Page 13 of Thunder Pass

“Come on, hurry.” She ran to the shed, which had been used for ammo before the FBI confiscated everything. It was set apart from the other structures, so there would be no chance of catching anything else on fire.

Part of her wanted to see that shed in flames. It was dangerous, and the contents had wreaked havoc on their lives.

Three dogs were now barking. Crap. They had to make it seem like the dogs were barking about the fire, not two runaways.

She flung open the door, happy to see a layer of dry straw covering the floor. Sarah grabbed a potato firebomb from her backpack and handed it to Ruth. They’d already agreed that Ruth would do the actual deed, so she’d suffer the punishment if they were caught.

Ruth lit the wick and they both held their breath as a flame flared to life. The wicks were made of twists of toilet paper, which were then tucked into the bandages which were wrapped tightly around the potatoes.

When the bandage was at a full smolder, Ruth tossed the potato onto the floor.

“Keep them coming,” she murmured. “In case some of them blow out on the way.”

They kept lighting and tossing potatoes, until flames licked up the side of the wall.

“That’s it. Let’s go.” Ruth hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders, ignoring the pain from the lashes.

A shout sounded from the direction of the men’s dorm, nearly drowned out by the howling of the dogs.

They ran at full speed into the deepest part of the forest. Ducking under branches and around thick tree trunks, they headed for the creek, which was still running high due to the melt-off of the winter’s snow.

At the creek, they paused only to pull up their skirts, then waded across the icy torrent. If the dogs followed their scent, this was where they’d lose it.

On the other side, they didn’t stop to wring the water out of their clothes. They followed the creek, which would take them to Snow River, from where they could pick up a trail that led to town.

After that? Ruth was still cogitating about that.

When they’d gone about two miles, they stopped to give their socks a chance to dry out and to fuel up with some snacks. Fifteen miles lay ahead. Fifteen miles of hiking through spruce and birch woods, alder brush, and the occasional meadow dotted with wild geranium and lupine.

“Are you okay?” Ruth asked Sarah as she doled out apples and cheese.

“I’m great.” A quick glance told her that Sarah hadn’t exaggerated. Her little sister’s face was streaked with dirt from the potato cellar and scratched by spruce twigs, but she’d never looked more excited.

“Me too.” Ruth grinned, allowing herself a moment of sheer exhilaration that they were doing this. “Know something funny? My favorite way to eat potatoes has always been roasting them in a firepit.”

It seemed they might never stop laughing, but eventually they did. They put on their socks and boots and kept walking. And walking. And walking. Until the low whine of an ATV made them stop in their tracks.

“It’s coming closer,” Ruth murmured.

“Do you think it’s them?”

“I don’t know.”

Sarah darted toward a clearing where she might be able to hear better, then stumbled and let out a shriek of pain.

Ruth ran to her side, where she saw with horror that Sarah’s foot was caught in a snare set by a trapper.

Had she really thought they could escape that easily?

7

Gunnar grinned smugly as the TrailMaster two-seater hit a bump and soared through the air without missing a beat. He’d gotten this baby running so sweetly. Martha would be thrilled. This particular ATV model was the only one that didn’t freak out her sheep. He’d put it at the top of his repair list, and done a spectacular job on it, if he did say so himself.

Now he was just taking the thing for a test drive—okay, joy ride slash test drive. He had to make sure it functioned in all kinds of terrain, after all, as an all-terrain vehicle should.

He almost missed the sound of a woman calling, “Help! Stop! Help.” Somewhere up the creek, someone was in trouble. He turned the ATV that direction and mentally apologized to Martha for the delay. This was Alaska, and when someone was in danger, that took priority over everything else.

Danger, he’d expected…but the sight that greeted him when he reached the creek made him wonder if he was hallucinating. Ruth was standing over another girl, who was hunched over in pain. Also, Ruth’s shirt was wrapped around the girl’s foot, which meant that Ruth…wasn’t wearing a shirt. Or a bra.

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