User blog:Heronimbus/On the Run: A Loud House Story - Chapter 10

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Ronnie Anne pulled to a stop in the golf cart as she and her friends arrived in front of a pond. Lincoln, Clyde, and Cristina brought out the canned sandwiches, the chips, and the rest of the food to decide what they should eat.

"Good thing these sandwich cans have self-heating liners," said Lincoln, as he opened a pepperoni pocket sandwich.

Clyde kept munching on barbeque chips, while Cristina and Ronnie Anne laid out the apples, grapes, and other fruit.

As they sat down and started eating, they thought about just how far they had come since the beginning of the week.

"Man..." Clyde was almost astounded. "We came from Michigan to Illinois, then all the way out here... how many miles is that?"

Lincoln shrugged. "We're getting somewhere, at least..."

Cristina moved a bit closer to Lincoln. "So, that brother of yours... are you sure he's gonna be in Imperial Grove?"

"He HAS to be. When Lori was yelling at me about him, I could almost see her sadness in her eyes... it was like she'd lost something, or someone, valuable to her... a long time ago."

"So like that painting Mr. Spruce showed us in homeroom on the first day of school?"

Lincoln scratched his head. "American Gothic? But that painting's about the Great Depression, and how it drove farmers into poverty."

"It's art, Lincoln," Cristina stated. "Art can be interpreted in many ways. Personally, I think there's more to that painting than meets the eye. Think about Lori possibly mourning over your missing brother, then think about the Great Depression. What do they have in common?"

"...loss?"

"Yeah! If you think about it, knowing there's a brother out there you'll probably never see again could drive you into your own personal 'great depression'. Lori lost her brother all those years ago, and.... I bet she can't bear losing you too."

Lincoln sighed. "She doesn't want me around... all I've ever done is stress her out. I stressed ALL my siblings out."

Seeing her friend in sorrow, Cristina put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't say that. Listen... if Lori didn't care about you, she probably wouldn't be out looking for you right now."

"What if she's not? For all I know, she could be much happier without me..."

"Stop being so unrealistic like that. You've always said that in a house with ten sisters, you need to have thick skin... right?"

Lincoln chuckled a bit. "...yeah, you're right."

"And like I said... Lori already lost her other brother. Imagine how she feels about losing YOU."

Lincoln looked down at his shoes in shame. "I don't know... I could never replace him even if I tried."

"It's not about replacing him," Cristina went on. "No one can replace anyone else. It's about being yourself."

"She's right," said Ronnie Anne. "Your sisters love you because of what YOU bring into the family. And honestly? If you actually managed to find that brother and bring him home with you... I'm sure Lori would love you even more."

"What if I was the one who brought him home?" Clyde asked with a smirk.

Ronnie Anne groaned. "Not the point, Clyde!"

Lincoln lifted his head back up with a grin. "You guys are right. At first I wanted to find my brother so I could avoid Lori, but later on I realized taking him back to Royal Woods would make my family happier than ever. And because of that... I'm even more determined to find him."

"That's the spirit!" Ronnie Anne cheered.

"Hey, Clyde," Lincoln turned to him. "That Imperial Grove student you found online... what was his name again?"

"Uhh... Linus."

"Does he have his middle and last name listed?"

"The page says he prefers them to not be shown on the site."

"Right..."

"Well, in any case," said Cristina, "I'm sure we'll find the right one somewhere."

Ronnie Anne noticed something moving in the distance as they kept talking.

A Jeep.

"Guys, it's them! Hide!"

There were bushes nearby, and each of the kids hid in one of them as the Jeep stopped at the other side of the pond. Sure enough, Elijah, Shelly, Jay, Norman, and Gator all stepped outside, with Leni/Seafoam following behind.

"Leni...?" Lincoln was confused. Why was Leni working with them?

"I just know he's around here somewhere," Seafoam told the others.

"Yeah, I mean... we got a call sayin' he took our food with a few friends..." Jay looked around, trying not to make too much noise.

Gator sniffed around the pond, eventually finding the empty sandwich cans and chip bags on the side Lincoln's group was hiding at.

"There it is," Elijah said with a tone of determination. "We should find 'em any moment now..."

He looked in one of the bushes and found Ronnie Anne, who punched him in the stomach and wrestled him down to the ground. "If I have to kick your butt, I will!"

"Is that so?" Jay taunted, as he lifted her up by her hood.

The rest of the gang surrounded her, and Elijah got up close to her face. "Alright, squirt... where's Lincoln?"

"You think I'm gonna TELL you?" Ronnie Anne yelled.

"Listen here, little girl... whatever you can do, I can do far worse. So don't try to squirm your way outta this."

Ronnie Anne was starting to look scared as the gang stared at her angrily. As Lincoln saw this going on, he couldn't bear to watch her suffer.

"ELIJAH!" he shouted as he got out of his bush. "I'm over here! If it's me you want, let her go and come after ME!"

Jay dropped Ronnie Anne on the ground, and she quickly got up and ran off with Lincoln, as Clyde and Cristina followed suit.

"Well," said Elijah, "if that's what he wants... AFTER HIM!"

"In the car! Now!" Seafoam yelled as she hopped into the driver's seat. Once everyone was seated, she hit the gas hard.

"Geez, when did Leni learn to drive?" Lincoln shouted as they kept running as fast as they could.

"It doesn't matter!" Cristina called back. "We have to keep moving!"

They all leaped over logs and sticks in the woods as the Jeep burrowed through them.

"We're gonna have to split up!" Ronnie Anne yelled. "Lincoln, follow me! Clyde, go with Cristina!"

They kept going in two different directions, but Elijah kept his eyes on Lincoln. "He's going that way! Seafoam, turn left!"

A train was slowly approaching through the nearby railroad, and Cristina was the first to see it. "TRAIN!!" she called out to Lincoln and Ronnie Anne.

Lincoln noticed a shed in the direction he was running. "Think we can grab anything in that shed?"

"Maybe, but we have to hurry!" Ronnie Anne responded. They slid through the leaf piles in front of them to gain some extra speed, and in the shed they found a red blanket and boxes of tacks.

"Lincoln! Take this red cloth and wave it in front of the shed to distract them! Once they're close, throw these tacks down and get out of the way fast!"

"What am I supposed to...?"

"Just imagine yourself as a mighty matador taking on a bull in the last phase of the battle. Trust me! You'll do great!"

"OK..."

Lincoln turned to face the incoming Jeep, as he and Elijah locked glares. He swung the red blanket to the side and started to shake it, and Seafoam pushed down harder on the gas pedal.

Just as they were getting close, Lincoln threw out the blanket and tossed the open boxes of tacks towards them, spreading the tacks everywhere.

"SEAFOAM!" Elijah screamed. "STOP THE CAR!"

Lincoln swiftly jumped to the side as the Jeep ran over the tacks, popping the tires before it eventually crashed into the shed.

Lincoln caught up with his friends as the train began to pass by. Clyde, Ronnie Anne, and Cristina managed to get in, but Lincoln was slowly falling behind.

"Lincoln, grab my hand!" Cristina put it out for Lincoln to reach, but he struggled to do so. Cristina was close to falling off the train, but Ronnie Anne grabbed her other hand and pulled her back in just as Lincoln reached her. They all made it into the train safe and sound.

Lincoln began to cheer with joy, and Ronnie Anne started laughing with excitement and relief that they had escaped Elijah's wrath.

"So long, suckers!" Clyde called out to his gang.

Cristina looked out towards the horizon as the train rolled on towards it. "Imperial Grove, here we come!"

Police sirens were coming closer and closer to the Jeep, as Elijah growled with fury. "NO! We can't go to jail now!"

"Wait a minute..." Shelly pondered. "They're going to Imperial Grove, aren't they?"

"Huh..." Norman thought about it for a moment. "Those girls we met earlier were looking for Lincoln... and he's most likely their brother..."

"Come to think of it, the oldest girl DID look familiar," Jay added.

"How so?" asked Elijah.

"I think one of our old colleagues showed us a picture of her a long time ago. And if that's the same girl we saw before we got Seafoam, and she's lookin' for Lincoln, then that means..."

The police pulled up to the shed and arrested the gang, but something was stuck on Elijah's mind.

"No... they can't be related..." he growled as the police began to read their rights.

"LINUS!!!"