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I hope.
After another hour, it’s clear that I’m not heading down the mountain and I’m hopelessly lost.
“Shit!” I stop and pull my phone out of the backpack, letting it slide to the ground. The air around me has the sharp, cold, iron tang of snow and flakes begin to spin down to the ground. Tiny little flakes swirling into bigger, fluffier white crystals that dance on the breeze. Until the wind picks up again, driving it into my face which stings and burns like a thousand bees attacking my bare skin.
Turning, I block the wind with my body and quickly hit the button for the sheriff in Black Timber Peak. I lift the phone to my ear, shivering and trying desperately to stay warm.
It attempts to ring, and I hear someone pick up but as soon as they pick up, the incessant beep beep-beep of a disconnected call hits my ear.
“Shit!” When I pull the phone away from my ear, I see that there are no bars again. My shoulders hunch as the air gets colder, wilder.
This is bad. I don’t know what to do because I’ve lost all sense of direction. I don’t know which way I came from, and I have a feeling that I’ve actually changed directions so many times that I’ll never be able to work out how to get back the way I came.
I groan, holding my hand to my side yet again. My fingers come away stained with blood.
I close my eyes and try to think. If I’m going to get out of this, I need to keep a clear head. The urge to panic needs to be beaten back.
If I can’t call anyone at the sheriff’s office for help and I can’t figure out which direction I came from, how am I going to get out of this?
Just as I think that my phone has a compass I can use and smile in relief, the screen goes dark.
“Dammit! I forgot to charge it last night.”Crap!I came up into the mountains thinking I was totally safe because I had my phone, only I didn’t charge it.Perfect!
Groaning, I bend down and put my phone safely back in my backpack, plugging it into the portable charger. It will take a while to charge back up.
When I zip up the backpack so that I don’t do anything else, like drop the dang thing somewhere on the trail, I stand up slowly, my head swims and my left side feels like it’s on fire.
My head slowly turns in every direction as I try to work out the best course of action. The snow is much heavier now and it’s blowing wildly. But way off in the distance, I swear I see a light moving in and out.
Sucking in a surprised breath, hope and relief rise up in my chest. There’s someone else out here. I’m not alone. All I have to do is get to that light and there’s someone who can help me get the hell out of here.
Early snow is not a surprise this high up in the mountains. Happens all the time, but I don’t remember seeing any forecast when I was getting ready to make my trip up here. And there’s no one in town who will miss me for quite a few more days. Not until the Black Timber Peak Farmers Market on Saturdays since I’m always there on Saturdays to try and sell my jewelry and crystal gifts.
Until then I just stay in my little house outside of town on my plot of land left to me by my grandparents who raised me.
Straightening my shoulders and firming up my mouth, I pick up the backpack and slip it over my shoulders, biting my lip when I get a sharp snap of pain as it hits my back.
Ignoring my side, I stumble towards the light which shifts and dances in the wind and snow swirling around me like some kind of hellish snow globe.
Each step feels like my legs and feet are encased in cement and lead. I can barely lift them up. But I need to find help and the only way I will, is if I find it myself.
An hour later, I stop and lean against a tree, sucking in cold air and my eyes turning up to the sky. It’s getting dark and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end, unsure what might be out here with me and, knowing that I might be out here for hours more unless I can get to that fucking light. My eyes dart side to side, each step terrifying in the dim light.
I let myself rest for five minutes or so then put my head up and trudge forward again, stumbling in the light layer of snow under my feet.
I can see the light in the distance, and it taunts me, shifting and disappearing over and over again. But somehow always staying far off in the distance. Ignoring all my pain and exhaustion, I keep going, keep moving and hoping that I find the light, find the help that I desperately need in this winter wonderland of fear and pain.
CHAPTERTWO
JUDE
My SAT phone rings,and I pick it up, sitting in my chair by the fire and enjoying the warmth and peace of my little cabin.
“Hello, Hartley here,” I growl into the receiver, not happy to be bothered as night is closing in. It’s part of my job but I was out on trails all day warning dumb-ass tourists to get the hell off the mountain, that snow was on the way in. I’m tired and cold and just damn ready to pack it in for the night.
Plus it usually means that someone hasn’t heeded the warnings and put themselves at risk.Idiots!
“Hey, Jude. Sorry to bother you but I’ve got a missing person up there on the mountain. I think she tried to call in and it connected but just briefly then her cell lost the signal and we haven’t been able to raise her since.”
