You don't have to come. But I'm going.
Seth hurried down the porch steps and started across the yard. Kendra reluctantly followed. She wasn't sure how they would pull off a rescue if scalding the monster with salt failed, but Seth was right about one thing-they couldn't just abandon Grandpa.
Kendra caught up with Seth at the flowerbed where they had originally found the prints. Combing through the grass together, they followed a series of nickel-sized holes across the lawn. The holes were spaced roughly five feet apart and followed a generally straight line, passing the barn and eventually leaving the yard along a narrow path into the woods.
No longer obscured by grass, the tracks were even easier to follow. They passed a couple of intersecting paths, but the way was always certain. The prints of whatever creature had left the holes were unmistakable. They made rapid progress. Kendra remained alert, searching the trees for mythical beasts, but spotted nothing more spectacular than a goldfinch and some chipmunks.
I'm starving, Seth announced.
I'm okay. I'm getting sleepy, though.
Just don't think about it.
My throat is getting sore, Kendra went on. You know, we've been up almost thirty hours.
I'm not that tired, Seth said. Just hungry. We should have foraged for food in the pantry. It can't all be smashed.
We must not be too hungry if we didn't think about it at the time.
Suddenly Seth stopped short. Uh-oh.
What?
Seth went several paces forward. Leaning close to the ground, he worked his way back past Kendra. He went forward again more slowly, kicking aside any leaves or branches on the trail. Kendra realized the problem before Seth vocalized it. No more holes.
She helped scan the ground. They both scrutinized the same segment of the path multiple times before Seth began to search off the trail. This could be bad, he said.
There's a lot of undergrowth, Kendra agreed.
If we could even find one hole, we'd know which direction it went.
If it left the path, we'll never be able to follow it.
Seth crawled on hands and knees along the edge of the path, sifting through the mulch beneath the undergrowth.
Kendra picked up a stick and used it to poke around.
Don't make any holes, Seth cautioned.
I'm just moving leaves.
You could do it with your hands.
If I wanted bug bites and a rash.
Hey, this is it. He showed Kendra a hole about five feet from the last one on the path. It turned left.
Diagonally. She made a line with her hand connecting the two dots and continuing into the woods.
But it might have turned more, Seth said. We should find another one.
Finding the next hole took almost fifteen minutes. It proved that the creature had indeed turned almost directly to the left, perpendicular to the path.
What if it kept turning? Kendra said.
It would sort of be backtracking if it turned more.
Maybe it wanted to throw off pursuit.
Seth went forward five feet and found the next hole almost instantly. It confirmed that the new course was perpendicular to the trail.
The undergrowth isn't as bad here, Seth said.
Seth, it would take all day to track it twenty paces.
I don't mean to track it. Just to walk in this direction for a while. Maybe it will intersect a trail and we can pick up tracks again. Or maybe it lives not much farther ahead.
Kendra put a hand in her pocket, feeling for salt. I don't like the idea of leaving the trail.
Me neither. We won't go far. But this thing seems to like trails. It followed one all this way. We may be close to a discovery. It's worth going a little ways just to check.
Kendra stared at her brother. Okay, and what if we run into a cave?
We take a look.
What if we hear breathing coming from the cave?
You don't have to go in. I'll look myself. The point is finding Grandpa.
Kendra bit her tongue. She almost said that if they found him out here, it would probably be in pieces. Okay, just a little ways.
They walked in a straight line away from the path.
They kept scanning the ground, but noticed no more holes.
Before long they crossed a dry, rocky streambed. Not far beyond, they wandered into a little meadow. The brush and wildflowers in the meadow grew nearly waist high.
I don't see any other trails, Kendra said. Or any monster houses.
Let's take a good look around the meadow, said Seth.
He made a complete search of the perimeter of the meadow, finding neither holes nor trails.
Let's face it, Kendra said. If we try to go any farther, we'll be wandering blind.
What about climbing that hill? Seth suggested, indicating the highest point visible from the meadow, less than a quarter-mile away. If I were going to make a home around here, it would be over there. Plus, if we get up there, we'll have a better view of the area. These trees make it hard to see.
Kendra pressed her lips together. The hill was not steep; it would be easy to climb. And it was not too far away. If we don't find anything there, we go back?
Deal.
They marched toward the hill, which was along a different line from the course they had originally taken from the path. As they picked their way through denser underbrush, a twig snapped off to one side. They paused, listening.
I'm getting pretty nervous, Kendra said softly.
We're fine. Probably just a falling pinecone.
Kendra tried to push away images of the pallid woman with the swirling black garments. The thought of her made Kendra freeze. If she saw her out in the woods, Kendra worried she would just curl up in a ball on the ground and let herself be taken.
I'm losing track of which way we're going, she said.
Back under the trees, the line of sight to both hill and meadow was disrupted.
I have my compass.
So if all else fails, we can find the North Pole.
The trail we followed went northwest, Seth assured her. Then we left it going southwest. The hill is to the west, the meadow is east.
That's pretty good.
The only trick is paying attention.
Before long, the trees were thinning and they were walking up the hill. With the trees farther apart, the underbrush grew higher and the bushes bigger. Kendra and Seth wound their way up the moderate slope toward the crest.
Do you smell that? Seth asked.
Kendra stopped. Like somebody cooking.
The smell was faint but, now that she noticed it, distinct.
Kendra studied the area with sudden alarm. Oh my gosh, she said, crouching down.
What?
Get down.
Seth knelt beside her. Kendra pointed toward the crest of the hill. Off to one side rose a feeble column of smoke - - a thin, wavering distortion.
Yeah, he whispered. We may have found it.
Again she had to bite her tongue. She hoped someone wasn't cooking Grandpa. What do we do?