Tersely then, he ordered Kathleen out of the car also.
“Turn your backs and start walking into the woods,” he ordered the two girls. “Keep walking. Don’t look back or I’ll shoot.”
Kathleen pulled Judy to her feet, and they slowly moved off into the woods.
“Walk faster!” Diethelm shouted.
The girls obediently increased their speed, stumbling as they climbed over fallen logs and other forest debris.
Moments passed, and Judy dared to look over her shoulder. No longer could she see the car or the roadway.
But as she paused, she heard the roar of the coupe’s engine.
“He’s filled the gas tank and he’s pulling out!” she declared. “Now to get help, if we can.”
Hurrying back the way they had come, the girls reached the roadside in time to see the coupe disappearing around a curve in the direction from which it had come.
“He’s going back to the cave to warn the hi-jackers!” Judy guessed shrewdly. “He must know I got through to the ranger headquarters!”