could keep an eye on her.
Since the desk clerk would notice the four of them going out through the lobby, Johnny led them through the hotel kitchen, which had a back door. When Johnnie’s grandmother caught them sneaking through the kitchen, Johnny introduced her to Mara and Tony.
As Mara shook the hand of the elderly Navajo woman, the woman’s eyes got bigger and she whispered to Mara; “I also have visions of the past and the future. I see what you see. Be very careful. There is extreme danger involved. You must hurry.”
As they headed for the bus stop, Johnnie told Mara that his grandmother also had visions and they were always accurate. The four teens got on a bus that was headed across town, towards their destination. Mara noticed that the area of town they were passing through was very rundown. Some of the houses and even the school looked like they were falling apart. Johnny and CJ mentioned that many neighborhoods, including theirs, were as poor as the ones that they were passing through. They told Mara and Tony that the schools were overcrowded and did not have enough books and hardly any computers.
When they reached their destination, Mara, Tony, CJ and Johnnie began searching the deserted area of town for the clues in Mara’s dreams. As they passed a collapsed building, Mara recognized it as the pile of junk that she had seen in her dream. Mara knew they were close. Tony noticed a faded sign on the side of a building that said ‘Feed Store’. Next to that building, was a building that CJ recognized as an abandoned ice cream factory.
“This is the place where Gisele is trapped,” said Mara. They began checking all of the doors to the building and they found one door that was unlocked. They entered the building with caution. Mara turned on a flashlight that she had brought with her, because the factory was pitch black. The building had been abandoned a long time judging by the musty odor.
Mara began calling out the little girl’s name; “Gisela, are you here? We want to help you.” Soon, the others were calling out to her as well. Mara thought that she heard a sound coming from the other end of the building. As she walked toward the sound, she heard it more clearly. It was a child’s tiny voice. Mara saw a door that had a chair pushed up under the doorknob, so that the door could not be opened from the inside.
Mara removed the chair and carefully opened the door, so as not to scare the girl. She saw a small-frightened girl, the one that she had seen in her dreams. “It is okay, Gisela,” said Mara. “We will take you home.”
The little girl ran up to Mara, put her arms around her, and would not let go.
“How did you get trapped in here?” asked Mara.
Through tears, the girl told them her story. “Two bad men took me from the playground of my preschool. They told me that I would never see my mommy and daddy again.”
Suddenly, as she held Gisela, Mara had a vision of what had happened. The two men who kidnapped Gisela were trying to collect a ransom from the girl’s parents who were very wealthy. Mara knew that the kidnappers planned to kill Gisela after they had they had received the ransom money. Mara knew that the kidnappers could come back at any moment and that they had to get out of there as soon as possible.
Before they left, Tony put the chair back under the doorknob, so that the kidnappers would think Gisela was still in the room. After they left the building, Mara put Gisela on her back and the four teens ran as fast as they could.
After running six blocks, they saw a police car and they flagged it down. Mara explained that they had found the girl in an abandoned building and that the girl had been kidnapped. The officer recognized the girl from a flier that he had in his squad car, and he called for assistance.
When three more police cars arrived, Mara repeated her story. Mara told Gisela that it was okay to go with the nice police officer. “He is going to take you home to your mommy and daddy.” Gisela hugged Mara one more time before going into the police car. After the teens showed the police officers where they had found the girl, Mara glanced at her watch and realized how late it was getting. “We need to get back to the hotel now.”
The police gave all four teens a ride back to the hotel. Mara and Tony arrived at the front desk, just as Mara’s mother called to check up on them.
Mara told her mom that she and Tony were getting ready to go swimming, which was true, because Mara and Tony spent the next two hours at the pool with CJ and Johnnie. After that, they went to the arcade, which is where Mara’s parents met them.
During dinner, in the hotel restaurant, they were watching the news on a big screen television. The big story was about a four-year-old girl, the daughter of a local billionaire, had been kidnapped, but had been reunited with her parents and the kidnappers had been apprehended. The newscaster mentioned that the safe return of the little girl was due to the assistance of four good Samaritans who rescued her.
“That’s why I didn’t want you wandering around the city by yourselves,” Mrs. Louis said. “It can be very dangerous.” Mara and Tony just looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
Later that evening, Mara and Tony were in her parent’s hotel room watching a movie, when there was a knock at the door. When Mrs. Louis answered it, a man asked to speak to Mara Louis. Mrs. Louis invited the man in, along with his wife and daughter. As soon as the little girl saw Mara, she ran over to her and gave her a great big hug.
Mr. and Mrs. Louis looked quite puzzled until the gentleman offered an explanation. “I am Francisco Mendoza. This is my wife Elena and our daughter Gisela. From the looks on your faces, I am guessing that your daughter hasn’t told you what happened today.”
Mara and Tony both had looks of kids being caught with their hands in the cookie jar. They were busted.Mara and Tony explained everything, beginning with Mara’s dreams, to meeting up with CJ and Johnnie and ending with turning Gisela over to the police.
Mrs. Louis looked at Mara with a look of worry and disappointment. Mara had never seen her mother look so upset before.
“I’m sorry for disobeying you, Mom” said Mara, “but in my dreams, Gisela’s fears were real and I knew that she was in real danger. I could not have lived with myself if anything had happened to her. I know what I did was wrong and I am ready to accept whatever punishment that you give me.”
Mrs. Mendoza turned to Mrs. Louis and said; “Mrs. Louis, please don’t be too harsh with Mara. She saved the life of our little girl. The police had planted a listening device in the ransom money and they overheard the kidnappers planning to kill our daughter before crossing the border into Mexico. The police caught the kidnappers just fifteen minutes after Mara and her friends had rescued our daughter.” Gisela was still holding tightly onto Mara all of this time.
Mrs. Louis looked at Mara and said; “I want you to promise me that you will never try to solve another mystery without telling your father or me, or at least another responsible adult. We could have lost you forever and I don’t ever want to feel that way again.”
Mara promised her parents to always tell them about her visions and dreams whenever possible.
Then, Mr. Mendoza spoke to Mara; “Mara, as you probably know, I am a very wealthy man. If there is anything that I can do for you, just say the word.”
Mara responded very quickly. “I don’t need anything, but the kids in this city do. I have seen how rundown some of these neighborhoods are. The houses and schools are falling apart. The schools are overcrowded and there are not enough books to go around. There are hardly any computers in the schools. If there is anything you can do to help them, I know that they would appreciate it.”
Mr. Mendoza looked at Mara, as if seeing her for the first time. “Mara, you are a pretty amazing young woman. You see the problems that I have tried not to look at. You see, I grew up in Albuquerque, and when I was a child, my family struggled to survive. I was in such a hurry to get out of the old neighborhood and become successful, that I have forgotten my ro
ots, and my own people.”
“Today, we almost lost our daughter, the most precious part of our lives. We have been so busy making money and a name for ourselves, that we have forgotten what is important. From this day forward, I give you my word of honor, that we will use our money and our status in the community, to help those in need. We will help rebuild the neighborhoods and schools, and improve the living conditions of the children, including giving them the best education possible.”
“Thank you Mara, for not only giving us back our daughter, but for showing us how selfish and stingy we have been with our money. Money and power are not important. Helping those less fortunate than us is.”
When Mr. Mendoza shook Mara’s hand, she whispered to him, “If you can, could you please help out Johnnie’s family and CJ’s family? If they hadn’t helped Tony and me, we would never have found Gisela in time.”
“Don’t worry Mara,” whispered Mr. Mendoza. “They will be well taken care of.
Mrs. Mendoza hugged both Mara and Tony and Gisela hugged them as well. Mr. Mendoza shook Tony’s hand and whispered to him, “Don’t let Mara get away from you. She’s quite a remarkable young lady.”
Tony’s face turned a shade of red. Later, when Mara asked him what Mr. Mendoza had said to