Page 2 of Knox

My breath came faster, harsh in the quiet forest. My instincts screamed at me to move, to get off this trail, to find other people, an open space. Anything that wasn’t this narrow path through dense woods with someone behind me getting closer every minute.

Fear and adrenaline spiked in my system, and I broke into a messy run.

Branches whipped at my face and arms. My pack bounced hard against my back. I nearly tripped over a root but caught myself and kept going. The trail curved ahead, and I knew from memory that it would open into a small clearing in another hundred yards. If I could just reach that clearing, I’d have room to maneuver. Room to use the bear spray if I needed to. There might even be hikers from intersecting trails enjoying the views.

The footsteps behind me grew heavy and purposeful, but I couldn’t bring myself to look. Eyes forward, I had to run.

I burst around the curve, and the clearing opened in front of me, delivering an abundance of blessed morning light instead of shadowed canopy. But I was alone. No other hikers to save me. So, I didn’t stop. I ran straight through the clearing and back into the forest on the other side. I followed the trail toward the main road. Toward people. Toward safety.

Eventually, behind me, the footsteps stopped.

I didn’t.

I kept running, not trusting my ears, not slowing down until the trail spilled me out onto the fire road that paralleled Highway 12. Only then did I allow myself a moment for air. Bent forward, gasping for breath, I braced both hands on my knees, and worked to calm my mind.

No one was behind me.

I might’ve wept with joy, if I hadn’t been so certain I was followed. Whoever it was had followed for a long while. Hadn’t they?

And why?

Unless I was wrong.

My rattled mind said they were biding their time. For the right moment, or maybe for the right place. Where no one would hear me scream.

I willed the terrifying thoughts to stop, but they didn’t listen.

I wondered if the goal was simply to terrify me.

Or if no one had ever been there at all.

My hands shook as I pulled my bear spray from my pocket, safety off, finger on the trigger.

I hurried along the fire road toward the highway, then stopped at the intersection, trying to orient myself. The trailhead parking lot where I’d left my car was south, back the way I’d come. At least two miles through isolated stretches of road with no houses, no witnesses.

North was the main commercial district. Restaurants. Shops. People.

Claire’s shop, Island Adventures, was north. Maybe a half mile up the road before all the other businesses. The building was visible in the distance from this vantage, and for some reason, the lights appeared to be on.

I looked back toward the trail. The trees stood silent and still. No movement. No sign anyone had been following me.

Terror rattled my thoughts and limbs. My muscles wobbled from exertion.

Everything felt so unclear.

Had I really been in danger?

I heard Claire’s voice again. Better safe than sorry.

Then I fixed my eyes on the distant light in her shop. A sign from my dear friend.

So, I turned north and I ran.

Chapter 2

Knox

I couldn’t bring myself to pack any of the boxes filling my mother’s living room.