Cassie and Lily each took a bag, but recognized the extra weight would be deterring, so they quickly opened them to strip out any unnecessary items. They kept the FLIR, bolt cutters and two bundles of paracord, but left the sledgehammer and other gear behind. With the bags lightened, they put the things they were taking in one, and left the other behind.
"That's better," Lily said. "We should have what we need and be able to move more quickly."
"What if they're hurt?" Cassie wondered.
Lily stopped at that, but since they were in Nancy Douglas' car, she didn't have any first aid gear available. "We'll have to improvise. I don't see anything here we could use."
They closed the gate on the SUV as quietly as they could, then started away. Lily was wary of openly walking along the road, but the remote location worked in their favor. It was very dark and quiet, giving them ample time to get off the road into the woods if they heard anyone coming along the road. Swallowing her concern over exposure, Lily waved to Cassie and they started out.
The road swung along before them, gradually sweeping away to their left as they hurried along. It made a big sweeping curve around the pond and back toward the entrance to the farm. Lily whispered her plan to Cassie as they walked along. They would move along the road until they could just the the road curve back, then they would head into the woods to find the pond and skirt around it. The night remained quiet, and they made good time. They were nearing the spot where Lily thought they needed to leave the road when they heard the sound of tires on pavement, and the low rumble of an approaching car.
"This is close enough, let's get off the road and out of sight," Lily hissed, and they scrambled through a small ditch to gain the cover of the lead edge of the forest. The underbrush was thankfully light this late in the year, but the heavy leaf cover made movement slow and their passage more noisy than either of them liked. The glow of lights coming around the corner as the car appeared showed them where the road bent back around, and gave them a briefly clear view of their path. They ducked down behind a pair of trees to stay hidden, waiting for the car to pass before daring to move again.
After it passed, they stayed down and listened, but heard nothing. Lily breathed a sigh of relief. Part of her had worried that they might have dogs at the farmhouse. They would never have allowed a quiet approach. With slightly more confidence, she led the way forward under the trees. Now that they were out of the open, they found the going much easier. There was far less growth underfoot, and the leaves here were heavily packed and damp, making for a soft carpet underfoot.
After a short distance, they could see the pond opening up on their left, giving them a screened view of the Peabody farm. They moved themselves to their right as they continued forward, making certain to stay under the cover of the trees and well back from the pond's edge.
"What's that building?" Cassie pointed ahead to a partially collapsed shed that stood ahead of them 200' on the right. Lily recognized it as the mystery structure near the tree line at the back of the property.
"It looks like a tool shed," she replied. "Strange for it to be so far from everything else, but it also looks like it was abandoned years ago."
They continued moving for a few more yards before the trees thinned to the point that they were worried about being seen if they moved too boldly. Lily suggested they look for the best vantage point that would show them the barn and back of the house without exposing themselves completely. There looked to be a couple of promising points between where they were and the back of the garage, but this side of the yard was open right to the edge of the pond, and offered no cover once they began moving forward toward the house.
