All Was Revealed by Adele Abbott

them?”
    “Sure. After you’ve got changed.”
    On my way into the house, I noticed that the next door neighbours still had the chickens. I made the kids get changed first. I would have been in trouble if they’d got mud on their school clothes.
    “Come on, Auntie Jill. Come on the slide.” Lizzie dragged me around the back of the house.
    Peter had put up a small slide and a swing in the back garden where the compost heap used to be.
    “Would you like to go on the slide, Auntie Jill?”
    “I don’t think so. I’m a bit too big.”
    Mikey appeared. And so did his drum!
    “I wouldn’t play the drum out here. You’ll scare the chickens.”
    “It doesn’t scare them, Auntie Jill. They like to dance to it. Look!” He walked over to the fence, and began hammering away on the drum. The chickens started to run around in circles; no doubt trying to escape the awful noise.
    “I’m not sure they’re dancing, Mikey.”
    “They are! Look at that one. It’s twirling around.”
    “Why don’t I hold your drum while you go on the swing?”
    “I don’t like the swing. It’s boring. I want to go on the slide.”
    The two of them took turns on the slide while I sat on the bench that was underneath the back window. I was almost asleep when a frantic voice made me stir.
    I stood up, and went to see who was shouting, and where the fire was.
    “Hello, can I help?”
    “Is Kathy in?”
    “No, I’m sorry. She’s had to work late. I’m Jill, her sister.”
    “Oh dear.” The woman looked distraught.
    “Is there something I can help with?”
    “I don’t know what to do. My kids go to the same school as Mikey and Lizzie. They should have been home twenty minutes ago, but there’s no sign of them. I’ve checked at the school, but they’re not there. I’m worried something has happened to them.”
    “Have you contacted the police?”
    “No. I suppose I should.”
    “Would you like to borrow my phone?”
    It was too late. She’d already rushed across the road.
    Daze’s words echoed around my head: wicked witch, gingerbread men.
    I gave her a ring. “Daze, it’s Jill. Are you still on the school crossing patrol?”
    “No, I’ve just finished.”
    “Okay. This may be nothing, but I’ve just had one of Kathy’s friends come over here. Her two kids are usually home by now, but they haven’t turned up. I just wondered—”
    “The wicked witch?”
    “Do you think it could be her?”
    “It’s possible. We’ve had a sighting of her halfway between this school and the one that Blaze is working at. If those kids walked home that way, then maybe.”
    “That doesn’t sound good. If they’ve been turned into gingerbread, their poor mother will be devastated.”
    “It’s okay, Blaze is tracking her as we speak. I’ll catch up with him, and see if the kids are with her.”
    “Will you keep me posted?”
    “Of course. I’ll give you a call as soon as I have any news.”
    “Okay, thanks Daze.”
    Ten minutes later, Kathy’s car pulled into the driveway.
    “Are the kids all right?” She came rushing into the house.
    “Of course they are.”
    “Where are they?”
    “Around the back. They’re playing on the slide.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Look, there they are.”
    She saw the kids and sighed with relief. “I was so worried.”
    “I know you think I’m hopeless at everything, but I can look after two kids for thirty minutes.”
    “It wasn’t that. It’s just that Sheila called me at work. Her two kids have gone missing.”
    “It must have been Sheila who came around here earlier. She was looking for you. Have they found them yet?”
    “I don’t think so. When she told me, I tried to call you, but you were engaged.”
    That must have been when I was talking to Daze.
    “Sorry, Kathy. I didn’t realise you’d called.”
    “I shut up shop, and came straight over. Your grandmother will just have to deal with it. It’s not my fault if she goes AWOL.”
    I followed Kathy out to the garden where