We had been working at the inn for almost 6 months. I was saving up money so we could have a Christmas. I gave each of us 2 dollars to spend; 1 dollar for each of the other people. I knew it was about 2 months before Christmas. I got Henry a pocket knife and Cinty a new dress. In turn I got a pair of new shoes and a purse. We all decided to save some money for an emergency. I found out that we saved 1 dollar. I put it in a container and stuck it in a tree.

One day a visitor arrived. He was a slender man and he always wore a scowl. I was sure I had seen him before. Then I realized he was the orphanage superintendent's helper, Jon Masters! I remember everything that was said vividly: "I am looking for 3 orphans by the names of Johanna, Jonathan and Isabella Lockend." They called us by the same last name so we looked like siblings and gave us "nice" names so we were "presentable." So, on with the story.

"Um . . . no I haven't heard of them." The reason he said that was I only told him our real names. Jon left, discouraged.

The next day as I was taking dirty dishes to the kitchen at the inn, Cinty ran in and grabbed my arm. "We've been found," she said breathlessly. We ran out, after I put down the dishes, into the street.

We raced down the road out of town the other way than the pine fort. "You go to the old tree fort and I will go find Henry," I shouted.

I ran down the road opposite Cinty for almost 2 miles though it was hard to run in a long skirt and my side ached badly. I jumped out of the way of a wagon only to see Henry tied up in the back. I decided to get caught so I could get Henry untied. I ran alongside the wagon until the driver got sick of trying not to run me over. I told him I had decided to turn myself in. I jumped in and winked at Henry so he would know I hadn't gone mad. Then I started to scream and yell. I got Henry shouting so much that the poor man had to plug his ears. I knocked the man down and yelled at the horse as loud as I could.

By then Henry had gotten the man all tangled in his ropes, and I climbed over the seat to help him. The man had a pocket knife so I asked very politely if I could use it. He said yes, probably because he thought I was going to help him. I grabbed it and cut Henry out of the rope and tangled the man in the ropes even more.

I told Henry to tie up the man even better, then I grabbed the reins to take the horse on a different road. The man got up after untangling himself and tried to get me into the back of the wagon. I let the reins drop and tried to get out of the way. I got a nasty blow on my shoulder and felt myself fall from the wagon. I was knocked unconscious.
By then Cinty was at the old tree fort. Suddenly she heard dogs barking so she picked up her skirts and ran.

Meanwhile I regained consciousness and got up. Then I heard someone shouting my name. It sounded like Cinty but I wasn't sure so I hid in the woods next to the road. My left shoulder hurt terribly and I was dizzy. But it was Cinty so I had to help her. I let out the most horrid shriek I could which wasn't much good because I had never done it before. I started running head first at Cinty's captor and slammed headlong into him.
I'm sure to this day that the man has stomach problems. The man gasped and fell down. I grabbed Cinty and pushed the dogs away. We ran for all we were worth.

Henry shouted as I fell out but could do nothing. The man grabbed him by the collar and glared into his face. Henry made himself dead weight so the man would put him down. He did and tied him up again.

He told Henry that he would pay for the pocket knife that I had thrown out of the wagon and he would pay for me, a GIRL being strong enough to tie him up. Henry slowly made his way to the back of the wagon in hopes of getting away. Henry knew just what to do so he could. He looked toward the front of the wagon and shouted "look," just as the man looked forward Henry rolled out the back into the bushes.

When we stopped, we were totally out of breath and my shoulder hurt more than when I fell out of the wagon but Cinty made a bed of branches for me. I was in too much pain to help. We had not heard dogs yet so the man was probably recuperating from my most likely sharp-feeling head. Cinty went to town to buy food and look for Henry. I was almost asleep when someone's horrid-looking face got close to mine, Jon's! I got up and ran . . .

Henry stood up and untangled himself from the ropes. He had seen us head toward our old tree fort so he thought he should go there first. As he went he looked out for any wagons and people to stay away from. He made it to the fort just as I ran frantically into the woods with a tall man close behind me. Henry started after me, a safe distance away.

Cinty got back as Henry ran into the woods. She set the food down and when she could not find me she ran after Henry.

As I ran I thought about Henry and Cinty. They would be looking for me soon if they weren't already. I was getting very tired but Jon seemed to have more energy. I slowed then stopped, I would have to get away later. He grabbed my arm and wrenched me around to face him. "So . . . you were too tired, huh?" He laughed, "I spose' you want me to let you go so you can run away again," he said in a sarcastic, whiny voice.

I glared at him.

"I'm going to take you back to the orphanage," he said, then let me go and roared, sitting down hard, then writhing on the ground.

I saw Henry out of the corner of my eye and smiled. Henry had made a heavy switch and used it on Jon. Henry grinned at me, grabbed my arm and we ran. As I looked behind us, Jon was getting up, then some dogs pounced on him. I wanted to turn back and help him but as I turned to look where we were going I slammed into Cinty. We both reeled back but Henry grabbed us both and pointed behind me. There was a massive grizzly bear staring at us. We walked away slowly, then ran. We got back home the next day and found out that Jon had given up and gone home!