Final answer:
Without the current date, it is not possible to determine the exact amount of time since Lily ran away.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine how much time has passed since Lily ran away from home, we need to identify the key dates and events from the provided information. Lily was last seen on Saturday, the 8th of January, and a ransom note was delivered to her family's house on Monday, the 10th of January.
If today's date was provided, we could calculate the exact amount of time that has elapsed. However, since we do not have the current date, we cannot provide an exact duration. It was mentioned that the family has until the end of January to deliver the ransom, indicating that the events are taking place within January. Without the current date, the accurate time elapsed cannot be determined.
Lily ran away from home in October and it is now December, so the time that has passed since Lily ran away from home is approximately 2 months. In the passage, it states that she accomplished her purpose of running away by December. This indicates that 2 months have passed since she ran away.