constricted at the thought of the boy still out there. Not far from David stood his wife with Michael’s mother. Tears ran down the young woman’s face while Bree consoled her.
When Ella joined David and Thomas, she asked in a low voice, “Has Michael been found yet?”
David’s mouth lifted in a grin. “Yes, just two minutes ago. He hurt himself. Jesse thinks it’s a sprained ankle. He’s bringing him in.”
“Thank God he’s safe. Good thing Bree is here. She can check him on-site.” Ella spied her son and Josiah making their way toward her.
David peered at his wife with love deep in his eyes.
David had been fortunate last winter to rescue Bree, a doctor who flew to remote villages, from a downed bush plane in the wilderness. That had been the beginning of a beautiful relationship, which had just culminated in their wedding on Valentine’s Day. Sometimes Ella wished she had a special man in her life again, but her marriage to Keith had soured her on marriage. But David deserved some happiness.
How about you? a little voice in her head said.
She was happy. She had her son, friends, a good church and a fulfilling job. She didn’t need a man to be happy. And yet, when she saw other married couples who obviously loved each other, a twinge stabbed her with the idea of what could have been if she hadn’t married Keith.
“Travis’s dad told me Michael has been found,” Josiah said.
“Yeah, Mom. Can we wait until he arrives before going to dinner?”
Ella slid a look to Josiah, and he answered her son, “Yes, of course.”
“Good. Travis is staying, too. I’m gonna sit with him until Michael shows up.”
“Ella, I’d like to ask Robbie a few questions,” Thomas said.
“Yes, of course.”
Thomas smiled at her son. “It’s nice to see you again. That picnic David threw on the Fourth of July was great. We’ll need to work on him to have one for Labor Day, especially if his father is going to be the chef.”
“Yeah. My favorite part was the fireworks.” Still clutching Buddy’s leash, Robbie stroked the German shepherd as he craned his neck to peer up at Thomas.
“Travis told me what happened, but I’d love to hear it from you, too.”
The grin on her son’s face vanished. “We were over there.” Robbie gestured toward the line of trees near the camp base. “We heard an owl but couldn’t see it so we thought we would try to find it.” He swung his attention to Ella. “I know we shouldn’t have gone away from the camp, but I love birds. I saw a bald eagle earlier today.”
“We’ll talk about that later. Right now, just tell the detective what you remember.”
Pausing for a moment, Robbie tilted his head. “Mom, I think I need to learn how to track. That way I would have known how to get back to camp. We walked for a while, listening to the owl hoot.” He closed his eyes for a few seconds, balling his hands. “When I saw a man with a mean face standing by a tree staring at us, I looked around. None of us could really tell which way we’d come from. We were talking and not paying attention. I was gonna inspect the ground for footprints, but the man started heading for us. We ran. Me and Michael followed Travis, thinking he must know the way. He didn’t.”
“I understand you all split up. Why?” Thomas asked.
“Because the man was still behind us. I’ve seen it on a TV show. People split up when they are being chased. That way one of us could run back and get help.”
“What happened when you did that?” Thomas asked.
“At first, he went after me, but then suddenly he turned and started in the direction Michael went. I decided to climb a tree, but the first one wasn’t good. The second one was better.” He dropped his head. “Except I couldn’t get down. Then Josiah saved me.” Robbie’s gaze fixed on Josiah.
“What did the man look like?” Thomas wrote on his pad.
“A grizzly bear.”
“Robbie, no kidding around. This is serious,” Ella scolded him.
“Mom, I know. He was huge—” Robbie’s arms spread out to indicate not only tall but wide “—and had so much dark brown hair all over him. When I was running and looked back, that was what he reminded me of.” Her son trembled. “I don’t ever want to see him again. I promise, Mom, I won’t ever go off like that.”
Relieved that the description didn’t fit her ex-husband at all, especially all that dark hair, she released a slow breath. “I’m glad you learned a good lesson.” Ella patted his shoulder, realizing the fear Robbie had experienced would be more effective than if she grounded him for a week.
“Anything else about the man that might help me find him?” Thomas scribbled a few more notes on his pad.
Robbie stared at the ground, then slowly shook his head. “Nope. I was running most of the time. I didn’t want him to catch me.”
“Thanks, Robbie, for helping me. You can go sit with Travis if you want now.” While her son handed Buddy’s leash to Josiah then left, Thomas gave Ella his card. “Call me if he remembers anything else. I’ve got police combing the woods right now. Hopefully we’ll find the man. We’ll work on a composite sketch after I talk with Michael. I’d like to show the boys the picture our artist comes up with and see what they think. Okay?”
“Yes. I want him found. I don’t like the idea someone is out there chasing children.”
“Neither do I. My partner is checking the database of criminals who target children in Anchorage to see if one matches the description.”
The realization of how close Robbie had come to being taken by a stranger finally took hold of Ella. The campsite spun before her eyes while her legs gave way.
As Ella began to sink to the ground, Josiah grabbed her and held her up. “When was the last time you ate something?” He looked into her eyes, making sure she hadn’t fainted.
“I don’t remember,” she answered with a shaky laugh. “I was so worried about Robbie, I wasn’t thinking about eating.”
“Let’s go sit on the bench over there.” Josiah’s arm held her protectively against his side, and he moved toward the wooden seat off to the side.
“Thanks.” Ella closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
When David approached, he said, “I’ll get something to hold you over until you can eat a real meal.” He left for a moment and was back with a granola bar and a bottle of water. “Sorry it’s not more, but this should tide you over for the time being.”
She took a bite of the granola bar and took a sip of water. “I started thinking about what could have happened if that man had caught Robbie or one of the other
