The Lincoln twins watched their dad drive into the school premises in the sheriff's patrol vehicle, but they weren't excited to see him since it didn't look like he came with Billy.
"Dad hasn't found Billy yet," Raphael muttered. He felt so disappointed, and his eyes were filled with tears immediately.
Every afternoon, when Mr. Lincoln arrives at his kids school to pick them up, Billy their dog starts barking with excitement, and immediately when Mr. Lincoln opens the vehicle door, Billy rushes to meet the twins.
It's always beautiful to watch the twins and Billy. Everyone in the school has become familiar with the short drama they display every afternoon, but for some days now, there has been no drama because Billy went missing.
"Common, don't cry. You will make me cry as well." Rick tried comforting his twin brother.
"Hey boys, let's go home. I don't have much time," Mr. Lincoln screamed as he beat the vehicle horn repeatedly from the parking lot.
The twins dragged themselves to the vehicle and just settled in without saying a word.
"Is Billy the reason why you guys are so quiet lately?" Mr. Lincoln broke the silence in the vehicle as he drove out of the school premises.
"No, sir. We are having rough days at school lately," Rick replied.
"Rough days? What happened?" Mr. Lincoln asked.
"It's not as bad as it sounds; we were actually," Rick began to stutter.
"Stop pretending Rick, and don't tell me you are not disappointed that our dad, who is also a sheriff in this county, can't find a missing dog who is part of this family," Raphael cuts in, and Mr. Lincoln pulls over immediately.
He stared at his boys in the rearview mirror and shook his head in disappointment.
"Do you boys think I wasn't doing anything about Billy? I am trying so give me some time," Mr. Lincoln said to his boys.
"We are sorry, dad. We just miss him," Rick apologized, and their dad got back on the road. Mr. Lincoln shared with the kids how far he had gone with the search, but it meant nothing since Billy was still missing.
Upon arriving home, Mrs. Lincoln knew that Billy's absence was affecting her boys because they barely played around the house as usual.
"How about going to the amusement park tomorrow since it's Saturday?" Mrs. Lincoln tried distracting the boys from brooding over Billy's absence.
"I will just stay at home," Raphael replied immediately.
"Really? You don't want to play those games at the park," Mr. Lincoln asked.
***"No, mummy. I am not in the mood for games,"**** Raphael replied, and Mrs. Lincoln could feel the boys pain, especially Raphael who is more attached to Billy.
"You guys shouldn't worry too much, and I hope you remember that Mrs. Agnes dog was found in the woods after two weeks." Mrs. Lincoln tried assuring the twins about getting Billy back, but they weren't convinced.
As the day turned into night, the twins decided to take the search for Billy seriously since their dad's effort hasn't yielded any results yet, and their mom just gave them an idea of where to check.
"Do you think that's a good idea?" Rick asked as he thought about the danger they could be exposed to going into the woods themselves.
"It would be a quick one, we will be in and out even before mom or dad finds out. I promise," Raphael replied.
"We are just 12 and can't defend ourselves in the woods. It seems we are taking things too far, but I will do anything just to bring Billy back home," Rick replied.
Before going to bed that night, the twins gathered a few things in two small bags and hid them beneath their beds.
Immediately after Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln left the house the next day, the twins prepared as well.
"Let's go with the compass, just in case we miss our way." Raphael suggested.
"That's true. I will fetch it from dad's room, but I hope we don't miss our way," Rick replied.
He rushed upstairs to his dad's room and picked up the compass. Rick noticed an object in the drawer and gently picked it up.
"A flare gun," Rick muttered.
"This would be helpful too, but..." He stuttered and looked around the room for a few seconds.
"Rick! We don't have much time," Raphael screamed from outside, and Rick just kept the flare gun in his bag without thinking further.
"I am coming!" Rick screamed back and rushed out of the room.
They set out immediately into the woods, and the search was going very well until the clouds started gathering about an hour later.
"It looks like it would rain, shouldn't we head back home now?" Rick asked.
"It wouldn't because the weather forecast didn't mention such," Raphael replied. They went further into the woods but didn't find Billy after two hours, and Rick started getting worried.
He refused to go further, but Raphael pleaded that they check around a little more before returning home.
As they went deeper, a strong wind swept through the woods, and before they knew it, the rain started pouring heavily.
They hid under a big tree, but the leaves could only cover them for a short time as the rain got heavier.
"Let go back in the rain, mummy and dad must be heading home from Grandma's place by now," Rick said to Raphael, who agreed immediately.
After trekking for another hour, the twins realized they weren't going in the right direction, so Raphael used the compass.
"Where are we heading now?" Rick asked.
"I don't know or understand anymore. Dad only taught me how to use this once," Raphael replied.
"But you sounded so confident about using this," Rick replied as he snatched the compass from his brother.
He turned the compass around but couldn't use it either.
"Oh, that's it. See that tree over there? I saw it when we were coming in. That must be the exit," Raphael said confidently, and they went in the direction of the tree only to reach a dead end after trekking for a while.
"I am tired. See what you got me into," Rick said to Raphael, who was shivering already.
"It's getting dark, what do we do now?" Raphael stuttered.
"Mum and dad must be worried by now," Rick replied.
"I am sorry and will take the blame if we eventually find our way home. I remembered dad once saying there is a bear that only roams the wood at night," Raphael stuttered and tears gently poured from his eyes.
"What do we do now? I don't want to die here," Raphael wiped his tears.
"I have a back-up plan," Rick replied.
"You mean a plan B?" Raphael asked.
"Yes, although I don't intend to use this but it's important now," Rick replied as he reached for the flare gun.
"Dad's flare gun," Raphael muttered.
"People in the county only use this when they are in danger," Raphael added.
"Aren't we in danger?" Rick asked.
"Yes, we are." Raphael replied.
The twins looked for an open spot in the woods where they could see the sky clearly and shot the flare into the sky.
"Let's just wait and hope a miracle happens," Rick said, holding his brother's hand.
Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln had combed the whole county in search of their twins, and a lot of people had joined the search.
They were contemplating entering the woods when they saw the flare.
"It must be them." Mr. Lincoln rushed home to check his flare gun, and immediately he didn't see it. He went into the woods with his colleagues.
It was a long search before they located the twins, and the boys just knelt, apologizing to their father for making such a dangerous decision.
Mr. Lincoln was speechless and just hugged the twins, he was glas theu were okay.
"I am sorry boys and should have told you the truth. I found Billy dead but didn't know how to explain things to you," Mr. Lincoln said to the boys, and they burst into tears immediately.
He comforted them, and they returned to the county.
Mrs. Lincoln was happy to see her boys, even though she didn't hesitate to scold them. Billy's death did hurt them a lot as they thought about the good memories of their beautiful pet.
The next morning, the twins went to apologize again to their parents and were surprised to see a little puppy in the living room.
"Dad, another puppy?" Raphael stuttered.
"Yes, son. I and your mother actually went in search of Billy's descendant yesterday," Mr. Lincoln replied.
"Billy might be gone, but he is still here," Mrs. Lincoln added, and the twins couldn't hold back tears as they hugged their parents.