On this blistering hot day, taking the boat to see Niagara Falls up close and personal was certainly a welcome outing. Very well organized, the seemingly thousands of people are shuffled through air-conditioned pathways, elevators down to the docks, poncho hand-out and on to the boat in military fashion.
While I dreaded donning the plastic rain protection in the heat, I couldn’t get it on fast enough once we approached the falls. That’s one heckuva lot of water.
As we sauntered back along the riverfront path, a small girl of about six years went running past us crying her eyes out and calling for her Mama. She finally collapsed on the lawn sobbing, and two young women went over to help her as we came up. A small crowd gathered for a while but dispersed when it seemed the two young women had things under control. Cristal and I stayed to help. The child spoke French but not English. As we discussed how we could help her find her parents, a man came running up, thanked us abruptly as the child acknowledged and recognized him. However, he grabbed the child, speaking to her in some other unidentifiable-to-us language. He started to yank her along—still whimpering—as the four of us stood watching in some dismay. We discussed what had happened: she was talking French but he wasn’t. Was he the parent? A step-father? An uncle? While I wouldn’t say she went off with him happily, she went off willingly. I pointed out that, just because we didn’t like the way he treated her, didn’t mean we could prevent a relative or guardian from taking her. The experience obviously left us all bewildered and uncertain, a bitter taste in our mouths and the thought, had we done the right thing?
So, like the man in the program says, what would you do?
Andrea Downing 
Good morning, Andi! Too bad the lost child event clouded your visit to the beautiful falls (a place I haven’t been lucky enough to visit). Those of us who write with HEA chafe at the more bitter than sweet reunion you witnessed. Let’s hope the man was embarrassed and worried so he acted that way…but you’ll never know. I might have followed the man to make sure the kid was his, but that language barrier would make me feel as helpless as you were.
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I’m sure the child was his in some capacity, and I did think that perhaps his reaction was partially due to worry as much as annoyance. We’ll never know what came before our sighting of the child to cause her to be either lost or run away. Thanks for your view Rolynn–and you must get to the falls. They are truly spectacular.
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So what would I have done? Not knowing French or any other language but English, would be handicapping for me. Do you and or Cristal know French? Anyway, I’d have done what you did, I’m sure. Stay to see the child was found and hopefully found by the right person. Yes, the agitation might have been because he was embarrassed, had been really frightened that he had lost her forever, or??? But he wasn’t very gracious to you who waited with the child. But maybe he is just a jerk. Should we, in cases such as this, insist the man stay until we have proof that he is the “right” person to be responsible for the child? However, authorities might not do anything more then what you and Cristal and the others did. Anyway, as you say it left a bad taste in your mouth and would have mine too. Too bad the awesome beauty of the falls was blighted by that experience.
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Cristal and I do speak French tho Canadian French is slightly different from France French we know. I think you’re right in saying the cops wouldn’t have done much more that what we’d done–they also seemed to be few and far between so we could have been waiting with a crying child quite some time.
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