Chapter 22
Ricky and Sara came through the trees, Ricky carrying Sara’s bag over a shoulder. Her nose was pink and her face splotchy. She looked away from her friends and stopped at the tree line, scanning the forest as if searching for something. Always crying.
“Here.” Ricky handed Jaci the bag and sat down on the log next to her and Neal. “The water bottles are inside.” He pulled out a rock and ran his fingers over it.
Jaci took one out and dumped it into the flour. It made a thin gruel, and she added more flour.
“Sick. I’m not having any.” Amanda stood up and walked away. She motioned to Ricky, but he pointed at the bowl of flour paste.
All their food was gone, except for the flour. Jaci took a hurried gulp of the gruel and handed the bowl to Ricky.
Neal glanced at his twin. “Jaci, Ricky and I want to know your plan.”
“Plan? I don’t have a plan. We’re just trying to get home.”
“That’s what I thought.” Neal leaned forward, his hazel eyes intense. “Here’s what we need to figure out. What happens when we leave this forest? We can’t just walk to Idaho. How are you going to throw these guys off your trail?”
She fingered the decaying bark under the log. “They’re not on our trail right now. I guess we keep a low profile.”
“But they know where you’re going,” Neal pressed. “They know where you live. You think you’re just going to walk up to your house, knock on the door, and everything will go back to the way it was?”
Back to the way it was. Jaci took a deep breath, hot tears filling her eyes. Things would never go back. She shook her head, feeling like an idiot. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. Get home. Just get home. Those were her driving thoughts.
Neal was right. They had to think about The Hand. The reality of being hunted.
Amanda came back and sat on the ground in front of Ricky. “What’s wrong, Jaci?”
“Nothing.” She blinked back the tears. “We’re just making plans.”
“Well then, don’t you think you should include all of us?”
“You’re the one who walked away.” Jaci picked up the bowl of gruel on the ground. She doubted Sara would want any, but she should offer anyway.
Three days later, even the flour was gone.
The rolling hills were taxing to cross, and usually they saved their energy by sticking to the valleys. Jaci walked close to Amanda, feeling guilty for talking about Sara. But she was concerned for her. Every once in awhile she glanced over her shoulder to make sure Sara was out of earshot.
“She’s so moody these days,” said Amanda. “She used to be easy going.”
“Let’s be patient,” Jaci said. Her eyes roved over the shallow stream next to them. The steep bank descended to a creek only a few inches deep. “We can’t even begin to imagine what she’s gone through.”
“I’ve tried being patient. I don’t think she likes me anymore.”
“She’s edgy and doesn’t seem to want to be around us,” agreed Jaci. “Everything I say, she either cries or blows up at me.”
“Yeah. She spends all her time with Neal and Ricky.”
“Whatever it is, I’m worried. She’s not acting like herself at all. And Neal and Ricky are nice guys, but how much can we trust them? I mean, they are guys.”
Amanda arched an eyebrow over her green eyes. “What about Sara? These things can change people.”
“Well, let’s keep an eye on her.”
Amanda glanced behind her. “Where are they, anyway? I can’t even see them.”
“Lagging behind again. Come on, let’s go back.” She turned around and quickened her pace. “Look at that.”
“What is it?”
A structure of slender trees and branches wove together from bank to bank. This explained why the river was so shallow. “It’s a beaver’s dam. I bet if it were gone, this whole canal would be full.”
“Cool,” Amanda said, scanning the horizon. “How come we didn’t notice it on the way down?”
“Too busy gossiping, I guess.” Jaci looked to the shore twelve feet away. “I think there’s someone on the other side.”
She squinted, making out three figures. Sara and the twins, of course. They sat in the shade of a tree, one of them sprawled out on his back, propped up by his elbows, the other leaning against the trunk. Jaci pushed down an uneasy feeling. She wished Sara didn’t hang on them so much.
“Hi,” Amanda shouted.
The three looked up and Sara wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. The twin leaning against the tree straightened. “Hi.”
Jaci recognized Ricky’s voice even before she saw the black peeking from the gray sweater.
“What are you doing over there?” Amanda yelled.
He stood up, flashing another smile, and held up an orange backpack. “Found some food.”
The backpack appeared to have been left behind by campers. It had marshmallows, a box of graham crackers, chocolate bars, beef jerky, and raisins. They brushed off the ants and shared the food, too hungry to think about rationing.
Neal and Ricky walked on ahead to clear a trail, leaving the girls following behind.
The terrain next to the stream was flatter than the surrounding hills, so they traveled close to the water. There weren’t as many trees to step around, either. Just tree roots.
Jaci stumbled over one, almost pitching into the stream, but Amanda caught her arm. “Be careful.”
Jaci paused, noticing what she had almost stepped into. A small fire pit, right next to the river. She crouched down and stuck her finger in the ash.
Sara stopped. “What is it?”
Jaci felt a cold shiver run down her spine. “We haven’t been here already, have we?”
“Of course not.” Amanda shook her head. “That’s just an old pit. Probably belonged to whoever left that orange backpack behind.”
“It’s still warm.” Jaci stood up, rubbing the ash from her finger tips.
Amanda lowered her voice. “I’m sure it’s nothing. This is a forest, after all. People camp here.”
Jaci let out a careful breath. The last thing she wanted was panic in their small camp. “We need to be careful. Not draw attention to ourselves. It might not be anyone important, or it might be someone looking for us. I’ll tell the boys.”
Sara hugged herself and rocked on the balls of her feet, staring into the fire pit.
Nobody spoke for the rest of the afternoon. Jaci found herself turning her head at every movement. The familiar feelings of paranoia and fear descended on her. She hoped the camper stayed at least a day’s walk ahead of them.
The sun went down and with it, all the heat evaporated from the air. Ricky came over to help them set up their fire circle, pulling out his rock to start a spark.
“Any sign of our visitor?” he asked, crouching over the kindling.
“I’m not sure we should have a fire,” Jaci warned.
He put his rock back in his pocket. “You’ll freeze without one.”
There are worse things, she thought.
“Hey,” Amanda said, sidling up next to them. Her shoulder bumped Ricky’s knee.
“Hey.” Ricky shrugged. “We’ll be close by.”
Jaci felt a surge of panic when he walked away. She didn’t want him to go. What if they needed protection?
“I don’t like being away from them,” Sara pulled on Jaci’s sweater sleeve.
Amanda snorted. “That’s because you have a crush on Ricky.”
“I do not!” Sara said, her face turning crimson.
“Keep it down,” said Jaci. “Start gathering leaves for insulation.”
Ignoring her, Amanda growled, “Out with it, Sara. What’s going on with you and Ricky?”
Sara’s mouth tightened. “More than what’s going on between you and him, that’s for sure.”
“Oh, you think?”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Jaci intervened.
“I’m done with this.” Sara sat down by a tree and closed her eyes.
“I’m still talking to you, Sara,” said Amanda, but Sara didn’t move.
Jaci heard someone whisper her name from the shrubbery. Ricky beckoned and disappeared into the foliage. She hurried after.
“What is it, Ricky?”
He nodded back toward the campsite. “I actually came to talk to Sara. Guess I have bad timing.”
“It’s all the tension. Lack of food, lack of sleep. And I think Amanda’s jealous.” She raised an eyebrow. “Is that why we’re hiding? You don’t want her to see me talking to you?”
He laughed. “I could care less what she thinks. I have some questions for Sara. About something she told Neal.”
“What did she tell Neal?”
“Well, it’s a secret. Can’t tell.”
“Fine. But don’t hurt her.”
“Hurt her?” He put his hands over his heart. “Never. Besides, Neal would kill me.”
“Well, if that’s everything, I should go back.”
Ricky reached out and grabbed her hand. “What are you afraid of? That she’s going to be Ricky Collins’ next victim? Or that you will be?”
A sliver of heat ran through her wrist at his touch. “I’ll never be the victim.”
He pulled her up, his hazel eyes roving over her face. “Sorry. Wrong word. I didn’t mean a victim—like, a real victim.” He took her chin in his hand and leaned closer.
Jaci jerked her face away and backed up, keeping her eyes averted. Emotions—embarrassment, anger, desire, confusion—rushed through her in a split second, vying for her attention. “I need to be with the other girls. To make sure there’s no trouble.”
Ricky jogged a little to catch up with her. “I still need to talk to Sara.”
She felt a flash of anger. “Why don’t you watch for intruders? You’re here to keep us safe. You can talk to her tomorrow.”
Ricky stopped walking. “Okay. Yeah. I’ll talk to her tomorrow. See ya.”
She ran a hand through her hair and sighed in annoyance. A few strands came out of her ponytail, and she paused to stuff them back in.
It was silent at the campsite. She made out the still forms of Sara and Amanda in the dark, sleeping several feet from each other.
Jaci went back to her leaf pile and shoved them into her clothes, trying to insulate her thin body from the cold. Her stomach growled, and she stuck a leaf in her mouth and chewed. She laid her head down and closed her eyes, a bitter taste in her mouth.
October 9
Johnsburg, New York
Carl leaned over the counter in the North Creek Deli and Market. Outside a cold wind whipped through the Adirondacks and howled at the windows.
“Think really hard.” He kept his voice warm and encouraging. “What did the girls look like?”
The young man behind the counter with ‘Derek’ written on his name tag squinted and scratched at his stubby brown hair.
Carl glanced out the window. The hour drive from Queensbury through the mountain range to Johnsburg had been dizzying and breath-taking. Tall pines and dense vegetation surrounded either side of the highway as it twisted and turned through the hills and valleys.
But that wasn’t the point. The point was that two boys here had been reported missing. When the New York state police began the investigation, an interview at the North Creek Deli and Market reported that the boys had last been seen with three girls. The police had been quick to contact the Idaho Falls police department.
Carl shifted his weight, working to stay calm. He wanted to verify that these were the right girls. But even if he couldn’t, he would proceed as if they were. It was his best lead in days.
“Well, Derek?”
“It’s been a few days. I can’t remember for sure. But there were three. They sat over there.” He pointed to a booth by the window. “Ricky and Neal ordered for them.”
Carl glanced at his notepad. He already had the names ‘Ricky and Neal Collins’ written down.
“Did Ricky and Neal eat here a lot?”
Derek nodded. “Oh, yeah. Almost every day. Maybe every day.”
“Did you overhear them talking?”
“Sure. They argued over what to buy.”
“I mean, did you hear them talking about where they were going?”
Derek shook his head. “No, man! I had no idea they were cutting out of town. No clue.”
“Thank you, Derek.” Carl handed him a business card. “Call me if you remember anything.”
“Okay.” Derek stuck the card in his pocket.
Carl turned away, grunting inwardly. That card would end up in the wash, never seen again. He hadn’t learned anything from Derek, but Carl’s gut told him this was the right path.
He stepped outside and sat down on a bench, pulling his windbreaker closed. If the girls were out here in this mountain range, how would they survive this cold? Night time temperatures could get below freezing this time of year. Opening the notepad, Carl read over the information again.
“Ricky and Neal Collins. Seventeen, twins. Joselyn Bennett, grandmother, dead.”