There hadn't been any real news from Pavo, but he had made some calls and promised he would tell them what he found out the next time he was in the area. He also directed the pair to some of the other trucks. Sky Light didn't know most of the drivers, but a few of them seemed willing to help out even without any payment, a fact for which Rosa was very grateful.
Some others yelled at the mares very rudely even before they had made their request. There were all sorts at the stop and Sky Light had told Rosa she shouldn't take it to heart. Some people were just jerks. The things they called her still stung Rosa a little, but the feeling was slowly passing as she followed her friend back to the van.
"Sorry for asking, but how many deliveries do you have to do exactly? For Hoover?"
Rosa was watching the other mare and her step faltered, but only for a moment. Sky shrugged her wings. "Two."
"Two?"
She sighed and glanced back at Rosa. "It's been 'two' for the past three times, but I put my hoof down the other day. Just two more and then I'm done."
It was probably impolite for Rosa to pry into it any further, but she was curious and couldn't think of anything else to talk about. "How did you end up- um..."
This time the mare kept herself under control and didn't flinch. Sky Light probably wasn't going to answer and Rosa couldn't really blame her. It must have been a very dark chapter of her life.
"You don't have to-"
"Train hopping," Sky Light answered quickly, interrupting Rosa. "Well, actually, I didn't meet him on the train, but I met one of his mules."
"Mules?"
The mare chuckled a little. "I forgot. You don't know the slang. A mule is someone who transports drugs around," she explained, then paused mid-step. "Come to think of it, that's me. Heh. I'm a mule, but I'm also a pony!"
It was not that funny, but Rosa laughed dutifully. It was putting Sky Light at her ease, which was as good a reason as any.
"Anyway, this guy - I don't remember his name - he asked if I wanted to make some money. Of course I said yes."
Her smile was derisive, but it was probably aimed at her younger self. Rosa didn't think there was anything to blame her for, but the mare was doing it anyway. Rosa came closer and brushed her rump against hers as a sign of comfort.
After a few steps Sky Light continued: "At first it was fine. I could fly, so taking packages was a snap. Hoover got me that FedEx uniform, so no one questioned what I was doing. I made a fair bit of money."
They walked in silence for a while, which gave Sky Light some time to collect her thoughts before she could continue. At long last she did: "I don't even know why I started using. Curious, I guess. I wanted to know what it feels like."
"What does it feel like?" Rosa was genuinely wondering. She would never do it, of course, but she still wanted to hear about it.
"Weird. Funny, but in a good way," Sky Light said thoughtfully, with a faraway look on her muzzle. "It's a bit like flying. You feel really good for a while. Not so much when you come down, but-" The mare shook her head forcefully. She was breathing more quickly and gave Rosa a frown. "I kicked the stuff. I'm not going back on it. Can we not talk about it please?"
Rosa hurriedly raised her forelegs up. "Of course! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to dredge up bad memories!"
"Anyway," the mare went on as if wishing to bring her story to some kind of a conclusion as quickly as possible. "Turns out drugs are very expensive and I ended up owing Hoover a ton of money. We made a deal I'd do deliveries for him until I paid it off." She barked a sharp laugh. "Should've known he'd cheat. I was so happy to be off the hook for the money that I didn't notice he never told me how many deliveries. Then, after a while I was just too scared to say anything."
"H-How many did you do?"
The one movie Rosa had seen about drugs and organized crime was making her very nervous about Sky Light tangling with this Hoover guy. Her stomach felt cold and her legs were trembling.
Sky Light gave it some thought. "Dunno. Forty. More probably. It's been going on for years, every couple of weeks, regular." She shook her head sadly. "I owed him a lot of money..."
Another thought had occurred to Rosa and now she tentatively voiced it: "Uh, w-when you found me, were you..." She didn't finish the sentence.
Sky Light stopped and sat down. She wasn't looking at Rosa and kept her muzzle pointed firmly at the ground. "Will you hate me if I said yes?" she asked quietly.
Rosa hurriedly walked over and put her hooves around her to give her a nice, friendly nuzzle. "Of course not. You probably saved my life. I'd have gone and got myself lost in some woods or something." By now she would probably be some animal's dinner, but Rosa didn't say that part out loud.
Sky Light sighed and returned the nuzzle. "Thanks, Rosa. It means a lot."
They stood like that for a minute, Rosa holding on to her sad friend, until she got to her hooves and shook Rosa off. "My turn," she said more cheerfully. "What will you do if you find out where cutie mark ponies are being held?"
That was something Rosa hadn't thought about very much yet. The whole prospect seemed so unlikely that she didn't really have a plan yet. "Go look for it, I guess? I have to find Maribelle!"
Rosa didn't know why, but it felt really important for her to do that. Her friend needed help and Rosa needed Maribelle. Together, they would be able to make sense of this crazy, dangerous world.
"Not much of a plan there," Sky Light pointed out.
"No. I guess I'll just wing it."
The two looked at each other and then burst out laughing together. It relieved a lot of pent up pressure and it felt good to be optimistic about the future. Even if Rosa's plan failed, she would have someplace to go. More importantly, she would have friends.
When the laughing fit had passed, Sky Light wiped at her muzzle with a foreleg, then grinned at Rosa. "I'm gonna come with."
That really lifted Rosa's spirits. The pegasus was clever, adaptable and quick on her hooves. She would be an invaluable friend on such a dangerous venture. "It could get risky," Rosa cautioned her.
"So?" the mare demanded with a scoff. "You're gonna need me if you're winging it. See?" She spread out a wing and flapped it a little up and down.
They both ended up laughing again.
For the first time Rosa felt like she might have a chance. Sky Light had met practically everyone and she knew her way around the streets. She was resourceful and tenacious. Together with Rosa's earth pony strength and stubbornness, they were bound to succeed!
"Come on, let's go see if Terry has some lunch for us," Sky Light invited.
Rosa was only too happy to oblige and followed her friend with a fresh bounce in her trot. After a few steps she started humming her tune.
"What's that song?" Sky Light asked quietly after a while.
"Dunno. I've always known it, but I can't remember where I heard it."
"It's nice."
Rosa smiled at the pegasus.
"Really uplifting..." she muttered, probably not having even intended to say it out loud.
Encouraged, Rosa kept humming it even after she reached the end of what she knew. Sky Light didn't seem to mind her simply repeating the few bars over and over.
They found Terry sitting in the back of the van with the doors open and a cigarette between his fingers. He was holding open a newspaper with the same hand, which seemed to Rosa a bit dangerous. He could have burned down the closest thing they had to a home like that!
Rosa glanced at Sky Light to see if she also saw the problem, then headed straight for the man to give him a piece of her mind. Politely, of course.
"Um, excuse me-"
He pointed a finger at the page he was reading. "That's your guy, isn't it? Boone?"
Rosa didn't know what he was talking about, so she decided to ignore it for now. "You shouldn't hold a cigarette in the same hand as that newspaper. It could catch fire."
He didn't pay her any attention, but he folded up the paper and turned it towards the mare. "Shut up and look at this!"
His voice was insistent and Rosa switched her gaze to the headline: 'Senator's daughter missing!'
For the first few seconds she wasn't quite able to process what she was seeing. Her eyes automatically slid down to the first paragraph, right next to the picture.
'believed to have run away'... 'family worried'...
'reward for any information'... 'search operation'...
'no amber alert'
Only then did Rosa really look at the picture out of which Lillian was smiling back at her. She looked even younger than she remembered. Her rump hit the ground almost without her awareness and Rosa felt a chill run through her belly as it clenched together in fear. "Lillian is m-missing?!"
Sky Light was by her side and took the paper from Terry, since Rosa wasn't capable of holding it right at the moment. The mare had a decidedly concerned expression.
"I don't- I don't understand."
"Oh boy," the pegasus said sadly, "this is gonna be tricky. What happened?"
There was a rustle of cloth as Terry shrugged. "They're saying she ran away from her school during break."
"Do they know why?"
Rosa had a frightening, terrible feeling that it had got something to do with her, but she was too scared to say it. If the girl got hurt and it turned out to be Rosa's fault, she would never forgive herself.
Sky Light put the paper on the ground and straightened it with a hoof. "Hold on, lemme read this."
While she was muttering to herself Terry answered her question: "It says there Boone was beating her..."
Rosa firmly shook her head. The man had been unreasonable when it came to her cutie mark, but he cared for the girl, that much Rosa knew for certain. "It's b-because of m-me..." she admitted, even if the words stumbled a little out of her mouth.
There was no proof, but what else could it have been? The girl had come to see Rosa that night before she had let her go. She had believed her parents that the mare was bad, but maybe she wasn't completely convinced. Maybe, after a few days, regret had set in. She had considered Rosa a friend. The two had gotten pretty close, even in the short time they had spent together. Rosa squeezed her eyes shut, but tears still fell unimpeded.
"How l-long?" Rosa asked, her voice cracking. "How long has she been missing?"
Sky Light answered that one even while she continued to read. "She didn't come back from recess yesterday morning. They found where she broke the hedge to get out of school grounds."
That was more than a full day! "We have to find her!" Nothing else was important right then. Rosa's friend needed her and she had to get the girl safely home, no matter what happened.
"Don't be stupid," Terry told her, nearly making Rosa growl at him. "What in hell can we do? It's on the other side of the city in the suburbs. It'll take us a day just to get there and that's if we even had money for the bus." He leaned a little closer and his eyes narrowed. "It's probably crawling with cops. Didn't you say they were looking for you?"
That much was true, but Rosa didn't care. "Sky Light can fly and l-look for her! They aren't looking for her! A-And I can hide..." She clutched the other mare around her midriff, but she just craned her neck to keep reading the article. "Please?" Rosa begged.
The mare let out a sigh and patted Rosa on the head with a gentle hoof. "Sorry, sweetheart, but I think Terry is right on this one. There's not a whole lot we can do." She pointed at the newspaper. "They got helicopters and nearly the whole police department out looking for her. Every TV and newspaper has her picture. She'll be fine, you'll see."
Rosa couldn't take the risk. Right now she might still have a chance to do something. In a day or two, it may be too late. She would never forgive herself if she didn't at least try. Even if she did try, she would blame whatever happened to Lillian on herself if she didn't come safely home. "I'm going..."
"What?" Terry asked incredulously.
"I'm going to look for her!"
Sky Light was giving her an appraising look, as if trying to decide if she was mad. "Rosa, don't-"
"I'M GOING!"
Shouting first had been a mistake. The pegasus suddenly had her hooves around Rosa's chest and was holding her tightly. Rosa would buck her off, but Sky knew how to grab a pony and Rosa couldn't find enough leverage on the ground.
"Help me out here!" Sky commanded her human friend.
He stood up, but didn't lay his hands on Rosa yet. "Why?"
"Let me go!" Rosa couldn't see very well through the blur of tears in her eyes. As she kept struggling she managed to land a feeble blow on Sky Light's side, but she still couldn't loosen her iron grip.
"Grab her legs or so help me God, Terry!" the pegasus growled.
"Fine, jeez!" he complained and reached for Rosa's foreleg. She tried to twist away, but the man was fast and surprisingly strong. She couldn't wrench free when they were both holding her.
"No!" Rosa screamed, starting to panic. "No! Let go of me! Let me go!"
It was all in vain. With Terry holding her forelegs up Rosa couldn't do much more than scrabble on the sidewalk. Defeated, she burst into tears and stopped struggling.
"Now what?" Terry asked pointedly.
It took Sky Light a minute to decide. "In the van."
Rosa was awkwardly moved along the ground and they rolled her into the back of the van.
"Ready?" Sky asked.
There was no reply, but Terry must have nodded, because they both shoved Rosa roughly inside. She jumped to her hooves and tried to bolt, but it was too late and the door slammed on her muzzle. For a moment she saw flashing lights before the pain subsided.
"Hold the door!" Sky Light yelled.
"LET ME OUT!" Rosa shouted back at her. She tried pushing the door, but couldn't budge it. Then she turned around and tried bucking it open. The metal rang as her hooves connected, but the van held. Rosa desperately looked around for another exit.
There was a small opening to the cabin, but it had a metal grid across it, even if the glass was long gone. It was also right under the roof so Rosa would never be able to reach it for a good buck. She still tried hitting it with her forehooves, but she couldn't get enough leverage to break the bars.
"Please," Rosa whimpered.
"Rosa, listen to me!" Sky Light commanded from just outside. Rosa tried not to hear, but she couldn't help it. The inside of the van was dark and bare. The mattress and a couple of blankets were the only things on the floor. There were no distractions to focus on in lieu of Sky Light's voice. "I know how you feel, but you can't just go rushing off like an idiot, okay?" the mare was saying.
Rosa ran at the back door again and threw her entire weight against it. There was a sharp pain in her shoulder which made her yelp. She had forgotten about the handle.
"Chrissake!" Terry said angrily. "Just let the bitch out before she wrecks the van!"
"No!" Sky Light insisted. "Rosa, listen to me right now!"
She gave up. It seemed everyone was conspiring against her, even those Rosa had thought were her friends! She curled up on the bare metal floor and let the tears come. Sky Light's voice was barely audible above her echoing sobs.
The mare outside was speaking softly now, her muzzle right near the door. "Sweetheart, you can't do this girl any good if you get yourself caught or killed! Think it over!"
Rosa shook her head, but didn't reply.
"There's a big search party - they'll find her, you'll see. Don't throw away your future because of some stupid little-"
"SHE'S NOT STUPID!" Rosa couldn't help herself.
"Fine! Sorry! I didn't mean it," Sky Light quickly apologized, "but you're staying in there until you calm down and start thinking rationally."
Sniffling, Rosa put her head on the floor and covered her ears with her hooves. It didn't help, but she didn't want to listen to Sky Light's betrayal any more and she couldn't think of anything else to do.
There was a longer silence and Rosa started imagining horrible things that might have already happened to Lillian. The images made her wail anew.
"Buck!" Sky Light swore quietly. "I'm gonna have to be stupid, aren't I?" She heaved a sigh and her voice softened when she spoke next: "I'll go search for her. Where I found you and the forests you were heading towards. She might have seen which way you went..."
Rosa lifted her head up and stared at the door in bewilderment.
Terry grunted before speaking: "You're both idiots..."
He was walking away from the van, but Sky Light was still at the door, speaking urgently. "I'll go search for her. You were right. I can fly and they aren't looking for me, okay? Just promise me you'll wait here."
Rosa didn't say anything, but a crazy hope blossomed in her heart.
"Rosa?"
"I want to help!"
"No. That's the deal. You're not thinking straight. You'd just get yourself caught or killed," Sky Light told her. "Take it or leave it."
Before Rosa could figure out a reply, there was a strange, metallic sound from outside and she looked up, focusing her ears.
"There, I've bolted the door," Sky said. "You're not getting out of there, so just accept it, Rosa. I'll go look for this girl. If you've stopped being crazy by the time I'm back, we'll talk about what to do next, okay? Calmly!"
Rosa heard hoofsteps moving away from the van and hurriedly ran back to the door. She hit it with her hoof a couple of times. "Don't leave me here! I can help! Please!"
It sounded as if the other mare was no longer listening. "Don't let her out!" she told Terry, who just grunted his acquiescence. It seemed that was good enough for Sky Light, because she made her way back to the van. "Don't hurt yourself in there, Rosa. I'll bring you some news as soon as I can. Please, for the love of God, think clearly for a minute, okay?"
Rosa didn't say anything. It was not like she could convince Sky Light to let her out.
"Promise me you'll think it through, or I won't tell you anything when I'm back!"
That frightened Rosa even more than being locked up. "I p-p-promise!" she hurriedly stammered.
"Good. Now sit tight, you gold-hearted little idiot."
There was a whoosh of her feathers and Sky Light was gone. Rosa considered begging Terry to let her out, but she didn't think it would work. She needed time to think. Sky Light was right at least with that much. Blindly running off was a bad idea. For instance, Rosa didn't even know which direction to go. She needed a plan. Maybe if she came up with a good plan, Sky Light would let her out and take Rosa with her when she went back to searching.
'Please,' Rosa thought to herself, 'come back quickly!' Then she lay back down on the floor as tears threatened to overwhelm her once again.