on filled me tom of to me as if a line of notes, and I could tern in my s for a pencil to copy it does disappeared, I irring among trees besteps racing the brush.

    quot;; I asked, and  opped moving. I tried to make myself s and inconspicuous by crouc cut by t  impossible to see tension of anticipation, sounds t iced became amplified. Crickets sang under rocks. A cicada cried and t silent. I  odds ay and capture tes in ter. A breeze t first, tsteps resumed, ture bolted, cras.  ed, I convinced myself t a deer artled by my presence, or per  by mistake. turbance unnerved me, so I quickly traced my o t one teen minutes ahead of our planned rendezvous.

    George arrived next, face flusion, ion, ting puffs of dust.

    quot;No luck?quot; I asked.

    quot;Do you t see a damn t ;

    I produced ttes and lit , similarly defeated. t of o say so, but ted for anoteen minutes for Jimmy Cummings, and o y was in order.

    At 9:30, George asked, quot;;

    tarry nig to bring flass. quot;Maybe we so w;

    Oscar refused. quot;No, someone s s a straig, dead on.quot;

    quot;Cmon, George, go ;

    o tanding position. quot;Lead on, Macduff.quot;

    Up trail, reetops and bouncing into t sky. Despite , George atic s over talkies, sense someto a surreal scene, ts, fire engines idling, dozens of people milling about. A man in a red baseball cap loaded a pair of bloodo tartled to see tess odee nurses uniform gloroking ed a dripping canoe to trapped it doterns e