Page 53 of Mountain Captive

They ran, the dog bounding along beside them. Serena cried out and she stumbled and fell. Rand doubled back and scooped her up. He boosted her onto his back, and she clung there, gripping his shoulders, her legs wrapped around his torso. Chris looked forward again and ran.

Though she was in good shape from training for search and rescue, she wasn’t a runner. The rocky, uneven ground made it impossible to achieve any kind of regular pace. Every few feet, she stumbled or planted a foot wrong, and the thin air at this altitude soon had her gasping for breath. She could hear Rand laboring behind her.

She slowed, panting, and looked back the way they had come. “I don’t see anyone coming after us,” she said.

“Keep moving,” he said. “We need to put as much distance between us and them as possible.” He led the way, cutting across the top of the ridge, then plunging down a long barren slope. Thunder shook the sky, and fat raindrops began to fall. Chris’s feet slid out from under her and she fell, but she scrambled up again, ignoring the pain in her left ankle, and staggered after Rand.

At the bottom of the slope was an area of scrubby trees. They plunged into this cover as the rain began to fall harder, staying closer together. “You can put me down now,” Serena said.

Rand lowered her to the ground and straightened. “This way!” He pointed to their right, and they set off at a fast walk.

“Where are we going?” Chris asked.

“Back toward the mill,” he said. “There will be searchers and probably law enforcement there.”

“Will they help us?” Serena asked.

“Yes,” Rand said. “They will help us.”

“I’m scared,” Serena said.

“I am too,” Chris said. “But it’s going to be okay.”

The trees where they had sought cover thinned, and they emerged on open ground once more.

“Stop right there.” Jedediah and two men armed with rifles stepped out to surround them.

SERENAHUDDLEDBESIDECHRIS, her shoulders shaking as she silently wept. Chris rubbed her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay,” she murmured. Was that the right thing to say or only one more lie to a child who had been raised on lies?

Jedediah moved toward them. Harley put himself between Chris and the men with guns, barking furiously.

Jedediah aimed the rifle at the dog. “No!” Chris shouted, and lunged for the dog’s collar. “Harley, no!”

The dog quieted. Chris continued to hold him and glared at Jedediah. “You will have to learn obedience,” he said. “The Exalted will make sure you do.”

Serena began to weep more loudly. “I didn’t want to go with them!” she said. “They made me.” She sank to her knees at Jedediah’s feet. “Please forgive me! I would never betray the Exalted! He is everything!”

Rand stood a few feet away, a guard on either side of him. They had taken his pistol and his pack. He caught Chris’s eye, his expression questioning. She shook her head. Serena had certainly come with them willingly, but now she was terrified, saying what she had to in order to survive.

“Get up,” Jedediah ordered.

When Serena didn’t move, the fourth man pulled her upright and marched her away. Jedediah moved in beside Chris. She stood. Harley remained between her and Jedediah but kept quiet. “Move,” Jedediah said.

They trudged for almost an hour in silence, only the occasional crunch of gravel beneath their feet or labored breathing on a steep slope punctuating their steady pace. A steady downpour soaked their clothing and left them shivering. Thunder rumbled, and jagged lightning forked across the sky. Chris flinched with each mighty crack and wondered at the chances of being struck by one of the bolts.

They descended into a narrow valley and finally stopped beside a metal shipping container set against a large boulder. Jedediah nudged Chris in the ribs with the barrel of the rifle. “Get in,” he ordered. “You’ll wait here for the helicopter.”

Fighting rising panic, Chris moved into the container—a long metal box without windows. Her footsteps rang hollowly, a dull sound beneath the staccato beat of rain on the metal top and sides of the container. Harley trotted in beside her, the tick of his toenails signaling his path across the floor. Rand stumbled in last. As the door swung shut behind them, Chris caught a glimpse of Serena’s tear-streaked face as she stared after them.

The door closed, plunging them into darkness. Chris reached out a hand and Rand clasped it, a reassuring anchor in this sea of fear. The sound of a bar being fit over the door, followed by the drag of chains, signaled their imprisonment. She put her free hand over her chest, as if to keep her painfully beating heart from bursting from her skin.

They stood there for a long moment, saying nothing. Gradually, her eyes adjusted and she realized they weren’t in total darkness. Light showed around the door and broke through pinpoint holes in the container’s metal sides. The container was empty except for a metal pail in the corner, which she assumed was meant to serve as their toilet. Rand released her hand and walked over to the door. He ran his fingers along the gaps around it, then shook his head. “I don’t see any way to pry it open.”

“I doubt if we’ll be here long,” Chris said.

Rand returned to your side. “What was that about a helicopter?”

“The Exalted apparently has a helicopter now. He’s sending it to pick me up.”

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