As we walked back , Mr . Hopkins told us that they were not planning on marriage until after we get Marie and Lester back from wherever they were . The reason he asked us was so we could just be getting used to the idea of the marriage hopefully eventually taking place . " You and I really need to get to know one another much better , " he went on , " but I did want you both to know that I love your mother and respect her greatly . And we wanted you two to be aware of our feelings for each other . " Rosie and I walked along , not saying anything , but thinking a lot . I had certainly been aware of his liking our Ma , and I was pretty sure that Rosie had as well . " You say you have hired a detective to look for Les and Marie ? Where is he looking , anyway ? What is he doing ? " " For one thing , he has gone to watch your grandmother O ' Hanlon 's house to see if there is any indication that she took them . Your mother still believes that she is behind their disappearance . I have every confidence that he will locate them . " As soon as we reached home , Rosie ran to her room and slammed the door . There was no doubt as to what her feelings were . My Ma looked at me expectantly . I just stood for a few minutes , looking at my Ma and then Mr . Hopkins , saying nothing except , " I don 't know , Ma . I got a lotta thinking to do . " Then I went to my room and sat down on the edge of my bed . What was I going to do ? I felt lower than a hound dog under a porch , waiting for a next meal . My life was in a shambles ; tomorrow was my eleventh birthday and no one was even going to remember it . Would my Ma even remember with her mind full of worrying about my siblings and thinking about marrying Mr . Hopkins ? I didn 't think so . Lying back on the bed , my mind went back to the plan of getting to where my Grandma lived in Kentucky . I could take a bus , and it wouldn 't cost as much as traveling by train . I might have enough to get there . I would need to get my hands on the information so I could figure it out . I figured I was smarter than a detective when It came to my Grandma . My Ma awakened the next morning to the sound of a sparrow on my window sill . He had a winged seed from a Maple tree in our yard . He was using his beak to break the seed out of the husk which contained it . Again and again , relentlessly , he would drop it and pick it up , picking at it , until finally he succeeded . I lay there watching him . As bowed my head and thanked Him . Then I got up and after getting dressed and using the bathroom , washing my hands , I went into the kitchen to have my bowl of cereal before school . Much to my surprise I saw my Ma at the stove , making breakfast . " Ma ! What are you doing at home ? Why aren 't you at work ? Don 't you have to work today ? " She turned to me and smiled . " Now what ? " I asked myself . " What 's going on , Ma ? " Birthday , son ! Have a seat , and have some breakfast . I made your favorite breakfast : waffles and bacon . I 'll go get your sister up so that we can all have breakfast together . " Pretty soon , I could hear shouting coming from Rosie 's bedroom . Rosie was screaming from the top of her lungs . " How couple of months and here you are , wearing a ring from that . . . that . . . man ! I don 't know who you are anymore ! I wish I had left when Grandma did ! At least she loved my Da ! Go away ! I don 't want any breakfast ! " face was white and she was trembling all over . I grabbed her left hand and looked at the shiny stone in the ring , then looked into her face . " I thought . . . I thought you were going to wait . . " I stammered . " It 's only an engagement ring . We are waiting . Oh , son , please don 't look at me that way . . . He is a good man . . . when you get to know William , you will see that . We 're going to find Les and Marie before we get married . You 'll see , it will all turn out good for all of us . " Turning away , I said to myself , " Happy Birthday , Zebulon Seamus O ' Hanlon ! " sat down to eat my favorite breakfast , but it tasted like ashes must taste , and I could not finish it . I got up from the table and went over to my Ma , who was standing at the sink , crying . " Ma , thank you for the special breakfast ; please don 't cry . . I know things will work out . We have to trust , don 't we ? Isn 't that what the preacher said on Sunday ? " could hardly wait for school to be over that day . I had things to do after school . Of course , the teacher made a big commotion about it being my birthday , and I got lots of wishes for a good birthday , but also some taunts from kids who knew my Ma was working for Mr . Hopkins , and I realized their mothers must have been talking bad stuff about her . It dawned on me then that I had no idea about how they acted at the store . Did he ever put his arm around her in front of people ? the depot , I headed for the ticket agent 's window . My chin just barely reached the ledge of the window and I had to clear my throat for the agent to turn around and see me . Heading over to the window , he smiled and said , " Yes , sonny , how can I help you ? Are you running away from home , maybe ? " He clearly thought he was humorous . " No , sir , but I am looking for someone that you may have seen recently , say about ten days ago ? " I held out the picture of my family that was taken on Lester 's birthday about four months earlier . " I 'm looking for these two children . They are my brother and sister and they disappeared from the school yard . " " Oh , yeah , I heard about that . In fact , a man was in here a couple of days ago inquiring about them , but he didn 't have a picture of them . " He they were kicking up a rusty , yelling at some old lady that had ' em . Wantin ' ta go home . She took them by the hand and told them somethin ' about their Ma wantin ' them ta go with her for awhile for a little visit " Yes , yes . . . that must have been her ! ! What did she look like ? Was she real tall and had on a black hat and black coat ? " That old lady looked like the beatin ' kind . I hope they 're okay . " " Oh , I 'm sorry , I do have just one more question . Do you , by any chance , remember where she bought the tickets to go to ? " knew then that my grandmother had them ! The so - called detective hadn 't even been in to check on them . Those sharp - eyed men in the depot would have remembered ! Now , the question was : Had Mr . Hopkins really hired a detective . . . or if he had , was the detective doing anything to earn his money ? I needed to find out . I headed to the grocery store . Entering the grocery store , I saw my Ma at the cash register , taking a customer 's money and waved to her . Going past her , I headed to the rear of the store , where I saw Mr . Hopkins behind the meat counter , talking to one of his customers , while waiting on them . They were smiling and joking around . Then he looked up and saw me approaching , the smile becoming , what seemed to me , a little less genuine , but broader . " Thank you , sir . Hello , Mr . Brown . Yes , sir . Could I speak to you privately , sir ? I need to ask you something important . " " Of course , Zeb . Come back to my office . " Passing the wrapped package of meat to Mr . Brown , he led the way back to his office and closed the door . on , boy ! Out with it . What is it you want to speak to me about ? Have you decided in favor of our marriage ? Is that what this secret meeting is all about ? " He jumped up from the edge of the desk where he had been sitting and exclaimed , " What ? Why in the world would you want to do that ? You know I will report any findings he makes , don 't you ? So far he hasn 't found any trace of them . I 'm sorry , young man , you need to leave such business or that he wasn 't doing the job he should have been doing . One more test should do it . " Well , at least , do you have a report from him ? " Apparently , he had second thoughts about my original request and said , " Okay , son . You win . " He picked up a file folder from his desk , and handed it to me . opened it . It contained a simple page that said so far the detective had no leads on the two missing children . I glanced at the heading , and saw " Lincoln Detective Agency " at the top . I smiled at him and said , " Thank you , sir , for trusting me with this . " I knew now that I had two choices . I could tell him what I had found out , or I could have the Lincoln Detective Agency checked out . I decided to do the latter , and to go see my friend , Sgt . Finley . at the cash register to speak to my Ma , I hugged her and told her I would see her later ; that Mr . Hopkins and I had been speaking man - to - man . At that information , she lifted her eyebrows , her mouth making a moue . Then she smiled and replied , " Okay , son . I love you . " Hurrying on my way , thoughts kept tumbling through my mind , questions that I could not hold at bay . Was Ma right in wanting to marry Mr . Hopkins ? If she did , what kind of step - father would he be ? Strict ? What would he expect from me ? Then the realization dawned upon me that I was going to accept the marriage . I was already thinking in terms of what if ! I had to find out more before I agreed to the union . pedaled my bicycle furiously , getting to the station as quickly as I could to try to catch the Sgt . before he might have left for the day . Even at that , I wasn 't sure he would still be working . I parked my bike in the bike stand provided in front of the station and ran up the steps . who worked with Sgt . Finley . " Hey , Zeb ! What 's the hurrry , boy ? Your pants on fire ? Ha . Hey , Fin ! Here 's your young friend ; I 'll bet he 's here to see you ! " Finley was standing near a desk , talking on the phone , and waved me over . " Yes , ma ' am . Yes , we 'll take care of it . I 'll be right over . " to me , he said , " Do you mind talking as we go ? Do you have your bike with you ? If so , we can put it in my car . I need to talk to you , anyway . " " No , I don 't mind ; yes , I rode my bike over here . I have something to talk over with you , too . " I wondered what it was he had to tell me . are you all doing these days , Zeb ? How is your mother getting along ? Isn 't she working at Hopkins ' Grocery ? How is your sister adjusting ; and looked up at Sgt . Finley and wondered about his questions . I knew he was interested in our welfare , though , so I answered the best I could . " I guess we are doing okay , sir . Yes , my Ma is still working for Mr . Hopkins and . . . and . . . and . . . " I just couldn 't get the words out of my mouth . " And what , Zeb ? Has he done something ? What is going on ? " also said no one else had been in there looking for them . That 's how I know they aren 't doing anything to find them . Then I went to the store to ask Mr . Hopkins who he had hired , and he showed me a letter from Lincoln Detective Agency saying they had not found any information . " I see ! Well , Zeb , from what I know about that agency , they are not who should be looking for the kids . I can 't share everything about them with you ; but please know you are not to be in contact with them . They are trouble . You were right to come to me . Please let me deal with them . Okay ? " was caught trying to shoplift some makeup at the dime store and they called us . I happened to be on call , and answered the phone . I spoke to the manager and they agreed to release her . I gave her a good talking - to and cautioned her . She really needs someone to be firm with her . You need to speak to her and let her know that if she tries it again , she 'll What a birthday ! My eleven - year - old heart felt heavier than ever . We soon arrived at Mrs . Brown 's house , and saw she was standing underneath the big oak tree in her front yard . " Oh , wanted me to climb the tree and get Fluffy . I nodded agreement , and proceeded to climb the tree . The higher I went , the higher Fluffy went . I was used to climbing trees , but at my own discretion . This seemed a little high even for me . Finally , she stopped and I reached for her . She I descended the tree gingerly , and saw Mrs . Brown was holding Fluffy in her arms , consoling poor kitty . She thanked us and invited us in for some tea and cookies . We went in for about five minutes and then left . " We I told her I really needed to talk to her . Hanging up the phone , she came over and stood over me as I sat down on the sofa . " What ? ! ! What do you want ? I see you 've been out with Sgt . Finley again . " " Yes , and he told me about the shoplifting you were caught doing . What was that all about ? Do you want to do more to worry Ma ? " No ! Wait ! We can 't do that ! I want to go get them myself and I need some money for bus fare . I know you 've got some saved up from your baby - sitting money . Please loan me fifteen dollars . Please ! " " You 're planning on going up there alone ? Unh , Unh ! If you go , I 'm going with you ! They 'll never let a kid travel alone on the bus . You 'd be suspected of being a runaway . But if I go with you , I could wear a scarf on my head and look older so that I could go as your grown - up sister . If you don 't let me go , I 'm going to tell ! " Just leave it to my sister to throw a monkey wrench into my carefully thought out plans . okay , but we 've got to be careful and not leave until Wednesday morning . Our Christmas vacation begins on Wednesday and Ma will be expecting us to sleep late . We 'll get up as soon as she leaves for work . Rosie looked at me in amazement , I could see the sparkle in her eyes and the excitement building in her . An adventure ! Perhaps it was what she really needed at that time ! So we laid our plans carefully . Wednesday morning dawned early , and by seven thirty , Ma was gone , and Rosie knocked on my door . " Zeb ! Are you awake ? " Ha ! I was up and dressed and ready to have my breakfast . Part of our plan was to leave a note telling Ma that we were spending a couple of days with some friends of ours , since we were all on vacation . Another part was to be home by Saturday evening with Les and Marie . We had already set it up with our friends , telling them that it was really important for them to back us up . Then we packed up some sandwiches , Marie wrote the note and we headed for the bus depot . I had found out that one bus headed for Kentucky left at 8 : 30 a . m . , and we planned to be on it . According to the schedule , it was supposed to arrive in our part of Kentucky around 4 in the afternoon . The agent at the depot looked at us rather askance as Rosie bought the tickets , so I looked at her and said , " Aw , Sis ! Why do I have to carry the suitcase ? You 're big and strong ! " reply was , " Because I said so ! It will make you stronger , you little shrimp ! " Then she smiled at the agent , looking like she was old enough to be in charge . Fortunately , she was quite tall , like our Da had been . " Here you go , ma ' am . Two round trip tickets to Benton 's Hollow ; that 'll be fifteen dollars , please . " thanked him and we went over to where people were lining up for the bus . I casually looked them over ; hmmm , there were some interesting people who were also observing us . I hoped we didn 't see anyone who knew minutes we were boarding the Greyhound and headed south . Rosie was getting really bossy with me , but then , I knew she would . It was just her nature and I had been dealing with it ever since I could remember , so I just took it in stride and looked out the window . Pretty sounded like she was rotten on the inside . I bent my head over the comic book I had brought with me . My cap covered my face pretty good from her inquisitive eyes . I elbowed Rosie and asked her if she knew that woman . She looked quickly at the woman and said , " Not that I know of , but she might have seen us at the grocery store , talking to Ma . " I had a new worry . What if that woman called Ma or somebody that knew Ma , and let the cat out of the bag ? I told myself not to borrow trouble ; that we had enough to keep us busy worrying . I always tried to look on the bright side . About three and a half hours later , we had a rest stop , where people could get off and stretch legs and get a snack . " Okay , folks , you got about fifteen minutes , " the driver shouted . We left the bus and I noticed the old woman heading for the pay phones at the back of the store . Oh , no ! She might be calling back to our town , maybe the cops ! I went back to eavesdrop if I could . I neglected to mention that times were especially tough economically in the late 1950 's , because of where we lived in the small steel mill town . Many people were out of work , and my Da had been lucky to have his job . They had been getting ready to go out on strike when he was killed . Now , all the mills were on strike , and no one had much money to spend . Mr . Hopkins kept Ma working , anyway , because people had to eat ; he supplied the groceries . That morning , two days before my birthday , I went to Rosie 's room . She was fourteen now , almost fifteen . She was sitting at her dresser , putting on lipstick , and primping at her hair , fussing because it didn 't look the way she wanted it to . She could see my reflection in her mirror . Her annoyance was quite obvious . " What do you want ? Haven 't you brought enough trouble on us ? Why don 't you get out and leave me alone ? ! ! " She was changing right in front of my eyes . My big sister had never spoken to me in that manner . My eyes filled with tears and my heart filled with anguish ; I returned her anger in kind . " What are you doing ? Where are you getting ready to go ? The kitchen is still dirty , are you going to leave it that way ? Ma will climb your frame ! You look like a hussy ! " " Mind your own business ! If you want the kitchen cleaned , do it yourself . I 'm going out to have some fun with my friends ; goodness knows , there is no fun left in this house ! Get out of my way , now ! I 'll be back when I 'm good and ready ! Move ! " My family was falling apart in front of my very eyes . What could I do to change things ? I needed to do some kind of detective work and find my brother and little sister . But what ? Where ? Returning to the kitchen , I decided to have a bowl of cereal , and plan my strategy for finding my siblings . Then I would begin the hunt anew . I started thinking about my Grandma O ' Hanlon . Had she taken Marie and Les ? How could I find out ? She lived two states away from us and it would take some doing to see if she had . I had a little money saved for Christmas gifts - not enough to travel by train , though . The police had called her ; in fact , Sgt . Finley had talked to her and she assured him that she would not soil her hands with the little heathens ; they were past redemption as far as she was concerned . Somehow , I didn 't then I heard Rosie 's door slam and saw her walking hurriedly through the kitchen to the front door ; her carroty red curls were bouncing as she flounced out the door . " Don 't look for me until you see me coming , " she shouted . " I 'm going out with my friends today . " to the sink , I decided to do the dishes for my Ma . After all , she was working hard to provide for us , and this was the least I could do for her ( even though it was woman 's work ) . I thought about Rosie and her behavior as I stood there with the suds up on my arms , squishing the water through my hands , mindlessly . Rosie hurting , too . I thought then about Marie and Lester ; where were they ? Were they hungry ? Were they safe ? Who had them ? Did anyone ? Were they maybe . . . I couldn 't finish that thought . I couldn 't believe anyone would find out if she had , and there was only one way to do that . I had to travel there without telling anyone . If anyone was going to save my family , it had to be me , I thought . But how ? How could I get there and when ? Ma had come home from work on Saturday night , and had fixed a light supper for us , then went to bed . Rosie had gotten home just minutes before Ma , with a worried and sheepish look on her face . I just knew she next morning , we got up and Ma was rushing us around to get ready for Sunday School and church , almost before we finished our breakfast . I knew something was up , but didn 't know what . Ma took a roast out of the refrigerator and put it into a dutch oven . She browned it , and then added some vegetables to it , and put it into the oven for our dinner . Uh I found out after church that I had been right . Yep ! Mr . William Hopkins came up to the door and rang the bell just as Ma was putting the his stomach , he said , " Good afternoon , folks . Ah , Ellen ! Dinner certainly does smell great ! Thank you so much for inviting me to share it with you all ! " wondered if this dinner was going to turn out anything like the last one did . It was barely over , when Mr . Hopkins turned to a surly looking Rosie and me and asked if we could take a walk with him down to the park . It was a sunny but cool afternoon , and kids were out playing . looked over at Ma with a questioning look on our faces . . . she nodded her assent , and we left with Mr . Hopkins . We had not a clue as to what he could be wanting , but apparently she trusted him . So we got our coats we walked along , I took a closer look at Mr . Hopkins . He had a kind face , and it bore many lines of what looked like a road map . Thinking back on it later , I realized those lines had been made from caring for others . His hair was beginning to gray around the temples , and his blue eyes sparkled with interest as he looked down at me . The mouth was topped by a mustache that was graying as well . As have a clean dry place to be seated . " You like baseball games , don 't you , Zebulon ? " I quietly nodded my assent , not quite knowing how to talk to him . " Rosa , Hopkins told us that he and his wife had not been blessed with any children , but that they had both wanted them . He then told us how his wife had developed cancer . He had spent three years taking care of her in her illness before she passed away last year . " Uh 0h ! " I said to myself . . . " where is this conversation headed ? " I didn 't like the sound of it . Mr . Hopkins went on , observing us closely as he spoke . " I have been acquainted with Ellen , er , your mother for many years , since she shops at my grocery . I 've watched you all growing up through the years , and I know that you are good children , and good to your mother . I 've seen the bruises on her arms and said nothing , yet sensed her feelings of shame . " I felt shame that he knew . I waited to see where this one - sided conversation was heading , and looked down at my hands . Would I be that kind of man ? I vowed then and there that I would not be , even if it meant never to marry . I would never subject a woman to that kind of treatment . " I hate you both ! My life is ruined ! My Da Is gone , ; Zeb lost my Marie and Les , and now you want to take away our Ma ! " " No , it 's not like that ! I 've hired a detective to try and find Marie and Les . He 's out there searching right now . Your mother knows how I feel about her , but won 't marry me unless you both agree . Please say you both I knew we had a lot to think about . I wondered why they would want to get married anyway . They were both old . They were both at least forty . Miss Greene and I headed the few blocks , walking toward the Hopkins ' Grocery Store . It was just a small neighborhood store that supplied the community with groceries and some dry goods . I guess nowadays it would be called a " Mom and Pop store " . My Ma worked the cash register and helped do the book - keeping . She was really smart ; my Pa had kept her at home practically locked up . Mr . Hopkins had been married before and Ma was doing the job his wife had done . His wife died of cancer the year before . " Zebulon Seamus O ' Hanlon ! What have you been up to , that the teacher had to bring you to see me ? Young man , what am I going to do with you ? Have you been fighting again ? " for Ma , Miss Greene was about 5 ' 7 " tall , and because she had her arm around Ma when we told her about Les and Marie , Miss Greene was able to catch Ma and keep her from falling when Ma fainted . Miss Greene placed Ma in the office chair and we rubbed Ma 's hands . By this time , a crowd had gathered around the office door , wanting to see what all the commotion was about . began patting Ma 's face , trying to rouse her . As I watched her eyelids flutter , she murmured , " What happened ? What am I doing in this chair ? Zebbie , why are you patting my face ? " happened to them ? Have you been looking for them ? We have to go . . . we have to find them right now ! Did you call the police ? Where is Rosie ? Is she gone , too ? Oh , my poor babies ! How could you let this happen , Zeb ? You were responsible for getting them home ! Were you off playing somewhere ? " Then she looked at Miss Greene and asked , " Why are you here with Zeb , Miss Greene ? " looked everywhere for them , Ma ! I ran all around the school yard looking for them and went to Freddy 's house to see if they were there . We called Rosie and talked to her . Mrs . Grogan next door hadn 't seen them , either . " There were some looks of sympathy , but not many . I snapped my fingers ! We needed to call Sgt . Finley and get the police to help us look for them . " Ma . . Ma . . Listen . . . Let 's call Sgt . Finley and see if he will come and talk to us and maybe help us look for Marie and Lester ! " That is a good idea . I want to go to the school , too , and see if I can find any thing that might tell me where they went . We need to ask everyone who lives near the school . Maybe they saw something . Let 's go right now . " Greene spoke up . " Look outside , Mrs . O ' Hanlon ! It 's dark out there . We couldn 't find anything even if we went looking . Let 's go call the police Ma looked at her with venom in her eyes . " It 's all your fault , you know ! They wouldn 't be missing if it weren 't for you . Oh , my little Marie , and Lester . . . . " and she burst out crying again . Wait a minute , I thought . He sure sounds like he wants to take control of the situation and my Ma , as well . Well , I thought . We 'll just see about that . I picked up the phone and called the police station , asking for Sgt . Finley . He happened to be on duty , and agreed to meet us at our home . older guy with a kind of paunchy belly , get out of their squad car and we walked up the snowy walk together . He opened the door for us , and we went inside . " Now , tell me what the trouble is again ? You say your children are missing ? How did it happen ? " he asked as we entered the door . that time , Rosie came running up the walkway and burst through the doorway . " Ma ! Ma ! What are we going to do ? Have you found Les and Marie yet ? " " Wait a minute , wait a minute ! Let 's all sit down and discuss this as calmly as we can , okay ? " said the Sgt . " Now , Zeb , why don 't you begin . Apparently it began at school , right ? Who is this lady with you all ? " up , I explained the whole thing to him , and introduced Miss Greene . Sgt . Finley 's partner , whom I found out later was named Sgt . Beason , just stood to one side and observed the whole proceedings . He was chewing on a toothpick , which I later found out was one of his habits , as though he had just eaten . He didn 't seem like he was a lot of help , but it turned out I was wrong about that . Sgt . Finley called him " Bee " . Just then , Mr . Hopkins appeared at our door , and Ma let him in . As Mr . Hopkins came in , he looked around at the crowd that was there . " Ellen , what have you found out ? Anything new ? " he was showing to my Ma . My Ma certainly didn 't look like she was objecting to his shoulder to cry on . Looking at Rosie , he asked , " Could you be a dear and please get your mother a glass of water ? " going to find them , my dear ! They haven 't been missing very long , and the police here are really dependable . Please , you need to just get some rest now . I 'll be here with you and wait for them to come back . Now please just drink some of this water and then lie down here and rest . I 'll just put this afghan over you . Here is a cushion to put under your head . " the two children . By now all the area was covered in a three inch blanket of snow , and I felt chilled to the bone , not only by the cold wind , but also by the icy fear that gripped my heart . Sgt . Beason asked Miss Greene exactly where she had seen Marie and Lester playing . She replied , " Over by that big tree . They must have been playing like it was In only a few minutes , they came over to us with the book satchel that Les carried his and Marie 's books and stuff in . There was no doubt because it had Les ' name on it . They were also carrying his Roy Rogers lunchbox . He wouldn 't have willingly gone anywhere without that lunchbox . He had begged for it for weeks , before Ma broke down and got it for him . That told me that the outcome of all this could not be good . Once again I burst into tears and hugged Miss Greene . What were we going to do now ? How could we go back to Ma and Rosie with this news . I ran over to the tree and began hitting it , so that my hands were Sgt . Finley looked over and shone his flashlight on me , I was huddled down at the base of the tree , sobbing my heart out . He stepped over and lifted me up . " I understand how angry you are , boyo . But you can 't let anger take over and cloud your thinking . Now . . . can you think of anyone that would want to do harm to your Marie and Lester ? " picked up a handful of snow and cleaned my hands with it . The snow stung the cuts in them , but right then , I just wanted them clean . Miss Greene came over as well and as the four of us stood there , I considered his question . The other kids had stopped bothering us about our Da being gone . Les and Marie seemed to be doing okay in school . No , I couldn 't think of anyone , I told him . Beeson came over and asked if it had been our house that had been the scene of a disturbance several weeks earlier . That flashed a memory through my mind of my grandmother beating down my Ma and slapping me . But then , she hadn 't done anything to my brother and sisters . " Well , your officers escorted her to the train . " I replied . " And I can 't see why she would snatch my brother and sister , anyway . It seemed like she couldn 't stand to be around us . " we can 't seem to find anything else around here this evening . We will inquire at a few houses around here and you two need to head on back home . We 'll be in touch . Don 't worry , Zeb ! We will do our best to find them . We 'll see you later this evening at your home . Don 't forget to pray . Prayer can do a lot of good . Good night , Miss Greene . " was sitting in an armchair beside the sofa , watching over her . He jumped up and put his finger over his mouth as if to shush us when we came in . Then motioning us into the kitchen , he pulled out a chair for Miss Greene and we all soon were seated at the table . " Rosie went to bed , but I could hear her crying through the closed door , then no more sounds . She must have gone to sleep as well . Young man . . . what news do you and your teacher have for us ? " Sgt . Finley kept those for evidence , not that it will do any good . " By now , I was about to give up hope that we would find them , and it showed in my answer to him . Greene replied , " Now , Zeb . We don 't know that . They are going to question some of the neighbors to see if they saw anyone with Marie and Les after school . We mustn 't give up hope ! I am going to stay with you until Sgts . Finley and Beason get back to report to us . I 'm going to excuse you from school tomorrow if you wish . You will probably be needed here . " We waited another hour and by this time I had gotten really anxious . " Miss Greene , would you pray with me ? You know Sgt . Finley suggested that prayer would help . Mr . Hopkins , will you pray , too ? " Heavenly Father , please watch over the children and keep them safe . We trust them to your care . Please help them not to be afraid and return them to us . In Jesus name , we ask it , Amen . " Mr . Hopkins spoke to God like he was an old friend of God 's . I was glad to hear him and realized perhaps I might have been wrong about him . Then have fallen had we not caught her . Sgt . Finley and Mr . Hopkins helped her back over to the sofa . " Oh , William . . . William . . . what am I go to do without my babies ? " Ellen , don 't give up hope . It 's early days yet . Let 's see first what the officers found out in the school neighborhood , okay ? Officers ? What can you tell us ? " O ' Hanlon , we talked to all the neighbors around the school and while many of them saw and heard the children playing and having snowball fights , they took no notice of anything or anyone unusual . We plan on having an assembly at the school tomorrow and seeing if any of the children can tell us anything . Perhaps those that were playing with Marie and Lester saw something or someone out of the ordinary . I 'm sorry , but that is all we can do right now . We will check in the morning with the ticket agents at the bus and train stations to see if they were seen with an adult . You know they close the windows around 6 p . m . We 'll do everything we can when daylight comes . " They had removed their hats in deference to Ma , and now they put them back on and left . We looked at one another . That seemed to be that . Now what ? know your mother is in no condition to do so ; and I would be happy to do that for all of you . " Giving me no chance to answer , she took me by the hand , leaving Ma and Mr . Hopkins sitting on the sofa . Ma was still quietly sobbing into his handkerchief . Apparently , Rosie was still in her room , having cried herself to sleep . Not even the doorbell had awakened her . Going into the kitchen , my teacher looked into the refrigerator and found a dozen eggs , a block of cheddar cheese , and a plastic container of margarine . In the bread box , there was an almost entire loaf of bread . She washed her hands , and began cracking eggs into a bowl , instructing me to wash my hands and then to begin buttering the bread . I did as I was told . Rummaging around in the stove drawer , she pulled out a large fry pan , and put some Crisco into it to melt . She found an onion in the vegetable bin in the lower cabinets and began chopping it up . " Where is your cheese grater ? " " In that wide cabinet drawer , I think , " I replied . " I have all the bread buttered and on the cookie sheet . " was racing with thoughts of what could have happened to my younger siblings . Where were they ? Were they safe ? Were they scared ? Who had them ? Would we ever find them , alive ? I didn 't dare think any further . I my dear , I know things are difficult right now , but we mustn 't give up hope . It is early days yet , and we must be brave for your mother and sister , and look to God for strength to get through the next days and weeks . Okay ? " " Let 's get supper on the table , now . Would you please put the bread into the oven , so it can toast ? Thank you . " Supper that evening was a sad affair . When it was ready , I went in to ask Ma and Mr . Hopkins to come and sit at the kitchen table . She came slowly shaking her head " No " , with Mr . Hopkins leading her like a child , and urging her that she must have something and keep up her strength for the days ahead . In the meantime , Miss Greene went to Rosie 's bedroom to waken her for supper . I heard Rosie shout " Go away ! Leave me alone ! I don 't want anything . " We sat at the table staring at the food and saying nothing . Mr . Hopkins then bowed his head and asked for God 's blessings on our food . We ate in next morning , I woke up , bleary - eyed and disoriented . Looking over at Les ' bed , all at once remembering that he and Marie were missing . I dragged my body out of bed , fearful , yet hopeful , wondering what kind of was nothing that day . Nothing at all . We went to school hoping the efforts by the police would net some kind of news . A couple of kids remembered playing snowball fighting with Marie and Les the day before , but they left before my siblings did and saw nothing or anyone amiss . Three days then passed with interminable length , and hope was beginning to disappear on all fronts . I woke up on Saturday morning . The day appeared gray and forbidding as I looked out the bedroom window . The snow was just the dirty slushy stuff . were no sounds coming from the rest of the house . Looking over at the wall calendar , I noticed my birthday was only two days away . What kind of birthday it would be , I didn 't know . I certainly didn 't feel like celebrating . Would anyone else remember ? Going " Son , I appreciate your concern , but you must realize that many times , when you are facing responsibilities , you have no choice but to do what you must in order to survive . This job is survival for us . Yes , I feel okay . Please don 't worry about me . All right ? " She tipped up my chin with her index finger and smiled that wonderful smile of hers , her eyes glinting with tears . " Now , have your breakfast and don 't forget your lunch . Be sure and don 't forget to watch after your little brother and sister . Don 't fiddle around after school and leave them to walk home alone . Okay ? " It went on that way for a couple of weeks . Mr . Hopkins hadn 't been back to Sunday lunch since the last fiasco . Les had asked me the next morning after he came to lunch about it , and about what had happened to our Grandma . I just told him that she decided to leave that night , and that Ma hadn 't discussed Mr . Hopkins with me . We had begun going to Sunday School and church . It was interesting and we were learning a lot ; it was hard not to wiggle around during church though . Ma kept shushing us when we would get restless . Christmas was getting closer and I still wasn 't much closer to figuring out what I was going to do for gifts . My birthday was getting close , too . Being born two weeks before Christmas kind of cut down on the gifts , if you know what I mean . I would soon be eleven and I was growing taller . I didn 't realize that my life would soon change . settle down . I 'll go check for you . Class , take a seat and I 'll be right back . Mary Ann , you take names . " Oh , no ! Not Mary Ann ! She always wrote my name down ! Now I 'd be in trouble with Miss Greene , too . My teacher came back with her face wreathed in smiles . They are waiting for our Ma would make some snow cream for us . That was the poor man 's ice cream , and so good . I could just taste it on my tongue as I thought about it . Looking around , I didn 't see Lester or Marie . Where were they ? Running around the school house , I looked and shouted their names , my heart in my throat , and beating wildly in my head . " Marie , Lester ! Where are you ? Are you playing at hiding from me ? Come on , we 're gonna be late gettin ' home ! " I ran interior of the house was silent as a tomb . I called out my siblings ' names . No reply came . Now , I was terrified . What to do ? Where was Rosie ? Zebbie ? " she smiled . " What can I do for you ? Are you here to shovel my sidewalk for me again ? Are you hungry ? Would you like some cookies ? " sister . They were supposed to wait for me at school to walk them home , but they 've disappeared and I can 't find them anywhere . " I was almost sobbing when I asked her . I could just barely get out the words . my , no . . . I haven 't seen them since you all left this morning for school . Maybe you 'd better ask some of their friends or something . Maybe ma ' am . thank you . " I closed the door ; my heart was heavy with fear and grief . I just knew I wasn 't ever going to see them again . Something awful had happened to them . I had heard about other kids disappearing and wondered how I was going to tell my Ma and Rosie . We lived in a relatively safe neighborhood , I thought . We even went to a neighborhood school with people we knew , walking along with us to school . How could this happen ? I had to get over to a neighbor 's house where Marie and Lester often played and see if they were there . Quickly , I ran down the street and knocked on the door of the corner house . Freddy Turner opened the door and looked at me with surprise on his face . " Zeb ! What are you doing here ? " he asked . " No . . . they 're not here . I had to stay home today , cause I have a cold . I haven 't seen them . Sorry . " back to the house , crying as I went , I was really scared inside . What was going to happen now ? How could I tell Ma ? What should I do ? ran inside and picked up the phone . " And , Betty , you should have seen her hair ! It was absolutely an awful shade of red ! " Oh , no , Mrs . Jenkins Mrs . Jenkins , this is Zebulon O ' Hanlon , and I really need to use the phone . Could I please ? It is an emergency , or I wouldn 't ask . " Why isn 't she at home ? Oh , has she had an accident ? What 's happened ? Did she trip and fall when she was on her way home from working at that grocery store ? " she snickered . all right , if you insist ! Honestly , the manners of some young people are just unbelievable ! I 'll check with you later , Betty ! Don 't go anywhere ! I have a lot more to tell you ! " I heard them click the phone and then got the dial tone . I dialed Miss Greene 's house , and then when she answered the phone , I heard the faint click which meant Mrs . Jenkins was listening in . " Miss Zebulon ? What 's wrong ? There were some other children out there , too , and they were all scooping up the fallen snow and throwing snowballs at one another . They were having a great time . I saw some parents stopping by to pick some of them up , maybe to go shopping for Christmas . But I didn 't really have time to ask any questions and I didn 't notice anything wrong . Why do you ask ? Weren 't they waiting for you when you came out ? " I began crying and could hardly speak for the tears choking my throat . " No , ma ' am . Nobody was out there , and I can 't find them anywhere ! I 'm at home all alone . What am I going to do ? " " I 'll be right over , Zeb . Don 't let anyone else into your house , except your sister . We 'll talk as soon as I get there . Okay ? " me by the shoulders and said , " Okay , Zebulon , we need to think this through rationally . Where have you looked for your brother and sister ? What else have you done ? Have you noticed any suspicious looking strangers hanging around ? " I checked at Freddy 's house where they sometimes go to play and they weren 't there . I called you and I also checked next door at my neighbor 's house . She always seems to know what is going on around here . was sniveling and sniffing trying to keep the stuff from running down my upper lip . Miss Greene gave me her handkerchief and I blew my nose and handed it back to her . " Thank you , " I said . " You 're welcome . Now , Zebulon , we need to contact your mother and where is your older sister ? " " She 's you need to run to your room and change into some dry clothing . In the meantime , I 'll call your sister . What is the telephone number where she is baby - sitting ? " " Stop crying , Zeb ! We 'll find them . Now go change and I 'll call your sister to see if they went to where she is baby - sitting . " gave me new hope . Maybe they had gone there ! As I ran to change my clothes , I heard Miss Greene had already picked up the phone to call my sister . " Madam , could I please use the phone ? I 'm sorry to interrupt your conversation , but it is an emergency . " sorry , Zebulon . " she said , worriedly . " Rose hasn 't seen them either . Now we need to go down to the grocery store and tell your mother . Perhaps they went down there . Do you think they might have ? " really doubted it , but it wouldn 't hurt anything to check . I really dreaded telling my Ma . What would she do to me and how would we ever find Lester and Marie ? What if they had been kidnapped ? I didn 't realize Blogs are so much fun ! If you enjoy a blog entry , and would like to leave a comment , notice that at the bottom of each blog entry is are the words , " 0 comments " or " 2 comments " , reflecting how many comments people have made . Sometimes people comment on the entry , sometimes they even comment on each other 's comments ! Some polite rules for comments are no unkind words , say nice or humorous things or refrain from commenting , no profanity ( which I wouldn 't expect out of my friends , anyway ! ) , and don 't use other people 's last names , because some folks don 't like their names made public . To comment , just click on the " 0 comments " line , and it will take you to a place to comment . Write your comment in the space they provide . Then you have to " log in " . If you don 't have a google account , just click on the link to getting an account . 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