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            “Oh, I am sorry!” Jerry had immediately apologized to the big man that he bumped into when he was coming out of the City Library.  Jerry had been so intent on getting back to the University so that he could finish working on his term paper that he never saw the big man until he bumped into him.
            Suddenly a second big man moved to Jerry’s side and grabbed his arm hard.  Then the two big men had held Jerry tightly between them and started propelling him toward the curb.  “Hey!  Let go of me!  What are you doing?” Jerry had cried out as loud as he could.
            But all of his frightened words were muffled by a damp cloth one of the men was holding like a mask over Jerry’s nose and mouth.  The cloth really reeked of something awfully sweet that fogged up Jerry’s glasses.  Jerry had tried to twist his face away from the sickening cloth, but the man held it firmly to his face until Jerry was starting to feel dizzy and it seemed like all of his strength was being drained out of him.  And then Jerry just had time to see the open door of a dark van waiting for him before he was pulled down into a very deep darkness.
            When the darkness finally lifted, Jerry had found himself sitting on a bed in somebody’s bedroom.  He didn't know where he was or how he got here, but he did recognize the two big men who were now towering over him.  And then he felt and saw the ropes that were tightly tied all around his chest and his arms and his wrists.
            “Hey!  You can't do this to me!  You'd better let me go right now!” Jerry had told the two strange men in an angry voice.
            But the two men just laughed at Jerry.  Then one of the men grabbed Jerry hard by his hair while the other man wedged a handful of cloth between Jerry’s teeth.  Then the other man held Jerry’s head still while his partner began layering wide strips of sticky tape over Jerry’s cloth-spread lips and cheeks to keep him from spitting out the cloth.
            Jerry didn't like this at all, but there was nothing that he could do to stop the two men from treating him this way.  And when he tried to tell them that he didn't want to be tied up any more, all of his words sounded like the kind of muffled sounds a trapped little animal might make.  The two men ignored Jerry’s little squeaks and then handled him roughly while they quickly bound up his ankles and thighs with more tight ropes.
            “There,” one of the men finally spoke.  “You just sit there real quiet and behave until your Daddy pays the ransom we want."
            “Yea,” the other man growled.  “And you'd better pray a little that your Daddy gives us what we ask for.  If he don't, then we're going to start sending you home in little pieces!”
            The two men laughed in an evil way and then went out of the room and closed the door on Jerry.
            Jerry was really scared and confused.  Jerry hadn't heard from his archeologist Father in nearly six months.  His Father's last message said that he was on a dig somewhere in the mountains of Peru and that he hoped to have good news soon.  Did this mean that Jerry’s Father had found the treasure he was looking for?
            Jerry didn't know, but he was sure that he couldn't wait to find out.  Jerry’s Father expected his son to be brave and resourceful if he ever wanted to join him on his expeditions so Jerry couldn't just sit there meekly like some little rabbit while these men used him to steal everything his Father had worked so hard for.
            So Jerry pushed his body back onto the bed.  Then he began to twist this way and that on the hard mattress.  First he tried to loosen the ropes by straining his muscles against them, but that didn't work.
            Then he tried contorting his body this way and that while he tried to get the fingers of his tied hands on the nuisance knots, but those evil men had tied him up in such a clever way that he couldn't even touch those knots.
            There had to be a way!  Jerry listened intently, but he couldn't here any sounds.  Maybe those men had gone and now he was all alone in this house.  If he could somehow get his body to the door, he could open it and peek out.  And, if there was nobody there, maybe he could hop outside and find some help.
            It wasn't easy, but Jerry finally managed to sit up on the side of the bed again.  Then he got his feet under him and used all of his strength to leverage his body up into a standing position.  This was good.  Now if he could just make it to the door—?
            Suddenly the door opened and Jerry was surprised to see one of the men standing there with a sandwich a glass of milk for Jerry in his hands.
            “Why you little devil!  Hey!  Get in here!”
            The other man rushed into the room and then glared at Jerry angrily.  “Some kids don't know when there well off!  Get some more rope!”
            The man shoved Jerry back onto the bed and then waited angrily until his partner returned with more rope.
            Then both of the men were really rough with Jerry as they shoved him down on the bed and began grabbing and twisting his body.  All too quickly, Jerry found himself bound up in a painful position with his legs folded up behind his back.  Then one of the men snatched the glasses off of Jerry’s face.
            “No, please, don't take my glasses!” Jerry hummed into the soggy cloth that was clogging up his mouth.  Without his glasses everything was just a blur.
            But the two men just laughed at Jerry.
            Then one of the men grabbed Jerry hard by his shirt and hissed right into his face.  “You give us any more trouble and I'll turn you over to that medicine man your Daddy pissed off!”
            “Yea,” the other one seemed to like that idea.  “Maybe he can shrink your head!”
            The two men went out of the room and closed the door with a loud bang.
            Jerry lied back on the bed and tried not to cry.  It wasn't so much the pain in his shoulders and thighs or the gagging cloth that was swelling up inside his mouth that brought tears to his eyes.  It was more the feeling of being trapped and helpless like this.  What would Jerry’s Father say if he saw him like this?  And what if those men came back and really hurt him?
            Suddenly Jerry heard a loud commotion in the other room.  Then the door burst open and two dark figures rushed into the room.  Without his glasses, Jerry couldn't see who they were, but he was afraid that it was the two big men coming back to hurt him.  One of the dark blurry figures grabbed Jerry.
            “Please don't hurt me!” Jerry squealed way back in his throat.
            But then the man moved closer and Jerry’s eyes cleared enough so that he could see a shiny police badge on the man’s shirt.  It was the police!  Jerry was saved!
            Then Jerry began to cry.