Play Fetch: An Avery Barks Dog Mystery (Avery Barks Dog Mysteries Book 3) by Mary Hiker

tracks. You can start working this area,” Don said as he pulled a topo map from his jacket pocket and drew a circle that corresponded to woodlands in front of us.
    As I entered the woods with Chevy behind me, I noticed there was very little underbrush, and Anna could have walked through it in most any direction.  Chevy bounded ahead and disappeared for a couple minutes, returning with great exuberance.  He ran up and rubbed against my legs, getting the very bottom of my pants soaking wet.  True to his retriever roots, he had found some shallow water and walked right through it.
    I quickly found a small creek, about three inches deep running through the woods.  I scanned the edge of the bank in both directions and my eye caught evidence of fresh shoe prints next to the water. My heart first leapt, then sank.
    The tiny tracks went in one side of the creek and came out the other. We were working in the right area, but Anna’s feet were probably wet, making time even more critical with the cold weather. I took a tennis ball out of the box and tossed it to Chevy.  “Anna wants to play ball,” I said as I hurried in the direction the footprints, kicking up dead leaves with each step. 
    I quietly took the radio out of my pocket and gave Don my location in a soft voice.  I stood silently for a moment listening for any sound.  There was nothing but Chevy rustling the leaves as he trotted through the woods. As I debated whether to call out for Anna, I took a minute to look in all directions around me.
    Out in front of me and to the right, I barely saw the tip of Chevy’s golden furry tail sticking out from behind a big log, wagging as hard as it would go.  He found something he likes , I thought, and wondered what type of forest animal he was bothering.  Or, Could it be?
    Then I heard it.  A little soft voice said, “Chevy!”
    I turned the volume all the way down on my radio and hurried over to Chevy’s wagging tail.  As I looked over the downed log and Chevy’s back, I found Anna crouched down on a pile of branches hugging Chevy’s neck and sobbing.
    She was tucked in under a cove of small branches that had been lined up against part of the log to create a little bit of shelter. Chevy’s wagging tail had already knocked down a few of the branches. 
    I was relieved to see that she was wearing Austin’s white winter hat for warmth, but her body shivered under her clothes.  An oversized white sweatshirt sporting a familiar black skull covered her little blue jacket.  The sweatshirt was so big on her that the sleeves covered her hands and its bottom reached the ground like a long dress.  I noticed the edge of the sweatshirt was wet from the creek.
    “Hey Anna, wanna play ball with Chevy?” I asked as I held out the familiar box of tennis balls. 
    “Okay,” she said softly, and tried to wipe away her tears.
    “I brought you some warm clothes,” I said, and sat down on the log beside her. “Let’s trade my jacket for the sweatshirt, but we’ll keep your jacket on though, okay?  We’ll just put my jacket over the top of yours.”
    She took off her top layer sweatshirt, and I took off my jacket, warmed by body heat, and wrapped it around her, pulling the over-sized hood over her hat.  “That looks good on you!” I said as I put my gloves on her cold hands and Chevy snuggled beside her.
    She gave me a smile.
    “Do you like chicken noodle soup?” I asked and pulled the thermos out of my pack and unscrewed the cup.
    She nodded her head and sat up.
    “Good, drink some of this and it will help you warm up,” I said as I poured out a cupful of warm soup and sat down next to her to create some additional body heat.  Chevy and I had her cuddled in between us, like a little Anna sandwich. 
    While she gulped down the soup, I dug through my pack for the jacket I had packed inside, and put it on, feeling the chill of the cold material until it warmed with my body. I stuffed Anna’s wet sweatshirt in its