info on what happened?” Josiah kept trailing Buddy.
“They were playing in the woods when a man scared them. That’s all I know.”
Josiah paused and twisted around, his tan face carved in a frown. “I don’t see any evidence now that anyone is following Robbie.”
“But what about the man? The boot prints we found? He could—”
Suddenly a series of barks echoed through the trees.
“Come on. Buddy has something.”
Ella ran beside Josiah, who slowed down to allow her to keep up. Buddy sat at the base of a tree, barking occasionally, looking up, then at them.
“Robbie’s up in the tree,” Josiah said, slightly ahead of her now.
She examined the green foliage and saw Robbie clinging to a branch. He was safe. Thank You, Lord. Thank You.
But what about the man? The threat was still out there. The threat that could be Keith.
As she neared, she noticed her son’s wide brown eyes glued to Buddy. The fear on his face pierced through her. He might not recognize the German shepherd. “We’re here, Robbie,” she shouted. “Buddy is a search and rescue dog. He belongs to Josiah Witherspoon. You remember Mr. Witherspoon?”
Robbie barely moved his head in a nod, but he did look toward her. “Mom, I’m stuck.”
Standing under the cottonwood, Ella craned her neck and looked up at him. She wasn’t even sure how he’d managed to climb so high. He must be thirty feet off the ground. “Don’t do anything yet. You’ll be all right. Josiah and I will talk about the best way to get you down safely. Okay?” Her heart clenched at the sight of tears in her son’s eyes. His grip around the branch seemed to tighten. He was so scared. All she wanted to do was hold her child and tell him she wouldn’t let anything hurt him.
Josiah moved closer. “I can get him down. I have a longer reach than you.”
“You don’t think he can back down, keeping his arms around the limb?”
“Sometimes people freeze once they get into a tree and see how high they are. I have a feeling he was scared when he climbed up, then realized where he was. I did that once when I was a boy, not much younger than Robbie.”
“But should I—”
“You should be a mom and keep him calm.”
She nodded, relieved Josiah was here because she was afraid of heights. She would have climbed the tree if she had to, but then there might have been two people stuck up there. “Thanks.”
Josiah hoisted himself up onto the lowest branch that would hold his weight, then smiled at her. “I once had a tree where I loved to hide from the world, or rather, Alex when she bugged me. She never knew where I went. I used to watch her try to find me from my perch at the top.”
For the first time in hours, Ella chuckled. “I won’t tell her, in case you ever want to hide from her again.”
He began scaling the branches. “Much appreciated.”
“I won’t, either,” Robbie said in a squeaky voice.
“Thanks, partner,” Josiah said to her son, halfway up the main trunk of the cottonwood. “Ella, call David and tell him we found Robbie.”
Robbie stared down at the German shepherd. “What’s his name?”
While her son talked with Josiah about his dog, Ella gave David a call. “He’s in a tree, but Josiah is helping him down. We’ll return to base soon.” She lowered her voice while she continued. “Has Michael been found yet?”
“No, but I’ll pull everyone off the other areas to concentrate on the trail Jesse is following.”
“Are the police there?”
“Yes, Thomas Caldwell is here. He’s talking with Travis and getting a description of the man.”
Thomas was a friend of David’s and Josiah’s as well as a detective on the Anchorage police force. “Good. We’ll be there soon.”
When Ella disconnected the call, she watched Josiah shimmy toward Robbie as far as it was safe for him to go on the branch. He was probably one hundred and eighty pounds while her son was forty. Josiah paused about seven feet from Robbie.
“I can’t come out any farther, Robbie, but I’m here to grab you as you slide backward toward me. Hug the limb and use one hand to move back to me.” Josiah’s voice was even and calm, as though they were discussing the weather.
“I can’t. I’m...I’m scared. What if I fall?” Robbie peered at the ground and shook his head.
“Don’t look down. Do you see that squirrel on the branch near you? He’s watching you. Keep an eye on him.”
“He’s probably wondering what we’re doing up here.” Robbie stared at the animal, its tail twitching back and forth.
Her son scooted a few inches down the limb, which was at a slight incline from the trunk. When the squirrel scurried away, Robbie squeezed his eyes shut and continued to move at a snail’s pace. Finally, when he was within a foot of Josiah, her son raised his head and glanced back at Josiah. His gaze drifted downward, and he wobbled on the branch, sliding to the side.
Ella gasped.
Josiah moved fast, latching on to Robbie’s ankle. “I’ve got you. You’re okay.”
But her son flailed again. “I’m gonna...”
He fell off the limb, screaming. Then suddenly he was hanging upside down, dangling from the end of Josiah’s grip. Robbie’s fingertips grazed a smaller branch under him, but it wouldn’t hold his weight. Ella’s legs went weak, but she remained upright.
“Okay, Robbie?” Josiah adjusted his weight to keep balanced.
“Yes,” her son barely said.
“You’re safe. Nothing is going to happen to you. Hold still. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” Robbie said in a little stronger voice.
“I’m lifting you up to me, then we’ll climb down together.”
Josiah’s gaze connected to Ella’s, and she had no doubt her son would be safely on the ground in a few minutes. She sank against the tree trunk, its rough bark scraping her arm. She hardly noticed it, though, as Josiah grabbed her son with both hands and brought Robbie to him, the muscles in his arms bunching with the strain.
When Robbie was in the crook of the tree between the trunk and limb, he hugged Josiah. Surprise flitted across the man’s face.
He patted her son on the back several times. “Let’s get down from here. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving for a hamburger and fries.”
“Yeah!”
