There wasn't time to argue with her and she'd probably just follow him anyway. Obviously her mother let her come this far alone.
"All right, but stay with me."
"We can ride Ol' Ned."
He shook his head. "He might make noise."
"Do you know where they are?"
"I've got a pretty good idea." He opened the door. "Come on, then."
He didn't like the idea of walking in the dark, but he liked the idea of exposing their position even less. It was cool enough at night that the snakes probably wouldn't be out. That left a lot of other night creatures, but none of them were dangerous to a man with a gun - except man. He had walked over most of the acreage, so he had a fair idea of where things were. If he could get in the vicinity of their camp, he would probably hear them talking and/or see lights.
Mary Jo stayed close behind him and moved through the dry leaves more quietly than he did. All her anxiety appeared to be over her brother's safety, not her own.
They saw the lights before they heard the voices, and slowed their pace. They could see figures moving around the lights. When they got close enough, they could see Billy Ray. The men were laughing at him. All of them had rifles. This wasn't good.
Barrett didn't feel the stick under his prosthetic leg until it snapped. The men whirled and looked in their direction.
"Who's out there?" One of them asked.
"Probably the girl, looking for her brother," another one said. "Come out of there before I start shooting."
Barrett touched Mary Jo's arm and leaned close, whispering in her ear. "Go for help." He pulled the car keys out of his pocket and lifted her arm, placing them in her hand. Then he took a deep breath and let it out as he stepped from the forest alone.
"I see you found Billy Ray. I was looking for him."
Behind him, he heard the faintest rustle of leaves as Mary Jo moved away and then stopped. Hopefully he would be able to talk his way out of this, but if he couldn't, he wanted her out of danger and going for help.
A rifle pointed at him and its snaggle-toothed owner spoke in a nasal voice. "And you just naturally figured he was way out here in the middle of the forest."
Another laughed without humor. "Naw, he followed his trail."