The Trail She Changed
Elsie returned to the clearing and worked quickly.
She removed the rope, scattered leaves over the disturbed ground, and brushed away the most obvious footprints. She didn’t try to make it look perfect. Her grandfather had taught her that perfect looked suspicious.
The goal was uncertainty.
When the engines cut out nearby, Elsie pressed herself behind a tree.
Four men entered the clearing. Their voices turned tense and sharp when they found Wade gone.
“Somebody helped him,” one said.
Another answered, quieter and more calculating.
“Find the tracks.”
Elsie held her breath.
Then, while two men argued with each other, she moved.
Not toward Wade.
Away from him.
She let them catch just enough of her trail to follow.
Then she ran.
