Page 72 of Last Light

And it’s a minor thing to pray for. Not really important in the scheme of things.

But Travis feels strangely defeated beside me, and it’s upsetting me.

We really need a safe place to spend the night.

***

WE’VE BEEN DRIVINGfor fifteen minutes when I slow down abruptly.

Travis grunts and grabs for the support bar. “What’s the matter?”

“Look.” I point to the right.

“What am I lookin’ at?”

“There’s another trail there.”

“So?”

“So it looks like it goes somewhere.”

Travis is frowning and still sweating and looking grumpier than ever. “No way to know that.”

“Then why does it turn off here? It goes up the hill there. It looks like it goes somewhere. Maybe it’s a cabin or something like we found yesterday.”

“Or maybe it’s nothin’. A scenic view or somethin’. Not likely to find a cozy cabin around here.”

I’m annoyed, and my face is showing it. “Well, it’s worth a try, isn’t it?”

“Waste of time.”

I accelerate and turn onto the new trail I’ve found.

“I said it’s a waste of time,” Travis grumbles.

“I don’t care what you said. I’m driving, and I think this trail goes somewhere. I think it’s worth a try. So shut up and stop your whining. If you’re going to act like an ass because you hurt yourself, you can sit there and keep your mouth shut.”

Travis doesn’t reply, and it’s a minute before I glance over to check his expression. I can’t read it.

“I didn’t mean to snap at you,” I say in a milder tone.

He snorts softly. “I deserved it. I was bein’ an ass. Sorry.”

I smile at him before I have to focus on keeping the Jeep on the trail. It’s narrow and steep with a lot of curves, and it’s covered with dead branches. I’m not sure we would have even made it in a different vehicle.

“You really think this is goin’ somewhere?”

I give him a quick glance. He’s still visibly in pain, but he’s making an effort to not be so ornery. “Doesn’t it feel like it is?”

“Maybe.”

He sounds doubtful, but I ignore it. I press on, and for once my persistence is rewarded.

We finally break out of the trees and drive into a large clearing on the top of the hill.

It’s a house.

A very strange-looking house, but a house nonetheless.

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