Joanna turned her head in the opposite direction, but what her eyes captured startled her. It was not another tree, as she had strongly believed it would be.
"No," she managed to answer in the same volume, staring at the sweating, brawny arm that was close to her eyes as it was placed near her head.
"What a disappointing answer." Joanna heard him click his tongue before adding, "So are you hiding here because the one that you wanted to see is not me, and you wanted to keep it behind my back?"
"No! Of course not!" Joanna turned her head in a swift movement to face the source of the voice, responding with her eyes narrowed, before belatedly comprehending that she had failed to control her voice as it went slightly higher than normal.
