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Had he locked Michelle inside? She suspected he’d been arrogant enough to think he could find Sarah quickly and would lock up Michelle to make sure he didn’t have to search for both of them.
A gunshot echoed through the trees on the other side of the cabin, and his shouts grew angrier. Would he give up or call in reinforcements? And what if he randomly fired into the foliage where she hid? She had to get out of here. If more people came and conducted a thorough search, they’d find her.
Since he was occupied on the other side, she pushed her way to the back side of the thicket and emerged into the dark. Which way should she go? The only thing she could do was try to stay as far away from that guy as possible. She used his voice as a guide and kept moving until she couldn’t hear him anymore.
She hoped that meant he was a long way away, but it might mean he’d quit yelling, realizing she would use it to pinpoint his location. Her breath came hard in her chest, and her raspy panting filled her ears. She had no idea where she was. Lissa had made many twists and turns along dirt roads, and Sarah wasn’t familiar with this area.
Her legs ached, and her head began to pound. Her last meal had been breakfast, and she began to tire. She paused to take stock of her location. Trees, trees, and more trees. They crowded together so closely, she couldn’t glimpse a star or glimmer of the moon. She had no idea of the time either, but it would be hours before the sun came up. She’d have to wander out here until dawn, when she might see enough to determine which way to go.
She eyed a large oak tree. If she could climb it, maybe she could see lights in a distant home or fishing lodge. It was worth a try. She placed her left foot in the V of the lowest split and clambered up to the sturdiest branch she could reach. She swept her gaze over the area around her, but the trees were too thick to make out any of the landscape or see more than five feet ahead of her.
A twig snapped and she froze. She desperately needed to sneeze, but she held it the same way she held her breath. A scent wafted her way. Male cologne.
He was right below her even if she couldn’t see him. She clung to the limb and waited a long time until the stealthy movements and the scent vanished.
By the time she thought it was safe to climb down, she wasn’t sure she had the strength.
Thirty-Seven
Annie scooted out over the abyss as far as she could and still maintain her balance. She shone the light along the cliff wall and watched Jon bounce out from it with his feet as he let himself slide down a few inches at a time to the next knot in the rope. One wrong move, and he’d plummet past Kylie and crash on the rocks below.
What he was doing took incredible strength and concentration. Her pulse roared in her ears, and her hands were slick with perspiration. She moved the flashlight to the other hand and prayed.
Naomi sat on the cliff’s edge with her legs dangling over. She aimed her light at Kylie’s blonde head. “Just a couple more feet and you’re there.”
Jon’s face was white and focused. The tendons in his neck stood out, and the muscles in his arms bulged with the strain of hanging on to the rope. Annie shouldn’t have let him go in his condition, but Kylie’s situation was dire. The shelf looked fragile, like it could let break at any moment.
As he neared Kylie, Annie could see he was barely going to make the safety of the ledge. And he would have to lift Kylie up high to get her into the harness he’d created on the end of the rope. Barely daring to breathe, she watched him point the toe ofone shoe until it connected with the ledge, then the other one, until he finally released the rope.
It dangled a foot above his head. Getting it around Kylie would be tricky. Maybe they should wait until more help arrived. She moved the flashlight a few inches and gasped. The ledge on the north side had begun to break off.
“Naomi, look.” Annie pointed at the crumbling rock.
“Oh no,” Naomi whispered. She trained the light on that spot. “Jon, you’ve got to get out of there! The ledge isn’t going to hold!”
Jon tracked the light with his eyes, and his fists clenched when he spotted the danger. He scooped Kylie into his arms and hugged her. “It’s going to be okay, Bug. We’re going to get you up in that rope there. See it above my head? I’ll put you on my shoulders so you can reach it. When you grab it, slip the loop under your arms. Can you do that?”
“You’ve got to come, too, Jon.” Annie’s voice barely squeaked out of her throat. He didn’t turn his head, so she knew he hadn’t heard her plea.
He leaned against the rock face on his left side to steady himself, then lifted Kylie to his shoulders. He slumped a little with the effort, and Annie wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep his balance. He was too weak to be doing this. She shouldn’t have let him go down there.
Kylie reached above her head and grabbed the rope. She slipped the loop over her head and wiggled it down over her shoulders and then under her arms. “I’ve got it. I did it, Mommy!” She turned her face up into the light emitted from Annie’s flashlight.
“Good girl,” Naomi called down. “Mommy is glad, but her voice is gone. Hang on to the rope with both hands, and we’regoing to pull you up, okay? We’ll have to put down our flashlights to do it, though, so don’t be scared. We’re still here.”
“Okay.” Kylie grasped the rope tightly.
Annie laid down the light and jumped up to help Naomi pull up Kylie. The rope began to come up easily, and she sobbed at the thought that Kylie would be safe and sound in her arms in just moments. She kept her gaze on the edge of the cliff, and her daughter’s blonde hair showed above the grass in a shaft of moonlight. Annie and Naomi gave a final tug, and Kylie was lying on her stomach on the grass.
Annie dropped the rope and rushed to pull Kylie into an embrace. Kylie wound her arms around Annie’s neck and burst into tears. Annie wept with her. They might have lost her today. But for Jon, this might have been a very different ending.
Naomi turned on a light so they could check Kylie over. Annie had never seen a more welcome sight than her little girl’s blue eyes and sweet cheeks.
She pulled away and ran her hands over Kylie’s arms. “Are you hurt? Is anything broken?” she managed to get out in a whisper.
Kylie shook her head. “I just have a bruise here.” She showed her a bruise on her right calf.
She gave her daughter a final hug. “We’ve got to get Jon to safety,” she croaked. “Sit here against the tree with Samson and Charley. Good boys,” she crooned to the dogs. She set Kylie onto the grass, and both dogs snuggled in, their tails wagging happily. “Don’t move,” she told her daughter.
