Dreamscape Adventures, Inc. by C.A. Gray

Author:C.A. Gray [Gray, C.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wanderlust Publishing
Published: 2019-04-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Their clothes were unfortunately still slightly damp by the time they had to put them back on, but it was the golden hour already. The sun would go down soon, and they needed to be clothed, find better shelter, and ideally also find food. Luke and Charlotte together wriggled an almost insensible Billy back into his clothes, and Luke had to lie down beside him in order to scoop the boy onto his back again. He winced at the extra weight as he tried to straighten.

The water had receded in the intervening hours to almost nothing. They walked in silence for the most part, each lost in his own thoughts. Luke scanned the terrain for possible shelter, and was continually disappointed. He also hoped for another fresh stream where he might spear more fish, though the idea of wading back into frigid water again made him cringe. On accident, he glanced at Charlotte’s face. Seeing her grimace, he reached out and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She tried to give him a tiny, brave smile, but did not let go of his hand, clinging to it like a lifeline. They walked like that until the canyon narrowed such that they could no longer walk two abreast. Luke dropped her hand to squeeze through first, walking straight on so that Billy added nothing to his bulk.

On the other side of the slot canyon was another open clearing. Luke let out an audible groan of disappointment, in concert with his stomach. It was already twilight, and the temperature was dropping. Their still-damp clothing and the wind chill were not a good mix.

“I can’t go on much farther,” Eli croaked at last.

Luke was glad he’d been the one to say it; if he stopped moving now, he’d probably drop to his knees. But they couldn’t make camp here, out in the open.

“Just—rest for a few minutes,” Charlotte begged, turning imploring eyes on Luke. “Please.”

Luke nodded, and obeyed his inclination, lowering to his knees and gently easing Billy off of his aching back and on to the ground. He felt the boy’s cheeks and forehead, and shook his head, with a grave glance up at Eli.

“He’s running out of time. Isn’t he?”

Eli opened his mouth and closed it again, but did not reply. There was no need.

Luke straightened, running a hand through his hair in frustration as he paced. He didn’t know what to do. Billy was dying. He needed antibiotics, and they had none to give him. All of them were probably hypothermic, and might not live the night if they slept out in the open. But he didn’t know how much longer they could keep going.

Absently, Luke glanced up to the red rocks maybe thirty feet above where Charlotte now sat, perhaps because he’d caught sight of movement. His heart caught in his throat, and all of his muscles tensed at once.

“Charlotte,” he said, keeping his voice low and even. “Stay where you are and do not make any… sudden… movements.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.