The chaperone is very distracted

“Excuse me,” Rachel said to the woman who had looked up. “Is this girl one of yours?” She pushed Lauren forward. “We found the poor thing running around, naked as a jaybird!”

“Oh. Yeah, thanks for getting her,” the woman said, sounding somewhat frazzled. She barely spared Lauren a glance. “Are you one of the volunteers?”

“What? Oh, no!” Rachel said, shaking her head. “No, I’m just here with my own children.”

The chaperone sighed. “This trip has been a nightmare!” she complained. “All the students have been far too excited. They keep running off, wanting to see this or that!” She shook her head, before looking back down at Lauren. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Lily,” Lauren said uncertainly. Did-did this woman seriously not realize she wasn’t part of the class? How irresponsible could you be? She must not be the teacher; it seemed impossible that a teacher wouldn’t know her own students. Probably an aide, or volunteer of some sort.

Still...this was a good opportunity to get away from Rachel. She could join up, wait until the chaperones got distracted again, and then slip away. From the sound of it, that wouldn’t be too difficult. “Th-this is my class,” she said shakily. “I got lost and, s-somebody stole my clothes.”

“Sure, honey,” the woman said distractedly. Two of the other kids had begun pushing each other. “Don’t worry, you won’t get lost again.” The woman rummaged around in her bag, before pulling out what looked like a teddy bear. “Arms up,” she said briskly.

Lauren smiled. Finally, a top of some kind! Even if it had some sort of cutesy design, it was better then going bare chested. She lifted her as the woman instructed, letting her put it on her.

Only when the woman buckled the front did Lauren’s eyes widen in surprise. This didn’t cover her chest at all! There were only two narrow loops of fabric over her shoulders, and one across her front, fastening the teddy bear to her back. What on earth was the point of this?

To her horror, Lauren saw the woman attach a loop of fabric to the bottom of the bear. This was a leash! The woman had put a child leash on her, so she couldn’t wander off. Damn it! This was going to make getting away much harder. She’d have to swallow her pride and actually explain this embarrassing situation to the woman once Rachel had gone.