Chapter 11: Hunted

They headed for high ground. Phineas wanted a place he could watch from, to see if they were being tracked. As they headed up the third steep section of the trail, Phineas noticed that Jeff was having trouble keeping up. He slowed his pace, and turned to help him over a fallen tree that blocked the trail, but when he saw Jeff he put his hand out to stop him from starting over the tree. Jeff looked sick. He was very pale, and drenched in sweat. "Stop for a minute," he whispered.

Jeff looked up at him for a second, then slowly bent down and sat on the trail. Bogg watched him worriedly.

"You don't look so good kid," he whispered and put his hand on Jeff's head so he could look better into the boys eyes.

"I feel sick again," Jeff whispered.

Phineas mentally kicked himself. It made sense. Jeff had barely recovered from the cowpox when they were called back to headquarters. He squatted down beside Jeff, "how's the shoulder?"

Jeff leaned his head against the tree and closed his eyes, "it hurts too."

"Too?"

Jeff rubbed his right eye hard, "my head is pounding."

Phineas glanced around, they couldn't stay here, the trail was too steep and exposed. Before he could think further, Jeff was standing up again and clambering his way over the tree trunk. Phineas reached out and helped him.

The trail soon flattened out and they reached an area where they could look down on the town and river.

"You must think Drake can track like an Indian," Jeff observed as he stretched out on the flat rock and closed his eyes.

"I know he can," was Bogg's unsettling reply.

Jeff moved his hand up to his shoulder, trying to ease the pain from the injury. He was exhausted. He shivered as another chill caught hold of him, and curled up on his side.

Phineas glanced over, and saw that his eyes were closed. It was just as well, this was a good place to stop and rest. He intended to keep watch here for as long as it took for headquarters to find them. He didn't think Jeff could make it much further, at least not at the moment, and this was a good spot.

Three hours later, Phineas watched Drake and Wilson walk along the riverbank toward the cluster of houses. Wilson carried a rifle. He touched Jeffrey's arm and whispered, "wake up, time to go," motioning him away from the crest of the hill.

"What is it?"

"Drake's made it to the houses, we have to move. How's your shoulder?"

"Drake's here?" He hadn't really believed that anyone could track them.

"Yeah, do you feel strong enough to climb some more?" He had surveyed the area and given their situation a lot of thought while he waited to see if Drake was tracking them. The area was very rocky, and if Jeff had difficulty climbing it would be harder to escape their pursuers.

"I'll try," Jeff answered stoically, but Bogg could tell he was in pain and felt sick as well. He was still pale and moved stiffly, keeping his arm close to his side.

"Okay," and they climbed toward an even higher area.

Once there, Bogg knew they wouldn't be moving again. Jeff had followed him slowly, and though he hadn't complained, it was easy to see that he was having difficulty keeping up. He'd considered carrying him before, but it would be impractical over such rough terrain. He would have to travel much too slowly. This was where they would have to take a stand.

An hour later, they stood as close to the edge of the cliff as they could without being seen from below and watched as Drake and the other man approached the spot below them where they had so recently rested.

"What're you doing?" Jeff whispered in shock as Phineas raised the rifle and took careful aim. Instead of answering Jeffrey, he squeezed the trigger.

As the shot rang out, Jeff saw the silver omni fly out of Drake's hand and land on a rock a few feet from the edge of the cliff.

Almost immediately, Drake spun around and Bogg pulled the trigger again. A split second later, Drake pulled a revolver from a holster under his shoulder. Both shots were squeezed off in quick succession and Jeff watched as Bogg's bullet hit the silver omni, knocking it into the air and over the edge of the cliff.

"Ugh."

The sound was soft, and Jeff felt panic as he turned to his friend and watched a spot of blood appear on Bogg's upper arm and spread down his shirt. "No, Bogg!" Jeff pleaded in panic as he moved toward him.

Phineas gasped and flinched as he held the spot tightly with one hand.

"I've got it," Jeff whispered as he began applying direct pressure to the wound as best he could. "We've gotta get away from here."

And then it happened.

A leaf crunched.