Tracks in the Sand

by Mark Littleton

  Nick scoured the trees for Ally and Molly but saw no sign of them. A little closer, and then he’d be ready. He crouched down then slithered on his belly. The undergrowth was thick, full of crab grass that scratched and tugged at his skin. He worried about cutting his bare arms and legs then spotted an alley-like tunnel. With new energy, he crawled to it, inching closer to the clearing.

  V

  Back in the underbrush Molly whispered to Ally, “I can see the black stallion. Should I get out a carrot?”

  “We don’t want to feed them, Molly,” Ally said. “We want to stampede them. We need to scare them away from those men and get some pictures to identify those men for the police.”

  Molly stared through the growth at the horses only forty feet away. She noticed the wind ruffling through the trees. The girls were downwind from the Mustangs. Ally sensed what Molly was thinking.

  “There’s no way the horses will catch our scent,” she said. “They won’t run until we jump into the clearing and scare them into action.”

  Suddenly Molly realized this wasn’t a good plan. “What if they turn around and come at us?” she asked, her eyes widening in fear.

  Ally chewed her lip thoughtfully. “You’re right. Why didn’t Nick think of that? Maybe we should stay in the bushes and just shake them around. We’d better not step out into the clearing where they can see us.”

  Molly nodded. Both girls worked back and forth in the trees, trying to get closer.

  The horses bounded about in a little pack like waves, dodging one way and then another—in unison. The stallion trotted around them in a frenzy. He ducked his head up and down, snorting and rearing. He wove back and forth in front of the pack, never standing still, never giving Lug a clear shot.

  The men crept closer from the far end of the clearing. Lug sprinted forward then stopped and aimed. Pack followed, gripping a tripod. It appeared Lug planned to fix the gun onto the tripod for a clearer shot. Molly stood with Ally near the edge of the clearing, protected by the bushes, watching. Suddenly Pack picked up a long pole and darted at the horses.

  “He must be trying to guide them toward the rifleman,” Molly thought aloud.

  “We have to move quick,” Ally said.

  Lug took aim, though he was still at least sixty feet from the horses.

  Suddenly one of the men turned around. Molly followed his gaze to a glint in the sunlight. Was that John’s camera peering just over the top of the dune? She couldn’t be sure. It kept bobbing up and down. “Maybe we should just jump up and shout,” Ally said.

  “I think we’d better do something,” Molly answered. “And quick.”

  “Okay, on three. One…”

  V

  Nick waited for the girls to appear at the other end. He saw John poke his head over the edge of the dune several times but not close enough to snap any pictures. John would have to stand on the top of the dune and probably even run forward a little. Nick knew that even with the zoom lens he might not get good face shots of the two men. He figured he would just have to divert the men, and when he started to stand, his knees were shaking.

  V

  “Two…” Ally said crisply.

  Crack!

  At the same moment a branch broke under Nick’s knee on the other side of the clearing.

  Lug jumped from his position under the tripod. “What was that?”

  Pack turned around and immediately spotted Nick.

  Ally saw what had happened and didn’t wait till three. She and Molly jumped up and started yelling. At the same time John started taking pictures. The horses whinnied. The stallion wheeled, darted forward, then stopped right in front of John.

  Lug and Pack spun in confusion and then anger.

  “Get the boy,” Lug yelled to Pack.

  The short man whipped around, and John got a full-face shot with his camera. He just kept shooting as Lug dropped the rifle and ran up the dune toward him.

  Ally picked up a rock. She didn’t want to hurt the horses but had to get them going. They pranced back and forth, unable to make the decision to run. She hoped the stallion would take her cue. She cocked her arm and threw, striking the stallion just enough in the flank to cause him to bolt forward. The other Mustangs followed, kicking sand in a frenzy at Lug and Pack, who fell to the ground.

  V

  Back in the crow’s nest, Kelly bit into her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and scanned the horizon for signs of the Mustangs or her friends. Just as she started to sit back, she saw someone standing on a dune. It was a guy, and he had something in his hands that he brought up to his face…Was it…? she thought. Then, Yes! A camera! It had to be John!

  “Hurrah,” she shouted, then muttered, “All right. Look for the others.”

  Kelly peered steadily; the distance that separated them was too great. She couldn’t hope for much, so she leaned down and pulled the video camera out of her backpack. As she scanned the area one more time, she saw the horses roiling back and forth in the clearing. Pointing the video camera in that direction, she focused, then pressed the button to get whatever she could on film.

  Eleven

  Molly Gets Away

  Nick saw he would be caught by the men unless he could get into the clearing and sprint. He figured he could outrun the squat man, Pack. He dashed around the edge of the clearing toward Ally and Molly with Pack less than twenty feet behind him. It was a good thirty yards to the trees where the girls were crouching among the brambles.

  Nick kept his eyes on them, sure he would make it. But when he bolted around, Pack had begun gaining, despite his clumsiness. “Stop, kid,” he shouted at Nick, “I’ve got you.”

  Nick didn’t see the rock that just peeked up over the topsoil, barely visible. His toe caught it, and he tumbled headlong into a tree, banging his head. Molly screamed. Ally stood up and yelled.

  Pack shouted, “Don’t move!” He had a knife in his hand.

  But the stallion was charging through the clearing, and Pack didn’t see him coming. Whinnying with savage anger, the big black leaped forward, kicking. A hoof caught Pack in the chest, catapulting him into the brambles.

  Nick watched in horror, wincing from his own cut, then wiped the blood at his forehead.

  “Over here!”Ally called.

  Pushing himself to his feet, Nick staggered toward Ally.

  Pack cowered as the stallion reared over him. Then it wheeled, snorted, and led the throng of Mustangs into the center of the clearing and to safety, crashing down a trail and across the dunes.

  “Run! Run!” Nick yelled as he started running.

  Molly and Ally didn’t wait. They both scurried through the underbrush to the last few trees, then turned around and waited.

  Pack still lay in the bushes, unwilling to move. Had he seen the girls? No one knew. But they hurried through the woods back toward the beach.

  “Did you see that stallion?” Ally cried.

  “He was great, wasn’t he?” Molly said, still awestruck.

  “I guess he knows which ones are the bad guys,” Nick answered with a grin. They all turned just in time to see the stallion disappear down a trail with the other horses.

  Pack lay in the bushes, looking beaten.

  John was still shooting with his camera as Lug screamed and cursed at him. John, sure he could outrun the lanky thug, clicked one last picture, then turned and skidded down the dune. But the big man leaped from the top of the dune, tackling John at the bottom.

  The two wrestled and sprawled across the ground, John’s camera tumbling into the sand. He tried to wriggle away, but Lug pinned him to the ground. John couldn’t move. He squirmed beneath the big man and screamed for help.

  Lug slapped him across the face. “Who are you, kid? Tell me!” He grabbed John’s shirt collar and shook him. “Tell me who you are!”

  “My name is John. Captain in the U.S. Army…” John said, thinking he could outsmart anyone, as usual, and trying to wisecrack his way through this. “Serial number: 123.”<
br />
  Lug cuffed him across the cheek. “Don’t get wise with me, kid! Where do you live?” Lug shook John again, shouting, “Where do you live?”

  John rolled over and tried to curl into a ball. Lug grabbed him by the collar and dragged him up the dune. John closed his eyes to keep out the sand. His camera lay in disarray at the base of the dune.

  Reaching the top, Lug surveyed the field, holding tightly onto John. The horses stood on the trail, waiting again, but in the clear. The stallion seemed to have them under perfect control.

  “Pack!” Lug yelled.

  The squat little man stood up finally, shaking. Feebly, he ventured, “The horse kicked me.”

  “Get over here!” Lug screamed.

  Pack hesitated then scrambled out, keeping to the edges. The horses disappeared into the brush.

  Still unsteady, Pack came panting to the top of the dune. “That big brute knocked me in the chest.”

  “Shut up,” Lug said. “Don’t be stupid. We got problems.”

  Lug pulled John to his feet. He told Pack to get the camera. The short man retrieved it and tried to open it then gave up. “Never could figure out these things,” he said to himself.

  Lug grabbed the camera out of his hands and gave it to John. “Take out the film, kid.”

  “My name is John. I’m a five-star general….”

  Lug grabbed John by the ear. “Hold this,” he said to Pack, giving him the camera. “I’m going to teach this kid some manners.”

  He pulled back a fist like he was going to slug John. Then he shouted toward the end of the dunes, “You better get up here, kid, or your friend is going to be hurt all over, and bad.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Nick,” John yelled.

  “Don’t try and be a hero, kid,” Lug snarled. “It’ll only buy you more trouble.”

  V

  Nick and the girls stopped along the beach side of the trees. Everyone ducked down and struggled through the underbrush to get a better look. Creeping on hands and knees around the edge of the last parcel of brush before the dunes, Nick saw the two thugs standing on top of the dune. John lay at the bottom, curled in a ball.

  “Come out now, or this one’s going to lose some major organs!” Lug yelled, but not so loud that anyone near the beach houses would hear.

  “What are we going to do?” Molly whispered, her face a twist of terror as she crept up to Nick. Ally was right behind her.

  “Just stay down,” Nick said.

  Lug’s voice swept out over the dunes. “Get up here, kid, or this boy is going to suffer. Now!”

  Standing up and peeking through the brush, Nick could see John better. Lug had grabbed him by the collar.

  “We can’t leave him there,” Ally said.

  Nick watched a moment, then turned to the girls. He took his Swiss Army knife from his pocket and hid it in his underwear. “I’m going to give myself up. Maybe I can help John escape. They’re not gonna hurt us anyway—that would be too stupid.”

  “Hurt us?” Ally seethed. “What about what they’re doing to John now?”

  “They’re not being that rough,” Nick said, looking back, then turning to the girls, sighing. “Okay, maybe they’re being a little rough.”

  “Look, Nick,” Ally said. “These hoods aren’t messing around. We’ve got to go for the police. Now.”

  Lug yelled one last time, and Nick peered into Ally’s eyes. “I can’t desert him now,” he repeated.

  “Okay,” Ally said. “But we can’t all go. That’s suicide.”

  “We have to think clearly,” Nick said. “I think they’ll tie us up and get out of here as fast as they can. They know we’re only tourists. We won’t be staying around for any investigation, so they’ll just hightail it. If I can delay them, maybe the police will come in time to get them.”

  Ally looked at Molly and said, “I’ll watch and see what they do with the boys. Molly, you go back to the house, tell our parents, and call the police. Just don’t get into trouble yourself. Keep down and out of sight, and don’t let them see you, no matter what. You may be our only hope of helping John and Nick—and the horses.”

  “Nick, what if they beat you up or something?” Molly asked, her eyes wide with fright.

  “Look, I got us into this, and if I’m with John, we might be able to stall them until the police get here. Anybody got a better plan?” Nick looked from Ally to Molly and back.

  “All right,” Ally said. “I’m going to do what I can to get you both out. But Molly, you’ve got to move fast. We can’t wait long.”

  Molly nodded. “I can do it.”

  She pulled her pack onto her back and started toward the beach. “Don’t get hurt,” she called over her shoulder.

  “Wait,” Nick said. Molly ran back, then he took her hand and Ally’s. “Squeeze, and then let’s go.”

  “Okay.”

  They all held hands a moment and squeezed. Ally said, “Dear God, give us courage. Let us let you work.” Another squeeze by all, and the three let go of each others’ hands. Molly turned and crouched in the bushes.

  Lug’s voice pulled Nick and Ally back to the crisis at hand. “I’m giving you to three, and then this John person here loses his front teeth.”

  “We have to move,” Nick said urgently. “Hang tough, you guys.” He patted Molly on the back. She crawled through the bushes until she reached the biggest trees.

  Ally gave Nick a quick kiss on the cheek. Tears glimmered in her eyes. “I’ll be watching,” she said. “I’ll do my best.”

  “One.” Lug’s voice was behind them. “Two.”

  Nick jumped up and ran down the beach toward the dune. When he saw that Molly was well on her way and out of sight and Ally was hidden in the trees, he shouted, “I’m here! I’m here!”

  V

  Through her video camera, Kelly thought she saw John. She put on her binoculars then turned back to the horses. They kept milling around as if very frightened. What is going on? she wondered.

  A moment later, the Mustangs ran into view again. She pulled up the camera and saw them charge out of the small space and head for the trees. Kelly followed them with the lens, tracing their tracks around in a wide arc. Where is everyone?

  Then Kelly saw someone running up the side of a dune. Nick, maybe?

  She shifted her attention and concentrated on the horses, keeping the video camera pointed at them as they dashed about in a wide semicircle. They seemed to know exactly where they were going. At one point they crossed a main trail.

  It was fun filming the horses. Kelly was sure the others would be happy she had gotten it on her video. As she panned the landscape, she noticed the top of a white RV parked in the trees. She panned back and saw two people on top of a dune. Could that be Nick and John? Kelly couldn’t make them out clearly and turned back to film the horses.

  Twelve

  Tied and Gagged

  Lug gripped Nick’s arm and led him to where Pack and John stood. John was bleeding, his sweaty, blood-streaked hair in his eyes. The camera and backpack lay on the ground, broken. Nick told himself to stay calm and said nothing out loud.

  “What we gonna do?” Pack said to Lug.

  “The cops’re going to get you!” John suddenly yelled with fierce determination.

  Pack shook him and said, “Be quiet!”

  Lug turned to Nick. “Are there any others?” He shook him by the collar. “You tell the truth, punk, or you’re dead meat. Are there others?” He began to frisk him.

  “No,” Nick said coolly. “It’s just me and John.”

  “I’m sure I heard some other voices,” Pack said to Lug. “Didn’t you?”

  “I don’t know.” Lug grabbed the hypodermic gun. “You want to get shot with this or somethin’? You better be tellin’ the truth or I’m going to bust you good.”

  Nick caught John’s eyes. The younger boy was obviously wondering what happened to Ally and Molly. But Nick just let his eyes flicker a second, trying to signal John not t
o antagonize the two thugs.

  “Well, the horses are gone,” Lug said. “Let’s get back to the RV.”

  He pushed John and Nick ahead of him. Pack picked up the camera and backpack. “One of you tries to get away,” Lug said, “and the one left is going to get it. You understand? So neither of you had better try anything. Got it?”

  Nick said, “I’m not trying to get away.”

  “Yeah, well, see that you don’t change your mind.”

  Lug had a two- or three-day growth of beard. His dark beady eyes blinked. With his thin neck and protruding Adam’s apple, he looked like a turkey, but he was wiry in a muscular kind of way.

  Pack was definitely the follower of the two, obeying all of Lug’s orders and not seeming to have ideas of his own. Nick hoped it wouldn’t be too hard to get away, but he couldn’t be sure he’d get a chance that didn’t endanger John. He could feel his Swiss Army knife sliding down his side.

  The four walked along the dune till they reached a separation in the undergrowth, then headed through. Pack led. Lug carried the injection gun, following the rest of them.

  A moment later, Nick spotted their dirty white RV on a flat spot among the trees. With the underbrush crowding in on all four sides, no one could see them from any of the sandy paths used as roads in this part of the Outer Banks.

  Nick thought Ally could probably drive an RV. She had lived on a farm for years, so she knew how to drive tractors, cars, and trucks. She had once shown Nick how to drive a little motorcycle and a pickup. He fought the impulse to try and spot her, signal her, and devise a quick escape, but he wondered if she was following them.