Part 17 (2/2)
”It is,” Joey said.
”So does this David guy sound familiar to you? You seem like the type who would know anyone in town, and this guy sounds just different enough that he might stand out in your mind.”
Joey shook his head and sipped his own cup of tea. ”Sorry, no. I mean, every once in a while, we get some kooks through here who think they're on the monster trail and all, but it's happened often enough that we just get bored with them. They camp out for a week or so, don't see anything and then pack it in. When the Sasquatch doesn't come out of the brush and sit in their camp, they tend to lose patience and move on.”
Annja nodded. ”Looks as if David is a ghost, then. If he even existed at all.”
Jenny sipped her tea. ”But I spoke with him.”
”Online,” Annja said. ”There's no guarantee that it wasn't someone else on the other end feeding you a fake picture of who you thought David was.”
”But why go through that trouble?”
Annja shook her head. ”I don't know. But someone did apparently. Or else, there's the other option.”
”What's that?”
”That David has either been kidnapped or killed.”
Jenny gasped. ”You're not serious.”
”Why not? Missing people who don't turn up when they're supposed to? Let's not be foolish here and discount it so fast. Given the other characters I've run into since I arrived earlier today, it's not out of the realm of possibility that something bad happened.”
Jenny shook her head. ”I don't believe it. I think he's still around. After all, look what happened to me. I vanished and yet you found me.”
”You found your way down the mountain, Jenny,” Annja said. ”I didn't do anything.”
”You spoke to me in a dream,” Jenny said. ”It was very clear to me.”
Joey raised his eyebrows. ”Wow, pretty good for a first timer.”
Annja shushed him. ”You heard me?”
Jenny nodded. ”When I was in the cave. It was completely dark. Couldn't see a thing. And yet, in the darkness, you spoke to me as if you were right next to me. I'd been crying softly and then it was like you were there. Pretty amazing.”
Annja took another sip of tea. ”You remember anything else about getting to that cave?”
”Not really. I had the distinct sensation of someone lifting me up and running with me in their arms.”
”They'd have to be pretty strong to do that,” Annja said. ”Maybe you were just hallucinating or sleepwalking?”
Jenny shook her head. ”No way. This was for real.”
”And just who do you think s.n.a.t.c.hed you up like that?”
Jenny took a sip of tea and then looked right at Annja. ”Why, big foot, of course.”
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