Part 52 (1/2)

Annja frowned. ”Well, there's no way you two are going without an escort. Joey and I will come with you.”

”Great,” Joey said. ”This better not turn out like the last horror movie I saw.”

David led them off the porch and onto the gra.s.s. Tall weeds reached up, threatening to entangle their shoes, but David took them on a route that spared them from the largest plants.

Annja's senses were on high alert and she could hear vague snaps of twigs and branches as whatever lurked beyond the clearing moved smoothly through the woods at a slow pace.

This doesn't feel right, she thought. We ought to be back on the porch where we can see. In the darkness, anything can happen.

Joey stalked through the gra.s.s next to her and she marveled at how silent he was. He was half crouched over and his legs came up out of the gra.s.s and back into it like a stork moving through the water in search of fish. He glanced over and whispered to her. ”Old stalking technique.”

Annja nodded. She'd seen similar movements in martial arts training. She was always fascinated by the way different cultures, isolated geographically, could sometimes develop similar techniques.

David stopped moving and pointed ahead of him. Annja saw it before the others did and she froze.

On the edge of the woods, a large shape appeared, partially obscured by branches and a tall shrub. Was this the Sasquatch?

Jenny froze in her tracks and then glanced back at Annja, her eyes wide. ”Oh, my G.o.d, Annja. That's it.”

But Annja couldn't see any detail, just a shape and that bothered her. I need to get closer, she thought.

Next to her, Joey held her arm. ”What are you doing?”

”Getting a better look. All I see is a vague shape. That's not enough for me to become a true believer.”

Joey sighed. ”You're on your own, then.”

Annja nodded and stalked farther on, past David and Jenny. Behind her she could hear Jenny whispering at her to come back and not be a fool. But Annja hadn't gotten to where she was in life by being afraid to take a chance. Or many chances. And this time was no different. She needed to know. She needed to see.

She approached the edge of the woods. Still, the shape kept moving, and Annja could see something hanging from a tree close by. That must be one of the feeding stations, she thought.

Was it eating?

I just need to get a solid look, she thought. That's it. If I can actually see the creature, I'll go back and leave it alone.

She moved even closer, bridging the gap between the open field of David's yard and the cl.u.s.tered shrubs at the edge of the woods. Twenty yards separated her from the thing moving around in the bushes.

She advanced farther.

At ten yards, she stopped again, aware of how much she was sweating. A long time ago someone had told her how difficult it was to move quietly and slowly. She hadn't believed it back then, but she did now.

Stalking was hard work.

Five yards and Annja could hear sounds like something was eating. The telltale noises of smacking lips reached her ears clearly. Whatever was in there was definitely eating.

What if it was a bear?

It was possible, of course. And with Annja's recent luck it would probably turn out to be the only grizzly in the area. Probably with a taste for human flesh, too. She frowned. Don't think that way.

She took a deep breath to still her pounding heart. David, Jenny and Joey seemed so far away, even though they were perhaps sixty feet behind her.