"Well, they were obviously here at some point in the night." Roden stated, satisfied that he could finally prove to Manda that they were on the right trail.
"But I don't see any cabins around here." Manda stated as she slowly scoped the area with her eyes.
Roden looked at his map. He wasn't exactly sure how far they were between the last cabin they investigated and the point where the next cabin should be. Since Max's car was on a different path, Roden was a little confused. Was this other trail even on the map? His map reading skills were never very good, and he couldn't even figure out north from south (or east from west for that matter) without a street sign to point it out for him. It was just never a talent he possessed.
"Well, wherever they went to from here, they went on foot." That seemed evident enough, but the statement was meant to lead up to his next proposal in their search. "I suggest that we split up and search the area for them. Maybe we can find clues or spot a nearby cabin. . ."
"Absolutely not!" Manda cried. "I'm not wandering around here on my own."
"Manda," Roden pleaded, "It is the quickest way. You want to find Ess, don't you?"
Manda looked horrified. She was torn between finding her friend and wandering the forest alone. She was obviously a city girl, and, as Roden glanced at her feet he remembered that she wasn't exactly wearing the right shoes. Still, he suspected that the wild animals would be more afraid of her than she would be of them.
"Here. Take my watch, and I'll use the timer on my cell phone. We can have a look around the area; cover whatever distance out we can in an hour, then turn around and meet back here in two. That way you can't wander too far." Roden handed his watch to Manda, but she didn't take it.
"What if I get lost? What if I fall down a hole or get dragged off by a wild animal?" She was legitimately scared.
"Manda, I promise you. If you are not back at this spot in two hours, I will come looking for you. I swear to you, I will not leave this forest without you. Okay?" Manda still hesitated, but took the watch from him.
They decided which directions they would forge out in, coordinated their times, and left the white Jetta behind to search for Max and Esther. Roden headed towards the area to the left of the car, while Martin took the right, and Manda begrudgingly began walking down the dirt road in which the Jetta was pointed.
Roden studied every inch of ground that he could, trying to catch everything and still manage to move quickly so that he could cover a lot of area. The terrain was so rough, that it was hard to maneuver through, let alone discover evidence of any previous traversing.
The guilt of forcing Manda to reluctantly scout the woods on her own ended up distracting Roden's progress. As much as he disliked her company, he hated to push her into this frightening but necessary seclusion, even for the benefit of their search. For her sake, and for the sake of his own sanity, he hoped that one of them would find at least one new clue, if not the actual location of Max's hiding place. Otherwise, they'd have to go back to their original plan, which meant continuing on to the remaining cabins and using the process of elimination.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The conversation between Max and Ess casually moved onward, and dialog between them became not unlike two old friends who were catching up after years of leading separate lives. The effect of the amity made Max extremely blissful and left Ess a little befuddled.
Max wished, and not for the first time in the past twenty-four hours, that he had a sketchpad. He was now able to observe Ess like he never could before. Her movements and expressions were beyond anything his imagination had been able to conjure up over the years. He noticed that when Ess became animated in conversation, her delightful eyes narrowed slightly, her brilliant cheeks emitted a warm glow and her plush lips curled up at the sides slightly higher than when she simply smiled. Quite exquisite. He wanted to capture it so he could have it to keep forever.
Ess was fully aware that she shouldn't feel so at ease with this man, and she tried not to; but he exuded this unexpected sort of consoling quality that made her slowly drop her guard, despite her best efforts. Sure he was a stranger and he held her in seclusion in the middle of nowhere against her will, but he pulled it off so well that she let herself forget that this was an impromptu camping trip.
In fact, she found his character quite unimposing, and his conversation quite intelligent. If they had met in a bar or café, she probably would have been immensely attracted to him. If the circumstances had been different, she knew that she would have been very happy to be acquainted with him. She didn't find him to be all that physically striking at first, to be honest, but his easy exchange and sincere attention made him absolutely charming.
Their conversation took it's natural turns and shifts, and eventually progressed to the topic of coincidences. The subject had a simple beginning in that it played much importance in the progress of stories, both true and fiction. Max observed, and Ess gladly latched on to the suggestion, that without coincidental meetings and incidences, there could be no plots, no chains of events, no happy endings or just desserts. Without coincidences there would be no stories, no remarkable experiences in peoples lives. Life would simply be methodical, and purposeless.
"Yes, you're right," Ess agreed enthusiastically, "The greatest stories ever written are full of coincidences. Ah, let me see, like: Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is pining away like a sissy over some girl when he happens to run into the daughter of his family's enemy and falls in love with her; then, the day he and Juliet plan to run off together, he runs into her cousin and unintentionally kills him. That just accelerates the events that ultimately lead to the death of the two lovers. Tragic. But full of coincidences."
It was a long speech for Ess, and she found that her brain was moving faster than her mouth. Occasionally she stumbled over her words, but she just kept going. It felt so good to be listened to.
"Then, of course, there's Pride and Prejudice, again – I have to bring up the coincidences in that story: Elizabeth Bennett visits her best friend at Rosings Park at the same time Mr. Darcy is visiting his aunt, which leads to his botched up first proposal. Then, Lizzy happens to show up for a tour at Pemberly the same day Darcy returns to his home, and they're thrown back together. The events eventually lead him to save her family's honor and finally gain her hand in marriage."
Max was more than willing to supply his own examples, too, and found Ess equally willing to listen as she was to speak. "Charles Dickens was a great user of coincidences in his stories, too. Oliver Twist ended up getting caught robbing the house of some people that had known his mother; oh, and Nicholas Nickelby ended up saving poor abused Smike from a third rate boarding school, and found out later that they were actually cousins. Then, of course, you can't forget A Tale of Two Cities. Charles Darnay and Syndey . . . oh, what was his name? Carton, yes, thank you. They happened to look so much alike that they could pass for twins, and they both loved the same woman. So, in the end, Sydney was able to sacrifice himself to save Charles's life and make Lucie Darnay happy. Lots of coincidences."