Page 17 of Reign or Shine

Still laughing she agrees with a smirk on her face. “It’s cute though, the way you’re fumbling. I would have expected you to be an expert when it comes to damsels in distress.”

I snort, surprised by the sound but also by how at ease she’s making me as I try to help. “Damsels are for princes, sunshine. I prefer woodsy warriors.”

Her face softens at my words. The shine of pain leaves her eyes for a minute and is replaced with a sparkle of joy. Holding her gaze for a little longer, I then focus back on the radio. Something pricks my hand.

The small antenna is cracked near the base, making the thick stick wobble. Gently, I finger the area and hear Ellie gasp when the antenna falls to the ground.

“That’s not supposed to happen.” Her voice is low; she’s shocked at what just happened. “Press the button and see if the radio still works.”

I do as instructed, but all that comes through is static.

Dropping her head into her hands, Ellie curses. Unsure what to do now that our only way of communicating with her colleagues is lost, I fall to the side and sit next to her. I place a hand gently on her good leg and give her knee a reassuring squeeze.

I grab my cell phone again and see that I have no signal. I try to send a message through to Jonas, but I repeatedly get an error message. Well, there goes that idea.

Running her hands over her hair and down to the base of her neck, Ellie looks up to the sky. A crack of thunder rumbles overhead.

“I can carry you back,” I hear myself saying, trying to offer up solutions.

“I have no doubt you can carry me, Henry, but not for over four hours safely. And not with a storm coming.”

“Rain wasn’t in the forecast,” I say dumbly.

“Mother Nature is a wily and unexpected bitch sometimes. Looks like she’s not going easy on us today,” she says, pointing up to the darkening sky.

“So what’s our next best option? Stay here and wait out the storm?”

Ellie looks around, taking in our surroundings. Her body goes stiff when she spots something. I try to follow her line of sight, and the only thing that looks out of place to me is a green ribbon around one of the far trees.

“Grab the map in my backpack.” Her voice shakes me out of my perusal. I do as she asks, not questioning the demand.

When the map is in her hands, she opens it up and starts tracing a line across the paper.

“Fuck,” she whispers. “It’s far but it may be our best option.”

“What is?” I interject into her thoughts.

“There’s a ranger’s cabin about three miles from here. Which will take about an hour to get to with me on your back.” She looks to the sky again. “And if the rain holds.”

“Shouldn’t we wrap your ankle or something?”

Shaking her head, she responds, “There’s no time. We can tend to my ankle when we’re safe in the cabin. But we need to go now.”

“Then let’s go.” I wasn’t going to question her again. With each second that passed, the sky seemed to grow more ominous.

Standing, I swung my backpack to the front of my chest and put it on backward. After tightening the straps, I extended both arms down to Ellie.

Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she reaches for my hands and I lift her up slowly, making sure she’s putting weight on only one leg. She wobbles when she’s at a full stand, but I’m right beside her and I won’t let her fall.

With a steadying hand on my shoulder, I give her a nod and turn my back to her.

“Do you think you can jump on?” I ask, adjusting my backpack one more time.

She doesn’t answer me. Instead she jumps without any warning. I think that’s her subtle way of telling me to shut up.

I stagger forward with the abrupt movement and weight. Panic flares in my stomach at the thought of dropping her. With that in mind, I focus on getting my feet stable.

“Jesus,” I grunt, finally steady. “A little warning next time, sunshine.” Her legs squeeze me tight around the middle.

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