Part 18 (2/2)

Jenny shook her head. ”Well, I don't know what to make of what happened. But if you guys won't believe me, then I suppose there's no sense arguing about it. I'll just chalk it up as unexplained and leave it at that.”

Annja helped her to stand. ”And how are you feeling otherwise? Still cold and s.h.i.+vering?”

”No. Joey's fire saw to that. And the tea. I'm much better now. I think I just needed to recharge the battery.”

Joey watched her. ”You should be careful all the same. Ideally, you should sleep and let your body restore its balance. What about if we pitch camp here and get some rest?”

Annja glanced around. ”Can we bushwhack off the trail some? I don't like the thought of those guys roving around the hills looking for us.”

”As far as they know, we all went back to town,” Joey said.

Annja nodded. ”Just the same, I don't want us easily found. Can you make us a camp that's nice and concealed?”

Joey shrugged. ”Take me a bit of time, but yeah. How far off the trail should it be?”

Annja looked around. It was still quite dark. The sun would start coming up in a few hours, however. ”Far enough so we can't be seen. For that matter, it should be far enough that we can't be heard, either. Talking's going to be a no-no until we get this figured out.”

Joey erased all signs of a fire pit and then stood. ”All right, follow me.” He led them up the hill and into the dense vegetation.

Annja made sure to keep Jenny between them. She had to watch her step. In this part of the woods, the trees grew thick together, their trunks entwined like snakes oozing all over the soft pine needle carpet.

Joey led them for the better part of half an hour. Annja was lost in thought. There were still a lot of questions to ask and she wanted answers.

But would Jenny be in any shape to answer them? Or would she even answer them honestly? Annja didn't necessarily think that Jenny would deliberately mislead her, but she also knew that big foot was an all-consuming pa.s.sion of hers. Back in school, Jenny had forsaken an active social life for her studies. She devoured everything she could get her hands on on the legends of big foot. Not just the sightings in the United States, but also the reports from China and the Himalayas.

Jenny had even gone so far as to undertake an expedition to Nepal as part of her work on her graduate thesis. She'd endured an amazing amount of adversity only to come home with very little to show for it.

Annja admired her resolve and her perseverance, but when it came right down to it, part of her wished that her friend would give up the ghost chase and get on with studying something much more concrete in origin.

Annja sighed. But then again, what would people say about her if they knew the half of what she herself had been through, including her own trip to Nepal and her encounter with what some people would claim was the infamous yeti?

They'd think I'm a nut, Annja admitted to herself, and they might be justified.

Annja grinned.

As they walked on, Annja pressed closer to Jenny, trying to keep her voice quiet. ”So tell me about David's disappearance.”

”What about it?”

”I'm sorry to keep bringing it up, but do you think we should contact the sheriff?”

Jenny shrugged. ”Would it do any good?”

”I don't know. Would it?”

Jenny stopped and turned. ”Are you driving at something here?”

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