Page 47 of Fire Peak

He lowered his voice. “Do you think someone can see us here?”

Charlie felt it too, the distinct sensation of eyes on them. All of a sudden she couldn’t wait to get out of there. “Let’s go,” she said to Nick in a low voice. “We have a long trip back, and Hailey doesn’t look so good.”

The creepy feeling was spreading; she could tell that they all felt it now, even Nick. But he didn’t show it. He spoke in a calm, steady voice that felt like a lifeline even for the perfectly grownup Charlie. “We got our sample, that’s all we need. I’m going to take a few photos to document the scene. Charlie, why don’t you start back with the kids.”

“Oh no. I’ve seen that movie. We’re staying together.”

Elias nodded in agreement, then forged through the grass to join Hailey. As soon as he reached her side, she grabbed onto his arm and held on tight.

Nick snapped a few quick photos with his phone—of the birds, the meadows, and the soaring spruce trees that marked the beginning of the woods. “I wonder what this place is, or was? Why is there a meadow?”

“What do you mean, why? Isn’t that just nature? God? Destiny?”

“Well, sure, but there’s still a reason. Maybe it floods so the trees don’t get a chance to grow? Or maybe it was cleared at some point by humans? Wait, I see a spring over there.” He pointed to a soggy spot towards the center of the meadow. “Does it look like the grass is dying there?”

The intense need to leave this spot made it impossible for her to think clearly. “Can we discuss it on the way back? Or maybe over a gin and tonic? After a long hot shower?”

“Right. Let’s go.” Nick tucked away his phone and they waded single-file through the knee-high meadow grasses, with Nick using his body to clear a path for Charlie. The farther they got from those dead birds, the better Charlie felt. She wondered what Lila would make of the atmosphere in this place. Would she be able to pinpoint why it felt so…wrong? Of course she’d never ask Lila to come out here. Even if her intuitive powers were diminished around here, she was still sensitive. She didn’t have the kind of thick skin that Charlie had developed from a lifetime of people slinging judgments at her because of her father’s situation.

A stab of pain in the back of her thigh made her stagger. At first she thought it was a bird dive-bombing her. She turned around, ready to chase it away, and saw an arrow flying right toward her face. With a scream of warning, she dropped to the ground.

Through the grass, she watched Nick run at a low crouch toward the frozen teenagers. He tackled them both and all three crashed to the ground. Charlie heard the hiss of another arrow passing overhead. Then a thud as it hit the ground—surely it must have hit the ground, because no scream ensued.

She tried to call out, “Nick,” but no sound came from her mouth other than a harsh gasp. Something warm flowed down the back of her leg. Her head was spinning. She had to get to the others, she didn’t want them to leave her. She didn’t want to die alone here in the meadow with the dead birds and the softly waving grass and the hiss of arrows flying overhead. Make them stop. Please stop.

And then it did. Because everything stopped and the world disappeared.

21

Nick kept his arms over the kids, pinning them to the ground, until the arrows stopped flying. Who the hell shot arrows in this day and age? But he didn’t have time to sort out details like who and why. He had to get help to Charlie.

Triage first.

He crawled back through the grass and checked the arrow that had pierced her black hiking joggers and embedded itself in the back of her leg. It had hit her at an angle, fortunately, and therefore hadn’t penetrated deeply. But he knew it would be better to leave it in so she didn’t lose too much blood.

He checked her pulse—fast but not dire—and her airways. Her breathing was fine. She must have passed out from the shock. Or maybe the arrowhead was laced with something. Fuck.

“Elias,” he called in a low voice. Elias and Hailey both came scrambling through the grass. “Run back to the four-wheelers and bring them as far up as you can. Stay low until it’s safe. Hailey, stay with me.”

“No, we need both four-wheelers. I’ll go with Elias.”

He nodded, feeling proud of his gutsy if queasy daughter. “Just stay low. Follow Elias. He knows how to do it, right?”

Elias nodded, and the two disappeared into the grass. Nick held Charlie in his arms so he could keep a close eye on her pulse and body temperature. He realized that he’d never seen her still like this before. Charlie was always in motion, her expressions animated, her body poised for flight. Now that she was unconscious, he saw something else in her face. A kind of poignant vulnerability that he wouldn’t have expected from someone with so much bravado.

He checked the back of her leg again. Jesus, there was a fucking arrow there. The shock of it hit him all over again. Would it be better if he took it out? Where was Google when you needed it? There was no service out here, of course.

Elias reappeared, so quietly that Nick nearly jumped out of his skin. “The tires on the four-wheelers are slashed.”

“Fuck. Where’s Hailey?”

“Right here.” Hailey crawled up behind him. Her eyes were huge with alarm. “What should we do, Daddy?”

Was it a promotion to go from Dad to Daddy?

“You guys need to go for help. I’ll stay here with Charlie.”

“But where?”

---