Lacey walked back to the kitchen and out onto the porch, wondering what Ella had meant by ‘the others’. But once she set foot outside, she heard excited voices from the other side of the house. She tip-toed to the corner and peeked around it. By the pond she could see four children playing. No, not children. They were adults dressed as children. Then it struck her: So was she. Lacey crept closer, ducking behind bushes until she was close enough to hear what they were talking about. It seemed the three of them, two girls and a boy, were having an argument about some kind of race in the brook that fed the pond. Eventually, they decided that the only way to settle it was another race. They picked up their crude wooden boats and ran upstream.
“I can see you, you know.” Lacey froze. “Oh come on. That blue dress isn’t exactly camouflage.”