The crack of the splintering wood grew louder.
Emma curled in on herself, wrapping her arms around her knees and shutting her eyes tight. The cacophony came too fast and too loud, causing a reaction inside of her she didn’t understand. Like someone tumbling down a hill? Had this been the noise Liz had made at the end?
“Emma, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Daniel knelt on the ground.
She dropped her hold and relaxed her shoulders, taking in a deep gulp of air and feigning a calm she didn’t feel.
Daniel cupped her face in his hands.
His gaze roamed over her like he was searching for something. She hated to break the spell. “Not me. Jennifer.”
“Oww, ouch,” Jennifer whimpered.
Christine knelt at her side, a hand on her shoulder. “Can you move it?”
Jennifer rotated her ankle a half a degree and sucked in all the available air. “Sort of,” she managed between pants. “I don’t think it’s sprained or broken. Just twisted.”
“That’s a relief,” Christine said.
“What do you want to do?” Emma asked. “Turn around? Should we all go back?”
Maybe this hike wasn’t a good idea. The chances of finding the time capsule were slim. The idea that the buried box might have a clue about what happened to Liz and who killed Owen was laughable.
“No, we can’t,” Margaux said, breathless. “We have to do this.”
Emma stared at her, hating the hair-raising feeling on the back of her neck. The sensation reminded her of the other night, outside of the front office, when she’d been desperate to avoid driving in the rain but couldn’t find Owen anywhere. Like she was prey.
Jennifer released a long, slow exhale. “I’ll be okay. Christine, help me take off my shoe and wrap my ankle. I can hobble back to the bunk and get some ice. If the swelling goes down, I’ll meet up with you.”
“Do you want us to go with you?” Emma asked.
“No, not at all. You keep going,” Jennifer said, waving a hand in a shooing gesture. “When you have kids in sports, you see plenty of injuries. This one is minor, and my stupidity shouldn’t hold the rest of you back. You go on ahead. I’ll catch up with you soon.”
“If you’re sure?” Christine asked, easing off the sneaker.
Jennifer winced and nodded. “Yes. I’ll be fine. This might be the last chance to make some better memories at camp.”
Danger lurked around every corner and from every possible source.
Christine produced a T-shirt out of her backpack and made quick work of tying a makeshift compression sleeve on the ankle. “I can’t wait for the kids to hear about this. You’ll never live it down.”
Jennifer rolled her eyes and chuckled between sharp inhalations.
Emma yearned for distraction now. A headache formed behind her eyes. She didn’t want to but couldn’t stop her mind traveling back to the last night with Liz. She needed space to herself to sort through the memory and the emotions trapped within. She needed to be somewhere safe to lose herself in the pain.
“All done,” Christine said. “Get on your feet and test this out.”
Emma was impressed. With the tie-dye bandage, Jennifer’s ankle looked almost normal.
“If it doesn’t work?” Margaux asked.
Christine shrugged. “We abandon her in the woods. I can’t make a gurney out of branches and leaves.”
Margaux furrowed her brow.
“She’s joking,” Emma supplied. Where was Margaux’s sense of humor? No wonder she struggled with Jennifer and Christine. Margaux took life too seriously.
Daniel helped Jennifer to her feet. “Are you sure about this?” he asked with an arm wrapped around her waist. “Do you want to take a shovel as a walking stick?”
