Alex Archer - Footprints

Joey sniffed again, but this time didn’t say anything.

“What’s the background on David? Is he local? Would Joey know him?”

Jenny shrugged. “I thought he was local. But I guess I don’t really know.”

Annja sighed. “For someone as intelligent as you are, Jenny, you really dropped the ball on this one. How in the world did you ever convince the university to back this expedition?”

Jenny smiled. “I used to date the head of the department of anthropology. He owed me a favor.”

Annja took another breath. “So let me see if I’ve got this straight—you hook up with some guy on the Net. He sends you pictures. You agree to come out and meet with him and manage to convince people to give you money to do so.”

“That’s about it, yes.”

“You realize this sounds exactly like some type of exposé on the dangers the Internet poses to children, don’t you?”

Joey stirred a handful of pine needles into the boiling water. “Tea will be ready soon, everyone.”

Annja frowned. She wished she had some whiskey to go along with that tea. The thought that Jenny would be so reckless, not just with her own safety but with the safety of her students, really bothered her. Annja couldn’t believe it. It didn’t seem like something Jenny would do, and yet here she was.

She decided to change the subject. “David never showed up, huh?”

“No.”

“And just what did this guy look like?”

Jenny shrugged. “He was sort of tall. Nice face. Clean shaven. Kind of that scholarly look—you know the one I like.”

Jenny had always had a thing for bookish guys.

“Yeah, I know what you like.” Annja glanced around. It didn’t seem as if this David had any connection to the angry gunmen. None of them fit that description. That was at least something in his favor. Still, Annja wanted to know more about this guy and why he hadn’t shown up when he said he would.

“Did you have any established communication routine at all? Would he know how to get in touch with you?” she asked Jenny.

“He had my cell-phone number.”

“And did he call you at any point?”

Jenny frowned. “No. He didn’t.”

Joey handed Jenny a cup of the tea. “Drink this. It will make you feel better. I added a few extra touches to it.”

Annja accepted tea from him, as well. She could feel the heat emanating from the cup and sniffed it. “Smells good.”

“It is,” Joey said.

“So does this David guy sound familiar to you? You seem like the type who would know anyone in town, and this guy sounds just different enough that he might stand out in your mind.”

Joey shook his head and sipped his own cup of tea. “Sorry, no. I mean, every once in a while, we get some kooks through here who think they’re on the monster trail and all, but it’s happened often enough that we just get bored with them. They camp out for a week or so, don’t see anything and then pack it in. When the Sasquatch doesn’t come out of the brush and sit in their camp, they tend to lose patience and move on.”

Annja nodded. “Looks as if David is a ghost, then. If he even existed at all.”

Jenny sipped her tea. “But I spoke with him.”

“Online,” Annja said. “There’s no guarantee that it wasn’t someone else on the other end feeding you a fake picture of who you thought David was.”

“But why go through that trouble?”

Annja shook her head. “I don’t know. But someone did apparently. Or else, there’s the other option.”

“What’s that?”

“That David has either been kidnapped or killed.”

Jenny gasped. “You’re not serious.”

“Why not? Missing people who don’t turn up when they’re supposed to? Let’s not be foolish here and discount it so fast. Given the other characters I’ve run into since I arrived earlier today, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that something bad happened.”

Jenny shook her head. “I don’t believe it. I think he’s still around. After all, look what happened to me. I vanished and yet you found me.”

“You found your way down the mountain, Jenny,” Annja said. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You spoke to me in a dream,” Jenny said. “It was very clear to me.”

Joey raised his eyebrows. “Wow, pretty good for a first timer.”

Annja shushed him. “You heard me?”

Jenny nodded. “When I was in the cave. It was completely dark. Couldn’t see a thing. And yet, in the darkness, you spoke to me as if you were right next to me. I’d been crying softly and then it was like you were there. Pretty amazing.”

Annja took another sip of tea. “You remember anything else about getting to that cave?”

“Not really. I had the distinct sensation of someone lifting me up and running with me in their arms.”

“They’d have to be pretty strong to do that,” Annja said. “Maybe you were just hallucinating or sleepwalking?”

Jenny shook her head. “No way. This was for real.”

“And just who do you think snatched you up like that?”

Jenny took a sip of tea and then looked right at Annja. “Why, big foot, of course.”

Joey glanced at Annja and rolled his eyes. Annja herself wasn’t quite sure what to make of Jenny’s statement. She seemed so utterly certain that it was almost hard to argue with her conviction.

“Big foot?”

Jenny glared at her. “I know you think I’m being crazy.”

“I don’t—”

“I do,” Joey said. “Completely bonkers. You need serious help for that condition.”

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