Love at First Light by Jennifer Bernard

Author:Jennifer Bernard [Bernard, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781945944635
Publisher: JB Books

Chapter Seventeen

Jessica led the way toward the switchback trail that would eventually bring them to Aurora Lodge. They’d have to hike around the lake and up a ridge to connect with the old logging trail that she’d located on the map. It had the dotted lines that meant it wasn’t used anymore.

But maybe that was incorrect. Maybe someone was using it for nefarious things that required shooting people’s float planes.

The grief over her murdered plane lurked just under the surface, but she refused to let it out. First they had to survive. The plane was insured, but she had no idea if this kind of thing was covered. How was she going to break it to her fellow owners that it was gone?

And how was she going to get over the fact that someone in Lost Souls Wilderness wished her harm? Lost Souls had always been a refuge, an escape into another world. The idea that something so terrible could happen here—she’d be struggling with that for a long time.

A bear attack would have been easier to deal with, to be honest.

The steady presence of Ethan right behind her gave her a lot of reassurance, but still, she found herself scanning the forest at every curve in the path. Was someone up there on that crag, flat on their belly with a sniper rifle? Was a knife going to come whizzing through the air at their heads?

Increasingly gray clouds chased each other across the sky. On top of everything else, it would likely rain tonight and her beloved tent was gone. They’d have to sleep curled under a tree. In the deepening shadows, the thick moss growing on the tree branches took on eerie shapes, like sloths or misshapen snowmen. They kept brushing past enormous stands of devils club with their prickly stems and leaves as big as elephant ears.

For a long time they didn’t speak. Every so often Ethan would tap her on the shoulder and they’d stop and listen for telltale sounds of another human being. But they didn’t hear anything suspicious.

They took care not to leave any footprints, though an expert tracker would probably find them easily enough. Occasionally Ethan would stop and use a spruce branch to brush away a mark in the path behind them.

After about an hour, once they’d reached the other side of the first hogback ridge beyond the lake, she relaxed enough to speak out loud.

“When do you think it’ll be safe to stop for the night?”

“Let’s go until just before nightfall. How much longer is that? I’m not good at Alaska time-telling.”

Already the sun was winking from behind the trees to the west. “Another hour, maybe. How’s your leg?”

He hesitated just long enough for her to realize he was probably hurting.

“Let’s stop now. That way we can get up at first light and hit the trail again.”

“Good call.” With a sigh of relief, he slid off his backpack and dropped it to the ground. After scanning the area, he pointed to a grove of young hemlock trees whose long branches swept the ground with their graceful tips.

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