Before Laura can decide what to do next, she feels herself being lifted into the air.
“Ooh, you’re a sneaky girl,” a woman’s voice coos. “You almost got away from me!” Dread fills Laura. One of the moms tasked with watching her discovered she was gone and went after her.
“Me no-” she starts. The woman rests Laura on her hip and frowns at her.
“I don’t want to hear your excuses, Missy. You’re staying put with me until your family is found, okay?”
“No!” Laura shouts, kicking her legs in protest. The woman’s frown deepens.
“That’s enough out of you.” The woman pops a pacifier into Laura’s mouth. Instinct takes over and Laura finds herself sucking on the pacifier without meaning to. The soothing action distracts her. Before she knows it, they’ve returned to the group of mothers. Laura attempts to squirm free.
“Well, I’m definitely not putting you down, if you’re going to act like this,” the woman scolds. “I already almost lost you once, I won’t let you wander off again.” The woman sits down on a chair and holds Laura in her lap.
Laura sucks on her pacifier urgently, trying to think of a way out of this before it is discovered that she has no family around.