Page 1 of The Catcher
PROLOGUE
The forest held secrets waiting to be uncovered.
As the autumn breeze carried the scent of pine and decay, the couple made their way through the High Peaks Wilderness Area. The canopy of leaves above cast dappled shadows on the forest floor, and vibrant hues of red and gold painted the landscape in a kaleidoscope of fall colors.
Sam Colson, a tall and muscular young man with tousled brown hair and rugged features, led the way. He wore a plaid flannel shirt, faded jeans, and sturdy hiking boots. Not far behind, Isabella Peterson tried to keep up. She was petite and had long chestnut curls that cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall. She wore a fleece jacket, leggings, and hiking boots that day.
“Slow down. I’m not as fast as you,” Isabella said, huffing and puffing.
He stopped on the trail, taking in the beauty of thewilderness. Both of their eyes were alight with excitement, though for different reasons.
Isabella put her hands on her knees for a second to catch her breath. “I hope it isn’t much further. I don’t like the look of those gray clouds rolling in. I forgot to bring my rain jacket.”
Sam took out his phone and opened the Geocaching app to check the navigation. “According to the GPS coordinates, it should be right up here,” Sam said, his voice filled with excitement.
Isabella nodded, her curiosity growing as they neared the destination. “How does this work, anyway?” she asked, gesturing to Sam’s phone.
Sam grinned,tapping on the screen. “It’s pretty simple. The app uses GPS technology to pinpoint the location of geocaches. Think of them as hidden containers. We’re told the difficulty level, terrain, size of the cache, and perhaps a hint, and then we follow the navigation to find the general location. If found, we log it and scratch it off the list. That is the most common one, or what they would call a traditional geocache.”
“There are others?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “There are about twenty types: traditional, multi-cache, puzzle, earth cache, letterbox hybrid…”
“Hybrid?”
“Look, don’t worry about it.”
Isabella watched with fascination as Sam manipulated the screen, displaying a map with a blinking marker indicating their current location. “And so peoplejust hide these in the wilderness for others to find?” she asked.
“You got it,” Sam replied, his eyes alight with enthusiasm. “It’s all part of the adventure. Think of it as a bit like a game, a sport, a hobby, or an art. You never know what you’ll find or where you’ll end up. That’s what makes geocaching so exciting.”
As they continued their hike, Sam kept his phone in hand, periodically checking the screen for updates. “Not far now,” he said, pointing ahead to a cluster of trees.
He knew exactly where it was but didn’t want to give it away too soon.
With renewed anticipation, they quickened their pace.
As they ventured deeper into the forest, Sam’s heart pounded. His nerves were on edge as he replayed in his mind what he would say.
What if she said no?
He had brought Isabella out there in the hopes of stealing a moment alone, away from prying eyes and the distractions of everyday life so he could pop the big question. He’d already given the matter some due diligence and spoken with Isabella’s father to get his blessing. He’d even shown him the ring to get his approval. Her father had told him, whatever you do, make it memorable.
Oh, it would be memorable.
Sam glanced back at her, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.
Forget getting down on one knee in a restaurant or traveling to an exotic vacation spot.
No, he wanted to make it special. He took Isabella’s lovefor the outdoors and his curiosity for mystery and combined the two. While he was nervous about popping the question, his concern was the ring. It was expensive. He’d had to sell his motorcycle to pay off his credit card. He certainly didn’t want it to be found by someone else. Would it still be there? He’d placed it in a geocache container on the previous afternoon.
“Sam, this better not be some plan of yours to get laid.”
He laughed but said nothing even though he’d brought a blanket and condoms. He had no idea what wave of emotions would overcome Isabella. Hopefully, she’d throw herself at him, and wham, bam, thank you, ma’am, it would turn out to be one hell of a day.
Except by the tone of her voice, that may have been too optimistic.
“You know what I told you,” she said.
