“What are you doing out here all alone?” Anthony asked. Panic made his voice sharper than it would have been.

The boy sniffled and stared at Anthony. His nose was running and he wiped at it with his pajama sleeve. The pajama shirt had a picture of a Minion on the front. Stuart, or Kevin? Anthony wasn’t sure. When the boy’s breathing became more rhythmic, he said, “I was following that seagull.” He pointed with a chubby forefinger out toward the horizon. “But now it’s gone.”

“Okay,” said Anthony, as much to himself as the boy. “It’s okay now. Everything is going to be okay. Let’s get you back home. I think I know where you live. I think you live right next to me. Do you know where you live?” Anthony wondered how much this boy had been taught about talking to strangers. He and Cassie had told Max if a man you didn’t know tried to take you somewhere you were supposed to scream. He looked carefully at the boy. He didn’t look like he was about to start screaming.

The boy shrugged. “In Connecticut, my house is red.”

“That’s a good piece of information,” said Anthony. “But how about here? Do you know what color your house is here, on Block Island?”

“In Connecticut,” said the boy importantly, “my friend Colin has a dog named Hooper.”

“Also good to know,” said Anthony. “My name is Anthony. Do you remember that I was talking to your mother recently, at the grocery store?” The boy shook his head. “Okay, that’s okay. Well, I know your mother, and I’d like to take you home to her now.”

“Okay,” said the boy affably. He reached up and slipped his little hand inside of Anthony’s. The trust in that gesture, and the warmth of the hand, nearly stopped Anthony in his tracks. An unfamiliar sense of peace and comfort spread through him.

They reached the cottage next to Anthony’s and Anthony rapped sharply on the back door. When the woman—Lu, he remembered—came to the door she looked from the boy to Anthony and back again, confused. She took in the wet Minion pajamas, and she probably also took in the fact that Anthony and her son were holding hands like a couple of besties.

“He was all the way down the beach,” said Anthony sternly. “Up to his knees in water. I happened to see him, so I ran after him. And brought him back to you.”

“He was what?”

“I was chasing a seagull,” explained the boy. “But he got away.”

“Are you serious?” said Lu. “I can’t believe it. I thought he was upstairs.” She knelt down and folded the boy to her chest. “Come in,” she said when she rose, and Anthony followed the boy into the kitchen. “He’s only four!” Lu said. “He doesn’t know how to swim yet. He can swim in a Y pool, but not in the ocean . . .” She put her hand to her chest and exhaled. “Sebastian, I thought you were in your bedroom!” Of course, Sebastian. Anthony should have remembered that. “You can’t leave this house without me. Geez, when I think about what could have happened. Where’s Chase? Is Chase upstairs?”