Page 210 of Her Reluctant Hero
“Can you reach her from where you are?”
Peyton judged the distance to the child’s legs. “If she’ll reach out to me.”
“Okay. Don’t go any farther. Stay where you are and make her come to you, all right? I’ll stay here.”
Like it or not, his hand on her leg was reassuring, a connection to the real world. Okay. She could do this.
She tilted her head a bit so her headlight illuminated the girl’s face. The child whimpered and threw her hand up in front of her eyes, so Peyton quickly lowered her head.
“Hey, whatcha doin’, all stuffed back in there?”
The girl didn’t answer.
Great. The kid was going to keep her in this coffin forever. She struggled for a breath and tried again. “What’s your name? I’m Peyton.”
A soft sound that might have been “Mary”.
“Mary? Or Terry? Or Cherry? Or Harry?”
Another sound, a giggle, then more clearly “Carrie”.
“Hi, Carrie.” She edged forward on her elbows, buying time while figuring out what to say.
The girl’s chin came into view.
“Are you scared?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Of the fire?”
“Uh-huh.”
Join the club. “Well, it’s not going to get us in here, you know. And Cooper? He’s going to take you to your mom and dad, okay? So come with me.”
The girl’s face was buried in her arms. “He’s mean. He yelled at me.”
Peyton snuffled a laugh. “I just think he doesn’t know how to act around girls.”
“Hey!” Cooper squeezed her ankle, almost playful. Again out of character. Why was he being nice when she was in this coffin, when he couldn’t be nice to her face? “I heard that.”
Peyton had almost forgotten where she was and had to smile.
She reached a hand out. “Let’s get out of here so Cooper can take you home. I promise he’ll be nice to you. He’ll even buy you an ice cream.” She said the last over her shoulder and it earned her another ankle tug.
“Promise?” Carrie crawled slowly toward Peyton.
“Cooper? You promise?” Peyton relayed.
“I promise,” he said gruffly, and Carrie linked her fingers through Peyton’s.
With Gabe guiding her, Peyton eased out of the tunnel, leading Carrie, using the child’s face to focus her as she took even breaths through her nose.
Then Gabe’s hands were on her hips and he pulled her out. She leaned back against him for a moment, gulping in oxygen and absorbing his strength, still holding Carrie’s hand. The girl eyed Gabe, but Peyton gave her an encouraging smile and she dropped to her feet.
“You did great,” Gabe murmured into Peyton’s ear before releasing her, his fingers flexing on her hips in a show of approval.
She nodded, then tugged free of his touch that felt too good, stirred her blood, made her want to stay in his arms. She took Carrie’s hand and walked back to the others, then sat before her knees gave way.
