Kidnapped

Barney and Physical Labor

Harry and I knew we couldn’t talk in front of this guy. No way. The car ride was pretty long, about an hour, and I stared out the window the whole time longing to know what was happening to Kayla and Liam. If they were even still alive.
    “We’re here,” The man said in a young, raspy voice.
    The house was a little bigger than mine, and thinking about my house made my heart pang. The house was a white stucco and I could see a barn in the distance. Thinking about horses made me feel a little better.
    The rain that had been coming down for about 20 minutes hit my skin hard as we stepped out of the car and into the house. It was unexpectedly warm and smelt like good food.
    “Quick!” The man said. “Run to the stable and stay there until I come to get you.”
    Harry and I looked at each other confused.
    “GO!” He shouted.
    “Okay, shesh!” Harry said. We ran out the back door, as he instructed, and mud ran up my pants as we ran across the acres of grass. The barn was pretty small, and as we scanned it I could see three horses- one brown thoroughbred,one white Arabian, and- when I looked at the third horse I fell on the ground in tears. It was a Gypsy Vanner, just like the horse I rode back home named Eclipse. And he looked just like him.
    I could tell this made Harry pretty uncomfortable, but I didn’t expect him to do anything. I tried to compose myself and stand back up. “Sorry,” I said, sniffling.
    “It’s okay,” He replied. “So what do you think he’s going to do with us?”
    I shook my head. “I have no idea. But by the way he rushed us out of the house, he’s probably keeping us a secret.”
    A few minutes passed before the guy came back up. During this time, I finally decided to pet the Gypsy horse, and this made me feel better. Harry seemed to like the white one, and I loved all of them.
    The guy came back in fast and out of breath. “Okay. Sorry about that.”
    “Yeah, what’s going on?” Harry asked.
     He seemed to ignore the question. “I see you’ve found interest in my horses.”
    I backed away from the creature. “Sorry, but you kind of left us here.”
    He nodded. “My name is Austin Shandel. Okay, so here’s the story- I have 5 kids that are the most precious- but let me say obnoxious people ever. My wife works full time, and she expects me to take care of them. But she doesn’t I know go to the town with...things every day. Plus, she’s starting to notice the crops seem to be disappearing because I’m selling them. So, Harry, you can work the horses and do other labor, and as for you...”
    My heart stared pounding again.
    “Will be taking care of my kids.”


    Devin’s room was painted black. He had some poster’s of a few bands, but none of any that I knew. He had a large king sized bed toward the wall, and music that I didn’t know that words to blared in the background.
    He sat on his bed. I stood toward the door, not wanting to sit anywhere with him. “So, Kayla, tell me about yourself.”
    “Now until you tell me where the hell I am.”
    He laughed, “You’re hilarious! You’re on a small island in the Pacific Ocean. No name...we’re very small, very illegal, and very un-known.”
    “Alright.” I said, and sat down on a black chair at his wooden desk.
    “So, do you have a boyfriend?”
    “Yes. I do. A very hot boyfriend.”
    “Is it the one that my father also bought?”
    “No. It’s the curly haired one that was sold to the other dude. Now, what are you going to make me do?”
    Devin frowned, “I don’t want to make you do anything. I want you to actually like me....and then maybe we can do some things.”
    I snorted, “Yea, maybe.” I spat.
    “I want to know more about you...what’s your favorite color? What music do you like? Movies? Books? Sports? I want to make this as pleasant as I can for you.”
    Creep. “You’re a deranged child you know that? I’ll answer your question’s: but then you have to answer mine. I like the color blue, I love One Direction and Stephen Jerzak, I like most movies, love the PJ series, and am a cheerleader.”
    “A cheerleader? That’s a major turn on.”
    “Jee, thanks.”
    “What questions do you have for me? We need to eat dinner in about five minutes, so make it quick.”
    “Just one, really. How old are you?”
    “16. Yourself?”
    “13, almost 14.”
    He nodded, “Alright. Now let’s go eat dinner...Liam should be there as well.”
    We walked down the stairs together. I immediately took the seat next to Liam, but Devin quickly sat down on the other side of me. Martin sat next to Liam.
    A thin women with long blonde hair set hot food down at the table. “Eat only enough to fill your plate, and no more.”
    “Father,” Devin said, “Kayla can eat what she likes.”
    “Yea, Kayla can eat what she likes,” I replied.
    “Wow, thanks.” Liam said.
    Martin sighed, “Fine, Kayla, eat what you like. And Liam, you will get a huge breakfast tomorrow...you’ll need it, with the work I’ll have you doing.”
    I filled my plate high and dug in. Devin kept trying to talk to me, saying things like, “Where did you used to live?” And, “Do you have siblings?’
    At the end of dinner, Devin shot up, “Father! I have the best idea! What if Kayla stayed IN the house.”
    “No.” He said, “She will stay in the barn with Liam. You can have her for as long as you wish during day hours...but your mother doesn’t feel comfortable with, well, yea.”
    I smiled slightly. Good.
    Martin showed us to the barn, which smelled like hay and had a few horses peering over the side, “Sleep tight.” He said, creepily.
    Liam slid down one of the stalls, “This sucks.”
    “At least you don’t have to make out with some creepy sixteen year old.”
    “At least you don’t have to do physical labor.”
    “True that.”
    Liam laughed. “I wonder what Harry would think if he were here right now...”
    I raised my eyebrows, “Well if we ever do see them again, I think it would best if you didn’t tell him.”
    Liam laughed, “Maybe. Is he going to make you...umm...”
    “God, no! He’ll probably make me kiss him...nothing more. I think he actually wants me to like him.”
    “Oh, well then you have it easier than me.”
    “Yea, I guess I do.” Then I closed my eyes and feel asleep.


    Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the worst job. But still- I didn’t know how to take care of five hyper kids!
    I had the whole night to think about this, since Austin said we would start tomorrow. Luckily, he also said we could take care of the horses, so I spent most of the time talking with Harry as we brushed the horses. Austin told us the white one was called Winter, the brown one Flake, and the Gypsy horse was Moon. She was so sweet and started falling asleep as I brushed gentle strokes across her back. My eyes fluttered shut as well.
    “Marisa?”
    I opened my eyes to see Harry standing in front of me. My head was resting on Moon, and I’m pretty sure I was drooling on her.
    “Oh my gosh! Sorry!” I told the horse.
    Harry raised his eyebrow. “Austin brought us some breakfast.”
    We both inhaled the eggs and toast, and Harry was sent right to work with plowing. I ventured into the house.
    “Okay, so I’ll be back around 3 this afternoon,” Austin said, packing a bag,and rushing around the room, “All you need to know is Allie is allergic to peanuts, Jimmy is afraid of Barney, Caitlyn isn’t potty trained, and Evan drinks formula milk that’s in the refrigerator and needs to be heated up for about 20 seconds. Do NOT,” He said, “And I mean NOT, give them any sweets whatsoever.”
    “Can you repeat all of that 50 times slower?” I said, but he was already out the door.
    “Well, I’m screwed,” I mumbled to myself.
    Just then, 10 feet ran down the stairs and 5 kids tumbled into the room. There were two girls, both with light brown hair, but one with blue eyes and the other with brown, a boy with brown hair and green eyes that was the tallest, a tiny, tiny little guy with a chubby little face that was adorable, and another guy that looked like the first one.
    “Oh my gosh,” I mumbled. “Okay, which one of you was allergic to peanuts?”
    “That was me,” The girl with blue eyes said in a cute voice. It must be Allie.
    I couldn’t remember anything else, but that seemed like the most vital thing.
    “GIVE US FOOD!” They all shouted, except the toddler who I guessed was Evan. They ran up to me and grabbed every limb I had.
    “Okay, okay!” I said, trying to gently pry them off me. “What do you eat?”
    The older boy grinned. “Cookies!”
    I smiled. “That sounds good to me.”
    I raided their pantry for the cookies, and I finally found them on the highest shelf. That was strange. It was like they were hiding it.
    “Me first! Give me the biggest one!” Caitlyn shouted, reaching up with her tiny hands. Suddenly, the room smelled horrible.
    “Caitlyn!” The oldest boy, who told me his name was Danny, shouted. Each of the kids, even the little Evan, grabbed their noses.
    “Oh, you’ve got to be joking,” I said.
    Caitlyn had a huge smile on her face.
    “Okay, go to the bathroom,” I said. “Just wipe and wash your hands, okay?” There was no way I could deal with poop.
    “I’ll go with her,” Danny said, laughing.
    The remaining kids, Allie, Evan, and Jimmy, still looked at me with anxious eyes. “Cookie?” Evan said. I wondered if that was his first word.
    “Not for you, honey,” I told him, holding him up. At least I could hold babies. “You get milk.”
    I heated the milk up for about 5 seconds- I couldn’t risk burning his mouth- and gave it to him. He started sucking on it as I plopped him on the couch, and about a minute later puked it all over.
    On my shoes. “Disgusting!” I said. I took him to the bathroom, where Caitlyn and Danny were. Brown stuff was all over the floor.
    “Oh my god, what happened?” I gasped.
    “Cookie?” Evan said again.
    “We want food!” Allie said.
    “You said to wipe and wash,” Danny said, shrugging.
    Then the smell hit me. “Okay, Allie, you stay with Jimmy. Here’s two cookies.” I handed them their treat. “Evan, Danny, and Caitlyn, lets go get you in a bath.”
    I ran upstairs with them and found a bathroom. I put the water on neutral and tried to think of a way to get the barf out the couch.
    “AHHHHH!” I heard from downstairs.
    My mind couldn’t take this. I started hyperventilating as I ran downstairs. Jimmy was gaping right in front of a purple dinosaur.
    “BARNEY!!!!” He screamed.
    Caitlyn laughed behind him.
    “AHHHHH!” He screamed again. He started running around the room, and I could hear screaming upstairs as well, Caitlyn was on the floor laughing, barf was setting into the couch, and I was in the middle of it all.
    “Well, this might be a little harder then I thought,” I said.
    “BARNEY!!!!!!!!!!!”