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Mary was back on the trail of the scent... for about twenty minutes.
That was plenty of time-- more than you'd anticipated you'd get out of such a scent... but it helped nothing.
The two of you were now someplace dark enough that your skin almost looked as grey as the pond to your distant left, without a child in sight. Nor any hint of human interference. This part of the forest was inhabited only by dark shapes and even darker vines, crawling across every surface and smothering what little light could dare to escape their grasp without hesitation.
It was a pleasant surprise, then, to see Mary suddenly light up like a candle.
Her golden fleece shone almost as brightly as the wick you kept by your bedside back at home, applying a warm glow to the gloomy forest, giving you the gift of sight in the darkest place you'd seen since the mineshafts. The small red gem at the end of her tail glowed the brightest of all, bathing an entire clearing in red-tinted light and illuminating the figure of... a small child up ahead.
"Rosetta!" You cried out on instinct. It was such a relief to see her intact, even someplace as sketchy as this. Her dark, short hair was visible from here. Even while tinted red there was no mistaking that coloration.
Rosetta didn't answer, of course. You hadn't expected her to. The forest itself seemed to be smothering your attempts to reach out. But... she wasn't reacting to your approach, either.
Mary made some kind of noise. It sounded... wary? You lowered your voice to a whisper and glanced back at her. "I need you t' keep it down, please, just fer now. I dunno how she'd react t' you yet an' we <span class="mu-i">need</span> t' keep her calm."
The sheep pouted for only a moment. She backed up afterwards, stationing herself by the entrance to the clearing, protesting no further. Her retreat made you aware of the rather tall grass you'd now found yourself knee-deep in.
You put any worry out of your mind as you quietly approached the child.
It was only when you saw another, slightly further off, that you stopped.
The second child was... different? You could make out some reddish hair, a shorter height. Similar... stature...
Rosetta didn't seem to be breathing. Her chest, now directly to your right, wasn't expanding nor contracting. Yet she was sat right in front of you, in overalls, looking exactly as described, staring at the ground.
A chill ran up your spine as you caught another silhouette out of the corner of your eye.
There was a third child.
You were losing it. Surely there couldn't be <span class="mu-s">three</span> missing children. Nor were you even certain--
A thought struck you.
Your hand slowly moved to tap Rosetta's shoulder.
And she vanished.
