Page 28 of Season of Mercy
Mercy frantically searched around but came up empty. She couldn’t push down the panic any longer. Her little boy was lost in a place with a lot of wild animals. Granted, they were secured, but one never knew. And Stevie hadn’t fully recovered after the surgery.
Her world crashed around her.
CHAPTER FIVE
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ETHAN KNEW SOMETHINGWAS TERRIBLY wrong the moment he saw Mercy’s paper-white face and her eyes full of horror.
Stevie wasn’t in his stroller.
Oh, no!
Ethan rushed to her.
“Stevie is lost!” Mercy’s lower lip trembled. “He asked to be out of the stroller. So I took him out of it. One minute he was here, and the next one he was gone.”
“We’ll find him. Soon.” Ethan pushed away the memory of feeling lost and abandoned in the zoo when he was seven.
The memory surfaced unexpectedly. How he could still feel fear tightening his gut all these years later was beyond comprehension. Only now his gut tightened also because of the worry for Stevie. He could only imagine how Mercy felt.
Her body shook. “The zoo is huge. What if he managed to get close to a lion... or a crocodile...?”
“The zoo is built not to let people close to the animals.” Ethan wrapped his arm around her shoulder, trying to stop her from shaking. “We’ll ask to make an announcement and give Stevie’s description. But first let’s check the animals he’d most likely see next. He couldn’t have gotten too far.”
“Bears? He said he was hungry like a bear. Maybe he was thinking of bears.” A shiver racked her body.
“Let’s go.” They headed toward the bear grotto.
“What if Stevie somehow fell inside? And the bears...” Her body shook again as she slowed for a moment.
He was ready to scoop her up, but then she increased her pace again.
Ethan leaned to her. “Cariño, listen to me. The grotto has a high railing around it. Stevie has no way to climb over it. And even if he somehow did, there’s no way he could’ve swum through the water that separates the grotto from the visitors’ area.”
Mercy’s eyes became huge. “You’re right. What if he drowned there?”
Ethan groaned. His words that were supposed to calm her down only made things worse.
“Remember, the railing is too high for him to climb over?” He could see the grotto already.
Ethan prayed like he’d never prayed in his life.
They approached the bear grotto. Ethan scanned the area. “The good news, he’s not here. The bad news, he’s not here.”
Mercy looked up at him, and he hated to see the misery in her eyes. “What if the bears mauled him already!” She slumped against him.
He held her up. “No! It’s not possible. Remember what I told you. It’s truly safe for children here. No hungry bears could get close to him, and Stevie had no way of getting close to them. The Lord will keep Stevie safe.” A thought flashed in his mind. “Hold on. Remember I said that Stevie would be able to touch a stingray?”
Mercy perked up. “Yes!”
They ran toward the aquatic area. Worry seemed to spur Mercy on.
Ethan hoped with all his heart his guess was right because otherwise they were losing valuable time. If anything happened to Stevie, he knew Mercy wouldn’t forgive herself. He wouldn’t forgive himself, either.
Even if Stevie was safe, Ethan could only imagine how much the boy was hurting inside, scared of being left by the very people who were supposed to care for him the most.
Alone.
