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Bo's Journey Home Chapter 6   Nora’s House Monday Night June 23rd, 2003   The officer got Nora home at the same time Renee arrived with Vicki. The two women enveloped Nora in their arms, holding her for a few moments. The officer stayed outside and the three women went inside. The media trucks were all ready starting to arrive. Renee sat down next to Nora on the sofa, taking her hand and patting it gently. “The police will find him, Nora,” she said.   Nora nodded, trying to make herself believe those words. “I know, Renee. Bo has the entire Llanview police force looking for him.”   Vicki came from the kitchen with a tray carrying coffee, mugs, milk, and sugar. She placed the tray on the coffee table. “I’ve made plenty of coffee.” Nora smiled slightly at her. Vicki sat on Nora’s other side. She held one hand, Renee still holding the other. “The police will find him, Nora, Vicki said encouragingly.   Nora nodded at her. ”I’m trying to make myself believe that.”   Vicki squeezed her hand gently, before reaching for the coffee. “You have to believe that.”   Nora looked at both of them with tears in her eyes. “What if someone took him?”   Renee shook her head. “Don’t go there, Nora. Don’t even let yourself think that.”   Nora let her tears flow in front of her two dearest friends; her family really. The family Bo had given her when he married her. And they had stayed her family, even after what she had done to Bo. And they were here with her now, to help her through this. She spoke her fears out loud to them. “Then where could he be? Children don’t just disappear off the streets. People take them.”   Renee hugged Nora. “Don’t do this to yourself, Nora, you’ll make yourself crazy.”   Vicki agreed, adding her insight. “Nora, he may have just fallen asleep over at the day camp, woke up when everyone was gone…”   Nora shook her head no. “I know you two are trying to help. But we all know he is not at that camp. Antonio and Bo are at Carlotta’s diner right now because Matthew’s baseball bat and glove were found there. He had them with him when I took him to camp. How could they have gotten there, if Matthew hadn’t been there too?”   Renee and Vicki looked at each other, before Vicki spoke. “You’re right, Nora. But we can’t speculate why the bat and glove were there until we hear from Bo or Antonio. All right?” Nora nodded, suddenly subdued. When Bo and Antonio arrived at Nora’s house, it was late. There were television crews, newspaper reporters and radio station crews setup in front of the house, in the street and in her driveway. The Amber alert had brought all of the media out. Bo was screaming into Antonio’s ear to be heard above the reporters that had swarmed them, shouting questions at them both. “Get them out of here,” Bo yelled. “I don’t care what it takes; you get them out of the driveway and backed up 100 yards from her house.”   Antonio nodded, pushing his way through them. “Yes sir.”   Bo reached the front door and let himself in, slamming the door behind him. Vicki and Renee stood as Nora ran to Bo, grabbing his arms. Nora was desperate for some good news from him. “Did you find him?”   Bo sighed heavily, seeing the desperation in her eyes, not wanting to hurt her anymore than she was all ready hurting. But he wasn’t going to lie to her. “No honey, we haven’t found him yet.” She collapsed into his arms, letting out an anguished cry, like a wounded animal. “Noo, Noo, Noo,” she moaned, dropping slowly into his arms, her body slowly sliding down the front of Bo’s body. Bo grabbed her around the waist, trying to keep her from falling. “Nora, honey,” he said softly, lifting her up and pulling her in tight against his chest, trying to give her some of his strength. “Red,” he whispered in her ear, using the nickname he hadn’t used in years. “I promise you, I will find our son.”   Nora was sobbing, her voice a high pitch as she tried to voice her fears to Bo. “He’s out there, and he’s all alone and its soo dark…” she could barely breathe, her arms draped limply around his neck, her forehead on his shoulder, her body limp against his. “…and he must be so scared.”   Bo continued to hold her tight with both arms wrapped around her, not wanting to let her go. He turned to kiss her softly on the side of her face, still whispering into her ear. “Nora, I have every officer looking for him. Every one,” he repeated. He practically carried her back to the sofa, sitting down with her, still holding her to him. Vicki and Renee felt helpless, standing there, not able to do anything to ease her anguish. They stayed quiet, allowing Bo to try and comfort her. “The television studios and radio stations are all outside, broadcasting Matthew’s picture and description all over the networks and airwaves. Calls are all ready coming in. There has even been an anonymous reward donated for any information leading to Matthew’s safe return.”   Vicki added gently. “Nora, I’ve got Kevin making it the headline of the Banner with a full picture of Matthew on the front page.” She turned to Bo. “Honey, what did you find out at the diner?”   Bo pulled Nora from his shoulder to look at her. “Matthew was definitely there.”   Nora looked into his deep, blue eyes, taking a tissue from Renee, trying to regain her composure. “How? When?”   Bo placed his finger gently on her mouth to stop her questions, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. “Antonio and I spoke with the camp administrator. It seems today the camps were sponsoring a baseball round robin of sorts with 3 other camps. The kids were playing at that ball field down from the diner. There were lots of kids there. Matthew must have wandered over to the diner and missed the bus back to camp. No one did an accurate head count when the kids were getting back on the buses, so he wasn’t missed on his bus. The afternoon waitress at Carlotta’s said a boy fitting Matthew’s description was in the diner about 3:00 PM. He ordered some ice cream, but when she came back, he was gone.”   Nora became more alert. “Did anyone else see him?”   Bo nodded. “I’m getting to that. We got a call down at the station. A couple that went into the diner early for dinner, said they saw the Amber alert and recalled that a boy fitting Matthew’s description ran out of the diner as they were going in. They said they remembered him because he practically knocked them down running out of the door.”   Nora started to think quickly. “Maybe he saw the camp bus and thought he was going to miss it.”   Bo shook her head, not wanting to bust her bubble. “No, I don’t think that was it. The camp administrator told us the bus left the area about 4:00 PM. Matthew was seen running from the diner closer to 3:00 PM.”   Nora looked to him for his insight. “So what are you thinking?”   Bo responded carefully. “I think something spooked him.”   Vicki was confused. “Like what?”   Bo shrugged, shaking his head. “I don’t know, yet. The waitress told me there were two other people in the diner when Matthew was there. She thinks they spoke to him, but she’s not sure. They and Matthew were all gone when she got back with the ice cream.”   Nora was now very alert. “Who were they? Was he running from them? Does she think they took him?”   “We don’t know yet,” said Bo. “We have a police sketch artist working with her to try and get pictures of them. She said she doesn’t really remember them that well.” Nora sank back against the sofa, closing her eyes, her hand over her face. Bo spoke to her gently. “Nora, I think you should try and get some rest.”   Nora opened her eyes and looked at him incredulously. “Are you out of your mind? Do you really think I can rest while my son is out there, missing, in God knows whose hands.”   Bo countered quickly. “You can’t afford to collapse from exhaustion.”   Vicki nodded in agreement. “Bo’s right, Nora. You’re exhausted all ready. We will wake you if we hear anything.”   Nora shook her head. “No. Besides, I wouldn’t sleep. I couldn’t.”   Bo tried to coax her. “Then just go up and lie down. I promise, I will come and get you if I hear anything.” Nora started to argue with Bo again but Vicki pulled on Nora’s hand. “Come on, we won’t take no for an answer.”   Nora allowed Vicki to pull her up off the sofa and lead her upstairs. Renee waited for Nora to be out of ear shot before she spoke to Bo. “Asa is the one who offered the reward for any information leading to Matthew’s safe return. He didn’t want you to know.”   Bo smiled gratefully. “I figured it was him. The amount of ½ million dollars had his name written all over it. You tell him thanks.”   Renee smiled at him. “You and Nora might not be married, but Asa and I both know what Nora and Matthew mean to you. And even if Asa won’t admit it, he’s still very attached to Nora.”   Bo gave Renee the hug he would not have been able to give his father had he been the one standing there telling him of the reward. “Someday you will know what this means to me.”   Renee returned the intensity of his hug.“We know, darling.”   Vicki came back downstairs at that moment. “I got Nora to lie down. I don’t know how long it will last.”   Bo was shocked. “How did you accomplish that, Vicki?”   Vicki grimaced a little. “Threatened to call Larry and get a sedative.” Bo and Renee smiled. “I hated to do that, but she needs to get some rest.” She now looked at Bo, asking in a straightforward voice. “Okay, Bo, Nora’s not here. Now tell us what you’re really thinking.”   Bo looked up towards the second floor where Nora was lying in her bed, desperately counting on him to find Matthew. He looked back at Vicki. He once again ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to think, Vicki. It’s been my experience that children don’t just disappear off the face of the earth.” He looked from Renee to Vicki, before adding. “People take them.”   Vicki spoke, trying to hide the fear in her voice. “Do you think he was kidnapped by the people in the diner?”   Bo shrugged, rubbing his eyes and then his neck. “I don’t know, Vicki.” He paused, sighing heavily. “I don’t know what to think right now. But since Matthew left the diner, there doesn’t seem to be any trace of him.” Renee stood behind him, rubbed his shoulders. “You must be exhausted.”   Bo looked back up to the second floor. “Not compared to what she must be feeling.”   Vicki nodded. “She’s going to need all of the support we can give her.”   Bo nodded his agreement. “I’ve been dreading this thought all evening, but I think its time to call Rachel. Excuse me, ladies.” Bo walked from them and pulled out his cell phone. His conversation seemed brief. He returned to them, speaking to Renee. “Do you think I can impose on Pa and get him to have his jet flown to Chicago and pick up Rachel? It’ll get her here so much faster.”   Renee smiled, patting his arm. “You even have to ask?” She pulled out her own cell phone and started dialing. “Consider it done.”   Bo kissed her cheek softly as she starting speaking into the phone. “Thanks.” He turned to Vicki. “Thanks to both of you for coming so quickly.”   Vicki smiled, her affection for this man in front of her evident. Bo was closer to her than her own brother. “She’s a Buchanan, Bo. She’s family. They both are.”   Bo nodded his head slightly, a small smile on his face. “If they only knew the truth,” he thought. But even without knowing, he knew their loyalties. It was all about family. “Yep,” he said out loud. “They’re my family.”   Renee closed her cell, looking back at both of them. “It’s a done deal. Plane should be on its way within the next few hours.”   “Great,” Bo said, kissing them both again. “Tell Pa thanks for me.” He looked at his watch. “It’s really late. You should both go. I’m gonna bunk here tonight.” He looked up the steps. “She may need me.” They smiled at him and left, the officer helping them wind their way through the reporters and to the car. Bo sat down on the sofa, his face in his hands, trying to hold it together. He couldn’t allow his fatherly emotions to interfere now. He had to concentrate on finding Matthew. And he had yet to make his second dreaded phone call of the evening; to Gabrielle. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his home. To be continued …