Kelly’s heart began to pound wildly.
Time stretched into an eternity as she sat on the ground, her eyes fixed on the reptile, every muscle in her body threatening to betray her.
The snake bobbed and weaved in the gloom, its tongue darting in and out of that hideous white mouth.
It moved forward, slithering toward her silently, as if it were now certain where she was.
Kelly tensed, willing her throat to constrict the scream that rose from her lungs.
The snake paused again, coiling back on itself, darting first one way and then another.
It crept still closer, and Kelly felt a shudder go through her as it neared her outstretched leg.
But as it touched her skin, and all her instincts screamed at her to jerk away, something reached into her mind.
The unheard voice calmed her, and Kelly stared mutely at the serpent as it rippled over her calf, its scales making her skin crawl.
And then, as quickly as it had appeared, the snake slithered off into the foliage, its thick black body and yellow tail moving through the reeds with barely a sign that it was there at all.
Her teeth chattering with the sudden release of tension in her body, Kelly stayed where she was until the reeds stopped moving and she was certain the snake had gone. Slowly she raised herself up and carefully tested her weight on the injured ankle.
A sharp pain shot up her leg, but the ankle held, and she took a tentative step forward.
The pain eased slightly, and on the second step, the shock of her weight on the joint was less severe.
She could still walk.
But now she felt creatures lurking everywhere in the darkness, lying in wait, ready to strike out at her. Every vine she saw became a snake, and with every soft rustle she heard in the undergrowth she froze, searching in the faint moonlight for signs of the animals she was certain were there.
She trudged on. Now, straight ahead of her, a pair of eyes glowed brightly, low to the ground.
Another pair appeared beside the first, and then a third.
She stopped short, once again holding her breath.
The eyes moved, and then a raccoon, accompanied by two babies, crossed a small patch of moonlight. As Kelly uttered a sharp laugh of relief, the raccoons, startled, leaped into a tree and scrambled upward, pausing finally on a branch midway up, where they gazed warily down at her.
Kelly lingered there for a few minutes, watching the raccoons until they moved on, scrambling through the trees, where they disappeared.
And then, in the distance, Kelly saw a light, moving slowly, as if it was floating above the water.
Ignoring the pain in her ankle, she ran forward, calling out, “Help! I’m here! Help me!”
Abruptly the light stopped moving, hanging stationary in the darkness.
Ignoring everything but the light, Kelly bolted through the night. She felt her shoe flood with water but gave it no heed, stumbling on toward the glowing beacon, which now seemed to be coming toward her.
Her right foot struck a log that was half submerged in the shallow water, and she was about to step over it when, abruptly, it moved. The water roiled and an alligator rose up out of the mud and spun around, its tail lashing as its jaws gaped wide.
Screaming, Kelly twisted away as the ’gator lunged at her, and she felt a sharp tug as its jaws snapped closed on the loose tail of her blouse. Her voice rose in another scream and she jerked hard, feeling the material of the blouse give way.
The ’gator dropped into the water, then started after her, rising up once more on its stubby legs, lumbering through the mud. Kelly hurled herself forward, but once more she slipped, lost her balance, and flopped into the water.
The alligator was closing again, its jaws wide, and Kelly raised her arm to shield herself from its attack.
And then, just as the ’gator was starting its final lunge, a shot rang out.
The ’gator stiffened, then dropped back into the water, its tail lashing spasmodically.
Kelly stared at it, a third scream rising in her throat. Kicking out with her legs, her fingers clawing at the soft bottom, she tried to pull herself away from the thrashing beast.
Hands closed on her shoulders and she felt herself being lifted up.
“He’s dyin’,” someone said. “He’s dyin’, an’ I got you.”
Kelly looked up. Above her, gazing down at her in the dim moonlight, was a narrow, pinched-looking face, its pale, deep-sunk eyes all but covered by a battered hat.
Kelly, already on the verge of exhaustion, felt a wave of dizziness overwhelm her. Then the blackness of the night closed around her as her mind began to shut down.
• • •
“This is nuts,” Tim Kitteridge muttered as Marty Templar turned their boat into yet another of the endless bayous. “I hope you know where the hell we are, because if it were up to me, I’d never get us out of here.”
Templar chuckled, but the laugh died away quickly. It had been almost two hours, and there hadn’t been so much as a trace of Kelly Anderson. He glanced at the chief out of the corner of his eye, then returned his gaze to the swamp. “Seems like maybe we ought to wait till morning,” he said. “We’re almost back where we started from, and if we’re going to keep on looking, we’ll have to do it on foot. Only places we haven’t been are where it’s too shallow to take a boat like this.”
Kitteridge nodded. “I’ve been thinking the same thing. Let’s head back to the bridge.” He raised his bullhorn and called out to the next boat in the loose network, telling its occupant what they were going to do and asking him to pass the word along.
The search party began gathering at the bridge, the boats arriving one by one until there was a small flotilla rafted together in the canal. The men scrambled ashore, gathering around the chief.
“Marty and I think it’s time to call it off until morning,” Kitteridge said. “The way I see it, if Kelly’d been able to hear any of us calling her, she’d have answered, so wherever she is, she’s not where we’ve been looking, or she doesn’t want to be found.”
Ted Anderson pushed his way through the crowd to stand angrily in front of the police chief. “You mean you’re giving up!”
“I didn’t say that, Mr. Anderson,” Kitteridge replied patiently. “All I said is that I think we’d have a hell of a lot better chance of finding your daughter if we do it in the daylight. You can’t see a thing out there—”
“So you’re just going to quit?” Ted demanded. “What the hell kind of crap is that? She could be hurt out there! By morning she could be dead!”
A silence shrouded the group. Each of the men was unwilling to voice what he was thinking, but the silence itself spoke clearly enough.
“You all think she’s already dead, don’t you?” Ted said, his voice low and trembling.
Kitteridge shifted uncomfortably, but finally spread his hands helplessly. “I think it’s something we have to consider,” he said, unwilling to lie to Kelly’s father. “There’s a lot that can happen to someone out here, even in the daytime. At night …” His voice trailed off, but before Ted Anderson could say anything more, Craig Sheffield moved forward.
“I think we have another problem, Tim,” he said, his expression clearly reflecting the fear he was feeling. “Michael didn’t come back with the rest of us.”
Kitteridge started at Craig. “Michael?” he repeated. “Are you telling me your kid was out there, too?”
Craig’s voice took on a defensive edge. “Why wouldn’t he have been?” he demanded. “He knows the swamp better than any of the rest of us, and he knows Kelly, too. Do you really think I could have stopped him?”
Kitteridge took a deep breath, then slowly released it in a long sigh. “All right. So now we have two kids missing. Just what is it you want me to do? Keep this search up until every one of us is lost?”
Craig’s eyes fixed icily on the police chief. “I expect you to do whatever is necessary to find our children.”
Kitteridge felt his temper beginning to fray. He understood exactly how the two fathers felt, but he also was all too aware of the futility of night searches. Unless the person they were hunting for was able to respond — and wanted to respond — the task was next to impossible. He made up his mind.
