Page 15 of Colton in the Wild
He was also lying on top of her. She was finding it a little hard to breathe and had a suspicion it wasn’t solely because of his solid weight pressing down upon her. And he didn’t seem to be breathing at all. Then she realized he’d lifted his head just slightly and tilted it as if listening. For another shot?
Anothershot.
Someone had actually shot at them. She was beginning to get past the shock and process it now.
“Did they think we were a deer or something?” she asked, whispering by instinct as if the likely faraway shooter could hear her.
“Possible,” Spence muttered. “But given where we were standing and that it came from further up the hill, not likely.” His mouth curved into a wry half smile. “Not to mention the color of your jacket.”
It was proof of how rattled she was that she hadn’t even thought of that. Her lime-green puffy jacket would be hard to mistake for a deer or any other wild creature.
Some dirt a couple of feet away seemed to jump of its own accord and a moment later she heard the same kind of crack she’d heard before. And now that Spence had told her, it seemed obvious.
“He’s not giving up,” she said. “We need to move.”
“My rifle’s in the shed.” He shifted as if he were about to get up.
“But that would be going toward him,” she protested, a nightmare scenario flashing through her mind of Spence lying on the ground, bleeding out.
“The tent isn’t going to stop a rifle round. Only other option is the plane, which is immobilized.”
“But there’s the radio,” she said quickly, liking this idea much better. “Call for help.”
“Which would take too long to get here to be much help.”
“The plan is still more solid than the tent,” she said. “It might not stop a bullet, but the walls of the plane would at least slow it down, wouldn’t it?”
“Point taken,” Spence said.
She felt a flash of relief at his agreement. She would feel better, safer, whether it was true or not, in her beloved plane.
A third shot hit the dirt, barely missing her left hip. She couldn’t stop her instinctive flinch.
“We need to move,” Spence said urgently. “Zigzag down to the big rock then cut right to the tree line.”
Hetty nodded. “On three?”
She saw that familiar Spence grin that so captivated her flash for a split second. That he could do it under these circumstances impressed her more than she wanted to admit.
“On ‘now,’” he said. “Like…now!”
She wasn’t sure how he did it, but almost instantly he was on his feet and had pulled her up with him in one smooth, graceful move, reminding her yet again how strong he really was. How powerful.
And then they were running, and with the zigzag course he set, it was all she could do to both stay on her feet and keep up with him. It felt like a wild, wacky made-up game of some kind. Except for the very real threat as more shots rang out.
She felt a little safer as they passed the big rock and then dodged into the tree line. Something about the heavy cover of thick branches and solid trunks made this nightmare seem survivable.
“Is he just a bad shot?” she asked when they’d slowed slightly in the shelter of the big trees.
“Or maybe too far away,” Spence said. “Given the time between the shots hitting and the sound, I’m hoping for the latter.”
That made sense to her, since even she could hit a target if she was close enough.
“You piss anybody off lately?” he asked sourly.
“Only you,” she countered, an edge in her voice; this was no time to be joking around. Even if you were Spence Colton.
He half turned to look at her. “You never piss me off. Irritate, yes, but full-on pissed? Nope.”
