Footprints. Alex Archer
not that long a haul for me.”
Annja nodded. “Still that means someone had plenty of time to get to her while you were fetching me.”
“Maybe she got swiped by a UFO,” Joey said. “That would explain the absence of tracks. They could have used one of those beams that lifts people right up into the spacecraft.”
Annja smirked. “You get a lot of UFOs around these parts?”
Joey shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. This place can be a real bore sometimes.”
“All right, so that means whoever grabbed her had to be extremely capable at stealthy movement.”
“And strong,” Joey said. “Jenny wasn’t exactly light as a feather.”
“For you,” Annja said. “A grown man might have had an easier time of it.”
Joey frowned. “I’ll be grown up within two summers. It’s not such a big thing.”
Annja winced. She’d clearly struck a nerve with Joey. Teenaged boys only want to be men and she’d belittled that with her comment. “Joey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insinuate that you were weak or anything.”
“No big deal.” But she could see that Joey was smarting from the comment.
Annja looked around. “So what do we do now? I mean, Jenny’s not here. And if we have any hope of finding her, we’ll have to do it soon. I’m at a loss as to how we should proceed.” She looked at him closely. “These are your woods. I’d be grateful for your advice.”
Joey smiled. “Thanks.”
“Well?”
Joey nodded. “Okay, we can try to search for her, but I don’t know how much good it’s going to do. Without a track, I’m not much use. I haven’t really learned how to spirit track yet.”
“What’s that?”
Joey shrugged. “You’ll think I’m being weird.”
Annja smiled. “Did you see that sword earlier? What exactly was normal about that thing?”
“Not much.”
“Exactly.”
Joey sat down. “Well, spirit tracking is when you try to tune in to the person’s thoughts or spirit. You use that to guide you to them. My grandfather says it’s one of the ultimate tests that a true scout can undertake. Learning how to do it, you can kinda tune in on them anywhere.”
“It’s not limited by distance?”
“Nope. The process isn’t one I’m really familiar with, though. I still need a lot of training before I can pull it off adequately.”
“What about your grandfather?” Annja asked.
Joey sighed. “That guy can do anything.”
“Then maybe we should get him out here to help us.”
“Yeah, that would be the best thing to do, but my grandfather’s not able to walk anymore. He wouldn’t be able to come out here unless we drove him.”
Annja frowned. “What happened to him?”
“He got hit by a car crossing the street. Paralyzed him from the waist down. He hasn’t been the same since.”
A stiff breeze blew across the hill, chilling Annja. Jenny was somewhere in the woods, probably still in pretty bad shape, and there wasn’t a thing they could do about it. All that seemed likely was that she had a cup of pine-needle tea and little else.
“This is not how I expected to be spending my trip,” Annja said.
Joey pointed to their left. “My grandfather lives about four miles that way. If we hurry, we can reach his place in a little over an hour. But it’s not an easy trek. And I’m a little worried that you might not make it.”
“I’m not waiting here for you,” Annja said. “The last time I did that, Jenny vanished and I’m not taking the chance that whoever took her won’t come back and get me, as well. That’d just make your job that much harder.”
Joey shook his head. “Yeah, like if someone tried that on you, you couldn’t just whip that blade out and slice them apart.”
“It’s not that simple,” Annja said. “If they surprise me, for instance.”
“Like I did?”
“Yeah, like that. Then it becomes much harder to defend yourself. Plus, I’m cold and exhausted. If you leave me here, I’ll fall asleep in no time. And that would also make me vulnerable.”
Joey shrugged. “Suit yourself. But you’d better be able to keep up with me. Your friend’s life depends on me moving fast. If I can reach my grandfather’s house and get him to spirit track Jenny, then we should be all set.”
“He’ll be able to tell us where she is?”
“Almost definitely.”
Annja took a deep breath. “Then we’d better get going.”
Joey took a moment to orient himself and then set off at a brutal pace. Annja couldn’t believe how fast he moved and seemingly without getting tired. He wound his way up hills and down tight trails bordered by steep drop-offs. Streams ran parallel to their progress and, in places, the pines dipped so low that Annja had to duck repeatedly to avoid getting her eyes poked out.
Her breathing came fast and hard and, despite being bone cold earlier, the pace of the trek heated her up until she started to sweat. She could feel the rivulets running down her back and face. Her breath bellowed huge clouds of steam with every exhalation.
But still Joey kept moving.
Annja realized at some point that they weren’t on the main trail any longer. Joey was using what looked like animal runs and smaller paths that would have been invisible to her eyes if she’d been here alone. But to Joey they were the back roads and side streets of the wilderness landscape. And he knew how to use them effortlessly.
“You really do know this place, huh?”
Joey nodded. “I’ve had the time to explore it, fortunately. But there’s still plenty that I haven’t seen. It keeps me excited about it.”
Annja kept moving, focusing on the welfare of Jenny to keep her motivated. If they didn’t manage to somehow find her, then that would weigh heavy on Annja’s conscience. She just hoped that Joey’s grandfather would be able to somehow tune in to Jenny’s mind.
After a solid hour of travel, Joey drew himself to a halt. He took a deep breath and then seemed to smell the air. Annja came up alongside him and took the moment of rest gratefully.
“I don’t think I’ve ever moved so fast in my life.”
Joey smiled. “Quite the workout, isn’t it?”
“I’ll say. Are we close?”
Joey closed his eyes. “Quiet for just a moment, okay?”
“Okay.”
Annja watched as Joey turned his head slowly from side to side until he locked in on one direction. He stayed quiet for two minutes and then opened his eyes. “You ready to go again?”
“Uh…sure.”
“Good.” Joey took off, motoring across the valley in front of them. At the base of the next hill, he leaned forward, putting all his weight onto his thighs. Annja copied his lead, and instantly her thighs screamed in protest. She was asking them to bear a lot tonight, but it was all for Jenny.
She had to keep going.
Joey crested the hill and then turned onto a new track. The number of trees seemed to be dwindling and thinning out. Annja felt a change in the air.
Civilization.