Page 44 of Compass Points
She pushed those thoughts of desperation and the frosty wind toward the object before the door. She pushed harder. She drove the winter wind faster and with more force in her mind. She pushed until she heard the thing in front of the door shake. It teetered as the wind hit it with a final shove.
Then she heard it. The object in front of the door rocked far enough and fell to the side.
Part of the object was still in front of the door, but barely. She used her strength to open the door wide enough for her small frame to slip through. She clambered over the fallen object—Mom’s sizeable wooden tool chest from the workshop.
Mom’s hammer had spilled from the box as it fell over. Rose had no time to wonder why no one came to check out the noise. Taking this small mercy she’d been given, she grabbed the hammer, if only to have its reassuring weight in her hand as she ran.
The fire was still raging and crackling in the cottage. It may have made enough noise to cover her movement. She turned away from the fire and stifled a scream. As if things couldn’t get any worse, a giant brown bear appeared on the scene. The image didn’t make any sense, but nothing tonight had made any sense. Then the bear charged after her attackers.
Bewildered, she thanked the gods for small favors amid this terror as the bear gave her a brief moment to dash for the tree line. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her to the forest: her favorite adventure, now her only escape.
She knew it like the back of her hand. She realized that tonight, she would have to go farther into the woods than ever before. She’d need to run until she recognized nothing, until she was lost.
She was no longer safe here.
She’d lost her family, her home, and her friend. Tears pricked again as she ran faster through the woods, avoiding any main trails, unsure if anyone was following her. She kept running until she was beyond exhausted.
But even exhausted, she knew she had to keep moving. When she couldn’t run anymore, she walked. She kept putting one foot in front of the other, listening for any unexpected noise that could signal being followed.
Her heart sank when she heard something barreling through the woods.
She was being chased.
She focused on her family and how much they would want her to escape. With a deep breath she pulled the winter wind back to mind, aiming it at her back as she was mentally preparing to run. The bone-chilling wind of her creation moved her forward. It pushed her faster as she lifted her feet and let it carry her farther than her fastest sprint.
It was still not enough.
The barreling noise grew closer. She peeked over her shoulder to see who was pursuing her. A new kind of fear took over when she saw it was a bear.
It would catch her shortly. She closed her eyes as she rushed to stay ahead of it, thinking of Mom.
As she scrunched her shoulders with her next length, knowing the bear closed in, she braced for impact. Attempting to turn her head while not slowing down, she found the bear keeping pace beside her.
This was too much for her. She stopped running and turned to stare at it in bewilderment. The bear stopped too.
“Hello there. If you don’t mind me saying, you look like you could use a little help.”
Was this shock? She was losing it. “Did you say something?” was all she could reply in her bewilderment.
“Yes, I said you looked like you could use some help.”There it was again. The voice spoke directly into her mind.
“And you want to help me? I thought you were chasing me because you wanted to eat me.” She guessed it didn’t matter if she told him. He seemed uninterested in tearing her apart for food. His voice felt like the forest in her mind. It felt like tree roots straining into the dirt and like life springing up around her.
He chuckled at her comment.“No, I don’t want to eat you. I’d like to help you. My name is Arie, and you can climb on my back. I’ll get you far away from here.”
She did not doubt that he could help her. He’d been moving much faster than she, but she had to ask why.
“Why do you want to help me? That is the opposite of what people want to do right now.”
The bear’s deep black eyes stared into hers.“I know, and I’m sorry, you’ve been through a lot tonight. I don’t think it will get easier for some time, but you’re stronger than you know.”
Something inside told her this wasn’t an answer, but she was past caring. She climbed onto his back, and Arie took off so fast she couldn’t help but shriek. He barreled through the woods, taking her farther from home than she’d ever been.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Dinner was delicious, and spending time with Luc and his family left her feeling a warmth she hadn’t felt in ten years.
“Oh, I didn’t realize they hadn’t put this in my room,” Luc said as they passed the front door, noticing her bag in the entryway.
