Chapter Thirteen

Looking for any clue over where Bill and Keven were going. Jupiter was looking for something in the bushes, almost as if the two had left something behind to track their way back. We were only walking for less than five minutes before I started to question where we were going and what was waiting for us when we found what we were looking for. My brother was promoted, which means he probably rated me out to father to get that promotion. I know he cared about me after all he tried to help me at first. I guess he cared more about that promotion, he had been working toward it for many years.

"Hey, rookie, you still with me?" Jupiter said.

"Hu? I mean what? I mean... I mean... I don't know what I mean," I said.

"That was the first time since you got here that you have spaced out, what's on your mind?" He asked.

"Nothing of importance," I said.

"Okay, at least we are getting closer," He said.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking for," I said.

"Oh, don't worry too much about that, all we are doing right now is following their trail," He said.

I nodded my head and kept my eyes forward as we came up to a clearing with somewhat long green and yellow grass covering the area. But not all of it was green or yellow, Jupiter saw it right away and immediately crouched in the grass, slowly creeping up to one discolored spot near the middle. I hid behind a tree as he got closer, scanning the forest line for anything that didn't belong. The closer he got to the middle the taller the grass became. Something didn't feel right about the clearing, like something was watching our every move, I crouched down and started to walk toward Jupiter. My feet were moving fast and I caught up to him quickly. He was examining a dark red patch of blood on the ground; it had dried around the edges but the middle of the puddle was still liquid.

"I'm hoping an animal has died here," He said.

"This much blood, an injury would have had to be very bad, could a full-grown man survive this amount of blood loss?" I said.

"It's possible, let's hope it was a large animal," He said.

I straightened my legs slightly so I could see over the grass, Jupiter jumped up, grabbing my arm, and yanked me back down. For a moment I thought that he had seen someone and didn't want them to see us.

"What?" I asked.

He held his index finger up to his mouth before pointing at something behind me. I turned around to see dried blood grazed up against the grass as if something very large was dragged. Jupiter started to gently move the grass on the ground away from the dirt, searching for something. Footprints, animal tracks, anything, and everything, that could be helpful. I crawled through the grass in the direction of the blood, moving the thick grass out of the way as I went along. It was impossible to see anything with the grass in the way, it was way too thick. After a few steps I had completely lost sight of Jupiter, Moving forward something shiny reflected light into my eye. it was coming from the edge of the clearing; I walked up to the object and moved the grass out of the way to get a better look. A short blade was attached to a wooden hilt designed for a small child and wrapped with dried deer hide. It looked like it was left behind with the blood, the blade didn't have any cracks and it was still sharp. It was built only a couple of days ago; I ran my finger over some letters that had been carved into the bottom of the hilt when a strong hand grabbed me by the shoulder. I jumped out of my skin while turning around and fell back onto my butt.

"Stop doing that," I whispered.

"You're jumpy and you don't whisper anymore, the area's clear," Jupiter said.

He stood up straight above the grass, I pushed myself off the ground and stood beside him. He walked into the trees. before I ran up to him, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back slightly.

"Hey, can we just slow down for a moment and talk?" I asked.

"No time we need to find the boy," He said.

"What were you looking for?" I asked.

"Something that would suggest that the blood wasn't human but an animal, I couldn't find anything to confirm," He said.

He turned to walk away "I found something," I said.

Turning back toward me with a look that told me to give it to him. I lifted my hand with the dagger in it and handed it to him.

"I found this while following the blood smears... the trail ended shortly after I found it," I said while waiting for him to take it.

"This dagger belonged to Keven," He said while choking up.

"Look you don't have to answer, but it's clear that you have a personal connection with this family... so, I was wanting to ask,"

"The mother, Moana, is my sister, we need to find my nephew and his dead beat of a father," He said, cutting me off.

"Then we better get a move on it," I said.

He took the dagger from me, holding it in his hand for a few moments before sliding it into his pocket and continuing on our way. We weren't following a trail as far as I could see, but he knew exactly where he was going. The trees were starting to thin out and we found ourselves in-between the wall of a cliff and a larger than normal creak. I wanted to ask him where we were going, but he was too focused on the stone wall. He pressed his hand up against it, sliding it along as he walked. When he suddenly stopped, he didn't speak or move, just stood there completely still with his hand in the middle of a bunch of dangling vines.

"Sir... are you okay?" I asked, looking around nervously.

He grabbed all the vines in one hand and pulled them down from the rocks, he took a step backward and waved me over. I slowly walked over to him and looked at the wall, only It wasn't a wall. There was a large gap in the side of the cliff leading into a cavern-sized cave. He knelt down and traced his finger through a set of small footprints and a large drag mark. I walked closer to the entrance and peeked my head inside, a terrible smell wrecked throughout the cave.

"See anything?" Jupiter asked.

"No, but I smell something horrible," I said.

"Okay, prepare yourself, this set of prints are fresh, A small child by the looks of it, and these drag marks are the size of an adult, probably a man," He said.

He pulled out his sword and took a step to walk into the cave, I pulled one of my swords out and followed close behind him. The cave was a system of turns, dead ends, and small caverns. We followed the smell deeper into the cave, we had only turned three corners, when a tiny light beam flickering in one of the caverns. Taking small steps, we made our way to the light, hoping deep within our minds that we would find little Keven and his father alive. Jupiter swung himself around the corner; his blade at the ready.

"UNCLE!!!" A young boy yelled.