17
Dinner had been a convivial affair. Denise had joined in as well. They were no longer three couples plus Vern and Denise; they were four couples. Everyone felt the change.
Mark had given them a second night and day off, but everyone needed to be back on the base by nightfall. David had paying tourists arriving that night.
After lunch, Firehawk Oh-Two loaded up, and Vern went looking for Denise.
“No need to hurry,” Mark told him as he climbed aboard. “See you back at base.”
Vern couldn’t find her. Neither could he find David or his two sons or his wife. The cows looked placid enough, but no one was in the packing barn or up in the tree house. The place was utterly deserted.
He looked up, but Firehawk Oh-Two had long since passed out of sight beyond the trees. No way she was aboard
