The forest is still alive with color in the waning sunlight. Though several decades have passed since your grandfather fled here after his infamous bank robbery, you feel a sense of timelessness about you, as if very little has changed with the passing years. You can imagine the scene before you looking quite similar to what he saw on that fateful night. You breathe in the cool, fresh air as you start off on the wide trail. It's a beautiful evening. The towering trees cast soft shadows across the leaf-covered ground and you know it will not be long before the red-gold sun drops fully beneath the horizon and darkness settles over the preserve. It's strangely quiet for twilight, you think, hearing little more than a whisper of wind through the treetops, but perhaps you've arrived at just that moment when the daytime wildlife is tucking in to bed and the creatures of the night have not yet emerged.
At first, you are content to simply meander along, telling yourself that you're getting the lay of the land, guided by your great-aunt's drawing, but you realize that soon you will need to give up your somewhat aimless wandering and determine a plan. In the growing gloom, you use your cell phone's light to study the map again. Rebecca marked a spot with "Spooky Old Tree," and reasoning you need to choose somewhere to start a serious search, you strike out in the direction of this fancifully described location.
At first, you are content to simply meander along, telling yourself that you're getting the lay of the land, guided by your great-aunt's drawing, but you realize that soon you will need to give up your somewhat aimless wandering and determine a plan. In the growing gloom, you use your cell phone's light to study the map again. Rebecca marked a spot with "Spooky Old Tree," and reasoning you need to choose somewhere to start a serious search, you strike out in the direction of this fancifully described location.