Things were right on schedule for Rachel. By the time Amanda left the lodge, the deceptive trail had been laid, and Rachel was at her site making preparations.

She began to concentrate on the view through the opening of the cave. It had become very familiar to her on the day of her first practice hunt.

The weather was perfect for a hunt. Lots of sunshine and only a faint southerly breeze. Amanda breathed deeply, purging the atmosphere of the lounge from her lungs and replacing it with fresh air. There had been a rainfall the night before that should make tracks easy to follow. Amanda found a pattern to the depressions in the grass between the lodge and the woods. Rachel had headed right for the trees.

It felt good to leave the "company" of her fellow hunters in the lounge.

Good to be out here. Just me and Rachel and the hunting ground, thought Amanda. This is going to be a good day.

Or so it seemed.

A fork in the trail?

Well, all right. I'll have to waste a little time sorting this out.

Another fork? Okay. How many of these could she have made? It's obvious from the length of her strides that she was running, but however many diversions there were, it had taken her time to create them. This is going to be slow work, but sooner or later a pattern would emerge.

Both branches of the fork are dead ends?

Did I miss something? Should I go back?

Ah, a low hanging branch. Good one, Rachel. How far could she get in the trees? Well, she could only have gone one of three directions and she could only have stayed off the ground for about thirty feet. Put your nose to work.

Rachel stopped at this water tank and probably took a drink. Or just let some water run on the ground to let me know I was heading in the right direction. Start to look for traps.

Another fork? This makes five of them so far. But, in general, the true trail is heading east toward the stream and north toward - what? The caves?

Is that going to be Rachel's game? Hide in a cave?

Doesn't seem like her, but, yes, that could be it. Looking out of the entrance to a cave. Only one direction I could come from. She did say she would probably see me before I saw her. Did you slip up, there, Rache? Could be.

Eleven thirty. Ten and half hours to find Rachel. That's all I have to do. Just find her and she's mine.

Start opting for whatever branch of a fork leads east or north. Let's see if I go wrong doing that.

Okay. One time it doesn't work, but if the other fork curves back to the east or north, I'm right.

By noon, Rachel had all of her basic preparations made. She had even gone and set up her log-ravine trap, her back-up plan.

One more preparation, a refinement. Something extra for Amanda.

Yes. Okay. She does seem to be heading for the stream. Could be a deception. Might want me to get ahead of myself. Stick with the tracks.

By twelve-thirty, Rachel had everything well arranged.

No sign of Amanda, but she had a strong sense that Amanda was nearing the stream and from there would head for the caves.

Still plenty of time, she felt. Might as well improve on the basic design of one of her preparations, a defensive tool. She could add as much to it as she wanted. Keep concentrating on the view from the cave.

I probably could have saved myself some time and ignored completely those last two forks, but Rachel is being tricky today. It would be just like her to pull a last minute switch. But, no, she was heading for the stream.

And she didn't cross it directly. Of course not.

Using the stream to cover her tracks. Not terribly original, but it works sometimes.

So, did she head north or south? Well, obviously a little of both. Vague trace of scent from both directions. Bit stronger to the south, though. Well, the wind is coming from the south That could account for it. Or maybe not.

Head south. If she doubled back and went north, I should be able to tell soon enough.

Scent getting stronger. Almost too strong.

Wait. What's this? Smells like Rachel and smells like urine.

But why would she relieve herself on the bank and not just do it in the stream?

Probably because she wants me to think she headed south when she really headed north.

Or she is that what she wants me to think and she really did go south.

Rache, you are a regular little puzzle box, aren't you?

Well, when I was a child, I was known to just break puzzle boxes open to see what was inside.

North. I've been thinking caves all morning for some reason. That's where she's got to be.

One-ten. Twenty minutes to get to the caves and no more than a hour to search them. It can be a bitch to dig quarry out of a hole and I'm sure she's got some defenses set up, but, maximum, I should have her bagged by three thirty at the latest. Plenty of time for some fun before dark, before supper time.

Still, can't afford to overlook anything. Watch the banks carefully, she could have left the stream anywhere.

Head north.

Rachel had vague sense of Amanda heading north.

She looked at her watch. One fifteen. Still plenty of time. She continued to refine her defense tool.

I can't believe she's still leaving false trails. Such obvious signs of having left the stream and returned.

Well, this is the point nearest the caves and the signs are barely distinguishable.

Nice try, Rache.

The ground gets very hard from here to the caves. And she would have plenty of chances to take to the trees.

Okay, Rache. Here I come. Hope you're ready for me, but not too ready.

I'm sure she's armed herself with a spear. Might be worth taking the time to cut one myself.

Rachel relaxed. Only a matter of time, now.

She checked herself for second thoughts.

Nope.

Stick with the plan.

It took Amanda about hour and a half to fashion a spear and to completely satisfy herself that Rachel was not in the caves.

Having found a spear in one of the caves had given her pause, but when she took it into the light, she saw that it was not freshly cut. Could have been left by anyone.

Amanda sat down and laughed.

Okay, Rache. Nice one. Completely led me astray.

Three fifteen. Nearly half the day gone.

This has been a merry chase, but it's going to be over soon enough.

Rachel knew she couldn't count on much more time.

Even if Amanda had been misled at every turn, she would soon be tripping to the fact that she had been on the wrong track and take a new approach to finding her.

Amanda went back to the stream, moving much faster than before. In fact, she ran.

Once at the stream, it took her only fifteen minutes to reach the point where she had entered the stream.

Now, proceeding carefully. Looking to the left and right. Noticing every scratch, every indentation, every depression on the surface of each bank.

Paying attention to the trees. At some points, there were tree limbs low enough to be grabbed from the water. No broken twigs, no bent leaves.

Possibly Rachel went far, far downstream, far to the south.

Or maybe not.

Be alert for every possible opportunity to leave the stream without leaving much sign.

Scrutinizing the banks would get easier further downstream where the stream spread out. On the west side, the bank is a very gradual incline and quite soft. At that point, only the left bank would require close inspection.

Not there yet. Getting close, though.

Amanda noticed something odd about the stream as she walked.

Hard to define.

She looked behind her.

This was weird, she thought as she kept moving cautiously,

She wasn't sure when it had happened but somehow the quality of the stream, had changed.

It wasn't quite its usual bubbly self.

It had slowed down.

It was as though it had become... lazy.

Suddenly...

"Oh! Shit!"

The world dropped out from under Amanda.