Rogue Angel - Footprints Part 51

"No. I didn't want to spook it before I was ready to, at long last, unveil this to friends. That's you guys."

Joey sighed. "I don't buy it."

Annja smiled. "Me, either. How did you keep this to yourself? Most people would have busted at the seams with the urge to tell the world they'd discovered the truth about the Sasquatch. And yet you kept it quiet. Why?"

David shrugged. "Guess I'm just better at keeping secrets than other people."

Annja nodded. "Sure seem to be."

Jenny looked at her watch. "Well, when does the nightly entertainment start around here?"

"Should be right about now," David said. "If it keeps to its normal patterns and comes by. Of course, it could also be spooked by the presence of you guys."

"But it's fine with you seeing it?" Annja asked.

"Well, sure. By now it's gotten used to my scent being here. I'm not a threat anymore."

"And we are."

David frowned. "Annja, if you were a creature like this who had survived for so long by being so careful, then wouldn't you feel a little threatened if you smelled someone you hadn't before? Even someone who smells as lovely as you?"

Joey groaned. "Dude, please."

Jenny's voice grew terse. "So what exactly are we supposed to be looking at, then?"

"The outer border of the lights. Sometimes you can see it moving just beyond the glow."

"And you think it will be here tonight?" Jenny asked.

"I refilled the feed bags earlier today."

Annja glanced at David. "What in the world did you use as bait?"

"Venison."

Joey groaned. "You killed a deer?"

"I found a dead deer by the side of the road. It was still fresh. Someone must have hit it and kept going. It wasn't spoiled and it seemed a shame to waste it. So I used it. I thought you'd be proud of me for not wasting it."

Joey frowned. "It wouldn't have been wasted, anyway. It would have been food for the other creatures in the forest."

"And it is," David said. "It just so happens that the creature in question is a bit larger than the scavengers that would normally get to the deer first."

"You've done this before, then," Annja said.

"Yes."

"Each time with deer?"

David shook his head. "No, it was a very interesting trial-and-error system. I tried berries for a while and they didn't work. It just left them untouched. I tried leaves and plants, testing to see if it was an herbivore. Not so much."

"So what beyond the venison actually worked?" Jenny asked.

"Honey."

Jenny nodded. "I can see that. Sweets are always a good way to break down barriers with animals and people alike."

Annja went back to watching the darkness. Her eyes couldn't pierce the cloaked environs beyond the reach of the lights, but somewhere deep down inside her she felt something moving out there.

Slowly.

"What time is it?" she asked.

David checked his watch. "It's about that time."

Annja nodded. "I think it's out there."

"Are you sure?" Jenny moved closer to her. "I don't see anything."

Annja smiled at her. "Too much time in the cla.s.sroom. Let your eyes go out of focus and deepen your breathing until you're more relaxed. Sense the rhythm of the woods and then you'll start to hear and see things."

Jenny took a breath and released it slowly, exhaling in one smooth stream. "I feel like I'm meditating."

"You are, sort of," Annja said. "Now just let your awareness expand outward in concentric circles, almost like radar."

Annja went back to watching the woods. Her senses were heightened. There was definitely something moving out there. She s.h.i.+vered. Having something like the Sasquatch lurking on her property would have made her distinctly uneasy at night. She wondered how David the lothario fared.

Joey leaned his head forward, and his voice, when he spoke, was the vaguest whisper. "It's here."

David snaked his head in next to Annja and Jenny. "I told you it would be here. Do you believe me now?"

"I can sense something out there," Annja said. "But I haven't seen anything yet that proves it exists. I'll withhold judgment until I do."

"That shouldn't be long," David said.

"I still can't see anything," Jenny said.

David smiled. "Want to get closer?"

Annja looked at him. "Are you crazy?"

"We're not in danger," David said. "And I really want Jenny to see what this thing is that I've been dying to tell her about all this time."

"When you weren't luring me out here," Annja said.

"We can discuss that later," David said. He looked at Jenny. "What do you say? Shall we get closer?"

Jenny nodded. "I'm in."