Page 16 of Burning Escape

Orion shook his head. But who were these guys, and could they be trusted?

Tori’s stomach grumbled loud enough for them all to hear.

“I take it you’re hungry.” The leader looked back at the others and nodded. “Come with us.”

“Why should we come with you?” Tori hopped on one foot and stood shoulder to shoulder with Orion, suspicion in her eyes. “How do we know we can trust you?”

Tattoo Guy kept a lingering gaze on Tori, scanning her from top to bottom with obvious interest. And not the polite kind.

Orion didn’t want him getting close to her. He was tempted to walk away and say they’d make it on their own.

The leader crossed his arms. “Look, I don’t trust you much either, but we’re Christian folk, and we’re commanded to help the injured and the lost and the hungry. Guess you qualify. We have two canoes not far from here that we’ll take to our establishment. But if you want to go out there alone, you’re a good fifty miles from Copper Mountain. Go for it.”

Tori looked at Orion. He couldn’t read what she was trying to say. But the way his head and shoulder throbbed with searing pain, and the fact that she wasn’t standing on her injured ankle, meant they were never gonna make it fifty miles without food or water and help.

Maybe they could bypass this whole thing. Orion addressed the leader. “Do you have a satellite phone? We could contact our friends and?—”

“We don’t have anything like that. We live a simple life, off-grid. I’m not crazy about bringing strangers in, but if you come with us, we can tend to your wounds until you’re better, feed you, and point you in the right direction. Since you’re married and all”—he pointed to the ring on Tori’s left hand—“you can stay in one of the cabins.”

Tori balked. “Oh, but we’re not?—”

“We’re not going to turn down the help and such a generous offer.” Orion threw an arm around Tori.

Thankfully, she stayed quiet, even though she jabbed him in the side with her sharp elbow.

He looked at her, raised his eyebrows. Couldn’t she see he was trying to protect her? “Let’s just gather up our stuff,honey. These men want to help.”

She rolled her eyes, but thankfully, the strangers couldn’t see her face. “Sure,sweetheart. But I need to take care of some…personal business first.”

She wasn’t the only one. Orion spoke to the leader. “We’ll be right there.” Orion tried to smile through the pain.

The man nodded and went off with his buddies a few yards away.

“Why did you let him think we’re married?” she hissed.

“Call it a hunch. I dunno. Thought it would be safer. Just go along with it, please.”

She glanced at the men. “Fine, but don’t get any ideas.”

“Believe me, I learned my lesson.”

After a short hike—one that still took an obvious toll on Tori by the way she relied completely on her crutch, sweat dripping down her ash-caked face—they took the canoes through a calm stretch of river.

Orion was grateful they could get off their feet but hated being at the mercy of complete strangers. He couldn’t even help paddle. The river widened after a while, and they disembarked, leaving the canoes on a rack situated between two big trees. A well-worn path led them away from the river.

One of the men held a string of fish. The other had a game bag, but Orion couldn’t be sure what was in it. A group of children—various ages, most of them barefoot, and all the girls wearing long skirts and dresses—met them on the path. Their hushed awe at Orion and Tori gave him an unsettled feeling in his bones. Guess they didn’t get many strangers out this way.

Up ahead on the trail, there was a break in the trees and multiple log structures.

One of the older boys reached for the stringer of fish. He pointed to the game bag the guy with dirty-blond hair carried—the one who spent way too much time watching Tori.

“Hey, Jeremiah, what’d ya find in the traps?”

“Hare and grouse.”

“Can I help you skin the rabbits?” the boy asked.

“Sure.” Jeremiah and one of the other men branched off and left the group. The boy skipped off with them.

---