Rescuing Mrs. Durango

1

Beep...beep...beep.2

“I’m up!  I’m up!” I whined annoyed by my alarm clock.  I got up and got dressed.  I went downstairs and ate breakfast and left for school at 7:50 A.M.  I got there a little early and it was a good thing I did.  Today was going to be a bad day.  Someone had my patrol belt and I tripped over a huge stick that was held up by Joey.  I went over to my part of the corner and watched cars.  I learned to be observant last year.  I was kidnapped by an ex-friend with my best friend’s mom.  I was looking for cars who were speeding or acting weird.3

About 2 minutes later this truck goes by and my teacher, Mrs.  Durango was in the passenger seat yelling, “Help!” The car goes by and I run after it.  At the time I must of not been thinking.  I ran pretty fast and caught the edge of the bed.4

“Yes!” I breathed a breath of relief.  I knocked on the back window.  I waved.5

“Uh oh!” I cried.  The truck began to swerve.  I had to hold on pretty hard to keep in the bed.6

“How weird, the window opens from the outside!” I muttered to myself.  I opened the window and struggled in feet first.  The truck came to a sudden stop.  I hit my head hard on the top of the truck.  I must of passed out for awhile.  When I woke up I was in the truck and my head was on Mrs.  Durango’s shoulder.  I tried to lift my head but couldn’t.  Mrs. Durango had her head in her hand rested on the window.  She looked like she was thinking hard.  I wish I could think but my head hurt too badly.7

“Good you're awake, Courtney.  You’ve been out cold for awhile. I was beginning to worry!” Mrs.  Durango said. I lifted my head a bit but had to put it back down on Mrs. Durango’s shoulder.8

“Where are we?” I asked.9

“I’m not sure,” Mrs.  Durango said softly.10

“Okay, does my head on your shoulder bother you?” I inquired.11

“Not really, are you allowed to take acetaminophen?” Mrs.  Durango asked me.12

“Yes, thanks, my head hurts BAD!” I said as she handed me a pain pill for my head.13

“You hit your head pretty hard,” Mrs.  Durango explained.14

“I must of, how long was I out cold?” I asked.15

“About 30 minutes or so,” Mrs.  Durango said.16

“Oh, that’s long,” I replied.  For a minute everyone was silent.17

Then the driver spoke up, “I didn’t expect 2 people just 1 and that’s Durango here but NOOOO!  Missy had to run after and be teacher’s pet.” 18

“Why would you want to kidnap Mrs.  Durango anyway?  She didn’t do anything bad did she?” I asked.19

“That’s just it, she never makes a mistake, she’s perfect, and I’m jealous!” 20

“I am not perfect, I mess up.  I’m an ordinary person,” Mrs.  Durango implied.21

“You're young and have lots of energy, too,” the driver said.22

“I’m not young either!” she protested.23

“Younger than me,” the driver replied sharply.24

“You're young and full of energy, Mrs.  Durango,” I said trying not to be teacher’s pet.25

“Thanks, man I wonder if anyone is looking for us?” Mrs.  Durango said.26

“Joey saw me get in here and run,” I said.27

“Hope he told the principal,” Mrs.  Durango said full of hope. The pain was now gone from my head and I could lift it.28

“Much better,” Mrs.  Durango said rubbing her shoulder.29

“Sorry,” I replied massaging my neck.30

“That’s ok, how is your head?” Mrs.  Durango asked me.31

“Better, thanks,” I replied.  I started to cry.  If you know me enough you would know I’m an easy crier.32

“Are you ok Courtney?” Mrs.  Durango asked me.33

“Yeah, but what if we never get back?  It’s all my fault.  I shouldn’t of tried to save you this way,” I cried.34

“It’s ok, I’m sort of glad you did, better than alone,” Mrs.  Durango reassured me, “it’ll be ok we’ll get out of this mess.” 35

“Thanks, at least you're a teacher so we can think logically.” A sharp pain went through my head.  Ahhh...my head,” I wailed.36

“Rest it on my shoulder again,” Mrs.  Durango said.37

"Thanks.” 38

It was 12:15, lunch time, my stomach growled and apparently so did Mrs. Durango’s.39

“I’m thinking,” I said.40

“What?” Mrs.  Durango replied.41

“Mrs.  Anders said yesterday she wasn’t going to be here, then she laughed and said something under her breath,” I explained.42

“Yeah, she was going to go to a surprise party,” Mrs.  Durango explained, “I know what you were thinking though,” she smiled. All of a sudden we pulled into a gas station.  I lifted my head but had to put it back down because of the pain.43

“You guys get in the bed right now!  I’m tired of you girls chit-chatting,” the driver said sharply. I gave a thumbs-up sign.  I got excited.  If I could put up with the pain in my head, we could jump out of the bed.  I was WRONG!44

“Good idea, but we could get seriously hurt,” Mrs.  Durango explained.45

“How come I’m never logical?” I said looking up and at Mrs.  Durango.46

“Anyway, you can’t escape with this,” the driver said while pushing a red button.  All of a sudden a topper rose up and locked.47

“I’m hungry, tired, and hurt.  I want to go home!” I complained.48

“I’m starving, tired, and scared.  I want to go home too.  Hopefully we’ll be found soon,” Mrs.  Durango complained.  This was very unusual for her to complain.49

I looked at Mrs.  Durango, tears were creeping down her face.50

“Don’t worry, we’ll be ok,” I reassured her.  I wasn’t sure myself.  I too, was scared and near tears.  For a minute, it was silent.  Then, I started to sob.  I was followed by Mrs.  Durango.  I leaned my head on her shoulder because my sobs sent pain.51

“What time is it?” I asked Mrs.  Durango through my sobs.  She showed me her watch.52

“ 2:30 people have to be looking for us now,” Mrs.  Durango hoped.53

“Unless, Joey thought let’s not tell the...THE LICENSE PLATE number!  Joey must of gotten it,” I exclaimed but my excitement went away when the pain in my head returned.54

“He must of, let’s hope so,” 55

“Do you have a cell phone?” 56

“Back at school with my purse and stuff,” “Oh, dang,” I said.57

“If I had it, I would of called 911 a long time ago, before you hit your head,” Mrs.  Durango said.58

“I so wish you had it,” I said trying hard not to complain.59

“People must be worried, when you don’t come home if I never come home, and what about the class what did they do all day?” Mrs.  Durango said to herself. The truck jerked hard and Mrs.  Durango slid forward.60

“NOOOO!!!!!!” I screamed as Mrs.  Durango hit her head harder then ever on the bed floor.  Mrs.  Durango was out for awhile, definitely longer than me. The truck pulled into an old house with a barn.  Mrs.  Durango and I were being locked up on the old barn for the night.  It was 5:30 when Mrs.  Durango woke up.61

“How long was I out?” Mrs.  Durango asked.62

“About 2 hours, I was really getting worried,” I said.63

“Don’t worry, I’m ok.  Where are we?” Mrs.  Durango inquired.64

“Some barn, I think it’s the person’s house,” I replied.65

“I am so hungry I could eat a cow,” Mrs.  Durango said.  When she said that, it made me laugh.  “What?” she asked.66

“I just remembered something you taught me.” 67

“What?” 68

“When you said you could eat a cow you reminded me of a hyperbole,” I explained.  Mrs.  Durango laughed. 69

Then, the person who had taken Mrs.  Durango came in.  It was a he.  The guy had food!  He threw it down at us and said, “Eat!  In the morning we’ll go back to Moline.” Then he left.70

“Maybe we’ll be spotted,” I said with hope.71

“Probably not,” Mrs.  Durango sighed.  She was really discouraged and I could see it.  I looked up at her, she had tears creeping down once again. I crunched up into a ball and began to cry, first slowly, then before long I was sobbing.  Mrs.  Durango came over and hugged me and I hugged back.72

“It’ll be ok Courtney, don’t worry it’ll be ok,” she said softly.  I wasn’t sure because we were far from Moline and it was almost night time.  Plus, Mrs.  Durango was crying too.73

“Atleast the guy hasn’t threatened us,” I said.74

“No but I’m afraid he will,” Mrs.  Durango cried.75

“Me too, will you be fired for any of this?” I inquired.76

“I don’t think so,” Mrs.  Durango answered.77

“If you do then I’ll never forgive myself,” I said firmly.  That night we both cried ourselves to sleep.  In the morning Mrs.  Durango woke me up early.78

“Sorry I woke you up so early,” Mrs.  Durango said.  Her face red from tears, hair strewn with hay, and in the same clothes as yesterday.79

“That’s ok, do you know when we are leaving?” I asked while fighting a yawn.80

“No it’s only 6:50 A.M.  I hope we get to go home,” Mrs.  Durango answered.81

The sun began to rise and Mrs.  Durango shivered.  I realized she didn’t have a coat.  Also, I still had my coat and my patrol belt on.  I took off the patrol belt and then I took off my coat and offered it to Mrs.  Durango.82

“Thanks, are you sure you're not cold?” Mrs.  Durango asked.83

“You're welcome.  No and you look cold,” I answered politely.84

“It’s cold today, did you sleep good?” Mrs.  Durango asked me.  She was starting to sound like my mom.85

“Good as it can get.  How did you sleep?” I replied.  The night went slow and it was cold, but I slept ok.  I mean, how can you when you are kidnapped or trying to save someone who’s kidnapped?86

“I was up all night thinking about home and why someone would kidnap me,” Mrs.  Durango replied.87

“You're a good teacher, smart, funny, and you don’t do bad things,” I began, “someone is jealous.”88

“Thanks, but I’m not that smart or I would of thought of how to get out of here by now,” Mrs.  Durango said modestly.89

“I haven’t been able to think either, I wasn’t thinking when I jumped in the dumb truck,” I said trying to make her feel better.90

“Here’s your breakfast, we’re leaving in an hour,” butted in the guy.  We started to eat.  After breakfast, we found some water.91

“I wouldn’t drink it. Just wash your face with it,” Mrs.  Durango said while washing her face with the cold water.92

“Ok,” I answered.  After we washed our face we sat down on some hay.93

“Do you think the truck’ll be seen?” Mrs.  Durango asked.94

“I don’t know, we’ve got 45 minutes right?” I said.95

"Yes, why?" Mrs. Durango replied.96

"Well, we could escape through the window or door," I told her.97

"Yeah! But, we'll have to make sure he's not out there watching," Mrs. Durango exclaimed.98

"Yeah, the door is locked but this window is open," I said.99

"Okay, I'll check if it's clear," Mrs. Durango said.100

"I'll do it, stay back, you can't risk getting hurt," I protested.101

"Okay," Mrs. Durango sighed. I checked outside at all angles of the barn and house.102

"Coast's clear," I announced.103

"We should take the truck!" Mrs. Durango said.104

"It'll make too much noise," I said while shaking my head.105

"You're right, now you're the logical one," Mrs. Durango said with a laugh. I laughed too.106

"Okay, I'll go out the window and then I'll help you out," I explained.107

"Okay," Mrs. Durango answered. I got out the window. Then, I looked around. No one was there. Mrs. Durango got halfway by herself and then I helped the rest of the way.108

"We're going to have to run," I said.109

"Okay, I'll probably be behind you," Mrs. Durango said.110

"Nah, I'm not that fast, only short term and when I have to be," I began, "let's go!"111

Mrs. Durango ran faster than I thought, I had to run faster then normal to keep up. I was thinking the longer the legs the faster (I'm taller than Mrs. Durango) but it's opposite in this case. When we got far enough from the house I signaled her to stop.112

"Stop (pant) for (pant) a (pant) while," I said with one word per breath.113

"Okay, (pant) good," Mrs. Durango replied.114

"Okay, which direction do we need to go?" I asked after i had caught my breath.115

"Keep going straight for about a mile, then there's a gas station, we can ask for directions there," Mrs. Durango explained to me.116

"Okay, then when we get to town we can call the police," I continued, "do you think that guy's after us by now?"117

"Probably, so we need to keep moving so he won't catch us," Mrs. Durango said. We started off again but this time just jogging. "Get down in the grass QUICK!" Mrs. Durango commanded. We both got down just in time as the guy passed us by.118

"Phew, that was close," I said.119

"Yes, that was, now we'll have to get to town another way; through the grasses," Mrs. Durango replied.120

"Okay, hope we don't get lost," I said. We started to walk. Fifteen minutes later we reached the main road. The funny thing about the main road was, no one and I mean no one uses that road.121

"We can walk on the road now, no one uses this road," Mrs. Durango informed me.122

"Cool, wonder what city we're in?" I said.123

"I'm not sure but we'll find out soon because there's the gas station!" Mrs. Durango said.124

"Hallelujiah! I would say we're five miles from a normal town so it'll take...an hour and a half about," I said calculating the numbers in my head.125

"I hope so, I want to get back home and to work," Mrs. Durango replied.126

"Kids'll never believe it!" I announced out of the blue.127

"Believe what?"128

"Me being kidnapped again, well I wasn't really kidnapped this time, just trying to save you," I explained.129

"They probably won't believe I got kidnapped of all people," Mrs. Durango said with a laugh. I laughed too.130

"I probably won't return to school for a day or so, though. I'll spend time with my family and catch up on stuff," I said.131

"Same here," Mrs. Durango asked me.132

We reached the gas station and went inside. The person told us that the next regular town was about 6 miles from here. We were to just go straight.133

" need to chill out with the saving people, it's stressing," I said. Mrs. Durango and I both started laughing.134

"That would be good because you could get hurt," Mrs. Durango said.135

"Or in trouble," I added.136

"That too, will you be in trouble for this?" Mrs. Durango asked me.137

"Probably not, it's not like I ran away or anything," I answered.138

"If so, I'll talk to your parents about it, I already need to talk to them about this situation," Mrs. Durango said with a sigh.139

"Don't blame yourself for this, ok?" I said a little snappy. "Sorry."140

"But, it's sort of my fault," Mrs. Durango protested.141

"No, this is that guy's fault. He'll get it bad for kidnapping  you!" I said in a low soft voice.142

"It isn't your fault either, don't blame yourself," Mrs. Durango exclaimed.143

"Only of you promise not to blame yourself no matter what other people say, promise?" I said comprimising with Mrs. Durango.144

"Promise," Mrs. Durango confirmed.145

"Okay, I promise too," I said.146

We had reached town now. Finally I got to sit down. I didn't say anything but my feet ached and so did my knee and my head.147

"We're here, now we need to find a phone and a phone book," Mrs. Durango said.148

"Why do we need a phone book? 911's the number," I said while trying to hold back a laugh or two.149

"We can't call the emergency number we need the non-emergency number," Mrs. Durango explained.150

"Duh!" I said as I hit myself in the head.151

"Careful, you don't want to damage your head any more," Mrs. Durango said.152

"Oh, I forgot about hitting my head and passing out," I replied softly.153

"I don't forget, first it was a shock you actually caught the truck and stayed in it,"154

"Yeah, he swerved fast. I had to hold on hard," I said remembering yesterday.155

We found a library and asked the librarian if we could use a phone book and the phone. We told her it was an emergency and luckily she let us without asking why. I found the number in the phone book and Mrs. Durango called the police, once she had hung up we went outside for awhile. The police were going to contact the Moline Police and have a Moline Police officer who was there come and take us home.156

"I can't wait to get home!" I exclaimed excitedly.157

"Me either, right now I'm thinking about yesterday, I mean I didn't go without a fight, how come no one heard me?" Mrs. Durango said.158

"I don't know, school now should have extra security measures," I answered.159

"Yeah. Come on the police car is here," Mrs. Durango said as she stood up. The police officer got out of the car.160

"Can you tell me what happened yesterday?" the police officer asked.161

Mrs. Durango explained everything. She said I had saved her and I kept quiet until she finished.162

"I didn't really save you," I protested.163

"Yes you did," Mrs. Durango said. I let her have the final word, after all she is a teacher.164

"Anyway, you're my favorite teacher, I did what I had to do," I said.165

"Thanks," Mrs. Durango replied. We got in the car. On the way home it was silent. We went to my house first so Mrs. Durango could talk to my parents.166

"Remember our promise," I reminded Mrs. Durango. She smiled to tell me that she remembered. When I got home I was jumped on by the dogs and smothered with hugs from my parents. I went up to my room and laid down while Mrs. Durango and my parents talked. I went down when they done.167

"I'm glad to be home," I announced.168

"I'm glad you're home too," my mom said.169

Five minutes later Mrs. Durango went home. Tomorrow was Friday and there was school but we didn't go. 170

Monday we returned to school. I didn't have patrol but I still went to school early. I got a hall pass from the office so I could make up my homework. I quit Work Ahead so I could stay in class for reading and math. 171

Now, things are back to normal at home and at school. People are nicer but that's about...172

The End! (For now)173