As Lee's words sank in, Amanda wrapped her arms around herself, not from the chill of the cold, but the feeling of misery that crept over her. Through her volunteer work, she's seen similar situations, but not one that seemed quite this hopeless. Her heart ached for these children and all they'd been though and she worried now more than ever about what they might still have yet to endure.

"Amanda...?" his voice broke her out of her reverie.

"Yeah, I heard," she replied dismally. "So...uh...with this new information, plus what you said about Sunny saying they only had each other, we can be pretty sure that the older children are responsible for Ivy's disappearance."

"Yeah, but my question is where were the older kids before this? And why wasn't there some kind of report for them?"

"That's the trouble, we don't really know where they came from," Amanda said sadly. "But we also don't know that there isn't a report..." She unfolded her arms and tapped the paper she still held. "Or a poster just like this one for them..." She paused as reflected for a moment on her boy-girl conversation when assigning rooms to the kids. "Or maybe two separate ones."

"Right," Lee nodded in understanding. "Because not all places house both boys and girls. The one I was in didn't...it was all boys."

"Yeah, so it's possible the police haven't made a connection between all three of the missing kids yet."

"Or it's possible that it's like when I ran away...they just haven't noticed the older kids are gone," Lee suggested. "Or maybe worse. Maybe they know they ran away and just haven't bothered to report it. Those places aren't all Bing Crosby and Mickey Rooney, you know."

"I know that, but it's also not all Little Orphan Annie at the mercy of a drunken Carol Burnett either," she countered.

"You lost me on that one," he replied in confusion. "Since when is Carol Burnett a drunk?"

"Well, not really her. It was her character in the movie."

"What movie?"

"Annie," she answered. "I took the boys to see it when it first came out and Carol Burnett was this alcoholic matron at the orphanage Annie lived in. She made the girls do all the cooking and cleaning and locked them in closets and threatened to beat them and-" She paused as she recalled the scars she's seen on Sunny's arm, wondering if it actually was that bad.

Noticing her change of expression, Lee questioned, "What is it?"

"Well, everything was so chaotic when you got back I didn't get a chance to tell you what happened while you were gone." She outlined her encounter with Sunny and concluded with, "I didn't get a good look because she covered herself up so fast and ran off, but at first glance, they looked like burn scars."

"We've sure seen enough of those with all the times we've been blown up," he joked morbidly.

"Yeah, but as I said, I didn't get a really good look, so maybe they're something else. Whatever caused them, it's something very painful for her to talk about and they seemed fairly fresh too, like she's still healing."

"So, you think whatever happened to her happened after the kids lost their parents?"

"I just don't know because we really don't know just how long ago that was."

"Then I say it's time we get some answers," he stated adamantly. "I mean, we're professionals at this, asking questions and getting answers."

"But this is different, Lee. We're talking about wounded children here, not some Russian spy that we can interrogate or manipulate into telling us the truth."

He shook his head. "That's where you're wrong. Amanda, you're the best I've ever seen at the Class C interrogation and I'd say that's exactly what this situation needs...a soft touch."

"I already tried that, remember? I was hoping that showing her my own scars would help her to feel more comfortable opening up and you said you did the same thing when you told her you were an orphan and it did no good."

"Well, there's got to be some card we haven't played yet."

"Whatever it is, we need to figure it out soon." She waved the flyer at him.

He took the paper from her and suggested, "Maybe this is it."

"You don't mean confront her with it? I don't think that's a good idea. That's likely to just make her want to run again and that would be the worst thing possible. At least if they're here with us, we know they're safe and cared for and if they ran, I-"

"Amanda, just listen to me for a second, huh?" When she nodded, he completed his thought, "I wasn't suggesting confronting Sunny with it. You're right, she'd only want to run. I was thinking...have you noticed how Glenn mostly goes along with what his big sister says, but he doesn't seem too happy about it?"

"Oh, right. While you were talking to Phillip, he told her to shut up."

"Yeah, and he argued with her about the fish dinner," Lee added. "I was just thinking, we've both seen how Phillip and Jamie get when they're locking horns. They can't wait to tattle on each other."

"You're thinking of using some good old-fashioned sibling rivalry against them." She smiled. "Hmm...it could work. He definitely seems like he wants to open up, but Sunny won't let him...or maybe he's afraid that she'll be mad at him if he does. He also seemed awfully worried about us turning them in. So, how do you think we should approach this?"

"Divide and conquer," he replied. "You've already got a bit of an in with Sunny because of the sharing scars thing and I could use the fact that I spent time in a boys' home to try to reach Glenn. If what we were thinking is right and they were in separate places, it just might work."

"Okay, let's give it a shot," she agreed as she took his hand. Lee shoved the battered flyer back into his pants pocket as they talked out their plan of attack on the walk back to the cabin.

They were pleasantly surprised to find that things seemed peaceful in their absence. The TV was on with How the Grinch Stole Christmas playing and all the kids watching it, Jamie and the girls on the sofa while Phillip and Glenn were sprawled on the floor in front of the television.

"They're playing your song," Amanda teased her husband as they pulled their coats off and hung them up.

"Ha ha," he replied dryly.

"Slight change of plans," she whispered. "Just follow my lead."

"Okay-ay," he responded skeptically, but as Billy had pointed out, following her instincts had never led him down the wrong path before.

"Boy, that song sure is right, isn't it?" Amanda commented in a louder tone as they joined the children. "That Grinch sure is a mean one, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he's a big ol' meanie," Ivy chimed in.

"But he learns his lesson in the end," Sunny pointed out with a nod to her sister. "You know, that Christmas isn't about trees or presents, but about being with the ones you love."

"Absolutely," Amanda agreed with a smile toward the girl. She couldn't be totally lost to bitterness and pain if she got that message. "Is...uh...is that why you guys were hiding out here? So you could all spend Christmas together?"

"Sure," she shrugged.

Amanda shot a knowing glance to Lee who nodded his understanding in response. They'd come to the same conclusion; that the kids had run away to make sure they could be together for Christmas.

They sat in silence until the show concluded and Amanda piped up, "Okay, guys. It's getting late. I think it's about time to get ready for bed."

She was met with the usual protests from her own boys. "But we're on vacation," and "We don't have school tomorrow," but she shook her head firmly and reiterated, "I mean it. Bed time. Now, you'll have to take turns with the bathrooms. Jamie, since you helped with the dishes, why don't you go first in the one bathroom and Sunny can have the other and I'll help Ivy." When Jamie immediately took off for the bathroom and the other two boys headed off in the direction of their bedrooms, she gave Lee a pointed look, hoping he'd get her message.

"I can take care of Ivy." Sunny argued.

"Oh, I know you can and from what I've seen, you do a really good job of it. I just thought you might like to have a moment to yourself. As a mom, I know how tiring it can be to be looking after children all the time and how sometimes, you just need a break. After all, you've done a lot today, the fishing and reading to Ivy and helping me with dinner, then doing the cleanup. It might be nice if you could just relax by yourself for a little bit, maybe take a nice long bath." She watched as the teen's facial expression changed from one of belligerence to one of relief.

Sunny nodded. "Yeah...I...um...I guess I could use a break."

"Oh and you know what? I've got some bubble bath I brought with me," Amanda informed her with a bright smile. "You're welcome to use some of it if you'd like."

"Really?" The girl's eyes lit up.

"Sure, I'll just go get it for you."

While Amanda headed for the master bedroom, Lee followed behind Glenn and lightly tapped on the open door. "Hey there," he greeted him. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," the boy replied. "What's up?"

Lee entered the room and closed the door. "Well, I was hoping we could have a little talk, you know, to get to know each other better since we're all going to be here together for several more days." I hope, he added.

Glenn eyed him warily. "What do you wanna' know? My sister gets kinda' mad if we tell strangers stuff."

"Well, we're not really strangers anymore...are we? I mean, I know you don't know us very well yet, but we all had dinner together and talked a little and watched TV together, kinda' like a family."

"But you have your own family and I have mine."

"Oh, I know, but for at least the rest of the week, we're going to be sharing our families, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," the boy replied uncertainly.

"Besides, I wasn't just talking about me getting to know you, but you getting to know me too. Then maybe I won't seem like so much of a stranger to you."

"Sure," Glenn replied with a shrug.

"Did Sunny tell you what I told her earlier? You know, that I was an orphan too?" When the boy shook his head, Lee continued, "Well, I was, so I understand what that can be like. After my parents died, I spent two years of my life in a boys' home where they didn't really seem all that equipped to deal with a bunch of lost, scared little boys."

"Boy, do I know what that's like."

"The big difference is that I was younger than you. I was about Ivy's age when my folks died and I didn't have any brothers or sisters like you do."

"That's a bummer," Glenn replied sympathetically. "I bet you were confused like Ivy is. She just doesn't quite get that Mom and Dad are gone. Sunny and me, we tried to explain it to her, but she just doesn't understand and it just got worse when-" He broke off abruptly as he thought of how his big sister would react if he shared too much.

"When what?" Lee probed gently. "Did something happen?" He wondered if he should show the boy the flyer he'd found as a way to let him know, he knew more than the kids thought he did, but then decided against it. What if that made the child clam up even more?

"I...uh..." He shook his head. "No. I shouldn't talk about it. Sunny'll pulverize me."

"Well, how about we keep it between just us guys then? I won't say a word to your sister."

"Really?" He gazed at Lee skeptically. "You swear you won't tell her?"

"Cross my heart," Lee promised. "It's not her business what you and I talk about. She's not the boss of you, right?"

"How come you wanna' know so bad anyway? No other grown-ups seem to care."

"Maybe because I was an orphan too so I know what it's like when no one understands or cares what you're going through and having nobody to talk to about it. So, really it's not so much that I want to know that badly as much as I care that you can get things off your chest."

"And you won't turn us in?"

"Nope. We already said you could stay with us for as long as we're here," he reminded him. Finally, the boy relaxed a bit and smiled at Lee. He took this as a cue to proceed and prodded, "So, you were saying...about Ivy?"

"Oh yeah. She doesn't understand that our parents are just...gone."

"I can relate to that," Lee inserted sympathetically when he sensed Glenn hesitating again.

"Yeah?"

"Sure can." He related the story he'd told Amanda about running away at age 6.

"Wow, did you get in trouble?"

"Not really. They hadn't even figured out yet that I was gone, but when my uncle finally came and got me, I got one hell of a lecture from him about how dangerous it was for a little kid to be running around on their own."

"Sometimes it's more dangerous to stay put."

"How do you mean?" Lee pressed.

Letting out a deep sigh, the nine-year-old finally confessed, "Some people took Ivy away from the girls' home she was staying at with Sunny. They said they wanted to maybe adopt her, but they lied. They just want the money they get for being foster parents."

"How do you know that for sure?" He remembered what the cashier had told him about the couple not being able to have their own children. "Maybe they really did want to adopt her."

"No they didn't. If they really cared, they wouldn't have hurt her like they did."