Alex Archer - Footprints

But where was Jenny?

Annja watched as the three armed men huddled together and spoke for a few seconds. They parted and the one who seemed to be in charge, a guy of maybe forty with thick pork-chop sideburns and a long scar down one side of his face, nodded at her. “You.”

“What?” she asked.

“Stand up.”

Annja tensed. Were they going to shoot her now? She closed her eyes and pictured the powerful sword she’d inherited from Joan of Arc. The weapon was ready for her to call forth. She knew her timing would have to be perfect.

Annja stood and asked, “What’s this all about?”

“Shut up. We’ve got a message for the professor.”

Annja frowned. So this wasn’t just some random occurrence. These guys wanted to speak to Jenny. But what had happened to her?

“What’s the message?”

The man leveled a finger at Annja. “Tell her to back off. She’s not wanted here. These woods belong to us. And we’ll do whatever it takes to keep it that way.”

Annja wanted to argue, but decided it would be better to just accept things and try to figure out what was going on once the danger had passed. “Okay. I’ll give her the message.”

“You do that. And tell her we’ll be watching. If we don’t like what we see, then bad things will start happening.”

Annja nodded. “I get it.”

The lead man regarded her for one more second and then turned. The three men walked toward the trees that bordered the clearing. In minutes, they had vanished back into the gloom.

Annja frowned. She turned and pulled one of the young men to his feet. “What the hell is going on around here?” she asked him.

“Who are you?” he said, sounding terrified.

“I’m Annja Creed. Where is Jenny?”

“Jenny?”

“Professor Chu,” Annja said.

Although he was big and strapping, the student looked frightened. Probably hasn’t had the experience of being shot, stabbed and blown up, Annja thought

“Professor Chu went out on a hike this morning. We haven’t seen her since.”

Annja looked around. “None of you have seen her?”

“No. And those guys showed up about an hour ago. I guess they just got tired of waiting for her.”

Annja peered out into the woods. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“Perhaps they were only supposed to deliver the message. Maybe it’s a scare tactic.”

“Those guns looked real enough.”

Annja smiled. “They were.”

“Hey,” a voice called out.

Annja turned and saw Joey standing behind her, sliding his backpack off.

“Where the hell did you disappear to?”

Joey grinned. “Creeping Wolf, remember? I can disappear in the blink of an eye.”

“Yeah, well, thanks for sticking around to defend the weak and all that jazz.”

Joey smirked. “Yeah, right. You defenseless? That’s a joke. And besides, I don’t do guns, man. I’m a lover, not a fighter.”

“Great. So, my creeping friend, maybe you can tell me what happened to Jenny?”

“How could I do that? I’ve been gone all day getting supplies,” Joey said.

Annja frowned. He had a point. And none of the college kids looked as if they were going to be particularly keen to set out on a search through the woods. Annja could hear them all talking in hushed tones. She knew what was coming.

Annja looked at Joey again. “They’ll want to leave,” she told him.

Joey frowned. “Because of those guys? That’s weak.”

“Didn’t you just tell me you’re a lover, not a fighter?”

“Sure, but I don’t lay down for anyone, either. I did that, I wouldn’t be much of a credit to my tribe.”

“Well, I don’t think any of these kids signed on for this kind of thing. The thought of gun-wielding dudes is probably giving them images of Deliverance.”

“Deliverance?”

“It’s a movie,” Annja said. “Rent it when you’re older.”

Joey shook his head. “I can download it for free. But thanks for dating yourself.”

“You’ve got quite the mouth on you, don’t you?” Annja said, attempting to sound stern.

Joey held up his hands. “No disrespect intended, ma’am.”

Annja smirked. “Wiseass.” She turned back to the student she’d spoken to initially. “Get your gear packed up. You guys aren’t staying here.”

He looked as if Annja had just promised him several bars of gold. Instantly, the college students all sprang into action, taking down tents and getting their packs squared away.

Annja watched them. She felt hesitant about taking command of the situation but, with Jenny nowhere to be seen, someone had to. She couldn’t tell a bunch of kids to hang around with gun-toting nuts lurking in the woods. And she was pretty confident that Jenny would tell them to get out of there, as well. There was no way Jenny would want kids under her care to be in danger.

It took them twenty minutes to break down the camp. Annja found Jenny’s tent and started to pack it up, too.

Joey spent most of the time complaining about the supplies he’d lugged back from town. “Hey, man, I’m still getting paid for this, right? I mean, charity’s nice and all, but I have to look out for numero uno.”

Annja fished out her wallet and gave him fifty dollars. “That enough?”

Joey’s eyes lit up. “Not bad. Jenny promised me a hundred per day out here, though.”

“Don’t push your luck. Jenny’s on a university grant and has to watch all of her expenses. That fifty’s a gift and you know it.”

Joey smiled. “Can’t blame a dude for trying.”

Annja finished breaking down Jenny’s tent and wrapped up the stakes in the nylon. “I’ve got one final assignment for you, Creeping Wolf.”

“Yeah?”

“You need to lead these kids back to the trailhead.”

Joey frowned. “They stay on the trail, they’ll be fine. They don’t need me.”

Annja pulled him close. “Take a look at their faces. Every one of them is terrified. Being confronted with guns isn’t a normal occurrence for these kids. And they’re probably considering very seriously the idea that they came close to being killed. If I let them go like this, they’ll wander off the trail and die from exposure. You know that’s true.”

Joey nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. They do look pretty shell-shocked.”

“As opposed to you.”

“I left, man. I don’t stick around for trouble. That’s bad medicine.”

“Well, do me this one favor and then you can get lost, as well.”

“What about you?” Joey asked.

Annja looked out into the trees. “I’ll leave with you guys as a group. But somewhere along the trail, I’ll bleed off. Don’t try to find me. I’ll search for Jenny and we’ll figure out what to do next.”

“You’re going to find Jenny in these woods alone? You?”

“I’m pretty good at finding my way around, Joey. I’ve been in a lot worse environments than this,” Annja said.

At that moment, the clouds finally opened up and rain pelted down from the sky, soaking everyone in seconds. The students shouted and complained that they had no tents to use for shelter.

Annja sighed and called them all together. “You’re leaving.”

“Now?” one of them said. “It’s raining.”

“So the quicker we get out onto the trail and headed back to the trailhead, the better off you’ll be. Move quickly and you’ll stay warm, too. Joey here is going to lead us all out.”

“Can he do it?”

Joey looked as if he was going to punch the person who asked, but Annja held him back. “Yes, he knows these woods better than anyone.”

“What if we get lost?”

“You won’t,” Annja said. “And I’ll be bringing up the rear so I’ll make sure no one gets left behind. Now, are we ready?”