Page 65 of Glimmer in the Darkness

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t…” She looked around, then back up the slope. “It’s been so long. I don’t know how to get back to where our stuff is. I only went that way the one time.”

Did they need their backpacks? He didn’t care about the packs themselves. His sleeping bags, his tent, his Jetboil… None of that mattered. But the map with the coordinates of where they’d been was in there.

That didn’t matter now. They’d found what they were looking for.

But the medical supplies.

In the silence, he listened for any sounds that didn’t belong. Only forest noises surrounded them.

Where was the shooter?

What should they do?

He urged Cassidy into the cover of trees, easing her to a sitting position against a maple out of sight of the path. “Rest a second while I figure out where we are.”

She didn’t argue, leaning her head against the trunk and closing her eyes.

He didn’t ask if she was in pain. The answer was written in the tension on her brow, the hunching of her shoulders.

Looking at her, thinking what could’ve happened…

Averting his gaze—better to concentrate—he studied the too-small map on his phone, trying to figure out where they were in relation to the bottom of the rocky cliff they’d climbed. He needed his map with the markings. This digital one showed nothing but green. Useless.

He crouched beside Cassidy, set his handgun on the ground, and gently lifted the fabric from her wound. Fresh blood filled it, but less than before. He returned the bandage and pressed. “How’re you holding up?”

“I’m all right.”

“Did you see anyone?”

“No. Nothing.”

He gazed into the forest all around them. No signs of another human being. But someone was out there.

They needed help. They needed protection and guidance. Needed what only God could offer right now. Not that he had the right to ask anything of God after his years of silence, but he took her hands and closed his eyes. “Father, we need help. Hide us from the shooter. Guide us back to our packs and my Jeep. Please stop the bleeding in Cassy’s wound and protect her from further injury.” He opened his eyes to find her watching him. “Anything to add?”

“No. Just…” Her eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head as if to rid it of the overflowing emotions.

He kissed her temple, and a scripture welled up in him until he couldn’t contain it. “God is our refuge and our fortress. He’ll cover us with His feathers.”

“We’ll find shelter under the shadow of His wing.”

James couldn’t help the smile crossing his face. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who’d studied the Psalm. “We won’t fear the terror of night or the arrows—or bullets—that fly in the daytime.”

“I don’t remember the rest,” she said. “Something about no disaster coming near our tent.”

“We needed that one last night.”

She sniffed, her own smile breaking through the fear in her expression. “He brought us this far,” she said. “He’ll get us safely through.”

James sat beside her and studied the map with fresh eyes. Lead us, Lord.

He closed his eyes, pictured the paper map, pictured the route they’d walked to get to the cave, the one they’d just come down. If he weren’t mistaken…

“I think we need to head back up a little ways.”

“Okay.” She leaned on one arm to prop herself up.