Page 49 of Raven

I screamed again, tears stinging my eyes.

“Help!”

A pause.

Then—

“Did you hear that?” a voice echoed through the trees.

“RAVEN!” I screamed again, raw and desperate. “I’m here!”

* * *

“Raven!”Dan’s voice cut through the woods, where I was.

I took off running toward him, heart slamming against my ribs.

“The dog caught a scent—heading east on the slope!” Dan said.

Troy was already moving. I followed.

Mandy barked again—louder, urgent. She circled, then ran toward the edge of a steep ravine. My stomach flipped.

“No,” I breathed. “No, no,” I cried.

I froze mid-stride, watching Mandy as she made her way to the edge of the cliff.

“Beatrice,” I whispered.

“Over here!” I shouted, looking over the ridge. Then I saw her.

A flash of movement.

Her arm, barely lifted.

“BEATRICE!”

Hanging twenty feet below the edge, cradled in a crooked branch, blood on her face, eyes open.

“Raven,” she choked, voice cracking.

“BEATRICE!” I shouted. I’ll be right there, sweetheart.

Her head turned.

She was there—alive—clinging to a tree that jutted from the side of the mountain.

“Oh my God,” Dan whispered. “She’s on that branch.”

“Get me a rope,” I said, already moving.

Troy grabbed the line and anchored it to a tree as I snapped on a harness.

“Wait for me to help!” Dan shouted.

But I was already going over the edge.

The wind howled through the trees as I descended over the edge, every muscle tight, every movement deliberate. The ravine was deeper than I’d realized, the terrain below jagged and unforgiving.

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