“Maybe Hanny is down by the canal,” Vevi suggested.
“Or in the cheese house,” added Connie.
The two girls enjoyed showing Rosemary, Jane and Sunny over the farm. Because they wanted to keep the secret to themselves, they did not tell the others about the locked door or the mystery connected with it. In passing the little building, though, they noticed that the padlock still was clamped shut.
“Where can Hanny be?” Jane speculated.
“Maybe she is out in the fields,” Sunny suggested.
“First, I want to look inside the cheese house,” Connie said.
She opened the door of the building to peer inside. The room appeared empty at first glance. Milk had been poured into the pans, but no one was working there.
Connie started to leave. Then she stood very still, listening. She could hear an odd sobbing sound which came from a far corner of the room.
There on an old couch lay Hanny! The little girl was curled kitten-fashion into a tight ball. Her hands covered her face and she was trying desperately to smother her loud sobs.