Rodger went back into the house and took the phone from Sadie. "Hello," Rodger said.
His boss Stan replied, "Hello, I've decided to come back a day early. I want to see my new slaves as soon as I get there."
This caught Rodger by surprise. He started coughing with words stuck in his throat. Rodger finally managed to get out a simple, "Um..."
Stan had heard his "Um" before and knew it meant there was a problem. He gave him a couple of minutes to explain what was going on. After not hearing anything, he asked, " What is the problem?"
Rodger reluctantly replied, "This morning when I got up, the girls were gone."
"What do you mean the girls are gone?" Stan yelled, "You know the girls could ruin us! If they cost me my business, I will see you in prison for murder."
"Yes Sir", Rodger squeaked into the phone. Rodger cleared his throat saying, "I know which way they went. I was just going after them when you called."
Stan cut him off at this point yelling, "THEN GO GET THEM, NOW!" and slammed down the phone.
Rodger could tell how furious he was. The thought of everything he wanted collapsing around him and losing it all quickly, devastated him. He just had to find the girls and quickly. He went outside and back to the tree to pick up the trail. The trail led him into town. Once it hit the wagon trail, he lost all signs of the girls.
He had to continue on, knowing which way they went. At this point, Rodger was glad it was a very small town. Most of the people from town already knew the girls, unfortunately, they also knew him. He was not well-liked but with a little coin, he could change their minds.
He spent most of the morning walking around and everyone that he talked to either had not seen them or was not willing to talk about it with him if they had. The whole time he was getting more upset. He tried thinking like the girls trying to figure out where they could hide. Thinking that they had no money it was not like they could rent a room. Then a terrible thought hit him: what if they didn't stay in town, what if they went to the next one and how is he ever going to find them? It was not like Stan would give him a long time to find them. Stan had helped find the guys that made the accident happen. Rodger was sure it was not the first time that he had made an accident happen to someone. A cold chill ran down Rodger's spine when thinking about that.
Rodger stopped at the inn. He needed a drink. He was hot, tired, and frustrated. As he said there, he thought what if they had looked for some kind of work, they had to get hungry and need some food and a place to sleep. At this point, he wished he had gone through things to see if they had taken any food. After rethinking he knew that they had not come down to the kitchen so it was unlikely unless they had hidden some in their room, but he didn't think that they would have had time to do that as they were never out of his sight all that long. He would have seen if they had been carrying anything like that.
He started asking everyone if they had seen them even some that did not know them in hopes that someone might have seen them. He just kept getting the same answers no one had seen them. He tried describing the girls to some of the people, but no one had seen girls that looked like twins, and no one had seen them last night. But one guy did say that he might have seen a girl that kind of looked like that, and she was looking for a ship. But he said that was days ago.
The girls enjoyed the freedom of the open water and the fact that they didn't have to cook and clean for everyone. Gina hadn't minded it that much, but it was so much better not having to do it. They were enjoying looking out over the side rail watching the waves the ship made as it went along. The day just drifted along and before they knew it, they were starting to smell food cooking. It was surprising how the salty air had increased their appetites. The girls were doing their best to stay out of everyone else's way.
Will was making sure they were out of the way and the crew was leaving them alone. Once lunch was ready Will signaled to the girls so they could return to their room. Will would serve them there.
The girls hurried to their room. The smell of the food was really getting to them. It was making them hungrier than they had been in the last three days. As they waited, it seemed like Will would never get there. Gina gave a hard laugh when she heard Katie's tummy rumble. Katie blushed as she giggled along. It wasn't long until the familiar sound of Will knocking at the door came.
He was carrying two big bowls of stew. He turned to the girls and said, "I hope that you are hungry and enjoy stew. That's mostly all the cook knows how to make. We have learned to live with it."
Gina giggled at hearing that. Will let out a half-laugh at seeing her reaction but thought to himself, he was being serious. Will left the girls to eat their stew and quickly returned to his many tasks.
Captain Filmore watched as Will was carrying the bowls and had to laugh seeing Will nursemaid the two girls. He had always been such a rough and hostile sailor he didn't think he could handle such a delicate task as this.
The girls finished their stew without a problem. It was some of the best stew they had ever eaten. When they had finished, they took their bowls and spoons to the galley to be washed. They returned to the railing and watched the ocean go by.
Rodger questioned the young man for whatever details he could remember. All he could remember was a pretty girl with long strawberry-blonde hair had asked about different ships. He wasn't sure if it was the same girl or not but there was definitely only one girl. If he remembered correctly, he saw her a couple of days ago.
Rodger thought to himself that's a lot of help, NOT! Once lunchtime hit Rodger made his way back to the Inn for some food and something to drink. Hopefully, he would hear some new information about the girls. As he was eating, Freddie came up and sat at his table.
Freddie was a thin, scurvy, Weasley-looking guy that Rodger had never really trusted. He always seemed like he would stab you in the back for two cents and laugh at you while you were bleeding. However, Freddie was able to dig up information better than anyone else that he had ever seen. This was the only reason Rodger tolerated him. At this time Rodger was happy to see him. Maybe he could dig up some information on the girls.
Freddie had heard Rodger had come into some money and was more than willing to bum a meal off of him.
Freddie greeted Rodger, "Hey Buddy, I heard you came into some dough. How about buying me a meal?"
Rodger gave him a stern look, more like a death look. He hated it when Freddie acted all nice. It usually meant he wanted something more. The fakeness usually bothered him enough to send him flying. However today Rodger needed info and Freddy could be the one to dig it up. Rodger had the barmaid bring over another plate of food as well as a tankard of ale. Now this made Freddy nervous, no one was ever nice to him unless they were using him, and he usually wound up in trouble for it. Rodger said, "I need some info and I need you to keep it quiet."
Freddy rubbed his hands together something like this was right up his alley. It usually meant that there was some good money in it for him especially when the keep it quiet came up. Freddy looked up with new interest. "What do you want to know?"
Rodger shot him a death look and said, "You better tell no one about this or you're dead. Katie and Gina took off. I'm looking for them."
Freddy thought to himself yea this is a concerned parent. "You know I never tell," he said.
He thought who would care that he is looking for his girls anyway but then thought he should be looking for them. The whole thought of it was a bit confusing why would he want to keep it quiet that he is trying to get his daughter back? It didn't really matter to Freddy it was all money to him and if he didn't have to hide that he was looking for some lost children for a concerned parent it would make gathering the info a lot easier. Since Rodger didn't want it known that he was looking for them it would be easy enough for him to say Beth was the one. It sounded a lot less creepy than him looking for two 18-year-old girls.
Freddy turned to Rodger and asked, "Just what are you paying for this bit of info if I can get it for you?"
Rodger knew this part was coming Freddy never did anything without the promise of reward. With a scowl, Rodger looked at him thinking these are his lost children. He shouldn't be milking him for money, but this was Freddy, and he always took advantage of a person in need. Rodger said, "10,000 if they are found right away."
That was all Freddy needed to hear. He gobbled down the rest of his meal and gulped the drink making sure to get every drop. Nodded to Rodger and said, "Don't worry, I will find them."
Freddy didn't have many chances to get that kind of cash and would do anything to get it. He would sniff out the girls no matter where they had gone.
Rodger didn't like the thought of giving away that kind of money but thinking of what Stan would do to him if he didn't come up with them would cost him a lot more than ten thousand. Freddy was a weasel, but he knew that he would ferret the girls out. He did feel more relaxed knowing that they were going to be found made him able to enjoy his meal. After finishing everything and not knowing where else to look he made his way back home.