Elizabeth Goddard - Wilderness Peril

A vise squeezed her heart. How could she save Rick?

“Maybe if you were a jerk, it might be easier to leave you. But no, you have to be cute and...” Shay sighed. “Cute and nice.”

There, she’d said it.

Rick groaned and slapped a hand to his head. “Did anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?”

“You’re...you’re awake. Oh, thank You, God.” Shay pressed her hands over her mouth. But how much had he heard? “And no. No one has ever told me I talk too much.”

Tears burned behind her eyes.

Rick sat up, rubbing his head, his hair a scruffy mess. He blinked a few times, then pinned her with his grays. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You made it down all by your lonesome.” Rick sat up, then pushed up to stand, a little unsteady on his feet. “I’m sorry to scare you like that.”

“Never mind about that.” Shay stood, too. “Are you okay? You think you have a concussion?”

Rick rubbed his face and then his neck. “Nah. I’m good to go. We need to make up for lost time.”

Shay started to move by him, though she didn’t know where she was going. But the way he looked at her left her wondering just how much he’d heard. What an idiot she’d been to flap her trap like that, but talking kept her company, chased the fear away.

He stepped in her path, standing a little too near for comfort. “I’m glad you don’t think I’m a jerk.”

* * *

And just a little too glad that you think I’m cute. Too glad for my own good.

When Shay’s eyes widened, he knew she wondered what else he’d heard. Though he’d been unconscious for a short while and had a dull throbbing ache to show for it, he’d felt himself coming to and heard an ongoing conversation Shay was having with herself and him. Her soft, caring voice had brought him back from the darkness.

The problem was he couldn’t stop thinking about her words and he had no business thinking about them now, in this situation. Or ever.

“Let’s get moving.” Rick tore his gaze from the heat of surprise in hers and focused on surviving. “Stay close to me.”

After getting his bearings again, he headed due north in the direction where the Jeep should be. Evergreens and lush undergrowth had taken over the gulch they’d descended into, and maybe somewhere at the bottom they’d find a river or stream.

He shoved through the thick scrub, trying to make time while they still had the last of daylight to guide their path. The temperatures had long ago started dropping below comfort level. If they didn’t recover their coats and make a fire soon, they were done for. The full brunt of winter wasn’t on them yet; still, the temperatures could vary from extreme cold to extreme heat during the spring and fall months. Today had been a relatively warm day, but he had a feeling that warmth was on its way out if the temperatures so far were any indication.

Behind him, Shay was breathing hard, and he wasn’t doing much better.

He paused and turned to face her. “You okay?”

“Sure,” she said, a shiver to her words. “Keep moving.”

Of course she understood the danger they’d face if they didn’t find what they were looking for. They hiked on for a few more minutes, darkness finally closing in on them.

“How much farther, Rick?” Her teeth chattered a little. “You sure we’re headed the right way?”

“It has to be around here somewhere. I know this is the place.”

Rick gazed up where the moon shone above them, illuminating a familiar cliff, but he hadn’t exactly seen this side of it from the top, making it hard to gauge their position. “Recognize that?”

“You mean the ledge of death?”

“Is that what we’re calling it?” He almost chuckled at the name she’d given it.

“No. That’s what we’re going to call it if we end up dying because we can’t find the Jeep.”

“We’re not going to die. We’ll build a fire and stay warm tonight, then look for the Jeep tomorrow if we have to. But for now, stay close. Let’s work our way over and hope to find the Jeep. If Providence is on our side, we might even be able to turn on the lights.”

Shay huffed. “I know my stuff, but that doesn’t mean I could get that thing running again.”

Forcing his way through the brush in the light of the moon with Shay remaining near, Rick smiled to himself. “I bet you could get it to start even if it sank in the river.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Savage.”

Mr. Savage. He liked the sound of her voice when she said it. What an idiot. Now he was a jerk for thinking along those lines. Shay didn’t deserve damaged goods.

When Rick took another step forward, he kicked something that had a metallic ring to it. They both froze.

Clouds had momentarily slipped over the moon, leaving them in darkness. He leaned over and pressed his hand against the cold metal, sliding it until he came to the end. “The bumper. Or one of them. It must have come off.”

“We’re close, then.” Shay’s voice rang with hope.

“Yeah, close.” Faced with the prospect of finding everything they needed with only intermittent moonlight to guide them and the cold grip of an Alaskan night threatening them, Rick started to think maybe they’d made a mistake. This wasn’t going to work. “Wait here.”

“No. I’m coming with you.”

He slipped his hand into hers and squeezed. She didn’t try to pull away as he led her in search of the body of the vehicle. He hoped everything they needed remained intact inside what was left of the vehicle.

As they pushed through a thick stand of bushes, Shay’s gasp reflected his own morbid thoughts. The Jeep rested overturned and on its side, the front end and right side collapsed. Shay had been sitting on the passenger’s side. Now that seat no longer existed, having been crushed by the toppling two-ton vehicle.

They should have been ecstatic to find it—at least in the face of their circumstances—but instead, Rick and Shay both stared in shock. The next thing Rick knew, Shay was in his arms, trembling. When had he tugged her to him? Or had she simply stepped against him and wrapped her arms around him?

He shook his thoughts free. “This time I need you to stay here. I’m going to shove it over so it won’t be unstable, and then we can search inside, okay?”

She nodded her agreement, taking a few steps back. “Be careful.”

Rick marched around the Jeep, watching where he stepped so he wouldn’t twist his ankle or stumble. He wasn’t exactly sure he could right the thing, but it appeared to rest at an awkward angle, looking as though even the slightest nudge would push it completely over. The sound of pebbles trickling down the cliff face drew his attention up, though he couldn’t see much. He hoped any rocks loosened by the Jeep’s tumble didn’t decide to slide while he stood here.

“Shay? You out of the way?” he called.

“I’m good. Go ahead.”

Rick pressed his foot against the crumpled roof and shoved. Hard.

The Jeep rocked back and forth, the sound of twisting metal resounding through the gorge. Okay. This would take a little more than a mere shove on his part. He pressed his back against the roof and heaved with all his strength. While the Jeep teetered, Rick stepped back and kicked it hard.

It toppled onto the tires, and the driver’s-side door, already dented from the first collision, fell off, clanking through the night. Dust rose while steam spewed from the radiator. Rick’s shoulders rocked with an incredulous laugh that the radiator was only just now ejecting its contents.

Shay jogged up to him, her cloudy breath visible in the moon’s illumination. “The door light went on a little. You see that?”