“Jasper,” hissed Katie through the wall of her tent. “Jas!”
“I saw it,” he whispered back. “I’ll rev up my atomic torch. Let’s take a look.” With a sound like a very small UFO rounding Neptune, Jasper’s light filled his tent.
Carefully they crawled outside into the black night. Bntno still lay snoring in his tent. Lily held her flashlight at the ready, but she didn’t turn it on—thinking that it was better if they kept themselves at least somewhat hidden in the darkness.
The three of them stood side by side, Jasper in the middle, the valiant beams of his atomic torch sweeping the ferns and mossy trunks. Nothing moved.
Jasper gestured for the other two to walk away from his light. If there was anyone else there, they’d be blinded and wouldn’t be able to see Lily and Katie.
The three moved forward and into the road. Each step was agony, announced by snaps and grindings beneath their feet. Each footfall might have well been an explosion. If anyone was crouched in the bushes, listening, he would have no trouble telling where and how many of them they were.
Lily now switched on her flashlight. She ran it over the ruts and tracks, each pebble picked out in the stark glare. “Here’s where the other car turned around,” she whispered.
Jasper and Katie headed over toward her. She ran her light along the treaded tire tracks.
“And here,” she said in a voice strangled with horror, “is the footprint where someone got out.”