The Retrieval

Some readers of the earlier book "Breaking Chains" have expressed curiosity about events referred to, but not fully explained, in that story. It is clearly understood that, some two years or more prior to the opening of "Breaking Chains", Abby Montrayne was kidnapped. It is also clear that a young man named Richard figured somehow as the initiator of those events. However, where he came from is a mystery, and how he inserted himself into the Montrayne family circle is unexplained. Readers are in no doubt that Abby was traumatized by what occurred, but they are left wondering why she was kidnapped, what exactly happened to her and to what lengths did her father have to go in order to recover her. "The Retrieval" is an attempt to satisfy that curiosity. Initially developing as an idea for a short story, the project soon began to exceed the bounds of that genre. In its final form, perhaps it should more rightly be described as a novella. In whatever way this recounting of that brief episode is to be viewed, the hope is that curiosity will have been satisfied and that returning readers will have enjoyed traveling the journey to the retrieval.