Part 22 (1/2)

”I'm sorry,” Annja said.

Joey nodded. ”He's one with the spirit that moves within us all. At least he's not suffering.”

Annja sighed. She felt terrible about what she'd done. It didn't ease her mind that Cheehawk had been badly mauled and was dying, anyway. She was the one who killed him.

”You did a good thing,” Joey said quietly. ”And I know that he appreciated your mercy.”

Annja's eyes welled up. ”Whoever did that to him...Such cruelty. Why would they harm him like that?”

”Because they didn't understand him. And they had no wish to.” Joey scooped handfuls of earth into the hole. In a short time, he had covered Cheehawk's body. He kept working until the burial plot was indistinguishable from the rest of the area.

Annja watched him finish and turned away. Jenny stood a short distance from them, leaning against a tree. As Annja approached, she looked up.

”You want to tell me where you found a sword like that?”

”Not particularly.”

Jenny frowned. ”You always liked keeping secrets, huh?”

”Don't be jealous, Jenny.”

Jenny shook her head. ”What is with you? You think I'm jealous of everything you have? You've got a sword. Big whoop.”

”And the TV show. I haven't forgotten that bugged the h.e.l.l out of you when it happened.”

Jenny shrugged. ”I'm over it.”

”Are you?”

”Last I checked, neither one of us had a man.”

Annja smiled. ”So if I had a boyfriend, then you'd be even more upset with me?”

”Definitely,” Jenny said with a slight smile.

Annja leaned against the tree. ”I don't need some guy in my life to feel complete. Besides, the more I learn about the male species, the more I realize that truly good men are almost impossible to find.”

”I'd take a half-decent guy,” Jenny said. ”I haven't been on a date in almost a year.”

”Dry spell, huh?”

Jenny cracked a grin. ”Mojave Desert, Annja. David was supposed to bring on the rainy season and now he's gone and vanished.”

”What if we head into town and see if we can talk to the local sheriff about finding him?”

Jenny nodded. ”I guess.”

”We'll need to be careful. Dawn will be breaking soon. And that means those goons we ran into yesterday will be back patrolling the woods.” Annja faced Jenny. ”Are you sure you don't know why they'd be out here?”

”Nope.”