Footprints. Alex Archer

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      “No sweat, Annja. Follow me.”

      Joey hefted his pack and set off. Annja followed along behind him. “You know this area well?” she asked.

      Joey shrugged. “This is the land of my ancestors. We’ve been around here longer than anyone else.”

      Annja nodded. “You made a lot of noise on the trail back there. Might be time to study the skills of your ancestors.”

      Joey stopped walking. “What are you talking about?”

      “On the trail. I heard you coming a mile away. Lots of twigs snapping, that kind of thing. Not very stealthy, huh?”

      “Lady, I move pretty quiet. I don’t know what you heard, but it wasn’t me. They don’t call me Creeping Wolf for nothing.”

      Annja frowned. “If I didn’t hear you, then what—”

      Joey held up his hand. “Let’s not even go there, okay? No offense to your friend or anything, but she’s kind of obsessed with the whole Sasquatch thing, you know? I can dig having an interest and all, but she’s really going full speed into nut job.”

      Annja smiled. “That sounds like Jenny.”

      “It’s cool,” Joey said. “I get that way about things. Girls, mostly. But you have to know when to draw the line at becoming a lunatic.”

      “Good advice.”

      The trail started to descend into what looked like a valley. Annja could see the trees starting to part as they entered a clearing. Ahead of her, she saw the bright reds and yellows of tents.

      “So there it is,” she said.

      Joey nodded. “I’ve been gone all day. I had to go back to town and get some more supplies.”

      “Did you drive?”

      Joey looked at her. “I walked.”

      “Yeah, but town’s six miles away.”

      “And?”

      Annja raised her eyebrows. “Nothing. Never mind.”

      Joey smiled. “Like I said, I’ve been cruising these woods my whole life. I know them better than almost anyone else. And as the crow flies, the distance back to town is only three miles.”

      “You fly, too?”

      “Sometimes that’s exactly what it feels like.”

      They broke out of the forest and into the clearing. Joey walked ahead of Annja, leaving her to take in the camp.

      It was strangely quiet.

      “Joey.”

      He stopped. “What?”

      Annja frowned. “Where is everyone?”

      Joey turned and glanced around. They both stood for a moment, taking in the fact that there seemed to be absolutely no noise anywhere in the camp. Overhead, the clouds jostled together and Annja felt the first few drops of rain starting to flick down at her.

      She felt uneasy and turned to see the barrel of a gun aiming at her.

      The man standing behind the rifle did not look very friendly.

      “How nice. Another guest,” he said.

      Annja turned to warn Joey, but he had vanished.

      Startled, Annja turned back to the man. He was looking her up and down and then he nodded. “Walk that way. Try anything funny and I’ll be more than happy to put a couple of holes into you.”

      Annja turned and started moving. One of these days, she thought, I’m going to have to find a deserted island. Maybe then I can get away from everyone who wants to kill me.

      2

      Annja felt the rifle barrel jab into her spine for the third time. She risked a glance back at the man standing behind her. “That’s not necessary. I’m perfectly capable of walking without you stabbing me with your gun every few seconds,” she said angrily.

      “Shut up and walk.”

      Annja glanced around the camp as he escorted her past the tents. Everything seemed to be in good order and there wasn’t an air of chaos. Annja wondered if the guy with the rifle had surprised Jenny’s camp. She also wondered if he was alone.

      She found the answer to that question when they turned the corner and she saw two other men similarly armed. One of them looked at Annja’s escort.

      “Where’d she come from?”

      “She’s been on the trail leading here. I followed her for a few miles.”

      “Noisily, I might add,” Annja said.

      “Sit her down with the others.”

      Annja felt the jab of the rifle barrel again and sat down. Jenny’s expedition consisted of a number of college students—an even mix of boys and girls who looked quite frightened.

      But where was Jenny?

      Annja watched as the three armed men huddled together and spoke for a few seconds. They parted and the one who seemed to be in charge, a guy of maybe forty with thick pork-chop sideburns and a long scar down one side of his face, nodded at her. “You.”

      “What?” she asked.

      “Stand up.”

      Annja tensed. Were they going to shoot her now? She closed her eyes and pictured the powerful sword she’d inherited from Joan of Arc. The weapon was ready for her to call forth. She knew her timing would have to be perfect.

      Annja stood and asked, “What’s this all about?”

      “Shut up. We’ve got a message for the professor.”

      Annja frowned. So this wasn’t just some random occurrence. These guys wanted to speak to Jenny. But what had happened to her?

      “What’s the message?”

      The man leveled a finger at Annja. “Tell her to back off. She’s not wanted here. These woods belong to us. And we’ll do whatever it takes to keep it that way.”

      Annja wanted to argue, but decided it would be better to just accept things and try to figure out what was going on once the danger had passed. “Okay. I’ll give her the message.”

      “You do that. And tell her we’ll be watching. If we don’t like what we see, then bad things will start happening.”

      Annja nodded. “I get it.”

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