"One second, Elchanan. Look out the window — it’s not our parents, and it doesn’t look like the search party, either"

Just when Elchanan had decided they’d better give up on the hardware store owner and try to get help somewhere else, the door behind him opened. Elchanan spun around to see a woman bustle in, short and plump, a basket held in the crook of her elbow, fitting right in with the village’s outdated atmosphere, except for the phone she held in her other hand. When she saw the two boys standing there, her mouth fell open in shock.

“But you — you’re the boys who’ve been in the news! Missing — missing in the forest right near us, weren’t you? Does this mean you were found? Oh, how silly of me — I guess we’re the ones finding you! Oh, my! I’ve just got to tell Sam! He’ll be delighted! And to think it’s happening in our very own village....”

Things were moving so fast, Avi looked like he could barely register what was going on. Elchanan stepped forward, mustering up a tired smile. At least there was someone who believed their story.

“Yup, that’s us,” he said. “We’ve just arrived here. Could we please use your phone to call our parents? There’s a search party in the forest, we heard them, we even saw them once, but we lost them before we could get to them.”