AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Too bad you didn’t have a crystal ballCordbecause you would have seen that what you thought wasbestfor me was the worst thing you could have ever done. It would have been gentler to simply shoot me.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake Paige, do you have to be so overdramatic?” Sam complained. “You’ve argued with Kendra for two years for no reason.”
“If that’s what you want to believe fine, I’m done with all of you,” she said heading up to her room and shutting the door enjoying the click the lock made as she packed her camera bag and folded the clothes, she’d brought with her. She wasn’t leaving anything this time because she wasn’t going to be back.
The knock that sounded at six dragged her from her dreams where she’d never left and where she and Joel had gotten married giving her father that first grandchild.
“Paige, it’s Sam. Listen Jim’s kids went out camping last night but when he went to check on them, they weren’t there. We’re going to go out…”
“I’ll be right there,” she replied sliding out of bed. Fifteen minutes later, they pulled into the camping area near Johnson Trailhead, and she slid her backpack on calling Maggie to follow.
She spied the grim looking parents, Jim and Brittany, as the rest of her team pulled in. She let Maggie investigate the camping gear while she checked the map Joel had brought. They were sectioning it off when Maggie began to dance anxious to move and she checked her watch. If Lenny had left at the same time as them to get the coms it’d be another twenty to thirty minutes before he arrived, time she didn’t want to waste as clouds began to roll in.
“Rabbit, Moose, there’s a path that leads through the park area, take the Jeeps and spread out. Rabbit, you set up here with Harry and his group. Moose you take this section with Ed and Bobby. I’ll have Sam and Joel cover these areas with their groups and Hillary you stay here with Brittany, there’s no point in telling Jim to stay put but there’s rain coming our way and she doesn’t need to be out in it.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Rabbit said with a grin. “Cell services any good out here?”
“No, spotty at best, Lenny’s bringing the coms from the mine and should be here soon. Just as a warning, see this light blue line here? It’s a creek, typically mild but if this storm hits the way it looks like it will, it won’t be a gentle creek anymore. It starts up here and runs all the way through the park down below these mountains and then to this lake,” she said showing them the path. “Don’t get caught in it if it starts to storm, the water on a good day is freezing but add in the excess from the higher altitude on the mountain up there and you’re looking at hypothermia in no time.”
“Any ideas where they might have gone? Jim said they had come out here last weekend and they wandered around a bit, but they were back at their tent before dark,” Craig inquired.
“Honestly there’re too many places they could have gone. We could be out here for days if they’re hurt. I’m going to let Joel and Sam know where they should take their Jeeps pack blankets in the back as well as the rain gear,” she told them, quickly moving away to give her brother and Joel their directions. When the group was busy getting their things ready, she quietly slipped away following Maggie who raced off as the thunder began to roll in, by the time anyone realized she was gone it’d be too late to try and track her.
As they walked through the brush, she realized she knew exactly where Maggie was heading, and she hoped they hadn’t crossed the creek. If they did Maggie would lose their scent and there were miles and miles of paths, they could have taken along with the array of mountains they could have tried to climb. The wind began to whip, and she dug her ball cap out of her bag tying her long chestnut brown hair back out of the way as they neared the creek. Maggie stopped and she cursed the universe for making things so difficult. Crossing the creek wasn’t difficult but it meant slowing down to ensure she didn’t fall in and get soaked.
“Let’s just hope we can figure out which way they went Maggie Mae,” she sighed starting out over it. Why did boys always insist on crossing the creek in the deepest part and not at one of the many bridges along the way?
∞∞∞
“Has anyone seen Paige?” Hillary asked as Lenny arrived with the coms.
“I thought she was with you,” Sam stated as they took enough for their group.
“She said she was going to tell you which area to search and that’s the last I saw of her,” she replied. “Hey Jesse have you seen Paige?” she shouted across the group.
“Nope, don’t tell me she’s disappeared again,” he said coming over.
“What do you mean again?” Joel asked.
“It’s not the first time Paige has gone out ahead of everyone else,” Craig answered.
“Maggie’s not here,” Rabbit told them.
“And her pack’s not in the Jeep anymore,” Moose added.
“We’ll just have to hope she knows what she’s doing,” Sam stated.
“We’ll just have to hope she doesn’t do anything stupid,” Craig muttered.
“What was that?” Joel questioned.
“Let’s just say Paige has a way of getting the job done with no regard to her own safety,” Jesse stated.
“So you’re saying not only should we be looking for two missing boys but also my sister and her dumb dog?” Sam laughed. “Great.”
“Paige will be fine,” Joel stated. “She knows this area by heart and that dumb dog won’t let anything happen to her. Come on, we should get going this rain’s not going to hold off for long.”
“Right behind you,” Rabbit said heading to the Jeep as Moose and the others moved towards theirs.
