DRINKING FROM THE NATURAL spring offered enough refreshment to get us down the other side of the hill, and our exhausted and staggering party trailed through feathered brushes that hit my ankles with a sharpness their appearance belied.
Beyond the farmhouse, the low rumble of an engine droned away. The glances I received from Kyle assured me he’d caught it, too. We continued, though, if only because a property would undoubtedly have a road leading from it, which I hoped could give us an indication of our location.
Outhouses decorated the barren ground up to the main property. The doors stood open on the first one we reached. Within, tools lined the left wall, on hooks or shelving, and stall after stall stretched opposite them. Although it obviously had the setup to house livestock, the o
