Page 61 of Healing Creek
When they reached the end of the tunnel, Mercury input the code and flung open the door. They carefully studied the immediate area for signs of travel.
The footpath that led away from the door had been narrowed by new growth from the surrounding jungle. The dirt immediately in front of them was hardpacked and covered in vines and leaves. Creek dropped to his knee and reached out a hand and ran it through the vegetation. He looked up into Mercury’s face. “Crushed leaves. Loosened plants.” And the scent of almond cookies. His Grace had snagged her delicate feet in the vines.
He stood and walked toward them looking for more signs. Bent branches guided him along the path. Only twenty meters into the underbrush he found what he feared. An area five by six meters had been crushed beneath something heavy, leaving an obvious path in two directions. One direction would take them toward the hanger where the resistance stored their ships and perhaps where the vehicle that made the path had also been stored. The other direction would lead them across the ravine and toward the distant city and the small space port.
“If the trail leads to the hanger—”
“The others will reach there more quickly than we can,” Mercury finished for him.
Creek nodded and headed along the trail down and across the ravine at a faster pace and the others joined him.
It took hours to reach and cross the bottom of the ravine. Days were long on Haven and the sun was still high in the sky, but it had already started creeping its way toward the horizon when they started their ascent on the far side. As the angle of the ravine wall grew steeper the terrain became rockier, but the trail was still easy to spot. Crushed saplings bent low and loose rock littered the trail where the vehicle had passed. Easy as it was to see, it became harder to follow. It became more of a climb than a hike and loose rock made the trail treacherous.
Creek cleared a stretch of rock that led up to a ledge above. There the twisted metal of the vehicle lay on its side at the bottom of another steep rise, filling him with anguish.
“Grace.” He’d meant it to be a shout of her name, but it came out a whisper. A vision of her body mangled amongst the metal ruins flashed into his mind. Creek sprinted forward and worked his way to the front where he could see inside clearly.
Empty. His hammering heart calmed. He turned back to face the others as they cleared the edge of the ledge. “They’re not here.”
Mercury lifted his arms out, palms down. “Carefully, search for any sign.”
They spread out a meter at a time.
“Here!” The call came from Jupiter. “Broken branches.”
Creek was at his side in an instant. He took the lead following the trail, looking for any sign that would tell him if they were injured. It came quickly, where the terrain leveled. The ground was torn up. Grace had tried to escape the man, but had she succeeded? Memories of teaching her to punch and kick on the Abundance gave him hope.
“Creek.” Mercury called him over to a nearby tree trunk. A splash of red marred the bark and pooled on the ground. His chest tightened and his fists clenched. But whose blood? He dropped to a knee to examine the ground more closely. A few feet away a deep imprint of a small, booted foot dug into the ground leading away from the clearing. “They fought and she left here running.”
“We’ll find her,” assured Mercury.
Creek nodded and ran in the direction she’d been going. If she was going where he thought she was heading, they needed to find her soon. The trail was clear and it led along a narrow ledge. Any fall from there would provide a rough tumble back down the side of the ravine. The thought of it slammed a fist in Creek’s gut.
The three Arena Dogs made their way quickly along the ledge path. They were all relieved to see the level ground widen. The area directly in front of them was a rocky plateau, but beyond that the jungle took over again. “The jungle on the far side of this plateau is inhabited by a large troop of apes. They can be violent if disturbed.”
Mercury growled out a curse. “Then we need to make haste.”
Creek huffed out his frustration. “With so little soil and vegetation on the plateau I can’t track across the rocks. If there is any trail it will be the blood, but it might be difficult to spot as well.”
“And the injury might have been wrapped to stop the bleeding,” said Jupiter.
Mercury suggested they all spread out in different directions. They would count on picking up the trail where Grace and the medic reentered the jungle.
They only had one communications unit, but they had their ability to howl. Mercury contacted the base before they set out.
Grace would be running straight and flat out for the nearest cover in the direction she’d left the clearing. Creek chose the likeliest direction and headed out in a steady run.
Halfway across the plateau, Creek came to a stop. Boulders littered the ground. Grace-sized boulders. When she reached them, she could have easily disappeared behind them—keeping their cover between her and her pursuer. If she was going to change her direction, this is where it would have been. Creek looked up to where the jungle was visible above the tops of the boulders. They looked deceptively closer than he knew they were. She would have kept going and so would he.
He pushed into a run again, following the easiest path through the rocky impediments. When he reached the ragged edge of the plateau where the jungle crept out across the rocks, there was no obvious sign of Grace. The sun was sinking in the sky. She’d have been trekking across the difficult terrain on foot for hours. She would have slowed to a careful walk by this point. She was so delicately built, and she might be injured. If any harm came to her—
At least he was fit enough to aid her when, yes when, he found her. Just fourteen hours earlier, each reach of his hand pulling his weight higher had sent pain screaming through his joints and poorly healed bones. Now his body seemed stronger than it had in a decade.
His lungs pulled in air rich with oxygen and fueled muscles at full strength. His body made powerful once again thanks to Grace’s blood. Why, then, was Grace not stronger? It was a mystery, but one that didn’t hold his attention for long. Her safety was a far greater concern.
Creek picked his way through the changing terrain, searching for any sign. Some distance north he heard Mercury’s howl, but it wasn’t a howl to call him. Mercury hadn’t found signs of Grace. More likely he found the medic’s tracks. Someone who knew Grace less well might assume she had to be back with the man. That she couldn’t have escaped him. Creek had seen strength in her.
He would keep going, deeper into the jungle.
