Jesse tried to run back up the slope, but it was so steep it was more of a stagger. He grabbed at branches of trees and bushes to help him upwards, ignoring the stinging of the scratches on his arms.

He reached the area where he thought Steve had been and looked all around wildly, but couldn't see him anywhere. "Steve!" he called again. He heard a groan and over on his left saw a gaping hole in the ground, surrounded by leaves and broken branches. He scrambled over and dropped to his knees by the edge of the hole. Down at the bottom, lying on his back and blinking up at the sky, lay Steve.

"Steve!" said Jesse in concern. "Are you hurt? I'm coming down there to check you over."

"No, don't," said Steve, struggling to a sitting position and holding his head as it was throbbing painfully. "I'm okay."

"You look like you're in a bear trap or something," Jesse informed him.

"Yeah," Steve grunted. He had knocked his head as he fell and the world seemed to be spinning slightly. "It just looked like leaves on the ground but it all gave way beneath me. Lucky it wasn't a spiked pit, eh?" he added, trying to make light of the situation.

"Well, yeah," Jesse said, but didn't really see that there was anything lucky about their situation at all. "You're a long way down." He scanned the surrounding trees nervously. "Can you get out? If the archer appears again we're sitting ducks."

Steve heaved himself to his feet and reached up for the edge of the pit. It was just above his reach but he jumped and grabbed the edge. The earth was soft and moist and crumbled away in his hands and he fell back. He tried again at a different spot, with Jesse keeping watch for their assailant, but to no avail. Jesse tried to grab his arm and pull him out, but was not strong enough and didn't have anything to secure himself with.

"It's no good," panted Steve, trying not to sway as the pit seemed to move around him. "It's too high and slippery."

Jesse jerked his head up as he heard a twig snap somewhere over to his right. "I hope that was just a rabbit."

"Jesse, go and hide," Steve said. "I'll keep trying to get out. There's no need for you to stay and-"

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm not going anywhere," Jesse said determinedly, and Steve grinned at him appreciatively.

"Wait, I'm had an idea," Jesse said, and his head disappeared from Steve's view. Steve heard sounds of movement and leaves rustling, then Jesse was back. "I've got a huge branch that was lying on the ground," he said. "I'll push it down to you, and you can put it in the corner and use it to put your feet on. It's not slippery."

"Great idea!" Steve said, and he stood back as Jesse rolled his large branch into the pit. It was at least as big as Steve, and he lifted it and rested it in one of the corners. He lifted a leg and put his foot halfway up, and then heaved his body upwards and managed to get halfway out of the pit. Jesse grabbed at his shoulders and helped him get out the rest of the way.

"The archer must have known we would run off in this direction when he fired at us and dug that trap hoping to catch us," Steve speculated. He stood up and grabbed at a branch to steady himself.

"Did you hit your head?" Jesse asked, the concerned doctor once more coming out.

"I'm okay," Steve said wearily.

"You did, didn't you?" Jesse said. "Are you feeling nauseous? Dizzy? Let me check your pupils," he said, reaching out.

Steve pulled away. "Leave it!" he snapped. "There's nothing you can do even if I was injured. Anyway, your arm's bleeding."

Jesse looked a little hurt but said nothing. He noticed that Steve's skin where he had been burned looked red and raw. Steve wasn't complaining but Jesse knew it must be sore. He looked at his own arm. One of the scratches on his right arm was worse than the others and bleeding quite a bit. He pulled out his medikit and cleaned the blood off, stuck on a couple of temporary stitches on to keep the wound shut and then taped a patch over it with tape.

"Let's get moving," Steve said.

They picked up their bags and started off. Hoping that the archer would assume they had carried on in the direction they had run off in, they instead worked their way through the trees for a distance then headed back on to the road that they had used to drive to the campsite. Yesterday seemed a long time ago. They were panting with the exertion of making their way through the bushes and rough ground and stopped for a little rest before they emerged on to the road. Steve looked up and down the road from the shadow of a tree but couldn't see anything suspicious.

Jesse got out his water bottle. "Good idea," Steve said, getting his from his bag. He took the top off and was about to take a big gulp when he paused and sniffed at the water. His eyes widened and he turned to Jesse who had already taken a mouthful. "Spit it out!" Steve said urgently, and Jesse spat his water on the ground.

"What?" he asked.

"Smell this," Steve said, putting his bottle of water under Jesse's nose. "What do you smell?"

"It smells a bit like almonds," said Jesse in alarm.

"That's what I thought," Steve said grimly. "Poisoned with cyanide. Maybe not a lethal dose but I'm not taking any chances." He emptied his water on the ground in disgust.

Jesse smelt his water and did the same. "This is getting worse and worse."

"We've got to watch everything we do," Steve said. "Come on, let's follow the road but keep under the trees. Maybe we've lost him," he said hopefully.

X X X

At Community General, Mark rubbed his eyes after a long shift. He smiled at Amanda who was heading towards him and sank down into an empty chair at the nurses' station. He stretched out his legs and sighed as he knocked over the bin with his foot.

"Hello clumsy," smiled Amanda. "Long day?"

"Oh yes," Mark said, bending down to pick up the rubbish. His hand felt something right up against the back of the desk and he looked at it. "Look at this," he said to Amanda, straightening up with a puzzled look on his face, showing her an envelope with the words 'Jesse Travis' on it. "This looks like the letter Mr Brenton left for Jesse with the tickets in for his camping break. But it hasn't been opened. And I know Jesse took the envelope home with him."

"Open it," suggested Amanda, and Mark did so, and scanned the contents.

"This seems to be from Mr Brenton," he said, "but the camp site is completely different to the one Jesse and Steve went to. How strange."

"Have you heard from them?" asked Amanda.

"Well, no, but I hadn't thought anything of it because I know signal is poor in the mountains." Mark felt concerned. "I'll try Steve's cell phone anyway."

He hung up the phone shortly. "No, no answer."

"They are probably fine," Amanda said.

"Hmmm, but I don't like it," Mark said. "There's something odd here. I'm going to phone Mr Brenton. He's given a number here."

"Okay, I've got to go back to the lab," Amanda said. "Come and see me if you find out anything."

Mark nodded distractedly as he picked up the phone.

Amanda hadn't done much more work when Mark came into the path lab looking worried. "I called Mr Brenton," he said. "He never received a call from Jesse, and was a bit put out that Jesse didn't want to take up his offer, or at least ring to say thanks."

"But I thought Jesse called him to arrange the trip?" Amanda said.

"Yes, he called someone, who he thought was Mr Brenton," Mark said. "But it obviously wasn't the real Mr Brenton. There's something very wrong here. I'm at the end of my shift. I'm heading up to the campsite that they went to. Steve left me the address."

"But it's an eight hour drive!" Amanda said. "It will be dark when you get there. Have a rest and leave in the morning."

"I can't rest. Something's wrong Amanda, and Steve and Jesse may be in trouble. I'm going straight away."

"I'm coming with you," she said.