Chapter 27- A Day In the Caverns
Even though the hole in the "ceiling" of the caverns wasn't all that big, Fudge felt the sunlight come flooding in early in the morning. That was good for a couple of reasons. For one thing, she didn't have to freak out at every single storm noise. For another, she was glad for the extra warmth.
Morning was here... Or was it? With the darkness of the storm and her irregular sleeping, she had no idea what time it was. In fact, she wasn't even sure what day it was.
"Whatever day it is, I hope today's the day I get found", she mumbled to herself bitterly.
She had promised Doc that she wouldn't lose hope and she really wouldn't. Tail Light Caverns wasn't that far away from town. Fudge was sure that someone would find her. She just hoped that someone would find her soon.
Despite the fact that the sunlight felt good and would probably make being stranded a little easier, there was one downside. Without the rain, she had no way of getting water. Unless... No. She couldn't. Well, it was either that or die of thirst. One... two... three!
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" she cried out as she attempted to roll over onto her side. Her back was hurting, her ribs were hurting, her elbow was hurting. Still, she was managing to do it slowly and painfully. She sure hoped that she was happy like this. She didn't think she could roll back over onto her back.
Gingerly, she stretched her arms out and tried to scoop up some of the water. God! This was the most amount of work her arms had done since the accident. She didn't manage to get an awful lot of water, but it would have to do. For now, anyway. Still, poor Fudge knew that if she wanted to survive, she was going to have to find a way to get more water and/or she would have to be found very soon.
Lightning McQueen was up with the sun that morning and was racing over to Flo's for some oil, so he could just go out and search for Fudge. In fact, he was gone before Sally even woke up. He felt his heart sink when he saw that Guido and Luigi were over at Flo's, already sipping their oil half-heartedly.
"Hey, Guido!" he called out.
Guido glanced up and gave him a small smile. "Ciao."
Luigi didn't even look up from his oil. He hadn't been drinking it all that much, but now, it was as if it was the most fascinating thing in the entire world.
"Sheriff... be here... soon", Guido announced.
"He said he was gonna call out a search team", Lightning commented. "Do you know what's happening there?"
"I think... he do that now", the forklift replied.
McQueen nodded. "Right..."
Although they wanted to see what the search team were like, Lightning, Luigi and Guido were all long gone by the time they arrived, desperate to find the missing teenager. They'd only stuck around long enough for Sheriff to distribute radios with instructions to report immediately if Fudge was found. It was a very comforting sight when they were out in the middle of the desert and a helicopter flew above them.
"(Do you think the search crew will find Fudge?)" Luigi wondered as he and Guido made their way through the desert.
"(I don't know. I hope so.)" Guido sighed. "(She has been missing for nearly twenty-four hours now and still nothing.)"
"(I know...)" Tears formed in Luigi's eyes.
Unfortunately, when the entire town and the search team grouped at lunch, Fudge still wasn't found.
"It's wet and freezing cold!" Sally commented worriedly. "She'd catch pneumonia or something."
"Or worse, hypothermia", Sarge chimed in.
"There are coyotes and rattlesnakes out in that desert!" Ramone added anxiously. "She could've gotten attacked!"
"Well, Fudge knows this area like the back of her hand", Sarge pointed out. "She knows what to do if she sees a coyote or rattlesnake. Even so, the sooner we find her, the better off we'll all be."
"We'll keep searchin' after lunch. All I care about is findin' that kid before she gets pneumonia or hypothermia. Or gets attacked by a coyote or a rattlesnake", Sheriff announced.
At that moment, a rumbling sound could be heard high above them.
Sheriff frowned. "What is that?"
Mater gasped. "It's Siddeley! That means..."
A second later, as if on cue, Holley landed on the main road of town.
"We heard about Fudge!" she exclaimed hysterically and breathlessly in her British accent. "Is it true?! Please tell me it's not true!"
"Well, what did you hear?" Lightning questioned.
"We heard she's missing!" Finn reported, approaching with Sammy. "Is that true?!"
Nobody knew how the spies could've possibly known that Fudge was missing, but decided not to focus on that for the time being.
"Yeah", Sheriff admitted quietly. "It's true."
"What the hell happened?" Sammy demanded.
Remorsefully, Sheriff recounted the whole story.
"How long has she been missing for?!" the Faultless GT questioned.
"Over twenty-four hours now."
"Oh, s**t!" Sammy exclaimed, concerned.
"Oh, no!" Holley murmured.
"You wanna help us find Fudge?" Ramone asked. "What about your missions?"
"Of course we want to find her", Finn assured them all. "This is a good friend of ours."
"Three extra people means Fudge might get found quicker", Lightning pointed out. "Why don't you come with me and Sally to search from the Rolling Hills to the Enchanted Forest? It's gonna be a long way and we'll need all the help we can get."
"Well, what the hell are we waitin' for?! Show us the way!" Sammy shouted determinedly.
"All right. Let's go!"
No longer being worried about the storm was supposed to be a good thing. However, not having it to worry about just gave Fudge new worries. Getting found and returning home was obvious. Eating was another obvious one; she had no food with her and she was starving. Then there was the fear of getting into trouble for not only going off on her own and getting lost like she did in Tokyo, but also for breaking her glasses. They were relatively new and she'd broken them.
"We are not made of money!" she could hear Luigi's voice scold her in her mind. "You really need to be more careful, Fudge!"
The thought made her heart race. She couldn't stand having people mad at her or letting people down.
Fudge felt something cold pressed up against her. It was the necklace from Lightning. She remembered what he'd told her when he gave it to her on her birthday and was fastening it around her neck.
"I had a very special reason for getting you this necklace. This is a wishing star. You wear this and all your dreams'll come true."
Maybe it was meant to be that she was wearing it while she was stranded in the caverns. Maybe it was a sign that she should have hope. Someone would find her.
And that was exactly what Doc told her when they visited her next.
"Someone will find you", Doc repeated comfortingly. "Don't think for a second that they ain't gonna do everythin' they can to find you. Your friends, Finn, Holley and Sammy, are here to help."
"Sammy, Finn and Holley?" Fudge repeated.
"That's right. They're all looking for you."
It was hard for the spies to keep up with Lightning McQueen as he tore his way through the Rolling Hills, calling out Fudge's name. There didn't seem to be any point; they could see for miles. It was obvious that Fudge was nowhere to be seen.
"I don't understand why we haven't found her yet!" Lightning groaned. "She couldn't have gotten very far!" Then an old fear resurfaced. "Unless she's been taken..."
"Stickers, who could've taken her? We haven't seen anyone for days."
"Yeah, but what if someone just took her and left?!"
"Well, we don't know that just yet", Sally pointed out. "Let's not worry about it."
Lightning nodded, but that was a hell of a lot easier said than done.
"Should we start heading back?" Holley suggested. "Or look somewhere else? It's obvious she's not here. We'd be able to see her if she was."
"She's right", Sally agreed.
"No! We still need to search the Cool Pool of Tranquillity, Tail Light Caverns and Enchanted Forest!" Lightning insisted.
"All right." Finn nodded. "You know this area better than we do. Show us where we're going now."
"This way!" Sally called, Lightning too far ahead to hear them.
After seeing that Fudge wasn't at the Cool Pool of Tranquillity, the quintet found themselves at the entrance to Tail Light Caverns.
"Do you really think Fudge is going to be here?" Finn wondered.
"I don't know", Lightning admitted. "Fudge doesn't come here very often by herself, but we haven't looked here yet, so it's worth a try."
"I suppose so."
So, all five of them ventured into the caverns, racing around and calling out Fudge's name.
Meanwhile, not too far away, Fudge lay fast asleep in her little ditch, completely unaware that anybody was close by, calling her name. She was missing exactly what she'd been waiting for! Now, they were going to miss her!
"I guess she's not here!" Lightning admitted defeat once they'd reached the other side.
"Don't worry, Stickers!" Sally tried to comfort him. "We're still going to search the Enchanted Forest. Maybe she'll be there."
"I doubt it", he mumbled, more to himself than anybody else.
"Let's go!" Sally led the way.
It was the sound of engines that stirred Fudge finally. Her eyes opened in a hurry and she began to get excited. Was someone there?! Was she finally going to be rescued? Surely, she would be now!
"Hello?!" she called out. "Hello?! Is someone there?! I need help! Someone, help me please!"
There was no answer. In fact, the sound of engines was getting quieter. Still, she could hear voices in the distance.
"So... You really don't think Fudge'll be in this Enchanted Forest?" a familiar voice- a British accent- asked. It was Finn! So, Doc was right! He was here!
"I really don't", another familiar voice- Lightning's!- responded. "If you want the truth, I think someone might've taken her. It's the only way to explain how she's managed to get so far away."
"But I'm right here!" Fudge tried to shout, but she just didn't have the energy. "Come back, come back!"
Still, the engines continued to fade away.
"Come back!" she repeated, beginning to cry.
Great! They were so close and yet they were giving up on her! Now, what?!
A little bit further away, things weren't much better for Guido and Luigi. The two of them had spent pretty much the whole day searching for their daughter. At first, Luigi had been mumbling to himself about this whole thing was Lightning's fault and none of this would never have happened if he wasn't so irresponsible. Guido had tuned out once again.
"Is something wrong, Guido?" the Fiat questioned worriedly at one point.
Guido gave him a hard Look. "(You tell me! Our daughter is missing and you are more worried about whose fault it is than finding her!)"
"(That is not true and you know it! I will do everything I can to find my daughter!)"
"(It does not look like it! Because all I have heard you talk about in the last fifteen minutes is how irresponsible McQueen is!)"
"(Okay. Why don't we both not talk for a while?!)" Luigi suggested.
"(That would be nice.)"
So, they did.
"So still, no one's had any luck finding her?" Lightning asked later on that evening.
"Doesn't look that way", Sheriff replied. "But the search crews are still out there." He sighed deeply and added, "I think they're gonna call it a day soon, though."
"So, what is we gonna do now?" Mater wondered.
Another sigh came from Sheriff. "Well, if it's obvious that she ain't around here, we may have to look into the possibility she may have been kidnapped."
Everyone nodded sadly and fearfully. They sure hoped that Fudge hadn't been kidnapped. She had been kidnapped once before (and almost kidnapped a time before that, even though she didn't know it!) and it had horrified her. If it had happened again, Fudge would probably never be the same.
Luckily, Fudge hadn't been kidnapped. Still, that didn't mean that she was having an easy time. She was lying there, bawling her eyes out. She couldn't believe it! Lightning, Sally and the spies had come through earlier and they still hadn't found her! How could she have let that happen?! She tried to promise herself that she would stay awake for as long as she remained in the caverns, but in the middle of her vow, she was already drifting off...
...to find herself once again venting her fears to Doc.
"It's gonna be all right", the Hudson Hornet assured her.
"What am I supposed to do now? Lightning was here and he didn't find me! They're not coming back! How am I gonna be found now?!"
Doc gave her a warm smile. "You just leave that to me, kiddo."
What's Doc gonna do? You'll find out soon...