CHAPTER 7
R
ob nodded and stood waiting by the trail, which was just a worn and waving line of compacted earth among the detritus of the woods. Alexander moved ahead for a few dozen yards before disappearing into the brush to the left of the path. This part of the forest was denser, and tangles of undergrowth covered the ground in areas. He stood in the stillness and leaned back to stare at the fragmentary spots of pale blue sky which invaded around the edges of the treetops.
A slight muffled crackling noise emanated from the foliage to his right. The trail ran along the spine of a rise in ground, and he peered down the smooth slope to his right into the mass of ferns and shrubs. The moment after hearing the sound, he spied something out of the corner of his eye, a subtle movement benea
