When Joy Came to Stay by Karen Kingsbury Page B

running toward an older boy and girl seated at a nearby table. Then the child glanced back at Maggie…and Maggie’s whole body went cold.
    This wasn’t a blond little girl. Instead, the child running away from the swings had red hair and a freckled face.
But…where did she go? Why is this happening again? What’s wrong with my eyes? Am I that far gone, Lord?
Maggie stared at the child and then directed her attention back to the officer. She was sweaty and rumpled and desperately in need of a water fountain. She had never run six miles in her life, and now she was about to be interrogated by a policeman.
    “I think I’m going to faint.” Maggie slipped her head between her knees and urged herself to breathe slowly. Afterseveral seconds, she raised her head and looked over her shoulder. The officer was waiting.
    “I’m serious, ma’am. Get up. I need to talk to you.”
    “Sorry, I just…I don’t feel very well.” Maggie rose up off the swing and followed him, terrified that she would collapse and be taken away in an ambulance or worse, be arrested in the park adjacent to the office where she worked. If her peers got hold of the story…
    Help
me,
God…please!
    When they were a distance away from the playground the policeman turned and faced her. “I’m Officer Andrew Starmer. Got a call from one of the neighbors in the condominiums across the street that a female jogger was stalking a child on the playground.”
    Maggie saw black spots dance before her eyes.
Breathe. Breathe, Maggie. Don’t faint now
. “A female jogger?”
    The officer glanced at her sweatsuit and nodded. “Did you know that child, ma’am?”
    “Child?”
    Officer Starmer sighed. “Yes, the one you were talking to.”
    “Oh, her. I, uh…I thought she was my niece. My niece lives near here and plays at the park all the time.”
    The officer raised an eyebrow. “Tell you what, why don’t you follow me to the car, and I’ll make a report. Just to be sure.”
    Panic coursed through Maggie’s veins. “An arrest report?” She did her best to sound indignant.
What have I done, Lord? Help me
.
    “No. Just informational. Take down your name, that kind of thing.”
    Maggie wiped her hands on her pants legs and released a laugh that said there must have been a mistake. “Officer, I work across the street. I jog at this park every day at this time. I thought the girl was my niece. Isn’t that enough information?”
    Officer Starmer eyed her for a long moment.
Let him believeme, please
…“You work at the newspaper?”
    “Yes. My car’s parked there right now.”
    His eyes narrowed. “Okay. Just be aware that people are sensitive about strangers getting too close to kids. You read your paper, right?”
    “Sure.”
Oh, thank You, God. He doesn’t recognize me, doesn’t know I’m a columnist
. “Right. Definitely. I’ll keep that in mind.”
    The officer glanced once more at the redheaded girl then back to Maggie. “If you’ve finished your jog, why don’t you make your way back to the office.”
    “I’m on my way.” Maggie smiled at him and nodded as she and the officer headed in different directions. She was ten steps away before she remembered to exhale.
    That was too close. What if he’d taken my name? What if he’d arrested me or taken me in for questioning? What was I doing there anyway? And why does the child keep disappearing? Who is she?
    Come into the light, child .
    What light?
Maggie argued with the still, silent whisper.
There hasn’t been light for years
.
    She had the strangest feeling she was forgetting something but she could hardly stop and think about it. Not with the officer watching her from his squad car across the park. She opened her car door just as her cell phone began to ring inside her purse on the front seat. Instantly her eyes flew to the watch on her wrist.
    The boys!
That was it! She had forgotten the boys.
    Maggie tore open her purse and grabbed the phone, speaking in a voice that sounded