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didn’t tell them about the
forget-me-nots. She didn’t see how knowing about the flowers could
shed any light on the situation. They continued with their daily
routines but each of them was keenly aware of the questions in
their minds about the inexplicable events of the two weeks since
fate had stranded them there.
     
     
     

Chapter Three
     
The Intrusion
     
     
    “Hey, Dad,” Andy was excited. “Is tomorrow really
the Fourth of July?”
    “Yep, it sure is, Son. However, we can’t have much
of a celebration. We won’t have any fireworks, firecrackers, or
anything like that; and we won’t have hot dogs since we’ve already
eaten all those. However, we’ll have a good time. We brought the
grill, we had some charcoal and lighter, and we can look in the
freezer and see if there’s any meat in there to grill. If I had a
shotgun, I’d see about killing some wild rabbits to grill. I saw
some the other day but I couldn’t get them without a gun. Anyway
we’ll have a good time.”
    A week had gone by since the picture album magically
appeared in Chrissy’s bedroom. Nothing had happened since that time
that couldn’t be explained logically; but there sure wasn’t any
simple answer to that riddle. It bothered Ed a lot to think that a
person had been in his eighteen-year-old daughter’s bedroom without
any of them being aware of it. He thought it might be easier to
blame it on a ghost but he just couldn’t bring himself to accept
the ghost theory.
    He wondered, too, exactly where they were. He had
taken the atlas out of the car but he couldn’t be positive which
exit they had taken off the U.S. 60 By-Pass and after that, the
rain had made it a total blur. He wasn’t even sure he could find
his way out to the main road, whatever that road was. It would be
almost laughable if it weren’t so serious. He was going to have to
take a nice long walk and see if they had any neighbors at all.
They hadn’t seen anyone since they’d been here and that was almost
three weeks. It had been over three weeks since Mr. Coy made the
last entry in his journal. That meant no one had come around to see
about him, either, for that long. Surely, they weren’t that
isolated. At any rate, they needed to know. Maybe he’d do that
right now. They had just had lunch and he knew several hours of
daylight remained before dark.
    “Penny,” he called, where are you?”
    “I’m here in the pantry. I was checking to see if we
had any meat left in the freezer to use for our Independence Day
celebration. I can’t find a thing that looks to be meat. I guess
we’ll just have to become vegetarians until we can go to a store. I
know Mr. Coy was having the electric bill paid automatically from
his bank account, but I’m almost afraid to put too much in the
freezer when the electricity could be turned off at any time for
non-payment. It seems that someone would have come looking for him
by now, doesn’t it? It sure does worry me. This is a nice place, I
enjoy living here and there doesn’t seem to be anyone who would
tell us to get out; but it still makes me think, what if?”
    “I’ve been thinking along those lines myself and I
came in to tell you that I’m going for a walk and see if we have
any neighbors that I can find.”
    “That sounds like a good idea; but be careful and
don’t get lost. I’ll expect you back long before dark.”
    “Okay." Ed picked up a good-sized stick from the
fencerow to use as a walking stick and struck out across the field.
The road they came in on had ended in front of the house. He had
walked about a half-mile, he estimated, when his route suddenly
became a steep hill through dense woods. The wooded area was
crowded with trees and he had to turn sideways to get between some
of them. When he finally reached the top of the hill, he could see
a wagon trail that amounted to nothing more than a set of ruts
running along the top of the hill. He began to follow the rutted
trail that was a great deal