Chapter 909 Chapter 909
“I’m not picking up anything, are you?”
Foster looked over where Ena was walking. They’d realized they couldn’t walk side by side, or they’d only be able to scent each other. He stopped. “I think we chose the wrong direction.”
She nodded. “Let’s go back to where it was strong.”
They were walking down a back road where they’d stopped and parked when they found the three trees that looked like gnarled hands. He had thought it was a strange landmark and would be impossible to find until they saw it. Foster had no idea what had happened to those trees about a hundred years ago, but they looked like old creepy hands reaching to the sky.
“Maybe we have to leave the road to find them.” Ena was walking in the middle of the road now.
He wasn’t worried about any vehicles coming up on them without notice. There were so many potholes in the road that no one could drive fast. If they did, the potholes would rattle and shake the vehicle so loudly that they’d have plenty of warning to move out of the way.
When they reached where the van was parked, they stopped and looked around.
“This was the only dirt road off the main road.” He watched Ena Walk to the opposite side of the road. “It only went this way.” He turned around and looked at the trees. “Chances of more trees looking like this are slim.” He looked both ways. “Maybe we should drive on a bit further.”
“Foster.”
He spun around.
Ena pointed in the ditch. “Look.”
Going over, he saw there were impressions that ran the width of the ditch, as if wide planks had been there. On the other side were tire marks in the mud.
“I guess we’re going in the bush.” He stepped down into the ditch and unzipped his jacket. The handgun was clipped onto the waist of his jeans. It felt heavy and weird, but if it came down to saving their lives, he could handle the strange feeling of it being there.
Ena stopped after she went through the ditch. She took a deep breath and then glanced back at him and nodded.
It made sense now that this clan would be here. Behind the large forest were mountains. A clan of cougars wouldn’t exactly blend if they were living out in plain sight.
“Keep an eye out.” He caught up to her.
She nodded. “My coyote is very alert right now. She’ll warn me.”
“Mhmm.” His animal wasn’t taking any chances with their mate possibly waking into danger. Foster pulled out his phone and checked that there was actually a signal. It surprised him that there was.
“The scent is stronger.” She whispered.
Foster reached out and took her hand. He needed to keep her close just in case anything happened. He’d never considered himself brave, but he knew he wouldn’t hesitate to put himself between any danger and Ena.
They walked for at least fifteen minutes before the scents of other shifters was strong enough to pick up with each breath. His animal braced at the same moment a man stepped out of the trees. He was tall with shaggy, sandy blond hair.
“Are you lost?”
Foster moved Ena closer to him. “I don’t think so.” From the scents, he knew there were two more somewhere close, and he could smell the gunpowder. “We’re with the Alliance.”
The man’s expression didn’t change.
Ena stepped closer to him. “We found Alyce and Tisha.”
A woman stepped out of the trees. She was the same height as Foster and had grey streaks in her blonde hair. She looked at the man and then Ena.
“They’re okay. They needed some medical attention, so the Alliance is taking care of them.” Ena continued.
“They’ve been gone six months.” The woman said. “Where did you find them?”
Ena looked at Foster; he nodded for her to continue; she was doing a good job.
“In Minnesota on a farm where they were holding other shifters.”
The woman looked at the man again.
“Why didn’t you bring them back?” The man asked.
“We weren’t sure if their clan was still here,” Foster told him.
“You’re with the Alliance? The shifter Alliance?”
Foster nodded. “Yes. We’ve been tracking down clans in North America and dealing with an organization that abducts them.”
“Our clan hasn’t heard from the Alliance in at least twenty years.”
Foster didn’t blame him for sounding skeptical. “I know. A lot of traitors were working for the organization from inside the Alliance, and many clans just stopped being heard from.”
“How do we know you’re not with the bunch of traitors?”
Foster looked at Ena and then slowly pulled his phone out of his pockets. “I can call the girls.”
The woman’s expression told him this was another clan without technology.
She nodded. “Do it.”
He checked that there was a signal. Thankfully, there was still a signal. He brought up Zain and hit send quickly. If the girls weren’t still at the headquarters, Zain would know where they were.
“Go for Zain.”
“Zain. We found them. They want to talk to the girls.”
“Am I on speaker?”
“No.”
“Are you safe?”
“I don’t know right now. I’m putting you on speaker now.” He tapped the symbol.
“Okay, Foster. One second, I’ll call down to the medical ward right now and link the call in.”
Foster had no idea how he was going to do that and didn’t care just as long as it worked.
“Hello?”
“McKenna, it’s Zain. Can you take the phone to the girls? We’ve made contact with their clan.”
“Oh wow. That’s great. Hang on. Tisha is in the shower right now, but Alyce is here.”
They could hear voices and really wanted to look around, but they didn’t want to take their eyes off of the man with Ena standing right there.
“Hello?”
“Alyce? Is that you? It’s Hazel.”
“Hazel. Is mom there?”
“No, honey. We’re not at the house right now. Are you okay? Is Tisha okay?”
“We’re a lot better than we were. Tish has a fracture in her tibia, but Madison put a cast on it and says it will heal up good and that one day she’ll still be able to shift.” She started to sob. “Hazel, it was awful. I thought we were going to die. If the Alliance hadn’t found us, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Hazel moved closer to Foster. “You just settle yourself down. You’re safe now.” She looked at Foster. “A couple just came and found us.”
Ena leaned closer to the phone. “Alyce, it’s Ena. I’m with Foster. I’m glad you’re doing better.”
“Ena. Thank you for finding the clan. Mister Zain said Foster would, so we can go home when we’re better.”
Hazel nodded. “You just rest up. I’ll tell your folks you’re safe, and maybe they can come get you soon.”
“Okay, Hazel. Tell mom I love her, and I’m sorry we went to town when we shouldn’t have.”
Foster glanced at Ena. He was going to have to tell Zain that someone should go check out that town.
Hazel wiped a tear off her cheek. “I’ll do that. We’ll talk soon.”
“Hello. It’s McKenna.”
“Thanks, McKenna,” Foster said.
“No problem.”
“Zain?”
“I’m still here.”
Foster looked at the man. “I’ll call you when I know more.”
“I’ll be waiting. I’ll need a list of things needed so I can get them sent there ahead of Walker arriving.”
Foster nodded. “I’ll let you know.” He hung up and tucked the phone back in his pocket.
The man stepped forward and held out his hand. “Ezra.”
Foster took his hand and shook it. “Foster.”
Ezra glanced behind them. “You can come out, Elijah.”
Foster turned to see a man a bit younger than himself come out of the trees.
“Where’s your car?”
Foster pointed. “I left the van on the road.”
Ezra held out his hand. “Give us the keys. We’ll get it. We can’t leave it on the road, or it will attract attention.”
Foster didn’t want to give him the keys, but he knew he had to build some trust. Pulling them out of his pocket, he held them out. “I don’t know how it will handle this trail.”
Ezra grinned. “We’ll get it in.” He looked at Hazel. “You take them in and talk to the girl’s family.”
Hazel nodded. “It’s some kind of miracle.” She motioned to the trail. “Don’t forget to reset the line, Elijah.”
“I know my job, Mom,” Elijah replied and then rolled his eyes.
Foster held Ena’s hand and walked with Hazel. “Line?”
Hazel nodded. “Ezra has a fishing line set up along the trees—” She pointed to a tree.
He looked up to see the light glint off something ten feet up.
“It runs to the yard and lets us know if anyone is heading this way.”
“That’s brilliant.”
Hazel shrugged. “We just do what we can to stay out of sight and keep everyone safe.”