Page 25 of Their Little Foursome

He didn’t care about the dozen people who declared they were deadlocked.

He didn’t care about the judge who looked solemn as he slammed his gavel onto its base demanding order when his courtroom erupted in chaos at the reprehensible conclusion of the trial.

Didn’t care that reporters shouted into their phones, letting the world know no justice had been served. The jury was hung. A mistrial declared.

All Blake cared about was that yet another promise had been broken.

All Blake cared about was that he’d failed the girl…

Again.

CHAPTER 9

Lori

“Wait! Please, wait!”

She’d yelled as loudly as she could but he’d screamed, “No!” and kept running. All she could do was stand there and watch as he shoved open the door at the end of the hall and disappeared.

One by one, the Littles who giggled with her at breakfast turned to look at her. Sadie spoke first. “Lori? Do you know him?”

“Yes,” she said as tears ran down her face. “Who is he?”

“I thought you said you knew him,” Haven said.

At the confusion on the others’ faces, Lori shook her head. “I do, I just… never knew his name.”

“It’s Blake,” Sadie said. “Stay here, I’m going to go get…”

Lori was already halfway down the hall before Sadie got out, “My Daddy.”

Ignoring her own Daddy’s call to stop, Lori did the opposite. She picked up speed, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had to find him. Had to get to him. She had no clue where he could have gone, but just kept running. Spotting the biggestplay equipment she’d ever seen, she saw swings swaying without anyone seated in them. She ran knowing the others would soon be doing the same as she was… looking for the Little boy who’d run.

Looking for the Little boy named Blake.

Blake, who was the man Lori owed her very life to.

She ran, dragging in ragged breaths as she looked for any sign of Blake. The playground had given way to a field, but now she was dodging trees and shrubs. After climbing over a fallen log, she stopped to gather enough breath to be able to call out his name.

“Blake! It’s me, it’s Lori!”

She shook her head. She’d not known his name, so how on earth would he know hers? Still, she continued to call out his name and began to run again. Shadows grew as she ran deeper into the trees. Lori paused to look around. She had no idea where she was and no longer heard anyone calling her name or Blake’s. Maybe she should try a different direction? Maybe he’d not run into the woods at all. Still, something kept her from turning back.

“Blake? Please! If you can hear me, please answer!”

It wasn’t his voice that caught her attention as she slowly turned in a circle, listening for any sound at all. It was a swath of blue that looked out of place among the rusts, yellows, and browns of the fallen leaves. She ran over and bent to pick up a stuffy, brushing off some leaves stuck to the plush Recognizing the character, she noticed it was a bit worn but not dirty and knew she was on the right path. No Little would leave a beloved stuffy in the woods, which meant it had been dropped. Lori immediately wiggled out of the backpack she’d completely forgotten her Daddy had packed for her that morning. Dropping it to the ground, she unzipped the largest compartment, reached inside and pulled out her own superhero.

Holding the blue stuffy in her left hand, she said, “Hi, I’m Lori.” She turned the stuffy to face the pink Powerpuff doll in her right. “This is Fauna. I’m sorry, I don’t know your name, but is your Little’s name Blake?” When the Power Ranger stuffy gave a nod, Lori smiled. “I thought so. When we find him, he can introduce us properly. Do you two think you can help me find Blake?” This time both stuffies nodded and she smiled.

Holding the toys, Lori looked around but saw no movement, didn’t see any obvious trails. Glancing at the stuffy she was positive belonged to Blake, she tried to visualize how it had wound up on the ground. Closing her eyes, she imagined Blake running. He was tall with a trim, runner’s body so he could be miles away. She felt as if she’d come far, but her legs were much shorter so her steps were smaller. She replayed what she’d seen in the hallway as Blake had screamed and turned to run down the hall. He’d not been sprinting like a track star around a track, he’d been stumbling a bit. Memories of her own feet tangling, the terror she’d felt as she’d tried to get away that night played in her head. Like she had the day she’d been taken, Blake wasn’t running. He’d been fleeing.

Stroking a finger over the blue plush, she said, “Okay, think. If you were scared and running to find a place to hide where would you go? Where was he when he dropped you on the ground?”

Ground.

There was a phrase used to describe scared animals trying to flee. They didn’t race across open fields, they tried to find the nearest hiding place. They wouldgo to ground.

Couldn’t a frightened Little boy do the same?

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