Footprints. Alex Archer

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      “Pretty incredible.”

      “Nah, not really. That’s another problem with this stuff. When people find out, they always want to mumbo jumbo it up. Turn it into something mystical or magical when it’s anything but that. The most incredible things are inherent in everyone. It’s just that we forget about them or don’t use them enough so that, over time, the edges get dull. And eventually we forget we have them at all. It’s kind of sad, really, when you see the majority of people sort of sleepwalking through their lives. The reality of waking up to the truth is always so much more amazing than you’d think.”

      “Through the looking glass, right?”

      Joey frowned. “Huh?”

      “Never mind. So where would you suggest we look for Jenny, then? She could be anywhere.”

      Joey shook his head. “I say we stay right here and that she’ll probably be along shortly.”

      “Of all the places in these woods, you think she’s just going to wander down in front of us?”

      “Why not?”

      Annja smiled. “Methinks you’ve got a lot of faith.”

      “Just a confidence in the way the Creator works, that’s all. If that’s faith, then so be it. But I don’t get all religious about it. Just appreciative.”

      “Thankful.”

      “Exactly.”

      Joey hunkered down on a nearby log and started studying the ground. Annja watched him as he ran his hands over the dirt. “Any tracks?”

      Joey shrugged. “Not sure, actually. I see some depressions, but I can’t tell what made them.”

      “Really?”

      He looked up. “Well, like I said before, I’m still studying. I can’t get out here every single day when school’s in session. I still have to do homework.”

      “Sorry.”

      “Forget it.”

      Joey went back to studying the ground. “Funny thing, though, whatever made this was pretty large.”

      “Meaning?”

      “Nothing, I guess. I’d sure like to know what track this is. There are no real impressions, just a displacement of dirt. It’s weird.”

      “Why are you guys looking at the ground?”

      Annja glanced up. Coming out of the trees in front of them was Jenny Chu.

      9

      Annja couldn’t contain herself. She rushed up and grabbed Jenny in a bear hug. “Thank God you’re alive!”

      Jenny nodded and Annja let her go. “I don’t know what happened exactly.”

      Joey frowned. “When I left you, you were passed out asleep.”

      Jenny smiled. “I think it was that tea you made me. It was so warm and delicious. I just about went out after a few sips of that stuff.”

      “Old family recipe,” Joey said. “But what happened? I wouldn’t have left you if I’d known you were going to up and leave like that.”

      Annja brought Jenny over to the side of the trail. “Are you feeling all right? Joey can make a fire if you need one.”

      “I’m okay, actually,” Jenny said. “Getting down here helped warm me up, so that’s a good thing.”

      Joey squatted and looked closely at Jenny. “Well, considering how bad off you were when I found you, I’d say that’s definitely a good thing. You made a remarkable recovery for someone who was struggling with hypothermia. Pretty impressive.”

      Jenny nodded. “I feel a lot better.”

      “So,” Annja said, “can you tell us what happened to you?”

      Jenny took a deep breath. “I left the camp early this morning. I’d come because a contact of mine out here found some tracks.”

      “Tracks?”

      “He believed they belonged to the Sasquatch.”

      Joey rolled his eyes and Annja resisted the urge to. Instead, she smiled. “All right, that made you launch the expedition. But what happened this morning when you left camp?”

      “I was getting a feel for the lay of the land. There’s something incredible about this forest. I’ve been to plenty of places but it’s almost as if this location has some type of spirit watching over it. The trails aren’t beaten down by humans. There’s very little, if any, litter anywhere, and the majesty of the place can be overwhelming.”

      Annja glanced at Joey. “I tend to think our friend here helps keep the place looking better than average.”

      Joey shrugged. “Part of my duty.”

      Jenny smiled. “Well, you’re doing a phenomenal job. But I tend to think there might be another presence here. And the footprint casts that I saw in pictures made me desperately want to come here and find out for myself.”

      “And drag along your skeptical friend,” Annja said.

      “Sure. Why wouldn’t I?”

      Annja nodded. “So you were out hiking this morning…”

      “I hadn’t planned to do much. Maybe a few miles on one of the trails. I didn’t take a pack with me. I felt I needed to be out by myself, you know? Away from everyone else. I love my students, obviously, but the chatter can get annoying sometimes. I don’t imagine you’d understand.”

      Annja frowned. “Actually, I have a pretty good idea.”

      “I was out for a good long time. Again, I just got caught up looking at things. I lost track of time. By late afternoon, I was heading back, but instead of the camp, I found it deserted.”

      “We had some nasty visitors while you were gone,” Annja said. “They were very persuasive when they asked us to leave.”

      Jenny looked at her. “The students?”

      “Safe back in town, thanks to Joey.”

      Jenny smiled at Joey. “That’s one more I owe you, huh?”

      “Added to the tab, no worries.”

      Jenny looked back at Annja. “And you stayed?”

      “Sure, I wasn’t going to desert one of my friends. Especially not one who went through so much trouble to get me to come out here in the first place.”

      “Thanks. I mean it. And thanks for making sure my students got taken care of. If anything happened to them—”

      “Let’s СКАЧАТЬ