Wilderness Target

by Sharon Dunn

  When the two men below decided to continue down the trail, Ezra did not avert his gaze from her. She stared into the ocean of mystery his eyes held, and wondered if a man like him could love her.

  The voices of the thugs finally faded. Ezra let out a breath and moved away from her. “I think they’re gone.”

  “Will we have to go down that trail?”

  He rose to his feet and studied the landscape below. “There’s another way we can go. Around the side of the mountain and down the other side.”

  She came and stood beside him. “Won’t that take longer?”

  “Yes, but it’ll be safer. Now that we know which way they’re headed, we can avoid them altogether.” The two of them stood shoulder to shoulder. The back of his hand touched hers, and for a moment, she thought he would hold her hand. Not to lead her out of some danger, but as a sign of affection. Instead, he shifted his weight so their shoulders were no longer touching. She wondered what the kiss had meant to him. Had it been impulsive, like their first kiss, spurred on by the trauma of getting out of the cave alive? Or did it mean something more to him?

  She cleared her throat. “Okay, so we go the long way. I’ll trust your judgment on that.”

  “Let’s get moving. The first thing we’ve got to do is find some water.”

  Out here in the wilderness, she trusted her life to him. He had shown a level of competence, savvy and strength that proved he was dependable. Trusting him with her heart, though, was entirely another matter.

  * * *

  Ezra led Clarissa down a narrow trail. Down below, they could see the tops of trees, and beyond that, a river. It would take them most of the day to get down the mountain and another half day to get to New Irish. They needed to find water before that—and he wasn’t certain where to look. While it was true that taking this path would bring them out on the opposite side of the mountain from where they had seen Max’s men, Ezra was uncertain about finding water sources.

  He knew this part of the country from maps he’d studied, not from experience. He had withheld that information from Clarissa. She had enough to worry about.

  She stopped suddenly. “What’s that noise?” Fear flashed in her eyes.

  He quit walking, trying to figure out what she had heard. “Was it...the helicopter?” Of course Max would come back looking for them with that thing. There would be no way to avoid it.

  Clarissa turned slightly, facing up the mountain. “No, it was more a banging noise.”

  He listened, at first hearing only the wind. And then he heard the familiar sound. He shook his head and smiled. “Mountain goats.”

  “Mountain goats?” Her voice was tinged with fear.

  “That’s a good thing. If there are mountain goats around here, there has to be a water source close by.” The noise had come from the west. “We’ll have to go off the trail and up.”

  She nodded and followed him toward the sound. The high mountain terrain grew rockier, with less vegetation. The clatter of the mountain goats butting heads floated on the wind from time to time, allowing Ezra to adjust their direction.

  They climbed over a ledge, and the goats came into view. Two rams wandered on one of the larger rock surfaces. Ewes and their lambs were scattered among the rocky ledges. Many of them blended with the light-colored stone, not visible until they moved.

  Clarissa said, “Wow.”

  “They are neat animals,” Ezra whispered. “We’ll go around them. The less we disturb them, the better.”

  She continued to shake her head. “They’re amazing.”

  He held out his hand, uncertain if she would take it. He saw a momentary hesitation, but then she laid her soft fingers in his callused hand. Her touch sent a fiery charge through him and reminded him of the kiss they’d shared.

  He dismissed the heat rising up his neck. This was purely practicality. She needed help getting up the steeper part of the mountain. At least that’s what he told himself.

  They scaled the smooth slabs of rock while Ezra searched for a water source. “There’s got to be a mountain spring around here somewhere.”

  “You don’t know if there is for sure?” she said.

  “Our expeditions never went this high up the mountain,” he said.

  He hoped they hadn’t wasted valuable time by getting off the trail.

  She released a little laugh. “You know so much about this area, I assumed you knew everything.”

  “I’m not all-knowing.”

  “You kind of had me fooled.” Her voice was filled with admiration.

  He shook his head as his cheeks warmed. He stood up as they came to a wide, nearly level ledge. “I don’t know everything about these mountains, but God knows.”

  “God?” Understanding came into her eyes. “He’s involved in this, too, isn’t He?”

  “If you don’t mind, I’d like to pray to God to show us where that spring is.”

  She nodded again. “Okay.”

  He closed his eyes. “God, we’re very thirsty. If it be Your will, if You could lead us to a water source, that would be great.” He paused before saying amen.

  When he looked up, Clarissa’s expression had a soft quality and admiration shone in her eyes. “You’re pretty tight with Him.”

  Ezra nodded. “How about you?”

  “Just getting to know Him. Still learning.”

  “Tough first lesson, huh?” She continued to nod and gaze at him, the glow in her features never diminishing. “Let’s go see how God answered that prayer,” he said.

  They worked their way farther up the mountain with still no sign of water. His stomach had begun to growl. This high up, there wasn’t even much vegetation. Sometimes God answered a prayer and the answer was no. Without water, they’d make it off the mountain and to the river, but their strength would be sapped, and they would be in no condition for any sort of confrontation with Max or his hired muscle. Plus they’d have wasted valuable time heading the wrong direction.

  Clarissa grabbed his arm and pointed to a rock slab down below. “There.”

  He scanned the area, not sure what she was so excited about.

  “The reflection from the sun. There’s water in that indentation in the rock. It must be from the storm a few days ago.”

  Grateful for Clarissa’s sharp eyes, Ezra headed toward where she had pointed, lifting her down one of the steep rock formations before they came to the tiny pool of water. “God provides,” he said. “We just can’t dictate to Him how He provides.”

  “Water is water,” she said.

  He pulled her ragged pack off his back and found the water filter right away. Though the canteen had been damaged, they still had the metal cup. “The filter works like a straw. You can have the first drink.”

  She filled the cup, put the filter in it and drank until it was empty. “That’s so wonderful.” She handed him the cup and wiped her mouth. “My throat was really dry.”

  The water tasted sweeter than honey as it traveled down his parched throat. They drank several more cups. Clarissa touched her cheek. “Do I have dirt smudges on my face?”

  He nodded his head and half smiled.

  Her mouth turned up, as well. “I know it’s kind of silly, but I would like to at least have a clean face.”

  He tore off the cloth cover from the damaged canteen, dipped it in the water and handed it to her. She washed her face and then looked at him. “Better?”

  He nodded.

  “You have some smears, too.” She reached over and brushed the cloth over his forehead and cheeks. Her touch turned his insides to mush. He studied every angle of her face, the clear pale skin and her soft, blue-eyed gaze.

  Ezra lifted the damaged canteen and turned it over in his hands. The bullet had gone clean through, creating two holes near the
bottom.

  “Maybe there’s something else in there we can use to carry water in.” The look of hopeful desperation on Clarissa’s face was endearing.

  He shook his head, knowing that there probably wasn’t. He searched the pack anyway, for her sake. After a fruitless hunt, he refastened the pack. “Have one more drink if you want. We’ll have to make it down the mountain without water.”

  As they worked their way off the rocky mountaintop, two things plagued his thoughts. He worried that Max would be able to locate them with his helicopter. Also, he wondered why they hadn’t seen a single search plane. If the others had been rescued, a search party would have been sent to find him and Clarissa. He hadn’t even spotted a rescue plane in the distance, looking for them in the wrong place.

  He kept his dark thoughts to himself. He didn’t know anything for sure, and if Clarissa thought the others hadn’t made it out, she would lose all hope.

  * * *

  By midday the trees down below looked more like trees and less like dark smears. They must be at least halfway down the mountain. Fatigue lay like a heavy coat on Clarissa’s body, and she found herself starting to nod off even as she continued to put one foot in front of the other.

  Ezra touched her shoulder from behind. “Hey, how about we veer off the trail and get a couple hours of sleep? It would be better for us to rest now and travel under cover of night.”

  As anxious as she was to get into the concealment the trees provided, she didn’t have the strength to argue with him. He led her to a level spot where some brush grew.

  “You rest.” He tore the pack off. “Use this for a pillow.”

  “Aren’t you going to sleep, too?”

  “I’m going to see if I can find us something to eat.”

  For the past hour, the gnawing hunger in her belly had made it hard to think of anything but food. Still, it didn’t seem right that he should be deprived of the chance to rest. “Maybe I should go with you.”

  “No, sleep. I’ll catch some shut-eye after I’ve found us some lunch.” He didn’t wait around for her to answer. Instead, he disappeared deeper into the brush. Clarissa rested her head on the hard pack and closed her eyes.

  Something had shifted between her and Ezra—in a good way—though neither was talking about it. She had felt such a strong connection to him when they’d prayed for water. Finding the water had been a faith builder.

  She closed her eyes, trying to get comfortable on the hard ground. A soft breeze ruffled her hair. Was it possible that someone like Ezra would really care about someone like her? She didn’t know if she could trust her feelings or not. She’d been down this road before.

  She turned and stared at the huge blue sky above her. Maybe the second kiss had been a mistake, too. Would he get her to a safe place because that was his job? Or would he stay after all this was over?

  She rolled over on her side and closed her eyes. Sleep came quickly. Her final thoughts as she drifted off were of Ezra, his soft, barely there smile and the strong arms that had held her.

  She awoke with a start to the mechanical clang of an engine. It took her a moment to absorb that a helicopter was nearby.

  She rolled over on her stomach and peered through the brush. The chopper hovered at her level, angling from side to side before pointing its nose downward. It landed on a flat spot several hundred feet below her. Two men got out—Don and Zeke. After they disembarked, the chopper lifted from the ground and disappeared around the side of the mountain.

  The men were headed up the trail, rifles flung over their shoulders. Clarissa craned her neck. No sign of Ezra anywhere. Staying low to the ground, she grabbed the pack and darted in the direction he’d gone. She scanned the brush and the steep hillside. No sign of him anywhere. Down below, the men were closing in, their rowdy talk growing louder and more distinct.

  Clarissa slumped to the ground. It wouldn’t be safe for her to wait here until Ezra showed himself. He might be hiding from the chopper, as well. She saw flashes of color through the grass from the men’s clothes, yellow and red. They were getting closer.

  If she made a wide arc around them and stayed off the trail, their paths would never cross, and she could get to the bottom of the mountain without being seen. She kept her radar tuned to the sound of the approaching men as she worked her way through the brush and across the open areas. The gruff voices of the two men grew dim as she headed away from them.

  Fear and physical exertion made her heart pound wildly. She took in a ragged breath and then glanced over her shoulder before descending down the mountain. She only hoped that Ezra would figure out where she’d gone.

  FOURTEEN

  Ezra heard the helicopter before he saw the two men. From a distance, Ezra could see that Clarissa was no longer in the spot where she’d been resting. A quick scan of the area revealed that she wasn’t anywhere close by. Though being separated from her caused tightness in his chest, it might be a good thing that she wasn’t visible. Max’s two thugs were making their way up the trail.

  When he’d heard the helicopter, he’d hoped to get a glimpse of it on the off chance that it was a rescue helicopter. The chopper left the area before he ever saw it, however. Then he caught sight of the men stopped by the patch of brush where Clarissa had been sleeping. He slipped behind the rock where he’d been hiding, lifting his head high enough to watch them.

  Don kicked the brush around and then held up something and showed it to the other man. An item must have fallen out of her pack. Ezra cringed. Though he couldn’t hear what was said, the pointing and gestures indicated that whatever Clarissa had left behind was enough to clue them in that she was in the area.

  His heart lurched as he looked around for any sign of movement that might indicate where she was. He needed to be with her, to know that she was safe. One of the men pointed down with his rifle. A moment later, both the thugs headed toward the forest.

  Waiting to avoid detection was excruciating. Ezra didn’t like sitting still for any reason, but the sense of urgency he felt to catch up with Clarissa made him want to jump up and run down the mountain.

  He peeked out from behind the rock. The voices of the two men had faded, but he could still see the yellow and red of their shirts. He darted toward a pile of brush that would provide some cover. Keeping an awareness of the men’s location, he worked his way down the mountain. Not being able to take the trail meant he was probably traveling twice the distance of the thugs, but his greater experience in hiking made him able to keep up with their pace.

  The men’s voices carried on the wind. Ezra dived into the tall grass as they came around a bend in the trail. He was so close he could hear their boots crunching on the pebbles. He pressed his body against the hard ground.

  One of the men, the older one, stopped and peered down the mountain. “Hey.” He lifted his rifle and looked through the scope. “There she is.”

  The air froze in Ezra’s lungs, and he felt an invisible weight on his back pinning him in place. The man placed his finger on the trigger. Ezra dug his hands into the dirt, ready to pounce. Clarissa was not going to be gunned down like an animal, not on his watch.

  The second thug edged toward the first. “I don’t see her.”

  Don let the rifle fall to his side. “I saw her. She’s down there.”

  “Let’s go get her then,” said Zeke. “Fitzgerald doesn’t want her getting out of these woods alive.”

  Ezra waited only a few minutes before jumping up and heading down the mountain. The thugs had picked up the pace and now jogged down the trail. Ezra moved as quickly as he could.

  He didn’t want to risk being spotted himself, but he needed to get to Clarissa before the armed men did.

  * * *

  Though anxiety coiled in her stomach, Clarissa pushed herself to go faster. She looked over her shoulder. Still no Ezra
. And then she saw the flash of yellow and red through the brush. The men were moving pretty fast down the trail. They must have spotted her.

  Their voices carried on the wind. Don ordered Zeke to go in a different direction. She scanned the area for possible places to hide.

  The talking had stopped, and she couldn’t see either of the men. What would Ezra do if he were in her position? She studied the open field in front of her and calculated a path that would take her from one covered position to another. The last fifty yards would have to be at an all-out run. Taking in a breath, she steeled herself and sprinted toward the first patch of tall grass.

  The thug in the yellow shirt, Zeke, came into view. He stopped scanning the open field as he made his way toward it. He disappeared again behind a cluster of aspen trees. She shot to her feet and ran toward some brush.

  When she looked through the leaves of the bush she crouched behind, she could see both men some distance from each other but moving toward her. They were too close. There was no way she could keep running without being spotted. Clarissa flattened herself behind the bush. Though its leaves had turned gold and orange, there was still enough of them to keep her hidden from view...unless the men came too close or veered around her side of the bush. She’d be an easy target if that happened.

  She decided to crawl the remaining distance. Pulling herself with her arms, she covered several feet of ground, stopped, assessed where the men were and then crawled some more. The trees were a stone’s throw away when the first rifle shot passed over her head. She lurched to her feet and ran the remaining distance to a cluster of trees as another shot boomed behind her.

  * * *

  Ezra heard the rifle shots just as he entered the forest. He sprinted toward the sound.

  Please, God, don’t let her have been hit.

  The shouts of the thugs pressed on his ears and a moment later the one in the yellow shirt ran past him. Ezra trailed behind the man, relieved to see him by himself. Ezra could take on one of the armed men, but not both at once. He followed Zeke, slipping behind trees every time the thug sensed his presence.