Perfect Victims (Formerly Kidnapped: Stolen in the Night)

Chapter 2

It was supposed to be a simple overnight camp out in the Superstition Mountains.  There were eight of us.  Eight kids celebrating the end of the school year.

Ted Enson was the oldest at 14.  Red headed, freckled face genius.  He could recite the elemental table frontwards and backwards and provide the number for each element.  A lot of kids teased him and called him "carrot-top."  I could see it bothered him, but he was always quick with a comeback.

Renee Dupont was his cousin.  She too had red hair, long and wavy.  She usually wore it in a ponytail.  Like most of us, she was 13.  She was at the point that she was starting to notice boys and vice-versa.  She loved novels about magic, knights, dragons and the like.

Sue Ridgemont was the glamour queen of the group.  Pretty and athletic, she had shoulder length brown hair and bright green eyes.  Her family had some money and to a point had her spoiled.  She, however, was a strong-willed girl who wasn't afraid to speak her mind.

Kelly Patterson was 12, long golden blond hair.  Bright with icy blue eyes, she on occasion would do some modeling, thought she confessed to not like it.

Connie Ross was Kelly's cousin.  Her mom's sister's daughter.  She too had golden blond hair.  She and Kelly would often play dress up to look like each other.  Getting older, that game was getting old.

Nolen Tennant was the youngest of the group.  At 10, he had stringy blond hair and could often be found climbing trees or terrorizing his sister, Beverly.  Not that the rest of us didn't become targets of his antics.  Beverly called him a brat, but in all, he was a good kid.

Beverly and Nolen were my cousins.  Beverly was 13 like me, very pretty with long brown hair.  Athletic, she loved to play tennis and was pretty good, challenging older players with more experience.  She was the heart of the group with a love of all.

Me, my name's Leon Stone.  Like I said I'm 13, brownish blond hair.  I'm a little small for my age, and won't be a basketball or football star.

It was hot out.  The sun was shining brightly without a cloud in sight.  A typical Arizona day.

Nolen started looking for trouble the moment the adults left after dropping us off for the day. 

Scampering up over some rocks, he caught a lizard.

"Look what I found," he grinned hold it up in his sister's face.

"Oh, let the poor thing go," Beverly demanded.

"Yeah, let it go," Renee agreed.

"What if I don't?"

"Then I'll make you," Beverly threatened.

"Ok, fine."  Nolen turned, reared back, and appeared to throw the poor thing as hard as he could.  Beverly was horrified.  She turned away, covering her face.

"I can't believe you did that!"

"He didn't," Sue said quietly.  Beverly turned around to see that Nolen still had the lizard.  He walked over to some rocks and gently let the lizard go.  It hesitated for a second and looked up at the boy.  Then it snatched a bug from a cloud of insects swarming around a small sage plant then ran off and disappeared behind some rocks.

We found a clearing on the north side where the mountain jutted out.  Even in the shade it was hot.  We had brought a bunch of water and had one cooler with sodas so we had plenty to drink.  A second cooler had sandwiches, fruit, and snack cups.

I can't believe you guys talked me into doing this," Sue griped as she unrolled her sleeping bag on a cushioning mat.

"It was your idea," Ted grinned.