Part 24 (1/2)

Annja shook her head. ”You know your way around here?”

”Not really.”

”Me, neither. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if we took off to find him, we'd end up getting even more lost than we are right now.”

”We're lost?”

Annja sighed. ”Hopefully not.”

”But what about Joey?”

Annja looked into the woods. He had a head start on them. And knowing what he knew, he could be a mile away already. Joey knew how to vanish into the shadows, and he was driven to do whatever it was he was going to do.

”We can't go after him. Our best bet right now is to figure out the stones and then go for help. If we find the sheriff, we can get him out here, and that's how we'll help Joey. Otherwise, it's not going to be good.”

”It's just that after what you said a few minutes ago, I thought you'd be a lot more driven to search for him.”

Annja looked at her. ”Jenny, I am driven. But I'm also a realist. We don't know which way is up around here. h.e.l.l, Joey led me around this place a few hours back when we were looking for you and I still don't know if I could find my way around without him. The fact of the matter is I'm worried about Joey and hope he doesn't do anything stupid. But that can't be helped right now.”

”So instead we try to get back to town?”

”Yes. We find the sheriff and explain it to him. Maybe he'll be able to help us out. And he might even have a cute deputy for you to swoon over.”

Jenny perked up. ”You think?”

Annja turned back to the stone cairn and studied it. ”I don't know. I don't really care, to be honest. Just help me with this and let's get going.”

Jenny knelt next to her. ”I never studied cairns. Did you?”

”Not really, I'm ashamed to say. Here we are, both archaeologists, and yet something as simple as this is a bit befuddling.”

Jenny looked at her. ”Befuddling?”

”What?”

”You just sounded like my old aunt there for a second.”

Annja frowned. ”Sorry. Maybe my age is starting to show.”

”Either that or the age of that sword you're carrying around with you. It's pretty old, isn't it?”

”What makes you say that?”

”I took a course on European weapons one time. If I recall correctly, the sword you have looks like something made around five to six hundred years ago.”

Annja shrugged. ”I guess that's about right.”

”Really?”

Annja shook her head. ”Can we study the rocks, please? Trust me, there are times when the sword is much more of a pain in the a.s.s than an a.s.set.”