"Guys!" Red squealed from his perch by the window. "Midnight's back!" The rest of the boys crowded around him and watched as a blonde haired detective literally handed their escaped friend into the Refuge Guard's hands. They all saw Snyder exchange a few words with him, and pull Midnight into the Refuge.
It was April of 1893, and it had been a full four months since the young girl had escaped. Police found it hard to trace her in the cold of the winter months, so the search had been abandoned until a week earlier, when Detective Kline reopened the case.
"Where were ya, Midnight?" one small boy asked later that night after she had been returned to her former lodgings.
"I found an old abandoned apartment. Stayed there with a few other kids until they caught me."
"How? How'd the get ya, Girl?" Red questioned.
She sighed. "Just like the first time. Caught me in the act. I guess I'm just lucky that they didn't get me at the factory, or else the other kids would be here with me."
"What's it like?" a dreamy-eyed boy asked her.
"The streets are paved with chocolate and buildings are made of gingerbread," she told him sarcastically.
The boy's ears perked up. "Really?"
"No!" she retorted, swatting his shoulder. "Of course not. Its just like it is here. 'Cept no Snyder. I think that's the best part about free life. No Snyder." The boys laughed. "Hey! Where's Wise-Ass?"
Red sat up. "You mean Cowboy?" She nodded. "He got out. Little after you did. The governor came to visit, and he rode out with him. Of course," he nudged the kid next to him, "Gov'nor didn't exactly know that, now did he?" The boys fell into regular jokes with each other, but Midnight was lost to the commotion.
"Oh," she muttered, disappointed. There was something intriguing to Cowboy, and she had wanted to return to find out exactly what that had been. 'I guess I'll never know,' she thought to herself.