“What’s wrong?” Ozzie asks as he walks up next to me.
I nod to the town. “We’re sitting ducks if we go down there.”
He takes in the town and the forest we left. “I agree. If those men are still looking for us, they’ll come here, and we have no idea where they might come out of the forest.”
“Harding said we are to meet our ride at the water tower on the other side of town, but it will be a few hours, at least, before anyone arrives.”
Brian scratches the back of his neck as he stares down at the town. “That’s really all out in the open.”
“Yeah, we need a place to hide. Let’s get closer. Maybe we’ll find a vacant house,” I say.
Brian winces and rubs his chest.
“Hey, how are you doing?” I nod to his ribs.
He grunts. “As good as can be expected. I’ll be happy when we can rest.”
We find a road and walk along the side, which makes me very uncomfortable. There’s nowhere to hide if someone were to come along. Fortunately, we’ve only seen one man on a tractor so far.
“Hey, that might work,” Ozzie says, pointing at an old barn.
It’s about two hundred yards from what appears to be a new barn. Maybe it’s not in use anymore.
“It’s worth a look,” I say.
Once we enter the property, we run to the barn, and Ozzie and I slip inside to check it out. The only thing we find is some old hay.
I pop my head outside and signal Brian and Delaney to join us. They run to the barn, but Delaney trips and falls a few feet away. I go to her as she tries to stand but falls again.
A car engine grows louder, so I pick her up and get her inside the barn before a car passes. The last thing we need is someone to see us sneaking in here.
“At least we can hide in here for a while,” Ozzie says.
Brian stares at the ceiling. “This thing looks like it could collapse at any moment.”
I set Delaney on the ground. “Way to think positive.”
He grumbles, “Just being realistic.”
Delaney rubs her ankle.
“Did you sprain it?” I ask.
Her eyes meet mine. “I think so. When we were running, there was a hole I stepped in just outside the barn.”
Her ankle is already swelling, and there is no way she will be able to walk on it. I turn to Ozzie. “How far would you say the water tower is?”
Ozzie thinks for a moment. “Probably about a mile of walking.”
That’s what I thought, too.
Ozzie bends down and assesses her ankle. “We could take turns carrying her, but that will draw attention to us.”
“Ozzie and I will go to the water tower and then direct the driver here to get you two,” Brian says.
I hate separating from them, but it’s a better plan than carrying her out in the open. “All right,” I say.
We sit in silence for a couple of hours, each watching out a different side of the barn. Several cars drive by on the road, but fortunately, no one turns down the driveway toward us.
