“I know a wonderful place to hide,” the clown staggered crazily over to two little girls and offered them his hands. “Your little friends will never find you there!”
They squealed with delight then clapped their hands over their mouths. No, they did not want their friends to find them so skipped along merrily behind the jolly clown.
In another part of the heavily treed lawn two pirates were making a game of darting from shadow to shadow as if they truly were pirates…or Indians… as they lead a trio of lads wearing short pants deeper into the mysterious woods.
“Katrina! Suzanne! Kenneth! Edward!” These names and others floated lazily over the hot summer air.
“I think we better go back now,” Violet suggested. “The ice cream will be melting.”
“Oh, no,” the clown responded with a big chuckle. “The grownups know we are playing hide ‘n’ go seek and wouldn’t want to spoil our fun for anything. They will chill the yummy food until we come trouping back.”
Violet looked at Suzanne and stepped a little closer. For some reason they slipped their hands in to each other’s cold hands.
Katrina’s hands had also stilled at her mother told the story as she imagined it. She saw one lone tear trickling down her mother’s cheek.
“What happened next, Mama?” she asked softly. Her mother sighed and dabbed at a tear with a scented handkerchief. “Your father had made a special hiding place in the floor of the gazebo where you loved to go with a picture look, a flash light and your favorite doll. It was the mercy of God that you and Mary Anna chose to go there that day.”
“After a while you poked your head out and looked around bewilderedly. “Where are all the children,” you asked.
“Some of them are still hiding.” I tried to be nonchalant but you must have seen the uneasiness in my eyes.”
“Let’s start eating, “Aunt Linda pretended to be brisk. “This sculpture is losing its shape. The others will be around as soon as they realize how hungry they are.”
The three remaining children flocked to the table and each took a cracker with a delectable topping, then your eyes locked. Adrian took a bite out of his cracker then stealthily handed it to the small Beagle tagging at his heels. You and Mary Anna looked at each other and both hid your crackers beneath the same napkin. You wandered over to the gazebo, but kept looking towards the woods.
By then someone had called your father. He suggested ringing the dinner bell. “That will bring them back in a hurry.”
“But it didn’t,” Katrina whispered sadly.
Mother looked about ready to cry. “Eventually ransoms were posted for each of the children. The other children were returned to their homes, but although we sold everything we had, and the ransom was taken, we were never able to get your twin brother Kenneth, and little sister Violet back. I always wondered what kind of dreadful spot they might have taken them to, and where they are now."
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