Little Gracie Graffinino was out hunting with her daddy. Not that she wanted to hunt down and kill things – no little girl liked guns and shooting and yucky stuff like that – but she just turned 8 and mommy had just pulled out of her tummy another little sister last month. She herself (Grace) was the oldest and now 8, Hope was 5 and a whiney little brat, Faith was 3 and always crying, and little Mercy was just a baby and totally useless. And her daddy wanted a little boy. Mommy said that was why she kept growing more babies, but Grandmama said girls were a blessing, that's why they were all named after the Seven Holy Virtues.
Anyway, ever since Mercy was born, and Gracie was now in the 2nd grade, her daddy started paying more attention to her, teaching her stuff like fishing and baseball. She even joined a little league team. She liked it, but – not something she'd want to do if her daddy didn't want it. But, Gracie figured, she was better than nothing, even if she wasn't a boy. And she got her daddy's undivided attention, without the bratty little sisters hanging around.
And on her 8th birthday, Daddy started talking about taking her hunting, just the two of them, up at the lake. Gracie thought it was gross, killing deer and stuff, but it made her daddy happy, so...
They had just gotten there, and Daddy told her to go off and play at the lake – but for god's sake don't go in the water and drown herself – while he got the guns and stuff ready. So she wandered down to the dock. She heard talking and followed it. She didn't expect to find anybody there, there never had been any of the times they'd come here with Daddy and Mommy and Grandmama and Hope and Faith for a picnic.
She saw the men there and stopped a little way away. One, Two, Three, Four, Five, she counted on her fingers. After a second, one of them turned to look at her. He just stared, then got the attention of the others, who all turned to look. They all looked funny, with matching clothes, like at her Catholic School. She wondered if they were Catholic, too.
Then the black one came over and talked to her. He was nice. But she didn't understand why he lied to her. She'd been fishing with her daddy, and he told her you need poles and worms to fish with. Fishing with your hands was just silly. Silly goose, as Mommy would say.
Then Daddy came running up with his big gun and started yelling at the men. He scared her. She didn't understand. They were nice men. She didn't understand. She stood there, frozen, not knowing what to do. Then one of the other ones came over and picked her up and started yelling at her daddy, and Daddy yelled back, and the other men were yelling, and Gracie started to cry, she was so scared.
What's happening? Daddy? Daddy! She wanted to yell, but couldn't.
After a minute, though, the man put her down, asking if she was okay. She said yes, even though the answer was no. She didn't want to make the man madder. She knew by now to always say yes to that question. And it worked because the man let her go and told her to run to Daddy, which she did as fast as she could. Daddy picked her up and held her tight, and she never wanted to leave Daddy ever again.
The men left and more men in matching clothes came and something happened to their car because the policemen – who you should go to if you are lost – drove them home and Mommy and Grandmama were all crying when they got there, and Gracie was even happy to see Faith and Hope.
Little Gracie Graffinino never wanted to go to the lake again.