Vanessa raised her eyebrows quizzically at Callie. "Cal? Are you SURE that you saw something? I mean, everything looks perfectly fine here."

Callie stood, amazed. Vanessa was right. The cabin was there, but that was it. There was no evidence of guns, strangers, or hunters. Nature stood in all its glory, seemingly untouched. Vanessa must have thought she was crazy. Still, Callie was determined.

Looking apologetically at her best friend, she replied, "Van? I know that this whole thing seems crazy, but I did see something yesterday; I really did. Would you mind if we took a closer look at the cabin? I promise it should only take a few minutes, but I’d really like to check it out."

Vanessa playfully threw a fake punch at Callie, and said, dramatically, "Your wish is my command!" Grabbing Callie’s hand, she started towards the sloping hill. Together, the two girls finally reached the area into which Callie had been looking.

Approaching the cabin, Callie checked around carefully to make sure they were alone before peering into the window, while Vanessa went to check out the surrounding area. Clearing off a section of the window that had been covered with dust, she stood on her toes, and gazed into the main room. Everything looked normal. Peering intently, Callie focused all of her energies trying to see into the various rooms.

"Cal?"

Callie jumped, and whirled around to find Vanessa behind her. She let out her breath. Turning to her friend, she said, "Van! What is it about people sneaking up behind me in the woods and scaring me half to death?! Yesterday it was Frank; today it’s you. You guys are making me old before my time!" She shrugged off the uneasy feeling that still lingered with her, but managed a small grin for Vanessa, who was laughing at her reaction.

"Sorry," Vanessa replied, finally calming down. "I just wanted to show you the tire tracks I found. They look kind of old, though. I mean, they’re covered up with leaves and dirt and stuff."

Callie pondered that, and followed Vanessa to the spot she was referring to. Sure enough, Vanessa had described it just as it appeared. She began, "Vanessa, you don’t think someone would have intentionally covered these tracks, do you?" she asked earnestly.

Vanessa suppressed a smile. "Um, NO," she replied. "Somehow I don’t think a group of hunters would go to all that trouble, do you?"

Callie blushed. "No, I guess not."

"Did you check out the cabin? I mean, maybe something’s in there," Vanessa continued, not wanting to make Callie feel stupid.

Callie looked at her gratefully. "Do you think so? I couldn’t really see too well into there, but--- well, I’m a lot shorter than you are." Callie winked at Vanessa, realizing that at barely 5’4", she really wasn’t the best one for judging height. "Anyway," she went on, "I didn’t see anything, but maybe you can. Will you try for me?"

"Sure!" Vanessa agreed, and went over to the cabin door, pushing it open.

Callie stared incredulously at her as she bopped happily into the cabin.

When Callie didn’t follow her in, she stuck her head out of the door. "Cal? Are you coming?" she asked.

Slowly, Callie walked in, chuckling to herself. What were the chances that the door was actually open? Vanessa’s response had been much like Joe’s would have been; find the problem, go for the most obvious solution. Callie, on the other hand, had acted much like Frank would have—by analyzing the situation and being overly cautious. Well, I guess we’re paired up with the right guys, she thought dryly to herself.

She and Vanessa searched the cabin which, to Callie’s surprise, looked fairly untouched and perfectly normal.

Vanessa faced her. "Well," she sighed, "I guess this could be a camping cabin owned by a private family or something. I mean, there’s nothing out of the ordinary here, just standard basic wooden furniture. I wouldn’t think too much about it, Callie."

Callie nodded in agreement. "True." She was about to follow Vanessa out of the cabin when something caught her eye. Sticking out of the bottom of an old dresser appeared to be some kind of plastic. "Vanessa! Check this out!" she said, pointing to the floor. "I wonder what it is," she continued, heading back in that general direction.

Vanessa rolled her eyes. Callie got into this detective stuff too much sometimes. She quipped to her friend, "Well, whatever it is, YOU get it. After all, you’re closer to the ground."

Callie raised her eyebrow, but, amused, said simply, "Ha Ha." She bent down and retrieved what appeared to be two empty plastic video containers. She picked them up and studied them with such concentration that at last Vanessa had to swipe them from her hands. Callie stared in shock at her.

Vanessa sighed, exasperated. "Callie, you know I love you. But COME ON!!! There are two empty video containers. Big whoop. They could have been here for years."

"But there’s no dust!" Callie protested.

"Maybe," Vanessa said with an evil cackle, "You can crack the case of the Blockbuster bandits! The movie mobsters! The video villains!" She exploded in diabolical laughter.

Finally, Callie gave in, and laughed, too. "Okay, okay. I guess maybe I got too caught up in nothing! I’ll write up an article tonight and just make it about the possibility of nature’s reserves being taken over. It’ll be fairly innocuous. Let me just take a few more pics of this site, okay?"

"Of tress?!" Vanessa had to ask.

Callie laughed. "Yes, Vanessa. Birds do tend to hang out up there, remember. I’ll take a few more pictures of the overall site, and I’ll publish one of the earlier photos. I got a few pics of the men who were here, but you’re right—it’s probably nothing, and I won’t publish those. That’d kind of be irresponsible journalism, huh?"

Vanessa followed Callie around for a few more minutes letting her take her pictures. She couldn’t help but to smile at her friend, especially since she knew what was in store. With that thought in mind, she glanced at her watch. It was getting late, and she wanted to make sure that they both had plenty of time to get ready. It was going to be a wonderful evening, and Vanessa couldn’t wait. She found herself getting all excited for Callie, even though she had restrained herself from saying anything.

Impatiently, she asked, "Are you ready, Callie?"

Callie smiled as she took the last picture. "Yup! I sure am." She linked her arm through Vanessa’s as they headed back to the car. "Hey, Van? Thanks for coming with me today. I know this turned out to be nothing, but it meant a lot to me that you’d come."

Vanessa gave her a quick hug. "Anytime, you know that! But let’s go!" she begged, dragging Callie to the car.

Callie looked at her as though she had lost her mind. "Are you THAT hungry?" she had to ask.

Vanessa just smiled as the two girls got back into the car, and headed back to the hotel to get ready.