Free Footprints by Alex Archer Page A

be in any shape to answer them? Or would she even answer them honestly? Annja didn't necessarily think that Jenny would deliberately mislead her, but she also knew that big foot was an all-consuming passion of hers. Back in school, Jenny had forsaken an active social life for her studies. She devoured everything she could get her hands on on the legends of big foot. Not just the sightings in the
United States
, but also the reports from
China
and the
Himalayas
.

Jenny had even gone so far as to undertake an expedition to
Nepal
as part of her work on her graduate thesis. She'd endured an amazing amount of adversity only to come home with very little to show for it.

Annja admired her resolve and her perseverance, but when it came right down to it, part of her wished that her friend would give up the ghost chase and get on with studying something much more concrete in origin.

Annja sighed. But then again, what would people say about her if they knew the half of what she herself had been through, including her own trip to
Nepal
and her encounter with what some people would claim was the infamous yeti?

They'd think I'm a nut, Annja admitted to herself, and they might be justified.

Annja grinned.

As they walked on, Annja pressed closer to Jenny, trying to keep her voice quiet. "So tell me about David's disappearance."

"What about it?"

"I'm sorry to keep bringing it up, but do you think we should contact the sheriff?"

Jenny shrugged. "Would it do any good?"

"I don't know. Would it?"

Jenny stopped and turned. "Are you driving at something here?"

Annja shook her head. "I'm trying to figure out what the hell is going on, like why we have three armed men roving around, warning you off an expedition to prove the existence of big foot. Doesn't that strike you as slightly out of the ordinary?"

"Of course it does. Don't insinuate that it doesn't."

" And David? What's his role in all of this? Did you two have an understanding? Was there something there?"

"Like something romantic?" Jenny asked angrily.

Annja nodded. "A lot of people hook up on the Internet. It's no big thing. I'm just wondering if there was a spark between you two. Maybe something that led you out here, even if the promise of discovering some real evidence wasn't as convincing as it could have been."

"Now you're questioning my motives. That's nice. You think I deliberately defrauded the university so I could come on the trip? What, that I'm too poor to come out on my own if I wanted to?" Jenny turned and stormed away.

"That didn't come out right," Annja said.

"It didn't sound good, that's for sure."

Annja rushed ahead. "Jenny, neither of us come from money. But I didn't mean to imply that you're financially hard up."

"No, just that I would willingly lie to my superiors so they could bankroll this little camping trip. What's worse? I wonder."

Annja sighed. Jenny picked up speed and Annja let her catch up with Joey, who was navigating his way over a tangle of fallen logs. Overhead, the moon peeked out from behind a cloud and showed a fair expanse of the forest.

Annja could make out the lay of the land. Joey seemed to be leading them uphill on a very slight slope. Probably he would make camp someplace where they were surrounded by trees. Annja knew the best hidden campsites always took advantage of natural surroundings to blend in. And she was sure that Joey would know how to make best use of the environment to guarantee that they wouldn't be disturbed.

After they'd rested and gotten some much-needed sleep, they could trek into town and see the sheriff. Annja wanted to ask him some questions and get his take on this David guy. She still didn't trust the story. It seemed far too strange to believe, even if Jenny was determined to do so. She'd obviously lost all sense of objectivity on the situation.

And then there was the matter of the three riflemen. The sheriff definitely needed to know that he had those guys prowling around, looking to scare folks off