(Late summer of ‘29)

Chapter 1 – When I was only 7 the unthinkable happened. I had found myself out by the road one day when a truck drove up and noisily came to a rough stop a few feet away from me. Looking up from the flowers I was picking, I saw a man jump out from the back and rush up on me. Clamping his dirty hand over my mouth to keep me from yelling out, this person picked me up. I had no idea who it was and why they were trying to take me. All I could think to do since I couldn’t yell was to start thrashing around. It made it harder for this person to keep a hold of me so he had to keep putting me down and then picked up again.

I was picked up once more and very forcefully thrown into the back of a 1926 Ford model T Roadster. When he threw me in the back I cried out because it hurt. Once I was on the back of the truck I moved to the back corner. I wanted to try and climb over the side when the man got on. As he climbed on the back of the truck he made sure to reach out for me as he yells,

“Go Johnson!” I was so scared that I didn’t pay attention to where this Johnson man was driving us. The man in back with me had a hold of my coverall strap. I knew there was nothing else I could do, I was trapped. I had thought that if I did what I was told for now, maybe I could try and slip away. But the further this Johnson man was driving away from home, I wasn’t so sure if I could even find my way to another home to get help. Once he drove past the general store I knew I wouldn’t know how to get home again.

Us younger children were never allowed to go to the store alone. We could if Louis or William were with us. I couldn’t wait until I was 12. Then I could go to the store alone. 

–

The rest of the family had no idea up to this point in time what had happened to me. We didn’t have lunch yet so when it was finally time for it to be served, mama had called for us to come in and get washed up. When everyone was sitting at the table and I wasn’t daddy asked,

“Where is Emily?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her in like an hour.” 11 year old William said. The other children said the same. Daddy got up and opened the door and stepped out. Hollering my name, he waited a second before calling it again. Coming back inside, he sat down. Mama said,

“Well? Did she answer you?”

“No and I am eating. She can go hungry until dinner.” With that, they placed food onto their plates. 

–

We had driven for what felt like forever when the driver had turned into the woods and stopped beside a one room cabin. The man in the back with me jumped down from the truck and motioned me to follow his lead. I didn’t move. The thought of jumping over the truck’s side and making a dash for it had crossed my mind since the man had let me go after we took off from my home. Both the man and woman climbed out of the front. She was wearing a pale colored dress with tiny red flowers. Both men had brown hair and were, to me that is, much bigger than daddy. And daddy was already a tall and very solid built man. They passed daddy’s 5’8” height. They were wearing white shirts with coveralls that barely fit their tall frames. They each had straw hats on as well. They were dirty. The lady gently said,

“Todd, stop it. You are scaring the girl.”

“Shut up Cynthia.”

“Todd, watch how you talk to my girl.” The man from the front said to the other. Coming over to me, the lady reached her hand out to me and gave me a gentle smile.

“It’s okay child. Come with me, I’ll take you inside and get washed up. Maybe we can find something to eat.” I gave her my hand and stood up. Once I was out of the truck, we went inside. 

The cabin was small and the main room was a big kitchen with a table in the middle. Along the one side was a stove and fireplace. Against the back wall were some crude shelves with a few cans and mason jars lined on them. On the wall with the fireplace, there was a door. I assumed it went back to the bedroom. Making me sit down at the table on a stool, the lady went over to the stove and started a fire. 

I silently sat there as I watched her move around to start making oatmeal. After it was done, she placed a heaping spoonful and half of another into a crude handmade bowl. Handing it to me, I started to blow on it as I stirred it. Making sure it was cool before I ate a big bite. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I took my first bite. I said softly,

“I want to go home.”

“I know pet. Todd and Johnson wanted to see if they could get away with kidnapping.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. They are dumb for doing it. If you do as they say, they won’t hurt you. I told Todd that if he ever did anything stupid like this I was going to leave him.” She said I think more for herself than me. 

“If you think you can hang out with me for a day or so, we will work out a plan to get you home again. Then, I’m going to the police and telling them what happened. I need you to help me out because if Todd or Johnson find out what we are doing, then I don’t know what will happen to either one of us. I don’t care what happens to me. I just want you to get home again to your family.” 

“Kinda like playing house?” I asked as I took my last bite of oatmeal.

“Yeah, kinda like playing house.” While we talked and I ate, she found herself sitting on a stool as well across the table from me. I thought it was sweet of her and wanting to get me home again safely.

Cynthia was pretty and petite. She had short sandy blonde hair with blue eyes. Her square face was framed by her hair. I noticed a dimple on one cheek when she smiled. When I was around her, I felt safe. The front door flew open which made me jump and cry out in surprise. Cynthia jumped up and came over to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulders.

“Todd, stop it. You are scaring her.”

“Oh I don’t care woman. Where’s our food? I’m hungry.” He demanded in a gruff tone.

“Well then you and Johnson need to hunt a rabbit or some other meat. I just feed the rest of the oatmeal to the girl.”

“Why’d you do that? We don’t have that kind of food or money to feed her as well.” He snapped as he took a step towards her. Stepping back, she looked scared of this Todd guy. I don’t blame her, I am scared of him as well. I just wanted to go home. “Then why did you take her? Now that don’t sound like a smart thing to do.”

“Oh shut up, I panicked okay? I don’t know what I was thinking.” His brown hair fell into his face before he quickly brushed it away. I didn’t know what to do so I stayed at the table and didn’t look at the man. When I did throw a glance in his direction, he reached out and snagged a rifle from the wall. I guess he was going to hunt something if he could before it got dark. If he was lucky, he would be able to since he had the better part of the day left to have the light to hunt. I was glad he was gone. I continued to pick at a spot on my overalls. Cynthia looked out the door and waited a bit before she asked,

“How about you and I go out and find some sticks to make a fire? We need to keep you busy for a bit.”

“Sure.” I replied as I shrugged. I climbed down from the stool and walked over to Cynthia. As I stepped beside her, I reached up and tucked a clump of blond hair behind my ears. I hated my hair in my face, especially when I am hot. When Cynthia saw me do that, she made me wait. She started to look around the room for something. Whatever it was she was looking for, she smiled as she snapped her fingers as she walked over to the table. Picking up a piece of sting, she finally came back to me and asked,

“Would you like me to try and see if I couldn’t pull your hair back into a ponytail? I think it will be nice to be out of your face and off of your neck since we are going outside and the sun.”

“Yes please. It’ll be nice.” 

“I promise you I will get you home. Then I am going to the police.” With that, Cynthia started using her fingers as a comb and pulled my hair as best as she could with my shoulder length hair. Once up, we went outside. I hoped that the two men wouldn’t hurt her or myself for that matter until then. 

We went out and looked around to find some sticks. It took us a while to find enough to make dinner and hopefully hold us over for most of the evening. Cynthia was trying to keep me busy to keep my mind occupied. 

–

Now that it was after lunch time and while the other children were on the porch sitting around, daddy came out and crossed his arms across his chest and asked,

“Okay. Where is your sister?”

“We still haven’t seen her.” William stated.

“Well, I want you all to go out looking for her. Do you think she went to Lucy’s or Rose’s house? Maybe you could split up and go asking.”

“Oh umm, sure. Okay let’s go guys.” William said as he got up from his spot on the swing and made the others follow his lead. They followed William off the porch and in the direction of both Rose’s and Lucy’s homes.

When they made it to Rose’s, William made the others hang back some while he went to the door and knocked. Her daddy was the one who opened it up. When he saw the group, he was surprised. 

“Hey y’all. What brings you here?” He asked with a smile.

“Our daddy wanted us to come over and see if Rose had seen Emily today?” When Rose heard her name, she stuck her round face around the door frame. Giving them a smile, she said,

“I haven’t seen her in a few days. Is she okay?”

“Well that’s what we are trying to find out. We haven’t seen her since this morning and we were wondering if she had sneaked away from home to come over here to play. Will you let us know if any of you see her this afternoon please?”

“Of course. If you find her, let me know so I know she is safe.” Rose said in concern. After a few minutes of talking, they left to head to Lucy’s. They had a feeling I wouldn’t be there since she was more of Betty’s friend than mine. But they needed to check for daddy. After finding I wasn’t there either, they headed home. As they were walking towards our driveway, George stopped and stated,

“Guy’s look. There are tire tracks.” 

“George, of course there are tire tracks.” Thomas said in annoyance. 

“There are flowers here. And George is right about the tracks. Whoever was driving the car looks like they stopped in a hurry or left just as quick.” Betty said as she pointed to the flowers I dropped. At that point daddy had seen us standing by the road and pointing to things. Of course he had to leave the front porch and find out what we were up to. Daddy stuffed his hands into his worn out pant pockets before asking,

“Did you find your sister?”

“No. She wasn’t at Rose’s or Lucy’s. But we did find some flowers that seemed to have been picked and dropped.” William had picked the flowers up and handed them to daddy. They were wilting. “Also there are car tracks and it looked like there was some kind of scuffle. I could be wrong though.” William said. Daddy looked around as William talked. 

“William, go inside and grab my truck key. I’ll go into town and get the sheriff to come out. You children go inside and help your mama with whatever she needs help with. I’ll try and be back for dinner. If not, tell your ma I’ll eat later. Leave this all alone until the sheriff comes back with me.” Running inside and grabbing the truck key from the hook and rushing back outside again, William asked if he could go with him. Daddy clapped his hand on William’s shoulder and stopped. Daddy motioned to the truck as both smiled. They both quickly got into the truck and shut both doors. From there daddy had put the key into the ignition before driving off. William knew daddy was worried about me.

–

That night as mama and daddy laid in bed, they softly spoke in the dark room.

“Oh Clyde, she didn’t even have shoes or a sweater on. She is going to catch her death out there. I can’t lose a child because someone snatched her from our front yard.” She started crying. Daddy rolled over some in bed and grabbed her into his arms. She had fallen asleep there with daddy holding her.

–

My first night away from home with this family that took me, I was so scared. I wondered what my family was doing at this point. The other children were probably in bed at this point as well. After what felt like an eternity I had finally fallen asleep. 

When I woke up the following morning, I wasn’t sure where I was at first. Then when I cleared the dirt from my eyes, I yawned big when I remembered what happened the day before. I sat up from the spot on the chair I slept in and walked over to the corner with a bucket and quickly went potty. Once I was done I went to the door and opened it up slightly. It was cloudy. I wondered what we would do today. 

I went back to the chair and sat down and looked out the door. While I sat there it started to drizzle. Although the rain wouldn’t last long. While it was, I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to a pot being dropped. Jumping up in my spot I saw Cynthia bending over to pick up the pot. She said

“I am so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” I said softly. I looked around to see if the men were around. When Cynthia seen me looking she said,

“Don’t worry. They left to go into town. They said they wanted to get some food to hold us over for a bit.”

“What do they do for work?” 

“We do whatever we can find. Usually work in fruit tree fields for a buck each person.” 

While we talked Cynthia moved around the small area to get some food together for the two of us. Which would consist of oatmeal, sausages and an egg. Once she had it all done and onto a plate, I dove right into my food. I was so hungry. There was just enough butter and molasses for us to share on our oatmeal.

“Hey kiddo, how would you like to help with making bread later when the men come back? I made sure they had bread things on their list.”

“I can help mix it but I’m not allowed to work around the stove. My mama said I can when I am 11.”

“I will do all cooking over the stove so you don’t get in trouble. Okay?” She said with a smile. Her dimples popped when she smiled before she bopped my nose.

“Okay. What are we going to do until then?”

“Well you can go outside and play while I find some wood to have for the evening.” The rain finally had stopped and the sun was coming out. While we talked she quickly washed the breakfast things in the bucket that was on the table. Once she had them washed and onto the shelf on the wall I was already outside. Before I could get far she hollered at me to not go too far from her. I hadn’t planned on wandering far. The last thing I needed was to try and get home again. But I would rather not get lost. She told me she would help me and I knew I would try and see that she wouldn’t be in any trouble with Sheriff Ray.

I found a stick and a stream nearby. As I started to poke the water, I watched Cynthia move around outside as she occasionally bent over and had a stick in her hand. After a few minutes she would take it inside and come back outside empty handed. She would stop every few minutes to look over in my direction to make sure I was still safe. 

–

Once the men had come back to the cabin what seemed like hours later Cynthia started to gather things to start making bread. I asked,

“May I help? Or do I sit outside?”

“Well you did say you are allowed to help make things for dinner right?” She asked as she paused to put her hand on her hip. I nodded yes.

“Then you can help make it. All I have to do then is put it into the oven and pull it out once it is done. We can work on some butter too in the process.”

“Maybe I should work on that while you do the bread. I wouldn’t want to ruin it.”

“Well to be honest. I wasn’t the best cook and baker when I started as a young girl your age. But I learned and you can’t learn if you don’t help. I want you to help me.”

“Okay.” I said. We both smiled as we went to work. 

The men had come back into the cabin just as Cynthia and I needed the dough and placed it back into the bowl to rise. I slowly started to move around the table to gather the dirty things when Cynthia asked,

 “Johnson, why don’t you two go and see if you can catch fish or find some squirrel for tonight and maybe enough for morning?”

“Why? There is more than enough ham in the smoke house.” I was confused with where that was. I wondered if it was in the woods outback. I wasn’t allowed to go in there alone. Not that I wanted to. They looked scary. I looked over at Cynthia and could almost see the light slowly going on in her mind. I knew right then that she was trying to make extra food to have because she was going to help me leave. But when was the question. I hoped it was soon.

– 

That evening for dinner we had beans and warm bread with butter. It was so yummy. I asked for seconds on it all and they were happy to give it to me. That night for dessert Cynthia had made a chocolate cake. Even though there wasn’t any frosting it was still very yummy. We all went to bed early that night. I knew I fell asleep with a smile and a full stomach.

I thought I was in a nightmare because I was being shaken. Then I heard my name. I opened my eyes in a panic to being shaken by Cynthia. It was still dark out. The only light that was there was the light of the fire.

“What’s wrong?” 

“Sh. Carefully get up and help me.” I hear her whisper. The fire was the only light we had to work. “Both men are very heavy sleepers. Trust me.” 

With that we still moved carefully around the room and made sure we left just enough food behind. Once the food was put into the pillow case we moved to the door and Cynthia opened it up quietly. She let me slip out first, then she followed. Closing the door again we moved back to the woods. She knew where the smoke house was and made me hold her hand as I followed her. I had stumbled a few times on the rough ground before we made it to the smoke house. Grabbing a chunk of ham and a sausage roll she handed them to me so I could put them into the bag. 

We walked for a few hours and stopped to rest. I was hungry, parched and sleepy. While Cynthia worked on getting food pulled out and cut up for the both of us, I made sure to gather some cold water from the creek. It was moving at a good rate 

When I got water into the glasses, I moved over to where Cynthia set up the food. I plopped down before I buttered a slice of bread before adding a slice of ham. When I had eaten enough I had laid down and had fallen asleep. I didn’t mean to. It was late afternoon when I was woken up by my stomach growling. Cynthia was stirring as well. We both got up to eat again. 

After eating our fill and drinking what we wanted, I made sure I grab both glasses to fill back up. I had to sneak off and relieve myself. Once I went back over to where we were, Cynthia was standing up and made sure she grabbed the blanket as she stood up. We were off again. 

–

It was getting dark when we finally stopped. We needed to find a place to sleep for the night. I sure hoped we didn’t have much more to travel. That evening after Cynthia had the fire going, she warmed up food. I didn’t want to get hurt or in trouble for helping with the fire so I went off to find lots of wood and clean drinking water from the creek. 

Once we had eaten we made sure the extra food was picked up and dealt with so that night it didn’t have wildlife come calling because they smell the food. Cynthia was smart and had found rope at the cabin she was at with the two men. So we used that to tie the food up in the one tree. We then got as comfy as we could be for the night. I was so tired I didn’t mind that it wasn’t a bed. I just hoped I would get home soon. As far as I fell asleep I was thinking I would have to really convince people that Cynthia was good. 

Chapter 2- It was by the evening of the 3rd day when Cynthia and I found ourselves on a piece of land. I stopped running which made her stop.

“What?” She asked as she leaned against a tree to catch her breath for a second.

“I think we are near my home. My family owns land and I think this is part of it. Us children aren’t allowed to go out past the markers.”

“Why is that?” She asked.

“Daddy says it is so we don’t get lost. He says we have like 20 something acres.”

“Well, with that much land so I can see why he says that. Your daddy sounds like a smart and good man. Your ma is a smart woman for marrying him.”

“Daddy says that too sometimes and she says, ‘oh Clyde, don’t go making me blush.’” I said in mama’s tone. Which made Cynthia laugh even harder. We would talk about my family as we started to walk again. 

As we walked, we came across a creek to which I recognized. The creek was the one daddy pointed out to us children a few months prior when he took us out to walk the land with him. I had forgotten how much land we had. William and Louis are allowed to the second set of markers that were set out another 30 feet past the main set. 

There were three sets of markers. Blue was the first color used for us children. Then orange was the second set that William and Louis used. Then there was a set of red strips on trees for the main property line. 

“Cynthia! We think we are on my land! See those red strips on those trees right over there? That is our 3rd marker.” I said before I grabbed her hand and started jumping. I was so excited. I couldn’t stop grinning. Cynthia smiled big as we danced in the darling woods.

“Now the question is, which way do we go to the house? Do you know which direction you need to go?”

“I think,” I started to say which direction I thought we needed to go before I froze and said, “shhhhh!” I held up my finger to my lips. Cynthia froze as well and listened.

“EMILY ROSE GALLIKER!” We heard ever so faintly in the distance.

“Someone is calling out for me. We are very close. I can’t figure out which way it came though.” I said. 

We listened a few more seconds before we decided to head to our left some. As we walked through a patch of thicker underbrush, another hand came down over my mouth. When Cynthia saw what was happening she started to scream and came rushing over to help me. 

Somehow the two men that had been with Cynthia originally, had found us wondering for some time since they had a feeling we would be heading back that way. Johnson talked to Cynthia while this Todd man held onto me. Remembering hearing my name being yelled in the distance, I started to yell. I started to thrash around to the point that Todd had to let me go so I wouldn’t hurt either one of us. Cynthia then grabbed me and dropped to the ground holding me into a ball and under her to help protect me. If it had been you that wondered up onto what was happening to Cynthia and I, you would think she could have been possibly hurting me as well, not protecting me. Mr. Neal, Sheriff Ray and Doctor were the ones who found us.

They started to pull both men off of us and then pulled Cynthia off as well. We were both crying. When Sheriff Ray saw it was me, he started to cry as he pulled me up and away from Cynthia and into his arms. I hugged him back. Hard. 

–

After we explained ever so quickly what happened and who Cynthia was, the two men had hands on Todd and Johnson, we walked back towards the house. Sheriff Ray held my hand as we walked in front of the group.  

When we finally made it to the house for what felt like an eternity, mama was sitting on a rocker wringing her hands as grandma worked on some mending when mama jumped up. 

“Emily? Emily Rose?” As she rushed off the porch, I let go of the sheriff’s hand and ran up to her. We hugged and cried. Grandma had put down her sock she was mending and rushed up to us and hugged me as well. At one point I had to pull away.

“I can’t breathe.” Both women didn’t realize how hard they were squeezing me in their hugs since they were crying hard.

Mama ran to the porch and grabbed two pots she had and started to bang them together. Then she would pause, then bang. She had done that 5 times before stopping. Then in the distance all around we heard more banging. In all surrounding directions, the other children had come running as they yelled my name. The first one I looked for was Nellie. When I saw her I ran to her so hard that when I had her in my arms we both had fallen into a ball with her under me. She started to sob. Then laugh. We all started to laugh. Everyone started to talk all at once that mama had to clap over her head a few times to get us to quiet down. 

“Let’s give Emily some space. We will let her talk.” I had quickly explained, again, what happened and how Cynthia helped me escape.

I was happy when Sheriff Ray said Cynthia didn’t technically do anything wrong, so she could go free. I squealed and hugged her. I think if she didn’t have the issues she had when both men came back for us that Sheriff Ray wouldn’t have believed her as much. I was so happy that both men would be going to jail for a very long time. 

For the next few weeks I was too scared to go outside by myself at times to do my few chores unless I had someone with me. Even if it was Nellie. I mean, at least I wasn’t alone, right? The other children wouldn’t leave my side unless we used the bathroom. Even then, there had been times when I walked out from a bath to find the others sleeping on the ground as they patiently waited for me. It would take me even longer to be able to do things like walking to school or the general store, alone. Daddy and grandpa also made some little bit of noise, like clearing their throats, before they entered the room so I knew they were because I was nervous that I would be taken again. I knew daddy and grandpa would never hurt me or the others so for that thought to be there was worrisome. I was even scared if mama or grandma walked up behind me or into a room with me without making noise for a spell. I had also moved beds in our shared bedroom so I was further away from the door and window.