herself behind a tree.
Four men entered the clearing. Their voices turned tense and sharp when they found Wade gone.
“Somebody helped him,” one said.
Another answered, quieter and more calculating.
“Find the tracks.”
Elsie held her breath.
Then, while two men argued with each other, she moved.
Not toward Wade.
Away from him.
She let them catch just enough of her trail to follow.
Then she ran.
The Girl They Couldn’t Catch
Elsie knew those woods better than grown men who saw only trees.
She cut down a slope,
