Part 10 (1/2)

Joey scampered down the slope and began checking the area around the pine boughs. ”There are no tracks here.”

”What? How is that possible?”

He pointed. ”You can see the impression her body weight made on the bed of pine boughs. That's where I left her. But look at the ground. There's nothing much here to read. Even for someone like me.”

”Is it possible she just got up and walked away?”

”Not without leaving some type of sign. I'd be able to read it, especially since I've grown pretty familiar with her track type. There's nothing here. It's like she just up and vanished.”

Annja looked around. The approach to the knoll was fairly well sheltered. Would the gunmen have been able to spot the fire and mount a kidnapping so quickly? And if they had, shouldn't there be some type of track for Joey to find?

”This doesn't make sense. She's got to be around here,” Annja said.

Joey shook his head. ”Impossible. She'd need to have a stride like King Kong in order to walk away without me having anything to follow. No way. She's not here-she somehow got s.n.a.t.c.hed by someone skillful enough to erase their tracks like they weren't even there. And that's some major skill. I don't know anyone but my grandfather who could pull it off.”

”And yet someone clearly has.”

”Yep.”

Annja frowned. ”My real concern right now is that Jenny might be in some serious trouble. She might be close to death again, being away from the fire.”

Joey nodded. ”Well, whoever grabbed her, they at least had the good sense to take the tea I made for her. It's gone, too.”

Overhead, the storm clouds finally broke apart and drifted away, illuminating the area with moonlight. Annja was amazed at how much better she could see the surrounding area now. It was almost, but not quite, like being out in the daylight.

”Well, that will help,” Joey said.

”How long did it take you to get her settled before you came to see me?”

”About twenty minutes to get her squared away, and it was long enough for me to make sure she was in a good state. I would never have left her otherwise.”

”I believe you,” Annja said. ”And how long did it take for you to get back to me after you left Jenny?”

Joey shrugged. ”Under ten minutes. It's 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 s.p.a.cecraft.”

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.”