Page 30 of High Intensity

The brief moment of joy I felt for Sloane and Dan quickly evaporates as we make our way back to where Murphy lost the little girl’s trail.

What was she thinking? I’ve thought about the possibility she hit her head in the crash and wandered off, but nothing really supports that theory. Every step she’s taken has been with purpose, even though I’m not sure of her motivation.

Thinking of myself at age eleven, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have had the presence of mind—or the courage, to be honest—to have done what it looks like Hayley has. I was a girly girl growing up. My parents took me camping one summer and I absolutely hated it. I was into boy bands, bead bracelets, and Easy-Bake ovens, not communing with nature. Obviously, that changed over the years.

But Macy might’ve grown up to be an industrious and brave eleven-year-old. Even at five she’d loved going on hiking adventures, identifying bugs, searching for mushrooms, looking for animal tracks. She was fearless in her explorations of the world around her.

My eyes start to burn and I try to shake off the wave of grief. My focus needs to be on finding Hayley, who may still have a full life to live.

“Is she looping back?”

Wolff’s voice snaps me back into the here and now.

I glance at Hunter, who looks like she may have finally picked up the scent. Her nose is low to the ground as she determinedly struggles through the snow. Murphy’s enthusiasm means I have to keep him on the long leash, but Hunter is much more sedate and will stop on a dime on my command, so I let her loose.

Wolff is right, she appears to be doubling back, heading the other way. For a moment I’m worried she’s retracing our earlier steps and I’m about to call her back when I notice her veering off to our right, away from the trail.

I set course after her as Hunter takes us deeper into the woods. She seems to have a strong scent, and is moving with purpose for the next few minutes. Then she abruptly stops and starts pawing at the snow, sniffing furiously at the hole she created.

My heart sinks, and for a moment I can’t breathe.

Did she find her?

In the next moment she’s moving again, still on the trail, and I blow out a relieved breath. As I pass by where she stopped, I notice something sticking out of the snow. Something bright orange that seems out of place in the woods. Crouching down, I see it’s the corner of a piece of paper and pull it out.

“It’s a wrapper.”

A Reese’s wrapper to be precise.

That explains Hunter’s interest; peanut butter is her favorite treat. It also gives me a strange satisfaction to know Hayley had something to eat. I just hope she has more supplies to sustain her for a bit.

Wolff takes it from my hand and tucks it in the pocket of his coat, mumbling something like, “Atta girl.”

We hustle to catch up with my dog when Wolff points up ahead, past Hunter. Through the trees I can make out a rock wall.

“I’ll bet she went for the rocks in hopes of finding shelter. A dry place to rest,” he suggests. “I actually think this may be the same ridge as at the crash site. From the air I remember seeing it runs almost parallel to the trail.”

“I can’t get over the fact this is an eleven-year-old we’re looking for. Not even a teenager, and after a horrific crash and the trauma of having her family wiped out, it blows my mind she can even think of things like supplies and shelter.”

“Either she has very good instincts, or she knows a bit about survival in the?—”

He doesn’t finish his sentence and stops in his tracks, sniffing the air.

“Can you smell that?”

I sniff too but my nose is runny from the cold and I don’t smell anything.

“No. What is it?”

He sniffs again. “It’s gone now. I could’ve sworn I smelled smoke.”

“Smoke?” I parrot.

“Like I said, it’s gone now.”

We start moving once more, but I notice every now and then Wolff seems to lift his nose in the air.

I can hear Hunter start whining, when we approach the base of the ridge. She’s pacing back and forth, her nose lifted high and every so often she puts a front paw up against a large boulder.

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