Page 44 of Trail to Trouble
Wanting to put herself in the exact spot she and Hunter exited the water, she walked back to the pool of water, then up to the cedar trees she remembered walking through.
“We went through here,” she said.
Cici nodded and pointed at the ground. “Yep, we can see the disturbed soil.”
Hannah’s pulse ratcheted up a notch. Would Hunter’s siblings be able to track where she and Hunter had walked to?
Hannah led them through the small, thick patch of cedars and then stepped into the hardwoods.
Ten feet into that section of the woods, the trees and vegetation closed in on her. All sense of direction was lost. They had moved quickly. Hunter had led. She just followed. She spun in a circle. Everything looked the same except for the cedar section she’d just come through.
A warm hand rested on her shoulder. “Just breathe and take a moment,” Chief Ricco said.
His warm, dark eyes emitted warmth with a tinge of concern.
As he suggested, she drew in a long breath and let it out, then looked around again before dropping her gaze to the ground. Still, it all looked the same.
She looked at Cap. “Can’t you track where we went?”
“Depends on the signs you left behind. It was easy to see your footprints in the moist soil close to the falls, but it’s more difficult in the hardwoods. From where you came out onto the street and what you said Hunter told you, you went south,” he said as he lifted his arm and pointed.
“Can you recall any landmarks you saw? Any unique trees or terrain?” Cici asked.
The memory of the direction Hunter had given her suddenly flashed clear in her brain.
“Yes! When Hunter knew he couldn’t go any farther, he collapsed and was on the brink of passing out when he told me to describe where we were.”
“He couldn’t see?” Cap asked worriedly.
The fear in the man’s eyes matched that in his tone. He probably worried it was already too late.
“He could, but I think at that point it was blurry from the pain. I don’t know.”
“What did you see...tell him?” Cap asked.
“There was a huge white pine stump full of woodpecker holes. Just past that was a steep hill with a rock ledge that teed into it. The ledge sloped to the left as it leveled off with the ground. Where we were was beside the clump of downed trees. I put Hunter into the hole made by the uprooted root ball. He said we weren’t far from the river. He said I should follow the river. We would have canoed there tomorrow. There is a spot we would have portaged, but he told me to keep going south to get to Iron City,” the words rushed out of her mouth.
“I know where you mean!” Cici exclaimed. “The general area, anyway.”
“Me too,” Cap said as he spun away from her and bounded through the woods as if he were a creature of the woods.
His long legs carried him swiftly. Cici trailed behind him. She wasn’t quite as quick, but she too moved swiftly, just like her brother, and just like Hunter had.
She followed Cici. With a glance over her shoulder, she looked at Bianca, who seemed to move sluggishly, like she had no interest in getting to Hunter quickly. Chief Ricco prodded her along. What was her deal?
“There, there,” Hannah yelled as she pointed to the clump of downed trees.
Cap and Cici stopped and looked over their shoulders.
“He’s over there.”
Cap nodded and then moved even quicker than he had been, but now, in her excitement, she kept up.
When they reached the hiding spot, Cap bent over and pulled away the leafy branch she’d camouflaged Hunter’s existence with, then he and Cici peeled back the survival blanket along with the light layer of soil used to conceal Hunter.
Hunter lay motionless. His sun-kissed skin was pasty white. His lips held a bluish-purple hue. Her gaze flew to his chest, hoping to see it rise and fall.
Chief slipped between Cap and Cici and placed his fingers to the side of Hunter’s throat.
