Black Mariah: El Desaguadero River, Nicaragua (Black Mariah Series, Season 1 Book 2) by Burke Bryant & Black Mariah Collective

Author:Burke Bryant & Black Mariah Collective [Bryant, Burke]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781645481065
Publisher: Black Spot Books
Published: 2021-07-22T22:00:00+00:00

7

“You ready to head out?”

Caroline was standing over Chris with her pack already on her back. Her voice snapped Chris out of his daydream.

“Wakey, wakey, Rake,” his second teased.

As he blinked back to reality, he saw Natalia a few feet away, swinging her bear. When had she moved?

“Yeah, sorry. I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”

Chris threw his water bladder back into his pack and strapped the weight onto his back. Nick was already up with Grace. Everyone was ready to go.

“Natalia, are you ready?”

When Chris reached the girl, she grabbed hold of his hand. They moved into formation, Caroline taking point on the trail, and started heading up the mountain.

Chris lifted Natalia into his arms, settled the girl on his shoulders. “We’re going to have to do it this way until the trail widens out again. I want you to hang on. We can’t afford any accidents, not right now. Can you do that for me?” he asked.

“Si. Mr. Teddy and I will hold on tight.” Natalia wrapped her arms around Chris's neck, her teddy bear secured tightly under one arm.

The wind grew stronger as the moved up the hillside and rounded the mountain. Soon, it howled, whipping through the lower valley and lifting large gusts of air right up into the side of the hill where they were traveling. At times the gusts were so strong everyone had to lower themselves to the ground, bracing against the rocks until it passed, hissing through the trees like a threatened snaked as it wound around the cliffs.

By the time they’d hiked high enough to see through the brush, rainclouds had completely covered the sky. The strong gusts of wind had brought the storm in much faster than Chris had anticipated, and what had been dark gray swatches in the sky before were now a swirling sea of murky gray and black.

In the distance, thunder began to tear open the sky, and then the rain came, an unending cataract of water sluicing down in heavy sheets. The wet disrupted Chris’s vision, blurred his focus, ruined his balance.

Again, Chris pulled Natalia from his shoulders and set her on the ground beside him.

“Stay close to the side,” he told her. “Hug it if you can.”

Natalia pressed herself against the cliff's side, both feet firmly planted, then squatted, wrapped her hands around her legs, and bowed her head between her knees. Thunder cracked above, followed almost instantly by a heavy boom that rattled the hillside.

Fuck that was close!

They couldn’t go any further, not in these conditions. Caroline was just ahead, pushed up against a large rock jutting out from the side of the cliff. He watched as she pushed herself backward in an attempt to move away from the rock and closer to the side of the cliff.

“Hunter!”

Chris barked but she could not hear him. The rain and wind had gotten too loud. He tried again. “Caroline!”

She turned back and locked eyes with him. Her mouth didn’t move—she knew it was no use. “Pull back.

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