Thanks for reading and reviewing! As I said, here's the last part. Hope you like it!

Chapter 2

"Gotcha!"

"Hey, that was unfair, you didn't leave the pine, Matt! That's forbidden!" Don called, though he was grinning. He had already walked to the pine and now Matt and he waited until also Rodney, Jeff and Joey would join them. However, Don didn't get down counting, for Rodney had barely arrived as the last one of the three when they already heard Alan's call from the clearing: "Come over here, boys! The barbeque is ready!"

"Whoa, 'bout time!" Matt called. "I thought I'd starve to death!"

They ran out of the forest over roots and then across the meadow to the barbeque. Hungrily, they plopped down on the blankets around the campfire. Don was just shoving a rounded fork of potato salad into his mouth when Alan spoke to him: "Don?"

He first chewed before he hastily swallowed the bite. "Yeah, dad?"

"Where's your brother?"

Don paused, appalled. He slowly let the mug sink from which he had just wanted to take a big gulp. "Uh… He was still here just now."

"Well, he isn't any more!"

"Oh dad, he'll come back. Charlie's never left for long, you know." Unfortunately, a defiant voice in his mind added.

Under arched eyebrows, his father's severe gaze struck him. "Donald Eppes, when did you see your brother for the last time?"

Don's mind worked with high speed. When had that been? Charlie had been playing hide-and-seek with them. Yes… but wait – just now, in this last game, he hadn't been with them any more! The question was: when had he stopped playing?

"He's probably in the woods somewhere," Don tried to say self-confidently, though he sounded rather sheepish. "We've played hide-and-seek. Probably he's still sitting behind a tree. Can't be far away, though."

Alan stood.

"Where are you going?" Don's voice sounded a bit anxious.

"Looking for him, of course!"

Don swallowed. He wasn't that sure any more that everything was okay. His father had been right. This wasn't Pasadena here. "Should… should we come with you?"

Alan considered. If he left the boys here, they would have no supervisor, indeed, but they would surely comport themselves appropriately. If he took them with him, they would be able to search a larger area because they could scatter the group. Then he'd have six boys spread all over the woods. "No. You stay here. I'll be back soon. And you won't go anywhere, got it?"

The boys nodded. They appeared a bit daunted. In every one of their minds the same thoughts were haunting. Probably it was exaggerated. Yes, certainly. What could happen to Charlie up here? And if really something had happened to him, why wouldn't he have called for help? They would have noticed it, right? If they already hadn't noticed that he suddenly hadn't been there any more…

Everyone wondered when they had seen Don's little brother for the last time and while they were thinking about it, it occurred to them that it had to be a while. Half an hour? An hour?

What the hell was Charlie doing that long alone?

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His first impulse was: away. Away from Don, away from the others, away from the clearing where they camped. And he was running, running further, running. At some point, when he felt safe, he stood still, trying to start breathing again. Anxious questions were flowing through Charlie: what should he do now? Where should he go? And what was he going to do when it grew dark?

His thoughts still were roused from his heedless flight and seemed not to have been able to follow him, but there was one thing Charlie knew with certainty: the only place he wanted to be right now was home. The place where his mother was.

That was causing a problem, though: how should he get there? Well, walking, he thought laconically. He still knew how they had come here, after all. Perhaps it was going to take a bit, but he was going to make it sometime.

The worry about the darkness he was keeping for later.

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To spot Alan's figure in the dusk wasn't a simple thing. However, since Don had been watching the edge of the woods intensely for the past three-quarters of an hour, the change in the silhouette caught his eye at once.

"So?" he called across the meadow, knowing immediately that he could have saved his breath. His father was coming alone, no Charlie in sight.

"Nothing," his father's answer confirmed his thoughts. "But I finally couldn't see anything anymore in the forest. Besides, I've already looked everywhere."

For a while, there was an awkward silence.

"And what now?" Don finally asked. Another few seconds in silence.

"We have to call the police." Alan managed not to let his fear and his anxiety affect too much the steadiness of his voice.

"And if Charlie's coming back?"

Alan had a bitter comment on the tip of his tongue; something as why Don suddenly cared for his brother now, but he swallowed it down. He had to think of more important things, anyway. Inside him, there was a battle raged. Could he leave the boys alone for a while, although it was slowly growing dark? But they were thirteen, after all. And just now nothing had happened either. And if Charlie showed up…

"You'll stay here, got me?" he impressed upon them. "You'll stay all together and you won't leave the fire. I'll be back in twenty minutes. I'll just have to drive down in the next town to one of the houses to call the police." And Margaret, he silently added and swallowed. He had the unpleasant feeling that his wife would vocalize the reproaches aloud that he was making silently on his own.

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Gradually, Charlie became cold. Besides, he started to have problems seeing the way in front of him. Although he had begun his odyssey on the street, he had soon changed on the dirt track after a stranger had stopped and asked him if he could give him a lift.

Now, however, the way was only being illuminated sporadically by the headlights of the cars. It was not easy, but it was enough. In contrast to his T-shirt. He hadn't thought to bring either of his flashlight or his jacket, a carelessness he was regretting now.

He had just tried to turn left, following the turn of the street when he stumbled. There was no track anymore. There was grass. A meadow, bordering a field. Drat. But so what.

On the spur of moment, Charlie climbed up the trench to the road. He would just have to walk up here anyway, then.

His feet were already a bit sore, but he tried to distract himself from it by figuring the remaining distance. In percentages.

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"So what are we going to do now?" After Alan's departure, the silence had lasted for a full three minutes before Matt broke it.

"Well, wait," Rodney said matter-of-factly.

"Great."

Matt stretched, lying on the grass behind him, looking in the sky. Actually, he hadn't imagined the camping-trip like this, starting a search-operation for Don's little brother. The little math-geek… who could know where this kid had disappeared? It was like Don had said before: he'd show sometime. For sure.

"Shouldn't we do something anyway?" Jeff asked.

"Like what?" Joey sounded skeptical.

"Looking for him or something like that. Better than sitting around here."

Don's friends briefly thought. "Why not?" Joey finally said, and Matt, and eventually Rodney as well, shrugged.

They were already starting to get up when Jeff turned towards Don: "What do you think, Don? Should we look for him?"

Slowly Don turned towards them. He had been searching the edge of the woods, half turned away from them, having hoped to find a sign of his little brother there. Charlie had to be here somewhere… It wasn't possible that Don had simply lost him…

But he had. And now they had to act. They had to find Charlie, at any cost. They really could look for him in the woods. It was dark, yeah, but maybe they'd find him all the same.

However, his father had forbidden them to look for him. And besides he already had looked for him and not found him. So it was unlikely that the boys would find him in the dark if they had to be back in at least a few minutes to wait for Alan. Besides, if Charlie came back eventually and Don wasn't here…

"Don?"

Don froze his gaze at Jeff's inquiring eyes and shook his head. "No. We stay here."

It hadn't been an easy decision, oh no. However, rationality had taken the more powerful voice in this case and had made up Don's mind to wait by the fire. He had already committed a grave mistake today. And one was totally enough for him.

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Around twelve point five percent, an eighth, at least concerning time traveled. He was on the road since quite exactly one hour and he figured that he was walking with an average velocity of two point five to three miles per hour. The campsite was at a distance of about twenty-two miles from their home. That meant that he would be home in some seven hours.

Charlie sighed and was tempted badly to sit under the next tree, relaxing his feet for a little while. But then he became aware of the darkness and the loneliness and his defenselessness… No, as long as he remained in motion, everything was much simpler. He'd get a chance to have a rest later. As soon as he was home.

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Alan was withdrawn when he joined the boys again. "Your mother will come up, too," was all he said to Don before the policemen arrived on the clearing, few minutes after Alan.

It was official, now. The officers took the case: missing boy, seven years old, black, curly hair… Don noticed how insufficient this information was. It was important that the policemen knew who Charlie really was, that Charlie was important…

Alan and the boys were questioned. Both Don and his father were fidgeting nervously on their seats during the apparently endless questions. Why were they spending so much time talking? The police had to look for Charlie and not to waste their time here! And they were always the same questions, again and again, questions that couldn't make anything right, that weren't important.

Margaret came.

Alan's heart nearly froze seeing the vehicle driving nearer, closely followed by Rodney's mother who would pick up Don's four friends and take them home. The Eppes' family car had barely come to a stop when the door opened and his wife hurried towards her men. To sixty-seven percent of her men.

"Did you find him?" she called, barely having left the car, but Alan shook his head. He was looking to the ground. He couldn't look her in the eyes right now. He had failed. He hadn't fulfilled his obligatory supervision sufficiently and now their son had disappeared.

The senselessness of the whole thing nearly drove Alan mad when the policemen bombarded Margaret with questions as well. She hadn't even been with them! Do you know where your son could be staying? Had something happened before his disappearance? Has something comparable already happened in the past? Do you have any suspicions? No, no, always no, of course not! The whole thing was unexplainable; otherwise they would have already found Charlie!

One of the policemen came out of the forest, a flashlight in his hand. "We still haven't found him," he told his colleague, and – if intended or not – also Alan, Margaret and Don. "Can you call for more search parties with the radios? Then I'll go back again. The area is huge."

The other one nodded and turned again towards the anxious family. "We're going to call in search parties. The more people we have, the sooner we'll find him."

Don was still staring after the man when he had turned his back towards him and his parents. The policemen were calling for search parties. How many people would spend the night looking for Charlie?

Slowly Don shook his head. He barely noticed his friends saying bye to him, calling their good wishes to them. How the hell the whole thing could have happened? How could Charlie have disappeared? He had been there, with Don, only a few hours ago! How did the whole thing get out of hand like this? His father had been there, why hadn't he prevented it?

Don's breath caught. His father had trusted him. He had trusted him with his youngest son, Don's own brother. He had told him to take care of Charlie. And Don hadn't fulfilled his duty.

He had simply paid too little attention to him. He had been distracted. He had trusted too much on Charlie being attached to him like a barnacle, like he was always did. Why the hell not this time? Why had Charlie turned away from Don? And when…

Realization hit him, and for some seconds he really believed to have felt a blow against his forehead. The memory was there again. Charlie had followed him when they had been playing hide-and-seek (when had that been? Two days ago? A year?) and Don had sent him away. But Charlie had still been there, then, hadn't he?

Concentrating, Don scrunched up his eyes. He saw the image of his little brother in front of his eyes, standing between the trees, looking at him a bit frightened. Indeed, Charlie had still been there… But later? He tried to call back the images of the following events in his memory, looking for Charlie. No, not here, not here… neither… no… He wasn't in them anymore, nowhere. Charlie had disappeared after Don had sent him away. He had gotten lost after Don told him so.

He felt sick. A big lump was forming in his throat. He had sent Charlie away and hadn't taken care of him anymore and Charlie had removed himself and had disappeared. It was his fault, singlehandedly his fault, and he knew it. He had been responsible for his little brother and now he was gone and God knew what had happened to him since then. He hadn't fulfilled his duty, his privilege. He had a little brother, perhaps that was annoying sometimes, but at heart, it was a gift. He hadn't attended to this privilege sufficiently.

But that wouldn't happen to him again. From now on, Don would never let his little brother out of his sight again. He would take care of him always and everywhere and protect him. No matter what that would mean for himself, he'd be there for Charlie, performing his duties and privileges as a big brother.

If he'd only have a chance to fulfill his vow…

Reluctantly, Don felt tears pushing against his eyes from inside. He didn't want to cry, not in front of the police officers and not in front of his parents. But, damn it, maybe it was too late and it was his fault, his damn fault, and he would never be able to change it! If something happened, he wouldn't be able to call it off, never.

Please, please make that nothing has happened to him.

The words had formed in Don's mind before he had been aware of them. In the background he wondered who he was addressing to thereby. Charlie? Dad? Mum? The police? No, that was nonsense.

But why God?

They had never been particularly religious. He couldn't even remember of the last time he had been praying. Had he even ever prayed in a real Jewish manner? No, he would have been able to remember. But then why suddenly now? What was pushing him to entrust his thoughts to someone of whose existence he wasn't even convinced? To beg him for help? Was it simply because he was seeing the last hope therein?

And eventually, it happened. The tears were finding a way out of Don's corners of the eye. His breathing became irregular when he was squeezing against his mother's breast and she was taking her big boy in her arms. He covered his face in her embrace while one single thought was floating in his mind, cleaving in words to freedom. "I want him to come back, mom. I want him back."

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About twenty-one percent. Just figured roughly, of course. For a more exact number, he lacked the correct information although he had already calculated his average speed with the help of the road markings and his watch. The problem was the route. He just didn't know the exact distance between the campsite and his home and he just couldn't think by any stretch of the imagination of a method to calculate it without further appliances.

Charlie heard something whooshing loudly and lifted his head. A truck came towards him (since there was no track beside the road any more, he was keeping on the left-hand road side). He stumbled some feet in the grass beside him, though still sensing the draft the big vehicle caused.

Longingly, Charlie looked after the truck. If he only could ride in a car, just for a few miles… His parents, however, had explained to him that you must never ride in a car with a stranger. And he stuck to it. Besides, the truck was driving in the wrong direction. Just forget it.

Charlie turned his gaze ahead again. Since he could hear nearing cars and there was little traffic here, there was no danger in glancing behind him every now and then. When he turned his gaze forward again, however, he at once saw another car. A police car.

The car was getting closer. Again Charlie drew aside on the grass to be no hindrance for the driver. But the police didn't pass him. They stopped.

Charlie stopped, looking with big eyes at the opening passenger's seat window. "Hello!" the policewoman in the inside gently greeted him. She and her colleague examined Charlie appraisingly. "Did you lose your way?"

Charlie shook his head.

"Will you tell me your name?" the woman wanted to know further.

"Charlie Eppes."

The policewoman glanced at her colleague before turning towards the boy in front of her again. "Have you been camping up there in the woods, with your daddy?" she inquired.

Charlie was surprised. How did this woman know? "Yes," he confirmed and nodded. For a tiny instant he hesitated, but his curiosity couldn't be denied. "How do you know, ma'am?"

The woman smiled warmly at Charlie. "Your daddy is looking for you. He has called us to help him."

"Oh," Charlie simply said. He didn't know what to say about that. His father had called the police to look for him? Why?

"Why don't you get in?" the other police officer now said from the driver's seat. "We'll bring you to them."

Charlie shrugged. "Okay."

The policewoman got out of the car and bent down to Charlie, holding his shoulders lightly. "Are you feeling fine? Are you cold?" she asked.

Charlie hesitated. "A bit," he answered.

"It's okay, we'll take you to your family. Is that alright?"

Charlie nodded. The word 'family' already made him feel a bit warmer. But also the jacket the policewoman was wrapping around his shoulders helped.

She opened the rear door for him and he climbed on the backseat and belted himself. When the policeman inspected him through the rearview mirror, he was sitting attentively, waiting to be brought back to his family.

The policeman started to grin and shook his head. Thank goodness. Children missing like this really made you lose your nerve. And his colleague and he were well aware of what could have happened to him. They had always hoped that the sick guys that defiled and killed children would absent themselves from their district. When they first got the call it had looked like as if some such pedophile had found a victim –in their area of responsibility. Fortunately, their concern had proved unfounded. The boy seemed to be fine. Now they only had to make sure the family wasn't worrying sick anymore.

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It couldn't be true. It just couldn't be true. Charlie couldn't have disappeared; the whole thing was so insubstantial, so unreal, so weird.

So true.

"Think back once more, had anything happened, anything out of the ordinary, before your son disappeared?"

At his parents' side, Don lifted his head, staring in the expectant features of the policeman who must have asked these questions already a dozen times now and didn't do anything about it. His brother was gone. Wasn't that extraordinary enough?

"No. We've already said that," Alan moaned. His head was resting in his hands, not daring to look somewhere else than the ground.

"What's going to happen now?" Margaret wanted to know, her voice trembling. The arm she had laid around Don's shoulders was trembling as well.

It was strange, Don thought. There they sat, the three of them, reunited in this unusual place. Someone who didn't know them, seeing them here, would probably think to see a pretty normal family. But they weren't. They weren't a family, not entirely at least. A quarter was missing. And without it they were no family and they would never be one again if nobody brought back this quarter to them.

A quarter. Twenty-five percent.

Don sensed that it was going to happen again, and blinked. It didn't help. The tears where there again and started anew rolling down his face. He whipped them off with his sleeve irritably. He wanted Charlie to come back, he wanted his baby brother to be with him again. He wanted it never to have happened. Please, please make it undone. Please, make that nothing has happened. I swear I won't let it happen again, I promise. I'll always take care of him from now on, always; but please bring him back to me…

"Mr and Mrs Eppes?"

The three heads jerked upwards when behind the policeman who had interrogated them appeared another one, hurrying towards them. "The search party from Flintridge has just reported by radio. They picked up your son on the road. They'll bring him here. Looks like he lost his way. But they say he's fine."

The three of them stared at him stunned.

"Is that true?" Alan finally whispered.

The police officer smiled. "Yes, it's true. They should arrive in about ten minutes. Just have a little patience." He turned towards his colleague. "I'll inform the others. Then we can finish here."

He departed again and the other one stood as well. "I'll be here for you in a minute," he said before turning his back to them, leaving them alone.

"Oh my God!"

Slowly, Don turned his head, looking at the voice beside him. His mother gave up her control and sobbed, covering her face in her hands. Alan motioned Don to come to her, taking her in his arms. "Shhh… Everything's alright. They've found him. He's fine. It's over."

Don noticed that his father, too, had tears in his eyes until he finally noticed that his own were there again as well, and he quickly whipped them off his eyes. His father was right. It was really over. But it was still so unreal…

Don breathed shakily. It wasn't over yet, but soon. As soon as he'd see with his very own eyes that Charlie was fine.

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The brightness of the headlights announced the vehicle already before it appeared. Don, Margaret and Alan jumped up and were hurrying across the meadow while the door of the backseat opened from the inside and a small boy climbed out. Unmistakably Charlie.

"Charlie!" Margaret called, sobbing, and knelt in front of her slightly befuddled youngest, wrapped her arms tightly around him, and kissed him again and again. "Oh, Charlie! I'm so glad you're with us again." She held her head back a bit to be able to peer at her son more properly. "Are you fine? Are you hurt? Are you cold?"

"I'm fine," Charlie answered completely quietly, as if he was talking about the weather. He didn't understand why his parents were making such a big deal. Neither did he understand why there were suddenly so many police officers. Nevertheless, he was thankful when his father laid his jacket around his shoulders.

Margaret hugged her youngest tightly once more before she stood. "We… we have to talk to the police again. You two… you stay here, alright?" While she and Alan were going to the officers, she glanced back every few feet to be sure that Charlie was really still there.

He, however, had only eyes for his big brother, who, now that his parents had let go of Charlie, had come into his sight of view. Yet, they were still standing two yards off each other, the distance of an invisible chasm between them.

There was silence for some seconds. What were you supposed to say in such a situation, after all?

"Where the hell have you been?" Don finally barked at his little brother.

Great, Charlie thought. Don was still mad with him although he had really tried anything to allow Don not to be angry with him anymore. He had left him alone and –

Oh.

Pling. Suddenly the lights came on. Everything here was because of him. The policemen, Mum, the many vehicles, the turbulence… that's why they all were here, they had been looking for him! And since they had been looking for him, that meant Donnie's birthday hadn't progressed too happily. Because of him. He had gained the exact opposite of his intension. No wonder Don was angry. Drat, damned. "I –"

"Don't do that again, okay?"

Gradually, the canyon between them was filling up. Don noticed Charlie swallow, and it was as though his brother was swallowing away Don's anger. Anger… or relief… basically, it was all one and the same, anyway. And then Don sensed another emotion surging up inside him, something like joy, joy about the fact that nothing had happened to Charlie, joy about the fact that his little brother was with them again, and he was a bit surprised due to the fact that this joy wasn't merely nurtured by relief.

The 3nd