Under her flustered direction, the guards rushed to and fro, in a flurry of disorganized searching and shouting proclamations of potential hiding spots.
"Have you checked the reed bushes? Well what are you waiting for?!" She barked, nervously twisting grasps of hair and stomping her right foot anxiously, failing to keep her façade of calm composure.
The facts were unambiguous: Raphael Perry, 4 years old, had disappeared around 7:30 pm near Grantham lake - under her responsibility. So far the guards had found a broken Spiderman watch – it seemed to not have resisted the water pressure, and a small left foot sandal.
The guards searched the perimeter all evening till the sun had dropped at a worrying low. Official declarations of disappearance could only be made 24 hours after the vanishing of the victim.
Look at it on the bright side Lisa. She urged herself. If they've found the shoe he shouldn't be too far away.
Just a good-natured practical joke! The boy was probably hiding in a tree, chuckling at the frantic state of panic he had managed to raise among the castle guards and his older sister.
But the shoe was found at the bottom of the lake. Said a darker voice from an obscure corner of her mind. Which means that when they do find him, he will be -
"Fred! Come here! I think I've found something."
The guards all rushed around the one who spoke, who held delicately in his arms, the frail figure of a young blond boy.
A wave of relief quickly washed over her face. "And is he alive?" She breathed.
The guard nodded insistently his head and handed over the sleeping child. "Must have fallen asleep while he was hiding there."
Lisa held him tightly against her heart and climbed into the backseat of the car. "You have no idea how much you scared me." She whispered, her face buried deep into his blond locks, a tired smile etched on her lips.
The sleeping boy didn't respond, a shadow of disarray crunching up his resting features.
Lisa looked out the window. The moon had now risen and its thin crescent-shaped reflection sparkled fiercely on the surface of the lake. Perhaps it was just a figment of her imagination, but she seemed to distinguish the figure of a hysterical blond child running after the car.