6 Calling for help

Chapter Six CALLING FOR HELP "Aha!" said Gustavo. Leah was standing beside him on the bank of the stream. He pointed out some thin branches on the other side of the water. "See where those branches are snapped? Now put the scene together in your mind." Leah tried to picture the poachers moving through the night. "It was dark, so

they wouldn't have been able to see any stepping stones… So they would have had to take a blind leap… So they probably didn't see those branches at all! They just crashed through them and kept going." "Good work!" Gustavo jumped over the stream, just as the poachers would have done. Leah followed, full of the thrill of the chase. She couldn't wait for Gustavo to find the next clue. But it was Leah who saw a faint impression in the mud. "Gustavo, wait up! Isn't that a footprint?" Gustavo looked down at the U-shaped imprint in the ground. "Definitely. Good spot."

"It looks a little weird," Leah said. "Like it's only the front half of the foot." "It is," Gustavo explained. "Because when you run, you don't bring your foot down flat, do you? Only the front part comes into contact with the ground." "The poachers were running. It must have been them," Leah said. Gustavo pondered. "Well, it's a good job you spotted this print, because it means they suddenly swerved off this way, through these bushes. I wonder why?" "Bear tracks!" Leah said, pointing at the ground. "I guess the black bear from last night has a mate." Gustavo grinned. "You'd make a brilliant historian!" There was a lot more leaf cover overhead, which meant a lot less sunlight reaching the

forest floor, which meant less bracken and more patches of bare earth. They found the footprint trail with ease. Leah noticed the prints were more regular, meaning the poachers had slowed down. Then Gustavo pointed out something shiny and picked it up. "A chocolate wrapper," he said. "If they had time for a snack, then they weren't in a hurry anymore. So they must have thought they were safe."

Leah pocketed it, making a disgusted face. They searched the ground for more footprints, but neither of them could find any. Leah felt frustrated. "What if there aren't any more prints to find?" she muttered. "If the trail's gone cold, then we're out of luck…" "Let's check over there, where the wrapper was," Gustavo suggested. "I've got a hunch that it might have fallen out of something… or been thrown out." Leah pushed through some ferns and gave a shout. "Tire marks! So that's how they got away!" "I knew it!" cried Gustavo. "They ate the chocolate bar in their vehicle and threw the wrapper out the window." Leah scowled. "These poachers are the worst—they're litterbugs, too!"

Gustavo looked at the tire tracks snaking off through the forest. "They could be anywhere by now." Leah felt new determination fill her. "Then let's get the Beagle and follow them." Moments later, they were racing along through the forest with Leah at the wheel. The engine roared and the Beagle made excited BEEPS as they went.