Page 14 of Searching Blind

“We’re all okay,” Bea said.

Rocks tumbled and crashed somewhere close by.

“Without the tree, the ground’s too unsteady here,” Lucy said. “We need to get to the tower.”

“How?” Chuck demanded. “Now we have two people who can’t walk.”

“We make another stretcher,” Sawyer answered.

“Who’s gonna carry it? Theodore? He’d snap faster than a twig. You?”

As much as Sawyer loathed to admit it, the man had a point.

“I’ll walk,” Joel said suddenly.

“The hell you will.”

“Dad, look at her. She’s really hurt. She needs the stretcher more than I do. I can walk.”

“You’re sure?” Lucy asked.

“I can walk,” he repeated, determination in every syllable.

Strong kid. Stronger than his dad seemed to give him credit for. Braver, too.

Sawyer turned toward Joel’s voice and held out his hiking pole. “Use this as a crutch.”

Joel hesitated. “Don’t you need it?”

“I have Zelda.” He patted the dog’s side. “She won’t let me walk off a cliff.”

Lucy exhaled sharply. “You’re not funny.”

“I’m hilarious. You just don’t appreciate my comedic genius.”

Lucy didn’t respond. Sawyer figured she was probably rolling her eyes. He held the pole out and, after a moment, felt Joel take it from his hand.

He lifted his other hand off Zelda and his fingertips felt wet and sticky. He frowned, bringing his hand closer to his face, sniffing the substance.

Blood.

His heart plummeted. Had he missed something earlier? Was his girl actually injured? But a quick inspection assured him that she was unharmed. This wasn’t her blood.

“Lucy?” he called out in a low voice. She was at his side in an instant.

“What’s wrong?”

He held out his hand. “Zelda’s covered in blood.”

Lucy’s sharp intake of breath was his only answer. He heard the rustling of fabric as she presumably knelt beside Zelda, her touch gentle yet firm as she examined his dog.

“It’s not hers,” she said after a tense moment.

“I know.”

She straightened. “Whose is it then? Maya’s not bleeding that badly—at least not externally.”

“Pierce.” It was the first thought that popped into his head and no matter how illogical—Pierce was probably safely down the mountain helping RWCR with the rescue efforts—but he couldn’t shake the chill of dread it brought.

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