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“I will do this for you. I will go back to my house later today and see what she remembers.” Anu rose and picked up her water bottle. “We must finish our hike. I would like coffee and breakfast.”
They turned to retrace their steps, and Sarah heard a noise. Like crying or an animal. “Did you hear that?”
Anu tipped her head to one side and nodded. “A dog?”
“Maybe.”
The sound came again, and Sarah plunged off the trail into thick foliage. “Go ahead and I’ll catch up,” she called to Anu. Sarah fought her way through brambles and heavy brush until she broke through into a clearing. From here she couldn’t see the water or Anu, and she wasn’t sure how far she’d come.
“Hello?” she called.
A whine came from her left, and she went that direction. A forlorn golden retriever sat tied to a tree. The animal looked neglected and much too thin. When Sarah glanced around, she saw a half-collapsed tent and the remains of a fire. The dog had no food and an empty water dish.
“Anyone here?” She walked to the tent and ducked inside.
The interior held a sleeping bag, a backpack, and several canned food items. Inside the backpack she found women’s jeans and tees as well as a pair of size-seven sneakers. She exited and looked around the campsite. A bag of something swung from a high tree, and she retrieved it by letting down the rope tiednearby. Inside, she found dry dog food. Someone must have been trying to protect it from any stray animals.
She dumped food in a pile near the dog, then poured what water she had into its bowl. The poor thing drank thirstily, then gobbled up the food almost in one gulp. Its tail thumped on the dirt, and she knew she couldn’t leave it here.
She rubbed its ears. “Where’s your owner?” Her fingers found a tag on the collar around its neck. Scout. That could be a male or female name.
The dog’s dark eyes stared back expectantly. Sarah knew how it felt to be trapped and helpless. She couldn’t walk away from this situation. Kneeling beside the tree, she fought with the knot and managed to untie the animal.
“Let’s go, my friend. We’ll see if anyone at the big house knows who you belong to and what has become of her.”
Could Scout belong to the woman whose jacket she’d found? The one Max’s employees had taken to the hospital? If so, why hadn’t she asked someone to care for it? The answer to those questions weren’t to be found out here in the woods, but Max would know what to do to reunite this dog with its owner.
***
The worry on Jon’s face stayed in Annie’s thoughts as she left the Blue Bonnet and hurried down Houghton Street to the downtown area. He’d promised to pick her up in two hours at Mason’s office, though she didn’t hold out a lot of hope that the sheriff had figured out who had launched the attack last night.
“Annie!”
She turned and saw Anu waving to her from the door of her shop. Though Mason was expecting Annie, she detoured to see the older woman.
A smiling Anu embraced Annie at the doorway to Nicholls’ Finnish Imports. “Good morning,kulta. I hear the children are having a wonderful time in Wisconsin Dells.”
“Kylie FaceTimed me this morning, and she had quite a lot to say. They’re going to a water park today. And they bought fudge last night after dinner. Everything important.” Annie laughed as she remembered her daughter’s excitement.
But her laughter was tinged with worry about the water park. What if Kylie fell off a water slide?
Anu gestured to the door behind her. “Do you have time to come in?”
“Not really. I need to talk to Mason.” She didn’t tell Anu what had happened on the boat.
“I shall make it quick then. I spoke with Sarah this morning. Out on the island, some of her memory appears to be coming back. She mentioned how strange it was that Becky Johnson seemed almost to be waiting for you girls. Do you remember it that way?”
Annie took a step back at the sudden question. It wasn’t something she’d consciously thought about, but as soon as Anu asked the question, Annie remembered how quickly the woman had appeared on the scene when they reached the dock. And it was late.
“Sarah might be right.”
“She wonders if it had been planned by someone. Was anyone else staying on the island when you were there? Do you remember or were you too young?”
Annie struggled to push back the curtains of time and pullout such long-forgotten memories. It wasn’t until recently she’d even remembered much about that day. The horror of the attack on her and the abduction of her sister had veiled the other events of that week for so long. Was anyone else there? What had happened that morning and the day before?
“Let me think about it. Is Sarah doing all right out on the island?”
“She was a little upset to see the bedroom where the two of you had slept. The flood of memories seemed to be unexpected.” She handed Annie a small red notebook. “She wrote down everything she could remember about Becky and her family. It might be helpful sometime.”
