Chapter 115

"Marlena, I checked out back and I don't see them." Carrie said entering the cabin.

"Let's go look for them Carrie." Mike suggested heading towards the door.

"We're going with you." Eric insisted as he and Jenny put down their bags of food.

"I want to help too." Marlena insisted looking at John. "What if something happened to our babies?"

"They're going to be okay Doc." he said trying to reassure her as they heard a small knock on the door. "I'll bet that's them right now."

Carrie opened the front door and a dirty looking Brady walked inside the cabin. He looked around at the worried adult faces looking at him as he held his frog tighter in his hands. He figured that Belle had rushed home and tattled on him about walking along the shoreline without their permission until he realized that his sister wasn't in the room waiting for him along with everyone else.

"So where is the little pip-squeak?" Brady asked looking at John.

"Brady, where is Belle?" Marlena asked lowering herself down to his level.

"You mean she's not with you?" Brady questioned looking up at Marlena.

"Sweetheart, were you and Belle playing hide and seek outside?" Marlena asked hoping that he would know where Belle was.

"No, we were playing along the water looking for seashells." Brady announced quietly.

"What were you and Belle doing down there?" John asked concerned.

"I'm sorry dad." Brady said with tears in his eyes. "We just wanted to find some nice shells for mom."

"Brady, that doesn't matter right now." John said moving over to touch his son's shoulder. "All that matters is that we find your sister. Now where is she?"

"I don't know." Brady announced sadly. "I was up ahead chasing the frog and when I looked back, she was gone."

"Oh God." Marlena gasped feeling her legs grow weak. "Brady, where did she go?"

"I don't know." Brady said sadly.

"We're got to find her John." Marlena said turning to him for comfort.

"Don't worry. We're going to find her Doc." John said trying to reassure her that everything was going to be alright.

"I'll teach Brady to call me a sissy." Belle said looking up at the cabin as she continued walking along the shoreline.

She looked down on the ground and saw an iridescent shell beneath her feet. She picked up the tiny shell and wiped it off on her shirt and then held it up to the light to look at. She was in awe of it's beauty as she looked down again and saw an identical shell next to where she had found the original one.

"Mommy is going to love these." she said as she headed in the direction of the shells.

She began to follow the path of shells until she reached the long wooden road on top of the water that she had been warned not to go on. She looked out across the long wooden road that laid before her and she saw sparkley shells out at the end of the road towards the water.

"I have to get those for mommy." she said finding the courage to take her first step onto the old wooden plank. She looked down at the new road she was on and she took a deep breath as she noticed the waves crashing below her.

"Quit being a baby Belle. Brady would call you a sissy right now if he saw you acting like a scaredy-cat just because of a little water." she said to herself as she took a deep breath and moved herself along the wooden planks.

John sat impatiently at the cabin while everyone else went out searching for Belle. Mike and Carrie had decided to go check the houses along the way to see if maybe Belle had stumbled into someone's yard, while Marlena, Eric, and Jenny had gone off to look along the shoreline as Brady led the way in which he and Belle had gone. John looked down at his wheelchair and silently cursed that he wasn't able to go out looking for his daughter like everyone else. John closed his eyes as he remembered how Marlena had suggested that he wait at the cabin just in case Belle had returned, but he knew that the truth of the matter was that he would've been useless going out and looking for Belle.

"I should be out there with your mommy looking for you princess." John said opening his eyes and feeling worry take over his body. "I hate just sitting here unable to do anything to help find you."

"Are you sure that this is as far as you and Belle went?" Marlena questioned as Brady stopped walking along the shoreline.

"I'm positive mom. This is where I picked up the frog and realized that Belle wasn't behind me anymore." Brady explained with tears in his eyes. "I know that she was tired and I called her a sissy because she wasn't keeping up with me, but I didn't mean it. I hope that she isn't hurt."

"Me too sweetheart." Marlena replied giving him a hug as she fought back her own worried tears. "We are going to find her."

"Mom," Eric began as she stepped back from Brady, "were could she have gone?"

"Maybe we were just overlooking something on the walk out here." Marlena suggested to him. "Maybe she was hiding in one of the trees over there."

"Mom, Jenny and I checked them out already and we didn't see her." Eric informed her.

"Well, maybe you didn't look hard enough." Marlena snapped at him as she worried about her daughter. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to yell at you, but I'm so scared. I don't know where she could've gone."

"It's going to be alright mom." Eric replied hugging her. "Jenny and I will go over there and look again. We're going to find her."

"I hope so. I don't know what I would do without my sweet angel." Marlena said looking at Eric.

"We'll find her mom." he assured her as he went off to look in the trees once more.

"Oh sweety-girl, where are you?" Marlena asked looking out into the water.

John wheeled himself along the living room for what felt like an eternity before he stopped to check the time once more. It had been ten minutes since everyone had left to search for Belle and still there was nothing reported to him. He looked out into the back yard and thought about his little girl out there somewhere on her own.

"Oh Belle, if anything happens to you, I'll never be able to forgive myself." John said looking out at the waves rolling along the shoreline as he thought about how alone and frightened his daughter might be out there all alone.

He looked at the sky and realized that the once blue clouds were starting to turn a dark gray. He watched as the sun slowly slipped behind one of the dark clouds and rain began to form little droplets on the back porch. Suddenly he was filled with a dark fearful feeling as he looked at the old, wooden dock out back.

"Belle always loved going out there by the water. Oh my God." John gasped throwing open the glass doorwall and wheeling himself down to the hill to the dock.

"Mom, we'd better start heading back towards the cabin." Eric suggested after Jenny and Brady had already started heading back.

"I'm not leaving until I find my little girl." Marlena insisted as the rain began to fall harder against her face.

"Mom, she's probably on her way back now considering that it's starting to storm." Eric informed her as he heard thunder roll in the distance.

"I can't leave her alone like this Eric. She's afraid of storms." Marlena explained to him as he reached out to her.

"Come on mom." Eric insisted.

"No!" she shouted swatting his hand away as the rain began to soak her hair. "I'm not going back until I have your sister in my arms."

John could feel the wet grass getting caught in the wheels of his chair as he pushed his way down to the dock. His hair was soaked from the chilled spring rain and the dark clouds had managed to obstruct his vision as he felt the wooden planks of the dock underneath his wheels. He could hear the thumping of the chair against the wood beat rapidly as he felt his heart pounding in his chest.

John stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the end of the dock and saw a small golden object on the ledge. He slowly moved over to pick up the tiny object only to discover that it was the tiny golden locket that he had given Belle for Christmas. He looked down into the angry water now thrashing against the wooden planks of the dock as he feared the worst.

"Please God no!" he pleaded as the lightening began to flash in the distance.