"Are you all right?" he asked.
She nodded, hand at her throat. "Yes," she managed. "I can't talk. The gag ..."
"Time for talk later," Rick said. He started for Barby, but Scotty was already untying her. The moment her hands were free, she pulled the gag from her mouth and announced, "Well! You took long enough getting here!"
Rick didn't know what to say to that. He didn't have a chance to say anything. His sister rushed over, put her arms around him, and squeezed.
"You were wonderful," she said. "Scotty, he held four of them at bay. I never knew you could fight like that, Rick Brant!"
Rick grinned. "I didn't do so much. You took one of them out of play by stamping on him. And Jan gave me an opening with as fine a kick as I've seen off a football field."
The two JANIG agents had produced handcuffs, and the men and women were manacled together in a continuous chain.
"Outside," one agent commanded. "Get into the pram."
"You've got nothing on us," the man in the striped shirt protested. "We were only protecting ourselves against this wild man who barged in here."
"Were you protecting yourselves against the two girls?" Scotty asked.