Part 16 (1/2)
Joey frowned. ”When I left you, you were pa.s.sed 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?”