"Missing?" Mrs. Boston said. She shook her head. "There must be some mistake."
"No, no mistake. She's not in her crib," I cried.
"Here, here," Nussbaum said, embracing me. "I'm sure she's all right." He shifted his eyes quickly to Mrs. Boston, whose face now registered some deep concern.
"Let's go up," she said sharply. I followed her out, and we hurried through the corridor and up the stairs. Once again I confronted an empty crib. Mrs. Boston shook her head.
"I don't understand," she said. "I left her not twenty minutes ago. She was sleeping so soundly."
"Oh, no," I said, no longer able to stay in control. Christie was gone. She was really gone! "Oh, no!" I screamed. I screamed so loud and so shrilly, it brought Mother out of her suite.
"What is it?" she demanded, giving me an annoyed look. "It's the baby," Mrs. Boston said. "She's gone. Someone's taken the baby."
Those words turned my mother's face into a mask of horror. Her mouth contorted, and her eyes seemed to sink deeper into her skull even as they grew larger and larger, her pupils dilating with fear. She had heard those words before, of course, when I had been taken, only then she had had to pretend. It was as if she had been thrown back through time and made to relive it. She shook her head and backed away.
"No," she said. "It must be . . . must be, a mistake. This can't be happening. Not again. I can't deal with this. Why can there never be any happiness in this cursed place?" she muttered, and she ran from the room.
"Let's get help," Mrs. Boston said.
I couldn't keep myself from shaking. Jimmy had just left me, just when I needed him the most, I thought. Oh, please, please, God, don't let Christie be gone. Not again. Not to have the same fate I had. Could my mother be right? Was this place cursed? It seemed like a cruel joke fate wanted to pull over and over. I smothered my tears and followed Mrs. Boston out of the room. We charged down the stairs to the lobby, where she gathered the staff around us.
"Someone's taken Christie from her crib," she announced. "We need everyone in the hotel lookin'."
Everyone was equally shocked and concerned.
The bellhops fanned out. The receptionists joined the search. Dining room staff members who were relaxing in the lobby took the outside and circled the hotel. As more and more people found out what was happening, the search party enlarged until it involved almost everyone in the hotel.
Philip, who had been in the card room playing poker with some of the dining room staff, came running.
"The baby's actually missing?" he asked. I could only nod. I sat on a soft chair and embraced myself, feeling that if I let go, I would literally fall apart. My stomach felt as if it was ready to empty itself at any minute, I felt so nauseous. My throat was choked so tightly, I couldn't swallow. Every once in a while I had to close my eyes and struggle for a breath. Chambermaids, receptionists, Mrs. Boston, everyone tried to comfort me.
Finally we heard someone shouting from the far end of the lobby. It was one of the chambermaids.
"The baby's been found," she cried.
"Christie. Christie," I called, and somehow I found the strength to stand. It was as if I were floating over the lobby floor as I walked forward. Moments later Millie Francis, the lady in charge of the laundry, came walking out of the corridor carrying Christie cradled in her arms.
"Is she all right?" I cried.
"Just fine," Millie said. She handed my baby over to me gently. Christie's eyes were open wide in surprise. Her face was filled with curiosity as I held her tightly, not wanting to think of what I would have done if we hadn't found her.
"Where was she?" I demanded.
"I almost missed her. She's such a good baby. She was lying there so quietly."
"Lying where?" I asked quickly.
"In the laundry room, in a bin, on top of a pile of towels," she said.
Everyone looked at one another in astonishment.
"How could she get down there, and who would put her in a laundry bin?" asked Mrs. Bradly, one of our older receptionists.
"Sick joke, if someone did that," one of the bellhops said.
"Thank you," I said, turning to them all. "Thank you all for helping."
"She don't look the worse for it," Mrs. Boston assured me. We took Christie up to my room immediately and there inspected her more closely. There wasn't a mark on her body, and she looked very alert and happy now.