As she entered the hall, she saw Scarlet by the punch bowl, giggling and acting all girly as usual. She made her way over to her, making a mental note on who was at the dance and who they were with.

Sally came up behind scarlet and tapped her on the shoulder. Hi Scarlet...

Sally moved swiftly from tree to tree, keeping her eyes pealed for the man in the black hat, it would not be good for him to get to the clearing now, she had to intercept him and steer him in the right direction. She had only dealt with two men at the same time, once before. It turned out alright, but it was difficult to manage. She was nearing the woods end near the country club now and could hear someone shouting a name. Sheriff? well now, this puts a very nice twist on things. a Sheriff's wife, that would be rather nice. It would give her the status and respect she longed for. she moved cautiously forward and could finally make out the lights of the country club through the leaves. She saw movement a little ways from the edge of the woods. she strained her eyes to watch what was happening.

Suddenly she heard a snap, it was behind her, it was not loud, probably not audible to the average human ear, but she was not an average human....

Mineare moved toward the woods, hoping to catch up to the girl and boy, but he was distracted by someone calling his name. Sheriff bigones! Sheriff Bigones! he turned and saw a large muscular man with dark curly hair standing on the patio of the country club. He was waving to him. he felt drawn to do his duty and follow the couple, but something told him he needed to talk to this man also. His instincts, which made him such a good lawman, made him turn toward the country club. Soon he was standing in front of the man.

Sheriff mineare bigones? I am The sheriff of Armstrong County, This here pretty young thing Robin was just about to lead me out into those woods after you. I we may have some information to share with each other...... Can we sit down and talk?

As sally turned to go back into the woods, she thought she felt someone watching her. At first she thought it might be the cowboy with the black hat, but he was to far behind them to have caught up yet. Besides this feeling was deeper. It was almost like it was in her mind. she looked around the clearing, straining her eyes to see any form of creature that might be hiding in the shadows. She couldnt see anything and finally gave up. She had to attend to other things right now. she moved back toward the woods, but never quite kept her eyes straight ahead of her....

Sally giggled softly. These men are so easy to trick, she thought to herself. She could not linger as she usually did to hear the man inside scuffle about and call her name. she had to concentrate on the one following her......

As Dan opened the door to the shack, he was taken aback by the smell that emanated from inside the building. It smelled of rotting meat. He hesitated a second and started to turn around to talk to Sally, when he felt a hard push from behind. Dan stumbled into the building, which was in total darkness. He fell flat on his face on a surprisingly soft surface. He heard the telltale click of a key turning into a lock and realized he was tricked.

sally and Dan reached the edge of the wooded area, she glanced back and saw that the man she bumped into earlier was following them. This would work perfectly, she would get two with one blow.

she moved swiftly through the path by the lake that lead to her hiding place. Soon you could see the rustic brick chimney of the smoke stack. Hurry Dan, its just a little ways further she said.

Dan followed mindlessly, all he could think about was cory. When they reached the clearing in the woods, Dan saw a battered shed with a large smoke stack and wondered momentarily why sally lived in such a place. But those thoughts were fleeting. "where is Cory?" he asked breathlessly.

Inside, said sally, you go in first......

oops, supposed to be and THEN bolted away into the darkness. haha

Mineare was curious about that girl. After he had caught her in his arms, she looked at him very seductive way and they bolted away into the darkness

. He wondered why he didnt know about this girl before now? He had to find out more. He decided to ask around about her.

Sally watched as Dan walked over to Scarlet and began to talk to her. It was right that moment that she decided who would be first. She rubbed the onion extract into her eyes and scurried toward Dan and scarlet. Dan! Dan! she called. She ran up to Dan Matthews and grabbed his arm. Dan, your brother, he has been in an accident, you must come with me right away!

Dan turned when he heard his name being called and was surprised when Sally Jackson grabbed him arm. Cory? what happened to Cory?, he said in a strained voice. He was trying to climb over my back yard fence and ripped his leg open on a nail. I bandaged him and made him lay down, because he was feeling dizzy. You have to come with me right away!

Dan loved his little brother, Cory, more than anything and he didnt think twice about saying goodbye to scarlet and hurrying after Sally.

Sally knew that Dan was going to follow her and she felt a swell of pride at how good an actress she had become these last couple of years. He was falling very nicely into her trap.

Mineare Bigones was surprised to feel the thunk on his left side and even more surprised to see the scrawny young girl that made it. He instinctively grabbed out to break her fall and caught her by the waist. Her frame was tiny and she couldnt have weighted more than 100 lbs soaking wet. She wasnt unpleasant looking, but no beauty either. Her dark blond hair looked greasy although he could smell the shampoo remnants of freshly washed hair. "Whoooa, slow down young lady, Wheres the Fire?"

Sally watched as the three bitch's strolled past her, with their noses high in the air. She saw the sudden nudge Scarlet gave Robin when Johnny Walker came into view. hum, Sally thought, Johnny huh, well he will be the first to go. Sally walked swiftly toward the back parking lot, her mother was helping with the food at the hoedown so she had access to the back door. She slipped silently into the barn and turned quickly to the right. THUNK she ran right into a tall muscular man standing in the hallway. Sally looked up into his face and apologized profusely. This man was remarkably handsome. He wore tight fitting western jeans, shiny black snake skin boots, a pearl button western shirt and a black cowboy hat, that sat slightly ajar on his head of thick black hair. He had the bluest eyes she had ever seen and a slightly rough looking completion.

Sheriff Bigones pulled the cruiser into the spot marked "authorized personal only". He looked around to make sure no one was watching him and quickly got out of the car and hurried away from the police car, so no one could see where he came from. He slipped into the back entrance of the barn and began his work.