She opened the screen door again and went back into her kitchen. I left the window and returned to my work. A little later, both the kids came running into the house. I managed to capture them long enough to tell them about the cookies and milk. "Beat you there!" Robert shouted to Star. There was a scuffle and they ran out the front door. I noticed then that Star had dropped the coin and I picked it up and sent it to Jim Pietre. * * * * * "Hello, Jim," I said into the phone. "Are you still there?" "Yep, still waiting for an answer," he said. "Jim, I think you'd better come over to the house right away. I'll leave my office now and meet you there. Can you get away?" "Can I get away?" he exclaimed. "Boss says to trace this coin down and do nothing else. See you in fifteen minutes." He hung up. Thoughtfully, I replaced the receiver and went out to my car. I was pulling into my block from one arterial when I saw Jim's car pulling in from a block away. I stopped at the curb and waited for him. I didn't see the kids anywhere out front. Jim climbed out of his car, and I never saw such an eager look of anticipation on a man's face before. I didn't realize I was showing my dread, but when he saw my face, he became serious. "What is it, Pete? What on Earth is it?" he almost whispered. "I don't know. At least I'm not sure. Come on inside the house." We let ourselves in the front, and I took Jim into the study. It has a large window opening on the back garden, and the scene was very clear. At first it was an innocent scene--so innocent and peaceful. Just three little children in the back yard playing hide and seek. Marily, a neighbor's child, was stepping up to the base tree. "Now look, you kids," she was saying. "You hide where I can find you or I won't play." "But where can we go, Marily?" Robert was arguing loudly. Like all little boys, he seems to carry on his conversations at the top of his lungs. "There's the garage, and there's those trees and bushes. You have to look everywhere, Marily." "And there's going to be other buildings and trees and bushes there afterward," Star called out with glee. "You gotta look behind them, too." "Yeah!" Robert took up the teasing refrain. "And there's been lots and lots of buildings and trees there before--especially trees. You gotta look behind them, too." Marily tossed her head petulantly. "I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't care. Just hide where I can find you, that's all." She hid her face at the tree and started counting. If I had been alone, I would have been sure my eyesight had failed me, or that I was the victim of hallucinations. But Jim was standing there and saw it, too. Marily started counting, yet the other two didn't run away. Star reached out and took Robert's hand and they merely stood there. For an instant, they seemed to shimmer and--_they disappeared without moving a step!_