Thearn

Grady – The second youngest Smith child started a fire with a roll of toilet paper in the womens showers today. The joke was on him though, when we rebuilt it, we did it with nonflammable and flame resistant materials. Karen in the office called Kate in when the alarm went off. Kate stomped it out and rescued young Timmy, apparently he put the fire between himself and the door. It looked like he had a good time riding the side by side to the office, Kate put the amber light on for him. I think she was a little concerned about him breathing in the smoke and wanted to keep him distracted. Ella contacted the detective and managed the family. We are done with the Smiths and the ‘random’ fires that always tend to happen when they are camping here. Two of the older boys have spent time in juvy and it looks like this one is headed that way as well. I’m pleased with the camera placement that we have now. We have images of him going in, TP in hand. Its distressing that we had to do it, but so far it has saved us a shed, a vending machine and with the showers, future arson from the Smiths.

Ella – The Petersons met Kate and the kids at bible study tonight. Kate was drawing on her laptop and the kids were coloring, but all of them were listening. William introduced everybody and offered Mrs. Peterson the opening prayer. She chose the lords prayer. Duncan, who comes for the baked mac and cheese, flinched, and Alison’s shoulders shook, but she stifled the laughter. When the kids didn’t join in Mrs. Peterson corrected them. Peter was the one that spoke up. He was very polite and put down his crayon and looked straight at her and told her ‘The tempter is not God, we don’t pray to him.’ Kate followed with James 1:13 and the poor lady went pale.

– James 1:13 – Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.

Dakota – Tonight was leftover night at Kate’s. The children are having game night with Ella and Grady, so it was just us adults. Cam brought Kate a science magazine that someone left on his porch and said that Levi wasn’t coming; he was grumpy because he asked Edie to the Jack and Jill and she turned him down again. Kate pulled a Kate and called him and said ‘I have mac and cheese in the oven and it is the cure for everything, and Miss Whitman left a cherry pie for us.’ He was happily eating with us twenty minutes later. He opened up Cam’s magazine to the marked page and an adult version of Peter was looking back at us. Kate’s eyes got big. She’s had legal custody of her niece and nephew for a year and a half now. Her sister is a wild thing and left them to go and roam the world. She never did tell who their dad or dads were. Kate is determined enough that she will find out.

Kate – Cam left a magazine with a picture of an adult version of Peter in it, who big surprise is also a Peter. It isn’t one of his usual magazines, it was left on his porch with a sticky note saying ‘saw this and thought you would enjoy it,’ but with no name. I don’t recognize the script. The age range is Gen-X or better probably, though there are some home schooled people in the area that would have learned to write. The sticky note is off brand, the paper is thicker than usual and the glue is a little on the gooey side, kind of like rubber cement. It’s sufficient sticky but leaves a little residue. The magazine is one of those spendy ones for the most serious of serious scientists. Its five years old. This fellow won some big award for research on squirrels. And now all I can see is him as a male Jane Goodall, sitting and learning to squirrel with the squirrels.
Did a little digging and found out his IQ is up there. Nothing but the best for my nephew, assuming this is his dad. Found out where he works, two states away, thank you linked in. He was there back when Pete would have been conceived. He is married, but only for three years, thank you fake book.
How did she hook up with him? Convention maybe? Did she travel back then? Gotta check.

Ella – Kate has been going through the storage room digging through her sisters stuff, and spending a lot of time on the computer looking for something. She has made calls too. She is so focused trying to find something that she let the kids off of their regular home schooling today and dug into her critical/creative thought stash. Their assignment was for Emily to read three short, old, 20’s-60’s era newspaper articles out loud to Peter. The articles are of small town mysteries. The rest of the assignment is to pick one and make up a story that answers how and why the things in the article could have happened. She gave them three days to work on it and then told them to go and play. Peter will tell the story that they make up.

Ella – It was dinner night with Tyler and Levi. I like having a full table, especially with people that like to eat and they both do. Tyler told us he is bringing his little sister Julianna to Ashley and Ryan’s wedding to ‘get her out of the house.’ There will be young people; she will have a pleasant time. Levi was still down about Edie turning him down. Peter is a little darling and told him that she would go with him later, ‘because she loves you.’
We got to hear the kids’ story. They finished it early.
First Emily read the news article that they chose: ‘This Thursday morning Justin Miller opened his store ‘Miller’s Grocery’ at the usual time. He discovered that he had been robbed while checking the stock to make new orders. The thief took only Polka dot brand bread and New Jerusamballan cheese, and left no mess. Gold was left inside the locked safe in the locked managers office. The metal was inspected, tested and found to be the genuine article. It is estimated that the cash value is several hundred times the cost of the food taken. Nothing else was disturbed and there was no sign of a break in.’
There was also a photo of a smiling Justin holding his hand out with a chunk of gold a little bigger than a walnut, in his other had there was a slip of paper.
Peter told their story: ‘Once upon a time there was a lady that went on an adventure to a different world, there were other people that went with her, most of them were friends. The place where they went to didn’t have stores there like we do here. They had gardens for food, and they built the things that they needed. An older lady liked it where they were and went to live with them. One day she really wanted a grilled cheese sandwich like she had when she was a girl, but the people didn’t have the right cheese or the right kind of bread. They tried making it but it takes practice and they couldn’t get it right. They were good at making butter. Anyway, the older lady wasn’t sick, but she was getting closer to dying every day and the lady and the other people wanted to get her the cheese sandwich because she would enjoy it. So the lady used a machine to come here, because the older lady was from here and the special cheese and bread is here. The machine she used was round like a frisbee and about the same size, but flatter and open in the middle. She pressed some numbers and buttons on it. It let her go right into the grocery store like in the spaceship movies, except there wasn’t the weird sound or the pretty lights. It was just a quick flash of light and she was there in the store. She went at night when no one was there. So that’s how she got the special bread and cheese. She put it all on a second bigger circle that had a tray. She put a small machine on the door to the office and turned it on. The wood rippled like water near the machine, and she used a special glove to reach inside and unlock the door. Then when she was in the room, she put the machine on the safe that made the metal wiggle and ripple too, and she used the special glove to put some gold in. After it was in, she pulled her hand out and turned the machine off and the metal was solid again. She locked the office when she left it, and put a note on the shelf where the bread was before to say that she paid for it and the cheese and the gold for it was in the safe. Then she pressed two buttons on the circle with the bread and cheese, and one button on the circle that she was standing on, and she then was back to her world with the bread and cheese.’

Kate – She picked him! Both of them! She set them up and kept her notes. Emily’s father is a politician, the swampy kind. Brilliant man but not one that I want around my niece. Peters father is squirrel guy, not famous, not back then but with the potential to be. I don’t know how she found this guy but she has stuff on him, articles. Clippings from school, all the way back to grade school. It’s like stuff your grandmother would keep. He was well liked. He won tons of awards. Where did she get this stuff? She kept records, she stalked him. She flew out and ‘met’ him at a conference he was attending.

Kate – Ive been digging through Peter’s scrapbook, it looks like his mother died when he was a toddler. He was taken from his father when he was six. No explanation why. He spent a little time in foster care. In second grade he went to a private boarding school for gifted children and stayed there until he graduated high school. I can’t tell if it was gifted to him or it was a scholarship. A ‘long lost uncle a few times removed’ died a year before he left the boarding school leaving him with a literal pile of gold. There is a letter that says the lawyer/power of attorney was flabbergasted when he came into guardianship of a locked case full of gold. The gold had sat in a banks possession out west for decades and had been passed down through at least three prior family members. There is a letter with it in old style script that says that that the gold was mined during the gold rush. He was to come into possession of it upon graduation from high school or his 18th birthday whichever came first. He also inherited the land it was mined from. There is a goodbye letter from three of his teachers. They seem to have taken him under their collective wings over the years. Nothing after that. I can only assume that the teachers compiled the book and then either kept it or gave it to him. How my sister ended up with it is a mystery.

Kurt – Finn called today and nagged at me like vacuum cleaner salesman trying to make a sale. Ashley and Ryan are getting married and I don’t have a date yet so I haven’t RSVP’d. He told me to invite Joel and take a week or two off, he said we could have a guys camping trip. Fishing, hiking, kayaking, ziplines, campfires, steaks, burgers and beer. Levi, Jack and Cam will all be there. He said he would even take us to the shooting range. Kate already has the cabins and lots reserved in the books. It sounds like fun, Joel could use the time away and will be done with school by then. Mom is driving him nuts introducing him to ‘nice girls’ who aren’t and dad is pressuring him to join the firm. He is trying to convince them that a gap year is the in thing to do, it’s very Ruropean. Though I think their gap year is between high school and college not college and work. He is pushing the ‘keeping up with the Jones’ angle and is hoping their ego wins. He said he wants to join a relief group that is putting in wells in disadvantaged areas. He’s already signed up for it. He sees my life and doesn’t want it. I don’t want it for him either. It would give him a year to figure something else out. I’d like to go with him.

Ella – What a horrible end to a beautiful day! It started out so well, everything was just about perfect. And then the spaceships came and snatched people! Spaceships! We worked with the police until after dark to provide a list of people who were there and who went missing. Even the kids helped. They are ready to have Kate back. Ashley and Ryan’s wedding was today. The ceremony was at the gazebo near the main house, it’s a pretty area. Everything went smoothly. The flowers were beautiful. The photographers were friendly, thorough and fast.
Maci had set up a lovely buffet across the yard and had some takeout bags that Kate asked her to make up for the camp staff. So they had to be listed. Brody had a guest when he came for his. It was one of the ladies from cabin 30. Gwen is her name; we had to ask her friends. A new fellow, I think they are calling him Gilbert (wasn’t taken), working for Maci actually caught Kate’s eye. I’m excited about that, because it hasn’t happened since she was in high school. She wasn’t boy crazy like her sister. Anyway, not much is known about him. He was dropped off at ‘The hand up’ with amnesia, didn’t even remember his name. Ryan and Ashley discovered he was an excellent cook when a few of the kitchen staff were out because of illness and he volunteered to help. Maci scooped him up and offered him a full time position shortly after. He is a quiet fellow, pleasant, seems to be good natured. Maci has admitted that he makes her mashed potatoes better than she does and seems a little miffed by it. Joshua was with them today keeping the trays full and the burners going. Another quiet one, he plays for the other team as they say. It’s rumored that he has found love in Springfield. I hope so; everybody deserves a chance to find happiness. The DJ, Ruby and her assistant Maxwell did an excellent job with the music. Marge brought her niece Olivia and the niece’s boyfriend Harris (from away). They didn’t enjoy being here, disagreeable people; whoever took them will bring them back. We had some crashers, a camper (Dave from cabin 12 who wasn’t taken) snuck in and got himself some of the BBQ, and a vending machine salesman Ethan something was pestering Kate and wouldn’t leave. He left a card at the office thankfully, thats how we figured out who he was. Julianna did come with Tyler and seemed to be having a lovely time chatting and dancing with Joel. They would make a handsome couple, though she’s a bit young for him yet. Edie danced with Levi, I was so happy for him. He used to flirt with every female he met between five and ninety-five; she hasn’t taken his interest seriously. He had a hard time breaking himself of the habit. I think Kate suggested he do it.
Oh! Oh! The kids are yelling that Kate is back!

Grady – The police took a copy of the camp video recordings. For years, campers and neighbors have been posting blurry images of lights in the sky at and near the campground on social media. It’s been a running joke in the community that we are a UFO hotspot. We have a group of scientists here studying the sky; they have cameras set up just about everywhere. They were questioned, and apparently saw and recorded nothing. The officers sent didn’t initially believe what we told them happened. People don’t just disappear in broad daylight. Everybody gave them the same story though, and people really are missing. We have given them a list of invitees, help staff and other people that were seen at the ‘event.’ They have taken names and contact information of guests and witnesses so that they can all be interviewed, and have taped off the area and are treating it like a crime scene. Kate is one of the missing, Ella is frazzled, but the kids are handling it well. Peter is convinced she will be back soon. ‘Twinkles told me so.’ Emmy is a little more nervous about it, but she said that Kate wouldn’t leave them. ‘She’ll be back as soon as she can.’ I have no doubt that Kate would slay dragons for those kids. She has done far more for them than their own mother has, that useless woman. Sweet Emmy is probably remembering how they got left.

Officer Morrissey – There are twenty eight UFO’s clearly visible on the campground footage. It’s believed there are more out of the frame. Guests at the wedding indicated that the sky was full of them. There is a flash when the UFO’s show up, another and people are just gone, a third flash and then the UFO’s are gone. How do I write this up?
One man is seen standing with a half eaten plate of food, next to the buffet table before the second flash and lying unconscious near the dance floor thirty feet away after the third. He is gone between the flashes. No plate of food on the ground anywhere. He has been checked for injuries and found to have none. He did complain of a slight headache, vertigo, brain fog and mentioned he was ‘very hungry.’ He has no memory of his ‘missing time.’ His clothing has been taken as evidence. It was clean prior to his missing time and soiled with sweat, grass and dirt after he is returned. Samples have been sent to the lab for tests.
Reports have been trickling in of other people going missing suddenly and publicly. Another wedding guest, Joel, who came with his older brother who went missing with the UFO’s, also went missing while eating at the diner in town yesterday. The people he was eating with said he just disappeared, the forkful of egg he was lifting to his mouth just clattered to the plate, and then the floor. Twenty people heard the fork clatter. Eleven of them were actually looking in his direction when it happened. No one reported a flash of light.
The mother of the bride was standing at the grocery check out paying for her purchase when she disappeared. The cashier, the bagger and three customers reported no flash of light but it did show up on the store camera.
Another odd disappearance is Miss Whitman and her three cats. She was there when her home health aid checked in on her from 9:00 to 9:30 am and gone at 9:32 when the woman came back because she forgot her phone. The aid said that she wasn’t out of the house longer than two minutes because they record times in a log; she realized her phone was missing and turned right around to get it. The aid is under investigation, but no one expects to find anything. The agency that she works for has so much faith in her that her work has been shifted to the office for the time rather than release her.
Who would abduct a sweet elderly lady and her cats? She has no heirs that anyone is aware of, no one benefits. She’s just gone like the others.
There were twenty nine people taken from the party and with the continued disappearances from the surrounding areas the number of missing people has climbed up past thirty. There is a nervousness that is growing in the community. We need to figure this out, put a stop to it and get our people back.