They'd both been distracted long enough for the little girl to swoop between people in the crowd. Like her father she was strong and went after what she wanted. In her little mind she was just beating him and Helen to the candy bowl. She didn't think that it would give her father a premature heart attack.
"What?" Menelaus said, his heart stopping. He looked for her and he didn't see her. "Where----" He plowed forward, his statuesque figure politely trying to wade through the kids and the parents. "Arianna?" but she didn't call out. There were so many costumes, he couldn't pick her out and it made him frantic.