Willie ran all the way from the mill back to the schoolhouse. He burst through the door and ran up to where Mrs. Beatle was comforting Mary where he almost ran into them. Willie said:

"Mrs. Beatle, Mr. Ingalls said to ring the bell."

"Go ring the bell Willie."

"Yes Mrs. Beatle."

"Class, let's step outside so that we can greet Mr. Ingalls and Mr. Edwards, as well as anyone else who comes."

Willie goes out and rings the bell. At first, the rest of the people think nothing of it, but when Willie continues to ring the bell, they start getting curious as to what is going on, and that is when every resident in Walnut Grove and the surrounding farms went to the school. Mr. Ingalls, Mr. Edwards, and Mr. Garvey were the first to arrive.

"Mary, it'll be ok. Laura will be home. She will be ok."

"Oh Pa! It's so terrible."

"I know Mary."

"What's all of this commotion about?" Mr. Kennedy shouted. "I've got work to do on the farm and I best be getting back to it."

"Yes. Somebody tell us what is going on", Mrs. Olson said. "I've got a store to run."

"Harriett. Mr. Ingalls wouldn't be here at this time and Mary wouldn't be crying and being comforted by Mrs. Beatle."

"Maybe she is just jealous of my Nellie. Maybe she did something to Nellie and was punished for it."

"Harriett. Would the whole town be here and Willie ringing the bell if that was the case?"

"I suppose you are right Nels."

"Ingalls, will you tell us why we are here so that we can get back to work?"

"Certainly Mr. Kennedy. Willie here has a theory that my daughter Laura was kidnapped. He went to check on her because she was in the outhouse and she never took that long in there before. Mrs. Beatle asked Willie to check on her just in case Dr. Baker was needed, since Willie and Laura are the two fastest runners. She was not there. The door to the outhouse was wide open. There were tracks in the sand. They did not look like wagon tracks. Willie said he saw something driving away quickly that looked kind of like a wagon. But he said it was black. The sun reflected off of it as if it was made of some kind of metal. There were no horses."

"That's ridiculous! Everyone knows that a wagon needs horses", Mr. Kennedy said. "Are you sure Willie doesn't need to see Dr. Baker? I mean, he must be hallucinating."

"No Mr. Kennedy. I am not hallucinating. In fact, the scene is exactly the same as I left it, except that wagon thing is long gone. Come check it out."

"I suppose we ought to check it out", Mr. Kennedy said.

"Let's go."

"What the….." Mr. Kennedy began to say. "Willie was right. The outhouse door is open, and there are those tracks."

"Come on, let's follow them. They may lead to answers…. Or more questions."

"Good idea Charles. I'll go with you."

"Thanks Isaiah."

"I'll come too."

"Thanks Jonathan."

"No problem Charles. We're glad to help."

"Let's go."