Rogue Angel - Footprints Part 29

"What?"

"That's all you can say? Joey's just a boy. He can't handle those guys alone. They'll kill him."

"I highly doubt that."

"You doubt that?"

David held up his hand. "Hang on a second, Annja. We'll get out there, trust me. I know his grandfather very well and I promised him I'd always look out for Joey, but you should know that Joey's a pretty accomplished woodsman. His grandfather taught him a fair lot of stuff. Joey knows those woods like no one else in the area and can disappear anytime he wants."

"That's not going to help him when they shoot him dead for being a pain in the a.s.s. What happens to your promise to his grandfather then?"

"Joey knows how to handle himself. I'm honestly not that concerned. I've seen him fight before."

"Joey?"

David nodded. "We had a guy come through here about a year or so back. Got drunk at the bar and started some c.r.a.p. I was on my way there when Joey happened to stop by the bar, dropping off some stuff for Mr. Crowe, the owner. The drunk guy saw that Joey was Native American and started ha.s.sling him. According to Mr. Crowe, Joey held out as long as any reasonable man might be expected to. Then he leveled the guy. Threw him out of the bar just as I was pulling up."

"Was the man armed?" Annja asked.

"Had a knife about as long as my arm," David said. "Didn't matter to Joey. He just handled him. Never saw the guy again."

David started driving again. "I asked Crowe if he wanted to press any charges, but most folks around these parts are happy if trouble just leaves them alone. I'm inclined to agree with the sentiment. People leave us alone and we can keep on with our lives."

"What if they don't leave you alone?"

"Then we take them over to the State Police barracks about an hour from here. They lock 'em up and prosecute them, if need be. But that's only happened once, long before my time as sheriff."

Annja sighed. "I'm still worried. I met Joey's grandfather last night and, after everything he's taught Joey, I can't imagine he'd be thrilled if he knew his only male heir was out in the woods facing down three armed guys."

"You don't know his grandfather, then," David said. "He'll eat this up and ask for seconds."

Jenny glanced at Annja and then back at David. "David, maybe we should try to get out into the woods as soon as we can. I mean, I know you think Joey can handle himself and he probably can, but wouldn't it be better to make sure those guys, whoever they are, are taken care of before we look at the evidence you've got?"

David shrugged. "Sure, no problem. But we still need to go back to the station. I'll need my rifle." He glanced at Annja. "You shoot?"

Annja shrugged. "Do I have to?"

"I don't know. You saw these guys. Are they skilled?"

"From what I know about guns, they looked as if they knew what they were doing."

"Okay. I'll give you both a crash course in handling the rifles."

Jenny's eyes opened wide. "You want me to take a gun, too?"

"Any dumb a.s.s can shoot a gun," David said. "And apparently there are three of them out in the woods right now. You'll be okay, trust me."

Annja wasn't happy about the situation. She glanced at David. Just what the h.e.l.l was going on around here? He didn't seem the least bit concerned about Joey. And he wasn't too concerned about the guys in the woods, either. Why did everyone seem to think she was overreacting?

She didn't detect any real threat from David aside from a general sense of apathy, and yet she felt extremely uneasy.

Jenny seemed absolutely content.

Maybe I'm overthinking things, she thought. Maybe this is all just the product of stress. After all, I haven't had any sleep since I arrived. The lack of rest could be affecting my decision-making ability.

She remembered reading that lack of sleep could produce feelings of paranoia, hallucinations and worse. Maybe this was a textbook case of that.

Maybe.

David agreed to get them to town as quickly as possible and accelerated the truck. The road was twisting and they took several curves faster than seemed safe. Annja decided there was nothing she could do but hang on and enjoy the ride.

She closed her eyes and thought about the sword. Instantly, she could see it hovering in front of her. She was feeling calm and clearheaded. She'd go after Joey on her own if she had to.

She was completely unprepared for an explosion.

She opened her eyes as the entire body of the truck flew into the air, and then they were rolling, turning and flipping over and over again as the truck came down with a screeching gnash of metal.

Jenny screamed.

Annja felt the truck hit the ground and blackness rushed over her.

Chapter 16.

Annja had the distinct impression that she was flying through the air. And she found herself experiencing the worry that eventually she would have to come back to earth, thanks to the effects of gravity.

And yet she did not crash into the ground at all.

After a moment, she felt the hardness of the ground around her body, but she had no idea how she'd gotten there. She couldn't see anything, just the same blackness that had rushed at her when her world had suddenly exploded into an intense flash and concussive roar that made her ears ring.

Slowly, her senses started to return. She could taste acrid smoke in her mouth. It seemed to have singed the interior of her nostrils, as well. Something was burning and she hoped that it wasn't her flesh.

Aches suddenly invaded her joints and her bones. The back of her neck seemed to have seized up, and Annja found it difficult to move her head or neck at all.

Am I paralyzed? She tried to wiggle her toes, but she couldn't feel anything down there, either.

This is bad, she thought. What the h.e.l.l happened?

Annja felt as if she'd been used to sc.r.a.pe barnacles off the hull of a tramp steamer. She tried to take an internal a.s.sessment of her injuries, but found she simply couldn't concentrate enough to draw her awareness throughout her body.

The blackness that surrounded her seemed absolute. She thought about the sword and imagined reaching her hands out for it in the otherwhere.

She took a breath and felt the stabbing of a thousand needles in her lungs. It felt as if shards of hot metal had lanced her through. Fragmentation? She couldn't be sure. She wondered if she was in some sort of catatonic limbo where she couldn't die and yet wasn't quite alive.

I need help, she thought. I've got to get some help. But how?

She tried to move her arms. Nothing.