The boys had always played well together.
Hide and seek was their favourite. Because the farm was spread over several acres, it was an ideal place for the game. Therefore, every time the youngster visited with his parents, every couple of weeks or so, he and the slightly older boy, the farmer’s son, could hardly wait to play. They would walk for several minutes, until they were somewhere close to the centre of the property to begin playing. They would take turns hiding from each other. Despite the difference in their ages, they were evenly matched. One would stand facing a large tree in a paddock, counting slowly to a hundred while the other hid. Owing to the size of the property a single game could well go on for over an hour.
This particular visit had started like all the others, with them both being excited about the prospect of the game and the chance for each of them to try out some new hiding place dreamt up between visits. Unfortunately, things turned sour when the younger boy cheated. The older boy had hidden in a spot that was not far from the tree. He witnessed the other as he began looking around long before his counting was finished. As a result of his parents having strong views about the evils of cheating, the boy was furious. He came out of his hiding place and confronted the cheat. This resulted in a terrible fight, with a ghastly outcome.
A couple of hours went by before the farmer’s boy went back to the house reporting that the other was missing. It was late morning when the boy, along with the parents of both youngsters, spread out over the farm’s extensive fields and buildings, calling out and hunting for the missing boy. After several hours, the police were called and with half a dozen local officers, a much more rigorous search of the grounds was conducted. Because the boy stated that the last time he had seen his friend he was running towards the far edge of the farm, the search was widened, going into the night.
In the days that followed, several more searches were carried out without success and the boy was eventually listed as a missing person. Naturally, the farmer’s son was extremely upset by his friend’s disappearance.
Meanwhile, the disturbed soil covered with straw in the far corner of the little-used barn remains undisturbed.