Elizabeth Goddard - Wilderness Peril

Rick already knew that answer, of course. He’d heard the other guys talking about her. But he wanted to hear it from her. Get her talking.

“And you liked it so much that you decided to follow in his footsteps.” Rick climbed across the flat top of a big boulder, beginning to see that he’d made a mistake.

“Yep. That’s about it.”

He paused at the edge, confirming the drop would be too much for him to jump. He couldn’t safely hit the rocks below without risking serious injury. Shay definitely couldn’t do this.

“Okay, hold up right where you are.” He directed his voice in her direction, but he’d lost sight of her.

A small animal scurried through the underbrush below. The earthy scent of spruce and untainted wilderness enveloped him. They were really in the thick of it now.

“Rick? Where are you?”

“I’m just on the other side of these rocks. You’ll see me in a minute. I have to find another way down.”

“It’s getting colder.”

Too bad they couldn’t have done this retrieval in the summer.

“When we get down to the Jeep and get our coats, I’ll make a fire and we’ll rest for a while.”

Rick hated that they had to start this adventure already in need of rest after two long days of travel. But sometimes you just had to gut it up. He prayed they found their coats. Everything could have fallen out at different places along the Jeep’s tumble. Stuff could be sprawled all over the valley, never to be found again.

Besides their coats, his main concern was finding his gun.

He needed that gun. They could face wild animals, but mostly he feared they might face the two-legged kind, and they weren’t turning out to be too friendly in these parts. Rick wished now that he’d used the weapon at that instant when the truck had plowed toward them. He could have taken aim and taken out the driver. Maybe. It had all happened so fast.

That might not have stopped the vehicle from barreling toward them. In that split second, he’d made a decision to drive the Jeep out of harm’s way. That decision had been a mistake. Too bad he was no stranger to those kinds of mistakes.

But right now focusing on his failures wouldn’t help Shay. Rick scrambled along the boulders, searching for a better way down. Concentrating on the task at hand instead of trying to make conversation with Shay was probably a good idea, as well.

He glanced up and spotted her watching him. “I think you’re good to follow me now.” He left out that talking too much had distracted him and led them on the wrong path.

Shay nodded, seeming content to end their conversation for now. He might ask about her family if they had a chance to rest. And there was her reference about something happening and her father teaching her to shoot. He’d like to know what that was all about, if she was willing to share.

Rick’s foot slipped on a boulder.

He grasped at the rock, but he couldn’t get a handhold on the surface.

Despite his best efforts, his body slid and he fell backward through the air, Shay screaming somewhere in the distance.

FIVE

Oh, my. Oh, my gosh....

Panic wrapped a tight cord around her throat. She gasped for breath, and finally sucking it in, she screamed. “Rick!”

But he didn’t answer.

Shay called again. “Rick! Are you okay?”

Without thinking about her footing, she made her way down the rocks. She had to get to him. “Rick, please answer me.”

Oh, Lord, please let him be okay. Let this be some kind of joke. But she didn’t think he would joke about something like that, especially at a time like this. Shay chided herself. How many times had she been invited to go rock climbing? To go skating or jogging or to a workout class? She spent too much time cooped up in a warehouse just doing her job. Maybe if she had accepted those invitations, she’d have a better idea of what to do now. She’d be better equipped to climb down these rocks. She’d be in much better physical condition, too. She didn’t know how to do anything other than work. And now she was paying for that.

When Shay made it to the point where she’d last seen Rick, she crawled on shaky hands and knees to the edge and peered over.

“Rick?” She injected a little hope into her tone.

There he lay, at the bottom of the pile of rocks. “Oh, no....”

Careful not to make the same mistake he’d made, she backtracked and made her way around the mountain of smooth and jagged rocks. “Rick Savage, don’t you leave me here alone.”

Talk. Just keep talking. He’ll hear you and be all right by the time you make it down. “Can you hear me, Rick?”

Shay found herself staring at a drop of about five feet. Not that far, really, but if she didn’t land just right, she might not be much better off than Rick. Or worse, she could be injured and in pain and with no way to get help.

Shay slid her gaze to all possible ways down, but there was nothing for it. She pressed flat on the rounded boulder and slid her body against it as far as she could.

She pulled in a breath. Please, God, let me land right.

Releasing her slight grip, she allowed herself to slide and then drop.

Her feet hit the ground and she plopped back on her backside. So far so good. Still, she had a stretch to go to make it all the way down to Rick. He hadn’t responded to anything she’d said. And that wasn’t so good.

Fear like she’d never known—even when the killer truck had shoved them from the road—coursed through her. At least she’d been with Rick at that moment, and with that, she realized that despite the uneasiness she felt at the shadows in his eyes, she’d felt safe as long as he’d been there.

What if Rick never woke up?

No. She couldn’t think that way. Careful to make her way to him cautiously and safely, she nevertheless hurried down the rest of the pile of rocks. Though descending hadn’t been that easy, the stack of rocks had given them a path to the base of the mountain and into the gorge.

Her feet firmly planted on earth carpeted in pine needles, Shay rushed around the edges of the rock pile. “Rick,” she gasped, running.

There. He lay sprawled on his back. Motionless.

She fell to her knees next to him, wanting to touch him, jar him awake, but fearing she might hurt him more, depending on his injuries.

“Where are you hurt?” she asked, knowing he wouldn’t answer. She ran her hands down his arms and legs, gently patting to make sure there wasn’t an obvious break.

Then she rested her palms on his head and pressed her face near his. “Now, you listen to me, Rick Savage. I need you. Please wake up. I have no idea what to do without you.”

Her palms resting against his stubble-roughened cheeks, she felt the rush of warmth through her hands and up her arms. She’d had a thing for this man for the longest time, in spite of the gun incident. Seeing him like this sent shards of pain slicing through her core. “Please, please wake up.”

Brushing his dark hair from his forehead, she noted the sun-bleached strands, remnants of a summer spent outdoors. She ran her hands all the way through the thickness. “I’ve always wanted to do that....” She murmured the words to herself.

“If only you were awake, then I wouldn’t have to feel guilty for doing that without your permission.” She sat back on her rear, thinking. Praying.

“If you don’t wake up, what in the world am I going to do? Where would I begin to get you help? The sky’s growing dark. I wanted to make it to the Jeep for our coats before making a fire, but maybe I should just make one here and wait for you to wake up. That’s something I can do, at least.”

Shay rubbed her arms, warming them against the cold. She had to make a decision. It might already be too late either way. “Maybe I should just leave you and find the Jeep myself so I can bring back our coats and anything else I can find. How far could it be from here anyway?”