Daniel and Jeremy pulled their horses to a clearing and tied them to a nearby tree limb, then walked silently through the brush and trees, down to the muddy embankment surrounding the small pond. They weren't certain where to begin searching or exactly what they were looking for, but they agreed to split up and began inspecting the area all the same. Jeremy walked cautiously into the bushes as though he was anticipating trouble, and almost immediately noted a number of footprints in the thick muck. He couldn’t tell if how old they were, but somehow felt they were new. If they had been there for weeks or months, the rain and the wind would have dissolved them, not to mention the wild animals that stopped by the water for a drink. There would always be an occasional deer or wolf seen around the trees, so the fact that the prints were unharmed made him think they were fresh, though nobody would have reason to be here. Since Heather Farnsworth’s death, nobody had come to the swimming hole that he had been aware of, including stable hands.
