[MD1, 8:25PM, World’s End]

Kate was a little bit surprised when she discovered that her cell phone actually worked so far out in the middle of nowhere. She called home to check on the kids as soon as the team got to World’s End and got settled into their cabins. Justin answered the phone on the first ring, and didn’t start the conversation with a sarcastic remark. That would have been shocking, except the situation on the plane had made the evening news and they were worried.

After assuring them that everything was all right, she picked up the case file and sat down in the cabin’s living room to go over it. There wasn’t much to do until their meeting with the county sheriff in the morning, which was just as well, because everyone needed a little time to recover. There also wasn’t anything in the file that Kate hadn’t already read a half-dozen times, but once more couldn’t hurt. Maybe the sheriff would be able to provide a little more information, give them a starting point.

There hadn’t been much talk of strategy for starting the investigation. They really didn’t have enough information to start formulating plans. They could wander around in the woods, hoping something would turn up, which would take forever. They could talk to everyone in Forksville in hopes that someone could shed some light on things, which would take too long at all. But those seemed for the moment the only options.

Kate sighed. They didn’t even know exactly where any of the disappearances had taken place, except that it was most likely somewhere along route 154.

Except the three dogs that belonged to the old man, Hank. He said that he’d been about a hundred yards into the woods beyond the last of the cabins. The dogs had taken off toward the cabin, where Hank had parked his truck, barking all the way, until they were about half-way to the vehicle. Then the barking had stopped, and when he looked up, the dogs were no where in sight.

At least it was a starting point. It could wait until morning. Probably should. It would be difficult to find anything by flashlight anyway. And there was always the risk of trampling valuable evidence if it was concealed by darkness.

On the other hand, Kate had been considering a walk in the woods anyway, even if it was dark. She liked it better that way, anyway. She thought of it as a sort of natural sensory deprivation tank - completely dark and quiet. It was a good way to put like in perspective.

She got her flashlight from her room and went to knock on the door of the other room, where Sharlyn and Dinah were still putting their things away. When she announced her intention, Dinah gave her a skeptical look.

"It’s dark out there," she said. "What do you think you’re going to find?"

Kate shrugged. "At worst, an idea. Want to come along?"

Sharlyn had already gotten her flashlight out of her bag, ready to go along. Dinah shrugged. "Might as well."

"Good," Kate said. "We’ll stop on the way and ask the guys if they want to come along."


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