Seth and Kendra track

She helped scan the ground. They both scrutinized the same segment of the path multiple times before Seth began to search off the trail. "This could be bad," he said.


"There's a lot of undergrowth," Kendra agreed.


"If we could even find one hole, we'd know which direction it went."


"If it left the path, we'll never be able to follow it."



Seth crawled on hands and knees along the edge of the path, sifting through the mulch beneath the undergrowth.


Kendra picked up a stick and used it to poke around.


"Don't make any holes, "Seth cautioned.


"I'm just moving leaves."


"You could do it with your hands."


"If I wanted bug bites and a rash."


"Hey, this is it." He showed Kendra a hole about five feet from the last one on the path. It turned left.


"Diagonally." She made a line with her hand connecting the two dots and continuing into the woods.



"But it might have turned more," Seth said. "We should find another one."


Finding the next hole took almost fifteen minutes. It proved that the creature had indeed turned almost directly to the left, perpendicular to the path.


"What if it kept turning?" Kendra said.


"It would sort of be backtracking if it turned more."


"Maybe it wanted to throw off pursuit."


Seth went forward five feet and found the next hole almost instantly. It confirmed that the new course was perpendicular to the trail.

Chapter 11