The quaver in her voice penetrated the hard shell he’d placed his emotions in to put his life back together after being a prisoner of war in the Middle East. “He’s walked and even run a long way from where he was last seen. He’ll get tired and probably find a place to rest.”
Ella’s wide brown eyes were riveted to his. “What made them separate? I saw the lengthening of the spaces between the footprints. He was running then, wasn’t he?”
Her gaze drew him in, so much pain reflected in it. He gritted his teeth, not wanting to answer her question, not wanting to add to her distress.
“You don’t have to say anything. I can see it on your face. Something or someone scared him. The person whose boot prints we found with his. I saw them under the tree, too. He’s being stalked.” Ella came to stop.
“It could be someone searching for the kids. Don’t jump to any conclusions. Speculation can drive you crazy.”
“Just the facts, then. We’re on point on this search. The rest are spread out and going much slower behind us.” Her teeth dug into her lower lip.
Before he realized what he was doing, he touched her shoulder, feeling the tension beneath his fingers. “Let’s go. We don’t need to stand around speculating.” He squeezed her gently before he turned toward Buddy, who was sniffing the ground five yards away.
His dog barked and charged forward, straining against the leash. Five minutes later, Buddy weaved through some trees, yelping several times. Josiah kept pace with his dog, his body screaming in protest at the long hours he’d been awake without much rest. His German shepherd circled a patch of ground.
Josiah came to a halt at the spot with Ella next to him. She stared at the ground, her face pale. Bear prints. Fresh ones.
“A bear is nearby, possibly after Robbie,” Ella whispered in a squeaky voice, her eyes huge.
Ella sucked in a deep breath that she held until pain shot through her chest. Finally she exhaled, then managed to ask, “Is the bear following him?”
“No, but it looks as though Robbie stopped, turned around, then began running this way.” Josiah pointed to the right. “The bear is going straight.”
“Oh, good.” Relief sagged her shoulders until she realized the bear might not be the only one.
After taking his dog off the leash, Josiah signaled to Buddy to continue tracking Robbie. As Josiah followed behind the German shepherd, he said over his shoulder, “I think Robbie is slowing down. His strides are closer together.”
Her cell phone rang, and Ella quickly answered it. It was David. “Has anyone been found?”
“Yes, Travis.”
Ella said a quick prayer of thanks.
David continued. “Alex located him not far from Little Campbell Lake. She’s bringing him in.”
“Did he tell Alex anything? What happened? Why did they part?”
“They thought if they split up, one of them could get help.”
“How did they get lost?”
“They snuck away from Camp Yukon and were playing in the woods. All I know was a man spooked them.”
A man? Were those boot prints they saw that man’s? If so, the man had not only spooked them but followed them—followed Robbie. What if it was her ex-husband? Could Keith have found them? He’d never cared about his son, but he might kidnap him to get back at her. Her chest suddenly felt constricted. Each breath of air she inhaled burned her throat and lungs.
No. Keith couldn’t have found them. Please, God, it can’t be him. Memories inundated Ella as she fought for a decent breath.
“Ella?” David’s concerned voice wrenched her back to the present. “Ella, are you all right?”
No. “We’re following Robbie’s tracks. We should find him soon.” If she said it often enough, it might come true.
“I’ll find out more when Travis gets here. I’ll call you when I hear something else.”
When Ella hung up, she realized she’d slowed her gait to a crawl as she’d talked with David. The space between her and Josiah had doubled. She hurried her pace to catch up with him.
“That was David. Your sister found Travis. That’s encouraging.” But Robbie and his friend Michael could still be in danger. And there was still a possibility that her ex, Keith, could be the man who had spooked the kids.
“Any info on what happened?” Josiah kept trailing Buddy.
“They were playing in the woods when a man scared them. That’s all I know.”
Josiah paused and twisted around, his tan face carved in a frown. “I don’t see any evidence now that anyone is following Robbie.”
“But what about the man? The boot prints we found? He could—”
Suddenly a series of barks echoed through the trees.
“Come on. Buddy has something.”
Ella ran beside Josiah, who slowed down to allow her to keep up. Buddy sat at the base of a tree, barking occasionally, looking up, then at them.
“Robbie’s up in the tree,” Josiah said, slightly ahead of her now.
She examined the green foliage and saw Robbie clinging to a branch. He was safe. Thank You, Lord. Thank You.
But what about the man? The threat was still out there. The threat that could be Keith.
As she neared, she noticed her son’s wide brown eyes glued to Buddy. The fear on his face pierced through her. He might not recognize the German shepherd. “We’re here, Robbie,” she shouted. “Buddy is a search and rescue dog. He belongs to Josiah Witherspoon. You remember Mr. Witherspoon?”
Robbie barely moved his head in a nod, but he did look toward her. “Mom, I’m stuck.”
Standing under the cottonwood, Ella craned her neck and looked up at him. She wasn’t even sure how he’d managed to climb so high. He must be thirty feet off the ground. “Don’t do anything yet. You’ll be all right. Josiah and I will talk about the best way to get you down safely. Okay?” Her heart clenched at the sight of tears in her son’s eyes. His grip around the branch seemed to tighten. He was so scared. All she wanted to do was hold her child and tell him she wouldn’t let anything hurt him.
Josiah moved closer. “I can get him down. I have a longer reach than you.”
“You don’t think he can back down, keeping his arms around the limb?”
“Sometimes people freeze once they get into a tree and see how high they are. I have a feeling he was scared when he climbed up, then realized where he was. I did that once when I was a boy, not much younger than Robbie.”
“But should I—”
“You should be a mom and keep him calm.”
She nodded, relieved Josiah was here because she was afraid of heights. She would have climbed the tree if she had to, but then there might have been two people stuck up there. “Thanks.”
Josiah hoisted himself up onto the lowest branch that would hold his weight, then smiled at her. “I once had a tree where I loved to hide from the world, or rather, Alex when she bugged me. She never knew where I went. I used to watch her try to find me from my perch at the top.”
For the first time in hours, Ella chuckled. “I won’t tell her, in case you ever want to hide from her again.”
He