Galactic Axia Adventure 1: Escape to Destiny by Jim Laughter Page A

in?” he asked fearfully.
    “How can we take you in if we can’t find you?” the first officer answered. “Now get going. We’ll probably have to be back up here tomorrow with more searchers, and some of them don’t understand.”
    Delmar took their advice and turned to leave.
    “Oh, by the way,” Joe called, “Happy birthday!”
    Delmar stopped with surprise at the comment. In his many weeks in the woods, he had failed to keep an accurate record of the date. The boy turned, waved, and was soon out of sight of the officers.
    The two men sauntered leisurely down the trail and continued searching to give Delmar more time to conceal himself. If they arrived back too early at the Eagleman farm, more searchers would be called in immediately. By taking their time, they assured Delmar another night before they could mount a concentrated search effort.
    ∞∞∞
     “There! That should do it,” said Director Hornbeck to the distraught man on the porch. “There shouldn’t be any problem with approval of this compensation grant.”
    After dispatching the officers to search, she had sent the rest of the caseworkers back to the office and stayed to help Dorn herself. Through the years, she had grown familiar with this case and developed a personal interest in it. She folded the completed grant, put it in her briefcase, and snapped the case shut. She looked up in time to see two officers emerge from the woods into the late afternoon sun.
    “Well? Did you find him?” she asked as they approached the porch.
    “No ma’am, we didn’t,” the first officer answered.
    “And why not?” she asked sternly.
    “Ma’am, those woods are pretty big,” Joe said.
    “I don’t see why that should present a problem,” she replied. “I can see a couple of miles of the woods from here so it shouldn’t be too hard to find one little boy.”
    The officers did not say anything. Why bother?
    “Tomorrow we’ll come back with some competent searchers!”
    The two men refused to rise to the bait. Thinking for a moment, the director continued.
    “I want you officers to stay here and protect this man in case his brother shows up,” she said. Dorn still sat on the porch trying to look pitiful. “I’m going to go check out a lead you missed.” With that, she got into her agency ground car and sped down the driveway.
    Robert had just finished with the cows and was carrying the milk into the house when the ground car pulled into their driveway. Agnes took the milk and set it in the cooler while Robert went out onto the porch.
    “May I help you?” Robert said as Ms. Hornbeck strode up to the porch.
    “Yes,” she said. “Where are you hiding Delmar?”
    “We’re not hiding him,” said Agnes. She came out onto the porch and stood beside her husband. The director looked up at them and frowned.
    “I know you have him hidden here, which makes you criminals just like him.”
    She then walked around the steps that lead onto the porch and headed back toward the out buildings.
    “And where do you think you’re going?” Robert asked. He dismounted the steps and intercepted her.
    “I’m going to search the buildings where you’re hiding the boy,” Hornbeck answered contentiously.
    “No you’re not,” said Robert evenly. “Now get off our property.”
    “You can’t stop me from looking!” she said hotly as she glared into his face. Robert held his temper in check. This cretin wasn’t worth getting angry over.
    “I said get off our property,” he said with a firmness that set her back. She continued to glare at him for a moment, then turned and stalked back to her ground car.
    “I’m coming back tomorrow with a search warrant and tear this place apart! Then I’m going to have you arrested!” Director Hornbeck shouted. “They shouldn’t let dangerous people like you out on the streets!”
    She climbed into her vehicle and slammed the door. Gravel flew as she sped down the driveway and onto the road.
    Robert and Agnes