Footprints

3

If Annja had initially believed that the rain would taper off as the evening progressed, she was wrong. Indeed, as the sky continued to darken, the rain increased until sheets fell from the clouds above her. The forest floor ran with mud and debris while a strong wind howled around her.

If I stay here, I’ll die, Annja decided. The good news was that the weather was a great equalizer. The men with the guns would also have to seek refuge from the storm. That meant Annja could risk setting herself up properly without fear of them showing up to shoot her dead.

She hauled Jenny’s tent out of her backpack and immediately got it staked into the sodden ground. There was no guarantee that the tent wouldn’t fly away at the next gust of wind, but she was grateful she at least had something that would keep her reasonably dry.

Her next task was fire. Annja could already feel herself starting to shiver. And she knew from experience that the onset of hypothermia would render her useless very soon. Her system would literally start to shut down, as her core drew heat away from her extremities and her brain.

She pulled out her knife and started scraping at the bark of the tree closest to her. The exterior of the bark was wet but the interior would still be reasonably dry. Annja produced a handful of shavings that would easily catch a spark. She put them into a plastic bag and then in her pocket to keep them as dry as possible.

Twenty yards from her makeshift camp, she spotted a downed tree. Closer inspection showed it overhung a fairly large area and provided substantial shelter from the rain. It was almost dry under the canopy of the dense pine. Annja could see the splintered trunk and reasoned it must have come down during a recent thunderstorm.

She hurried back and pulled Jenny’s tent from the muddy ground. Back under the canopy, the ground was much drier. It wasn’t high enough to set up the tent under the branches, but she could stretch the tent out and use it as a tarp. It was perfect to further protect her from the elements.

Annja also found a large pile of deadfall and the branches were almost all dry. She hacked several into smaller lengths and then scraped out a fire bowl depression in the ground. On the bottom she laid the tinder bundle and set some thin kindling sticks above it.

Here goes nothing, she thought. She scraped her fire starter against her knife blade and saw the sparks fly into the tinder bundle. They caught almost immediately, and even with the cacophony of noise from the rainstorm, Annja could still hear the snap and crackle of the wood as it caught.

Heat radiated up toward her and Annja shivered again, as if trying to throw the water off her skin.

I need to get these clothes dry, she thought.

She added more wood to the flames and set two of the thicker logs nearby to begin burning. When she was satisfied she had a sustainable fire going, Annja removed her clothes.

Her jacket was still fairly dry, but she’d gotten wet pretty much everywhere else. She stripped off all of her clothes until she huddled around the fire nude, feeling the wood smoke curl up around her, wrapping her in its warmth.

On the branches above her, Annja draped her clothes, letting the heat and smoke dry them out.

The area was littered with pine boughs and Annja knew that sleeping on them could be almost a luxury if they were soft enough. The spring growth hadn’t occurred yet so they were obviously dead leftovers from before the winter snows. Still, when she gathered enough of them and lay down, it was quite comfortable.

The wind howled around her sanctuary. I wonder where Jenny is in this mess? Annja frowned. She knew there was a chance that her friend would not survive the night without any of her camping gear. The wind, rain and falling temperature together could kill even an experienced outdoors type.

Still, Annja knew that Jenny was remarkably resilient. And she also had a lot of training. Annja rooted through her pack and found the energy bar she always kept there along with the bottle of water she’d packed. Some feast, she thought, but at least she had something.

The rain continued to hammer the forest. Annja couldn’t remember hearing about any major storm systems threatening this area, but that didn’t mean much in the mountains where the weather could change from minute to minute.

She finished her meal and then leaned back against the thick tree trunk. Thanks to the way the branches drooped almost to the ground, the heat from the fire warmed the area nicely. Annja felt relaxed and comfortable, despite the fact that she was sitting naked in the midst of a terrible storm. If she wasn’t worried about Jenny’s whereabouts she’d actually be having a great time.

But it was definitely not a night to be out alone. Still, she had her sword. And she had a fire and shelter. Water wasn’t an issue yet. She’d just eaten. So even though she was out in the woods with three armed guys who had warned her not to hang around, Annja didn’t feel too bad. As soon as the rain let up she’d start her search for Jenny.

She touched her clothes. The heat and smoke were doing their job nicely. She pulled them down and slid them back on. Her body heat would finish drying them.

She fed another log onto the fire, watching the flames jump around in the slight breeze that had managed to work its way inside the relative safety of the drooping tree. The heat enveloped her. Annja felt her eyelids drooping. She tried to blink away sleep, but she took another deep breath and nodded off.

When she woke, the sun wasn’t shining. In fact, it was still pitch-black outside. It was dark inside the shelter, as well. The fire had died out and only red coals remained, smoldering from a lack of fuel.

Annja reached for a branch to toss onto the fire. She felt a small chill run up her back and knew she would need to keep better alert to ensure the fire didn’t die out entirely.

Fortunately, the coals were still hot enough, and with a quick huff of air over them, they flared and caught on the branches, resurrecting the fire into a reputable condition. Annja shivered again.

The rain had tapered off. But the wind continued to blast through the trees.

Had she just heard something?

It was tough trusting her ears when the wind seemed to overpower her ability to pick out details.

The fire blazed to full strength. Annja sat with her back against the tree. The fire had compromised her relative invisibility. If those goons were out there looking for her, they would see its glow through the branches and know someone was in there.

Annja closed her eyes and made sure the sword was ready to wield. It would be tough in the close confines of the overhang, so she would have to get out of it in case a fight broke out.

She paused, waiting for another indicator that something was moving around in the woods. But she doubted that she’d be able to detect a twig breaking underfoot. The wind continued to howl and it was roaring in her ears.

Any telltale sounds would die long before they reached her.

She’d have to go on her instincts alone.

Annja took a deep breath and allowed herself to relax, slowly enabling her focus to expand outward like a circle around her. She hoped it would act almost like a radar and let her know if there was any reason to be afraid.

She had no evidence but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was out there.

But what was it?

Maybe it was Jenny.

Maybe it was one of the gunmen.

Annja frowned. Did she really believe that gang would abandon the comforts of their camp to come out in the storm? It was doubtful. Having seen them up close, Annja knew they were probably sleeping off an alcohol-induced state of euphoria by now. In the morning, they would become a problem.

But right now?

No.

That meant there was something else out there.

Annja frowned. There it was again. Something. She shook her head. Being in the dark woods during a rainstorm all by yourself could certainly make the idea of something like big foot seem possible.

But Annja would have to see the creature face-to-face before she bought into that. She knew of a bunch of expeditions that had tried to prove the existence of the mighty Sasquatch, without anything to show for their efforts.

Meanwhile, the true believers insisted that something like the Sasquatch had the ability to make itself as visible or invisible as needed. Just because a bunch of humans tramped through its woods didn’t mean they’d find it.

Annja sighed. In all likelihood, there was probably an animal out there just looking for a bit of something to eat. Maybe it had gotten a whiff of the fire and had come to see if there was any food to be had.

Annja smiled. Not this time.

Suddenly, though, she felt a sense of trouble.

Annja slowly got up on her haunches. She reached for her boots and slid them on, tucking the laces inside so she wouldn’t have to tie them up. She was on full alert.

What was out there?

The wind blew another blast through the overhang, rattling the branches around her. Annja felt a small shower of water rain down on her from somewhere high overhead.

She racked her brain for all of the animals that lived in these woods. She knew that there was fox, bear, coyote, but what else might call this place home?

A wolf?

Maybe a werewolf.

Annja grinned in spite of herself. There were times when her internal dialogue made her crack up. This was one of them. She’d been working with Doug Morrell for too long. Werewolves were exactly what he’d be thinking about.

But she had to find out what was threatening her safety.

She glanced up. She could climb into the branches for a look-see. She might be able to figure it out.

The wind died then and she heard a large crack somewhere outside of her shelter.

That didn’t sound like a small animal.

Annja fed another log onto the fire, letting the flames blaze up. It wasn’t doing her night vision any good, but seeing the fire made her feel a lot better about being alone.

Annja had no idea what she might be facing. And although she had her sword, the thought of running out of the shelter, blindly hacking at something, didn’t make sense.

She’d have to go up.

Annja reached up and threaded her way into the branches. With every move, more drops of rain fell on her.

I’ll need to strip off after this just to get dry again.

More sounds reached her ears. Something was definitely trying to get closer to the shelter.

She had to move fast.

Annja let her feet carry her into the higher branches of the tree. She still had her knife on her belt. And she had her sword. But she’d left her pack down at the base of the tree.

The branches below her yawned and then snapped back.

Annja kept climbing.

Was that a snarl?

Her pulse quickened. Wild packs of dogs sometimes roamed through the woods. And they would gladly tear a lone female apart without hesitation.

She knew she was far better to be off the ground. She reached for the next series of branches and pulled herself into a seated position about twenty feet up before pausing to catch her breath.

Below her, a series of snaps made her look. Something was destroying her camp. She could just make out the black shape moving back and forth. But it wasn’t unrestrained carnage. More like calculated destruction.

Whatever it was seemed to be searching for something.

She could easily jump down and attack them, but what would be the point? She was safe, and the idea of facing an unknown adversary didn’t sit well with her. She frowned and climbed even higher.

Annja’s foot slipped. And the branch supporting her cracked.

She gulped as her stomach spasmed.

The branch gave way.

Annja fell toward the unseen danger.

4

As Annja plummeted through the branches, time seemed to slow down long enough for her to feel every poke, prod and stab from the mighty tree’s limbs. She kept her eyes closed and prayed that her body would relax enough to somehow survive the fall. As she waited for the inevitable thump, she kept her eyes firmly locked on the sword. If, as she suspected, something nasty was waiting down there for her, she’d need it as soon as she landed.

If she could move.

But instead of a hard impact and broken bones for her trouble, as Annja’s body hit the ground she tucked and turned into a roll. She exhaled hard, rolling several feet before coming to her feet.

Underneath the canopy, something still lurked.

And now she heard a distinct growl.

Last I checked, the legend of big foot didn’t include any growling. Howling maybe, but growling? No way.

Annja closed her eyes and summoned the sword. In the darkness, its blade glowed a dull silver.

A gust of wind nearly knocked her off her feet but she bent her knees and kept her balance. What was rustling through her backpack? A bear? Was it late enough for a bear to come out of its hibernation? Annja wondered if the bears around these parts were grizzlies and then decided that pretty much any animal would be dangerous.

She caught a sudden glimpse of yellow and realized that there were two eyes staring out from under the tree canopy at her.

It had to be a wolf.

Annja stepped forward, keeping the blade in front of her. The last thing she wanted to do was kill an animal but if she had to defend herself, she wouldn’t hesitate. She knew it was highly unlikely the animal was maliciously trying to kill her. She had inadvertently stumbled onto its territory and the wolf was simply defending its home turf.

Still, a threat was a threat.

The wolf growled louder now, clearly threatened with Annja’s advance. But she kept moving. There were things in the backpack she wanted, and letting the wolf tear it apart wasn’t going to happen. Annja had already suffered through enough headaches thus far on the trip and she had no intention of giving in so easily for this.

“Get out of here! Scat!”

Annja thought it sounded ridiculous yelling into the night, but if she could scare the wolf off, that would be the best outcome.

The wolf, however, continued to growl, and it grew even louder. Annja took a glance around her and tried to recall if wolves hunted alone. As pack animals, she reasoned there could be others nearby. That would drastically reduce her chances of winning a confrontation.

She heard more rustling under the canopy and frowned. The wolf was probably tearing everything apart as punishment for Annja trespassing on his land. Great.

She stepped closer to the overhang and slashed the air in front of her with the sword. It cut several branches off with a dull singing sound that made the wolf stop and regard her again.

This time it didn’t growl.

Annja paused.

Had the blade convinced it? Could it see that if Annja pressed forward, it would probably die on her sword? Maybe it didn’t want any part of violence tonight. Maybe it was simply out hunting for something to eat after the terrible storm.

Annja looked around, but saw nothing else lurking in the night. It seemed likely that the wolf was alone. A lone hunter. Annja smiled. I know the feeling.

“You’re not going to kill him, are you?”

Annja nearly fainted from fright, but recovered quickly enough to pivot and aim her sword into the darkness.

“Hey, whoa, be careful with that thing, lady. I don’t want to be run through.”

Annja squinted and could just make out the form of another person in the shadows nearby. The voice was familiar enough for her to guess who it belonged to.

“Joey?”

“Yep.”

Annja exhaled. “Want to tell me what you’re doing wandering around out here in the dark?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m looking for you.”

“Why? I can take care of myself, thank you.”

Joey stepped out of the shadows, his eyes running along the length of the blade. “I can see that. Where did you ever get that thing? I didn’t see you with it earlier today.”

“It’s a tool I carry around with me.”

“Something that looks like that isn’t what I’d call a tool, Annja. That thing has one purpose—to kill.”

Annja shook her head. “You’d be surprised what else it can do other than just take a life.”

“Yeah, you’ll have to explain it to me. So you got a wolf rummaging through your gear, huh?”

“You know it’s a wolf?”

Joey pointed at the ground. “Tracks. Yep, it’s a wolf.”

Annja smirked. “One wolf under the canopy and one creeping wolf outside. I’m surrounded, I guess.”

“At least you had the good sense to find some shelter. I smelled your fire a ways back, too. I would have come in sooner, but I picked up the wolf stalking you and couldn’t interfere.”

“Why not?”

Joey shrugged. “He’s just doing what a wolf does. No sense interrupting him, you know?”

“Is it dangerous?”

“Sure. If he feels threatened. Most likely he’s just checking out your stuff. We don’t get a lot of humans out this way and the animals around here tend to be naturally suspicious, anyway. He’s probably making sure he understands what your intentions are.”

Annja raised her eyebrows and glanced back at the canopy. She couldn’t tell what the wolf was doing right then. There wasn’t any movement in the darkness under the canopy.

“You should probably put that away,” Joey said.

“Why?”

Joey smiled. “He’s not going to hurt you. Let him get on with what he’s doing and he’ll leave. He’s got other things to be doing tonight, like finding dinner somewhere. He was tracking rabbits when he veered off to check you out. Probably found you the same way I did—the fire.”

“I really needed it or else I would never have had one.”

Joey nodded. “No sweat. With all that rain, it was a good thing you did build one. You must have been soaked.”

“I was.” Annja thought about Jenny. She would be soaked, too. “You didn’t happen to find any sign of Jenny while you were out looking for me, did you?”

Joey shook his head. “No, but I thought I’d start with you first.”

“You took the kids back to town?”

“Yeah, they’re fine. I think they’re leaving tomorrow. They couldn’t stop talking about the guns and stuff the entire way back. I’ve never heard so much talking in my life. It got ridiculous and I had to tell them to shut up.”

Annja smiled. “Thanks for taking care of them.”

“They wouldn’t have lasted without me. Guess you were right.”

“Well, every once in a while I get something correct.”

Joey pointed behind her. “You really should put that away. The wolf doesn’t want to hurt you.”

Annja turned her back to Joey and let the sword return to the otherwhere. She wasn’t sure how to explain the sword’s behavior to Joey. When she opened her eyes and looked at him, he didn’t seem the slightest bit fazed by the sudden disappearance.

“I guess you don’t want me telling anyone about that, huh?”

“I’d prefer that we kept it between us, yes.”

“People find out, there’ll be way too many questions. I can dig it.”

“You sure?”

“Well, another fifty would help seal the deal.”

Annja pointed at the tree overhang. “Tell you what. If you help me get my stuff back from the wolf it’s a deal.”

Joey smiled. “No sweat.”

He knelt in the muddy ground and put his hands to his mouth. In a split second, he exhaled and made a strange sound that resembled a type of bark, but nothing like anything Annja had ever heard before.

The effect, however, was instantaneous. From under the tree, there was a rustle of movement. And then Annja saw a large shape dislodge itself from the branches and come through the darkness toward Joey.

Her heart raced but she stayed where she was. Joey must know what he was doing to tempt fate this way. She had to trust him.

The wolf trotted out and sniffed Joey’s hand. He spoke to the wolf in a low voice and a different language. With a casual glance at Annja, the dark gray predator stood at Joey’s feet and let himself be stroked.

Joey looked up at Annja. “You want to pet him?”

Annja held up her hands. “Are you kidding?”

Joey smiled. “Humans spend too much time thinking that animals are different from them. The truth is, we’re all just the same, made by the Creator. We’re not different—we all belong to the earth. And the spirit that moves in all things moves in this guy just as much as it moves in you.”

Annja watched the wolf loll its head back to better expose his ears to Joey’s fingers. From its throat, Annja heard a low rumble come out, but it didn’t sound remotely menacing. It almost reminded Annja of a cat purring. But somehow she thought maybe the wolf wouldn’t appreciate the comparison.

Joey waved her over. “Trust me, okay? I wouldn’t tell you it was safe if it wasn’t. This guy is one of the protectors of his forest.”

“You know him?”

Joey shrugged. “We’ve kind of grown up together. I’ve been coming here for years, ever since I was old enough to run around on my own. Cheehawk here has been around about the same time as me.”

“It’s got a name?”

Joey frowned. “Well, what’s wrong with that? I’ve got a name—several, actually. And so do you. Why shouldn’t this guy?”

“Cheehawk, huh?”

The wolf turned its head again to better see Annja as she started to approach. Joey held up his other hand.

“Take it nice and slow. Don’t do anything to upset him and you’ll be fine. Just like any other animal, you’ve got to give him time to scent you and get used to your smell. Once he does, he’ll be fine. Just come to him without the intent to harm him.”