It was three days later when the phone rang at my work. I picked it up, expecting it to be a client I had been waiting for. Instead, Meredith’s voice responded to my greeting, her tone sounding worried and out of breath.

“Have you heard from Sam?” she said.

“Not since this morning, why?”

“Susan says he’s not at work and he’s not answering his cell phone. Apparently one of the other family members has turned up missing, so Susan started calling everyone. There’s two others besides Sam who have not answered.”

“Okay,” I said, trying to stay calm. I tried to think, but my fevered brain would not cooperate. “I’ll run by the house. He was there when I left this morning…”

“Please let us know as soon as you find anything,” Meredith said. “We are leaving for the safe spot Susan has, but I’ll have my cell phone with me. There is apparently good reception there.”

“Okay, be safe,” I said, and hung up.

My boss, Peter, took one look at me, and after the words “Sam is missing” left my mouth, sent me home without another question. Peter was good like that, which is why no one who worked for him would ever lie to him about anything. He would always side with people in a crisis, so people only asked to leave when they really had one. I promised him I’d update him as soon as I knew anything and raced for home.

Sam’s car was in the driveway, but there was no sign of him in the house. Nothing looked disturbed, though, and there was no sign of a break-in. I was even more confused and worried by the lack of information. I walked back out of the house, and looked around, checking the damp ground for any clues. In seconds, I spotted a hoofprint by the back fence and followed the trail of them across the lawn. Sam had spent time the previous weekend as his equine self, so he hadn’t been caught out by the change. Something, however, had caused him to change and run away from the house in a hurry. I looked at the tracks and saw a faint impression of shoe prints following them, also at a run. I quickly locked up the house and followed the prints. I had a feeling I knew where they would lead.

Sure enough, the prints led to the bird sanctuary. The gate by the lodge was only a quarter mile down the road and had been left open following an event on Sunday, and both sets of prints led off onto the trails, becoming harder to see as they crossed onto the packed earth. I paused to catch my breath and then went up the trail into the woods rather than down towards the ponds. The route I had chosen would get there eventually, but I figured that Sam would have been trying to fool his pursuer as much as possible. His pace had slowed a bit, maybe to make sure he was followed in his chosen direction, but he had stayed in horse form as far as I could tell.

I jogged the path, listening carefully to the sounds around me, but not hearing anything. For all I knew, they were already out of the sanctuary, but I had a feeling that I should look a little further. There was another one of the little stone benches along this path, but it was harder to see because it was buried back behind the ubiquitous rhododendron bushes. The clearing was small, but it might just be where Sam had chosen to go to ground if he returned to human form.

More by guesswork than by actual knowledge, I found the very overgrown path to the bench. If I hadn’t been looking for it, I would never have known it was there. We had only gone to it once on one of our first outings to the sanctuary, and I was pretty sure that Jarrett or whoever was following Sam would not be able to find it. Now, as I wriggled down through the bushes, I was very happy we had not visited it again. Sam hunkered down by the bench, using the stone to block anyone’s view of him. He had no clothes on, and looked completely miserable. He jumped when I made my way into the bushes and relaxed into my embrace as I knelt down by him. He was shaking, and not just from the chill in the air.

“Jarrett came to the door,” he said softly, “and banged on it, demanding to be let in. He started yelling about how much he knew about the family, and how he was going to find us. I slipped out to the back yard and fled. It was probably the worst choice, but he would not stop, and I just wanted to get him away from the house. I figured I could claim I had Meredith’s horse at the house for a day, to observe the animal because she was away, but I didn’t give it much thought beyond that.”

I nodded and held him as his shaking subsided. When he had calmed sufficiently, I asked him how long it had been since Jarrett had passed.

“About twenty minutes ago,” said Sam. “He poked at the bushes, but kept going down the trail. I think he must have guessed I had become human again, but he didn’t see the path.”

I nodded and looked around the clearing. There was nothing that we could use to cover Sam up with, and I sighed as I weighed our options.

“I can either leave here and come back with clothes for you, or you can transform again and I can try to get you home.” I said. “Either way has its risks.”

“I think I like option A better,” said Sam. “Hurry, though; it’s a bit chilly.”

I hugged him and crept back out through the bushes again, looking for any sign of Jarrett. The coast seemed clear, so I crept out and ran back to the gate. A quick jog, and I was home again. This time, however, there was a car in the driveway, and as I approached, a familiar figure stepped out of it.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked. “Sam called. You scared his aunt’s horse half to death, and it bolted. Sam has been chasing it ever since.”

“Ms. Walker, don’t try to play that game with me. It won’t work. I know full well that Sam Winston is one of the abominations I have been seeking, as is his whole family. I am surprised that a well-educated woman like yourself couldn’t come up with something more creative.”

“Mr. Hamler,” I said icily. “If you choose not to believe me, suit yourself. However, as of right now, you are trespassing. Sam is well-liked in this community. I don’t think that the police are going to be very understanding if they find you here.”

He laughed, but remained on the other side of his car, still in the open door of his car.

“Ms. Walker – Laura – you know what he is, and yet you still choose to side with him. How is that possible? You are a full human woman according to my research, not even an outcast with no powers, yet you choose him. I fail to see how this could possibly benefit you in any way.”

“Benefit me?” I said, scornfully. “I have absolutely no idea what you could mean. I certainly am not benefitting from anything right now, especially your company. Please leave.”

“He’s in there, isn’t he? The sanctuary? I followed his hoofprints too, but you likely knew where to look. I’ll go for now, but believe me, I will be back, Ms. Walker, I will be back.”

Jarrett got into his car and drove away, but I didn’t believe for a second that he would go far. I ran to the door, unlocked it, and grabbed some clothes for Sam. Stuffing them in a backpack along with some apples, I went back to where I had left Sam as fast as I could.

“Here,” I said, handing to him. “Get dressed and get out of here. I’ll call Sarah and Tim. Meet them on Judson Street. We’ll rendezvous at Denny’s over in Lawrence.”

“That Denny’s closed,” Sam said, pulling on the pair of jeans I had brought him. “How about the Nines on the Tewksbury border?”

“Sounds good,” I said. “I’ll go back and pack a few more things, then head for North Andover first. If no one is following me, I’ll hit 495 to the exit near the Nines and meet you there.”

He pulled a black t-shirt over his head, and put on his shoes. Giving me a quick kiss, he was off, running through the woods. I called Sarah as I raced back to the house and began to create something like a plan.