Page 32 of Risk It All
“Where do we go from here?” she asked, looking around. The trees blocked some visibility, but she felt so much more secure with something to grab onto in case she slipped or, worst-case scenario, something to block her from falling off a cliff.
Kavenski pointed, which didn’t really tell her anything. Falling in behind him again, she trudged along, keeping an eye on her footing. It was still very rocky, although more dirt and pine needles covered the stone. She dodged around patches of snow, not wanting to test how waterproof her improvised boots were.
Even though she looked around as much as she could when she wasn’t staring at the ground in front of her, she had no idea where they were headed. It all looked the same to her, and the lack of any signs of civilization—no roads, buildings, or even power lines—made her uneasy.
“So…” she started when she couldn’t stand not knowing any longer. “Do you actually know where we’re going, or are you just improvising? Because I feel like we’re at the beginning of one of those survival movies where we think we’re following the path, but we get lost and have to spend the winter fighting mountain lions for scraps.”
She was pretty sure she heard a snort, although it was hard to tell since Kavenski didn’t turn around. “We’re headed east.”
After waiting a few steps for clarification but only getting silence, she gave him a verbal nudge. “East is good. Langston is east…I assume. Do you have a specific destination in mind?”
He gave her an offended look over his shoulder, but she just gave an exaggerated shrug.
“Can you blame me for asking?” She waved in the direction of her feet. “I’m wearing sleeves on my feet, after all.” She was also getting thirsty, tired, hungry, ached all over, and she had to pee, but she didn’t want to whine too much.
“The town of Red Hawk,” he said, facing forward again. “Specifically, the Red Hawk police station.”
Oh, right.That had been their original plan before Kavenski had driven them off a cliff. “That’s right! It’s only, what? Five miles away?”
“Five miles on the road.”
“Oh.” She looked around with fresh dread at the wilderness stretching around them. This time she was glad that the trees limited her visibility. She’d rather not see exactly how far the nothingness went. “I don’t suppose we’re taking the shortcut.”
His laugh didn’t sound very amused. “Nope.”
With a sigh, she settled in for a very long, very rocky walk.
Chapter 10
It was impossible to know how much time had passed. The sun seemed to have shifted in the sky, but Cara had never had to pay attention to the sun’s location to figure out the time. That’s what cell phones were for. She promised herself that she’d start wearing a watch as soon as they managed to get home safely. She also threw in a promise to take a wilderness safety course.
“How long have we been walking?” Her voice sounded loud. Before she’d spoken, it had been silent except for the crunch of their footsteps and the sweep of the wind.
Squinting up at the sky, Kavenski said, “About an hour.”
Of course he knows how to tell time from the sun.She silently sighed, feeling like deadweight again.This isn’t your fault, she reminded herself.Not that it’s Kavenski’s fault either, but itdefinitelyisn’t your fault.Still, she didn’t want to break out with the whining. “Mind if I stop to pee?”
In answer, he came to an abrupt stop. “Don’t go too far.”
“I won’t.” She definitely wouldn’t be wandering away from her wilderness guide. Finding a spot behind a particularly bushy pine tree, she took care of business. It was awkward enough that she added another item onto the Things to Hate about Abbott list, which was already really long. She picked up a handful of melting snow and rubbed it between her palms, hoping to feel like she’d washed up, but she just ended up with wet, numb hands. Making a face, she wiped the melted snow off on her pants and rejoined Kavenski.
“You don’t happen to have any power bars in those handy pockets of yours, do you?”
Even as he checked, he shook his head. When he pulled out a small item, she got excited, even when she saw it was a roll of breath mints. She held out her hand eagerly, expecting him to give her one, but he passed her the entire thing.
“Don’t you want any?” she asked.
“I ate this morning. You didn’t.” He started walking again, and she followed.
“Thank you.” She ate the mints one at a time, enjoying the small sugar rush. Her mouth didn’t feel so dry anymore, and her bladder was empty. Except for being completely exhausted and sore everywhere, she didn’t have much to complain about. The ground had leveled out quite a bit as well, which made it easier to walk. Although she still had to keep an eye on the ground in front of her, each step didn’t threaten to send her sliding off a cliff.
Finishing the mints, she tucked the wrapper in her hoodie pocket. When her hands were buried in the fleecy warmth, she realized how cold they’d gotten. The sky was overcast, and the aggravatingly cheerful but warm sun had disappeared. She studied the gray clouds carefully. They reminded her of the storms that rolled in almost every early evening during late summers in Langston.
“Do you think it’s going to rain?” she asked Kavenski, shivering as the breeze picked up.
“No.” Before relief could spread through her, he spoke again. “It might snow.”
“Snow?” The word was more of a yelp. She wasn’t ready for snow, and she wouldn’t be for a solid month. It was barely fall weather in Langston. She looked down at her hoodie and then at her sleeve-boots. “I don’t even have a hat.” When she heard her words, she wanted to laugh. A lack of a hat should probably be the least of her worries. “Do you think we’ll get to Red Hawk before it storms?”
