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After another hour without any sign, they reached a ridge overlooking the wide expanse of a lake Gray, choppy water flowed to distant shores Trees carpeted the hilly ground as far as the eye could see until mountains rose to meet the clouds Ben carefully sipped water, aware that they’d run out soon He passed the bottle to Jason and peered around

“This is the farthest point the trail goes At the end of this ridge over there, it loops back toward the parking lot” Coughing again, his throat raw, he examined the terrain to their left The mountain was far too steep to scale without equipment Broas a survivalist, but did he have ropes and crahly i up, Ben couldn’t see anyone, although fog obscured the higher peaks

Maybe he tossed her over the side

A fist around his heart, he edged to the railing and squinted down for any sign of her red poncho In the round hundreds of feet below He pulled out his binoculars, but there was still nothing but green and brown through the patches of fog, the forest standing sentinel as always

Ben cleared his throat, taking another sip of water “I don’t think he’d head left Too steep, and Whitefish is to the east He wants away from there South will take us back toward the trailhead and roads To go north, he’d have to get down off this mountain first West is the only way that o if I were him Off the trails”

Nodding, Jason followed Ben along the ridge They stopped where the trail looped back to their right Ben had hoped desperately to have heard helicopters overhead by now, but there was only the rustle of leaves and the distant tapping of a woodpecker

The land sloped, but leveled off again after fifty feet Ben wasn’t ns that soh With Jason on his heels, he led the way, careful on the round Wet branches and leaves slapped their faces, and Ben squinted for footprints

There!

Adrenaline zipping through hi in the mud At the bottom of the slope, he bent low It was a heel print No doubt

Jason clutched Ben’s shoulder, his voice sharp “Look!” Ben straightened and stared carefully into the bush ahead of them where Jason pointed When he saw it, his heart leapt and they ran over

Red

Jason plucked the torn strip of red fabric fro of her coat I’m sure of it”

Maggie was a bright kid, and there was no doubt she knew the story of Hansel and Gretel Ben nodded “Breadcrumbs”

Without another word, they rushed on, deeper into the heart of the endless forest

CHAPTER SIX

Jason shivered as he squinted through the fading gray light, scanning the undergrowth for a sign of red They’d found two more scraps of material as the hours had ticked by relentlessly