The Hunting by Sam Hawksmoor Page A

as far as Mission, they could hitch,’ Ferry said. ‘They’re pretty good kids.’
    Miller handed over his card and Ferry stuck it in the machine.
    ‘Key in your number.’
    Miller did so. It would have to be a gift to his dad. He was pretty broke now.
    ‘I’ll let you know if we hear anything,’ Miller told him.
    ‘The Fortress going to get away with what it’s been doing?’
    Miller looked away. ‘It might. I’m turning in my badge. Working my notice. I’m not a popular guy in town right now.’
    ‘ The Sun says there’s been a lot of UFO hysteria here, but I don’t recall one person saying anything about UFOs.’
    ‘Disinformation. It’s standard practice. They won’t be taking kids from Spurlake any more but …’
    Ferry understood. ‘They’ll still be taking kids.’
    Miller took his card back and Ferry gave him the receipt, adding, ‘I haven’t lost faith in Genie and Rian. They look out for each other.’
    ‘His sister’s with him too. Renée Cullen. Known her all her life.’
    Miller smiled sipping his coffee. ‘I see a lot of bad stuff in my job. But y’know, everyone is hard on the kids these days, but they are pretty good, on the whole. Smarter than I was at their age anyway.’
    Ferry grinned and handed over the truck keys. ‘Don’t give up too easy. Things have a way of sorting themselves out. You give my best to your dad and tell him that he still owes me five dollars for the dog food he bought last year.’
    Miller was about to dig into his pockets again but Ferry shook his head. ‘He has to pay in person. Gas station rules. And bring the beer.’
    Miller smiled. He remembered now, Ferry used to play poker with his dad some years before. He took the keys.
    ‘I’ll remind him.’
    ‘Don’t worry about Genie. I got a good feeling about that girl,’ Ferry said. ‘She’s still alive until we hear otherwise.’

8
Ruby
    G enie wanted to cry. She hadn’t found Rian. Nor Renée.
    It was daylight already and she’d walked along the river and seen nothing, found no one, and she and Moucher were exhausted and, they admitted it, a little scared. She didn’t think she could continue without Ri. There didn’t seem to be any point. He was her whole life now.
    Mouch looked up at her and seemed bewildered. Not to mention hungry.
    A chopper flew over moments later, very low and slow, directly over the river. At first she was expecting a Mosquito attack, and panicked, but then she saw the word ‘Police’ painted on the bottom of it and clearly they were still looking for them. She and Mouch ran for cover under the trees and waited it out. She realized that the hunters must have told someone what had happened and they would be able to identify which part of the river they were in now.
    She desperately wanted to shout out Rian’s name but that would have been dumb. If only they had a way to talk to each other.
    ‘Where are they, Mouch? Where are they?’
    She tried to concentrate. If she could just concentrate. Why couldn’t she concentrate?
    Mouch’s ears suddenly flattened and he cowered slightly. Genie looked at him. He rarely showed any fear. What was going on?
    ‘He’s scared of me, that’s all. Stroke his head. He’ll calm down.’ The voice was familiar but where was the person? Genie looked around and saw no one. She put out her hand to Mouch and he crawled closer to her for safety and comfort. Genie felt there was someone sitting right beside her, but she didn’t want to turn her head again. How had they gotten so close and not made a single sound?
    ‘You never showed fear last time,’ the voice said.
    Genie turned. ‘Last time?’
    Genie found she was looking at Grandma Munby. A younger Grandma than she remembered, and she was dressed eccentrically with feathers in her hair and a calico skirt, moccasins on her feet.
    ‘Am I dreaming now? You were in the raft with us? I thought I saw you.’
    Grandma Munby shook her head. ‘No, dear. You’re wide awake. Got