Rocky Mountain Showdown
Page 10
“How did you know they were there? I didn’t see a thing.” That part had really been bothering her. The first indication she had that something was wrong was when Seth made it clear they needed to get out of there and hide as fast as possible. How was she supposed to lead them to safety if she couldn’t even tell when the enemy was close by? She was supposed to be the expert out in these woods. She should know when humans were present, especially since it was such a rare event. Yet, she had not even known for sure what they were running from.
“I saw a reflection. I wasn’t positive it was them—I just knew the sun was hitting something metal out there. And I knew metal didn’t belong in these woods.”
“I didn’t see that. I completely missed it.”
“Hey, Laura, look at me. No, really look at me.” She did. “That’s not your fault. You had Abby. You had to map out our path. You had a lot to do. I’m not blaming you. It’s not your job to do everything.”
“I know.” But she should have seen sun reflecting off metal. If she missed that, would she miss a more subtle sign? Would she lead them right to the men? Lead Abby and Seth to their deaths? If that happened, Laura would never forgive herself.
* * *
She said she knew it wasn’t her fault, but Seth could see the truth in her eyes. Laura was feeling like a failure. She was blaming herself.
Seth had felt fairly helpless for the last two days. Unable to step up and make it right. But this was something he could try to fix. Something he needed to resolve, right now. “Laura, please listen. Really, really listen.”
She looked at him and there was fear in her eyes. That was unacceptable. Completely unacceptable.
“It’s not your job to do anything. I know you’ve been taking the lead on this. That we’ve needed to rely on you because you have the expertise on this mountain. But you’re not alone. And I’m not helpless.”
As he spoke, some emotions rose up inside that he hadn’t been aware of carrying. Hadn’t known were lurking in his heart. A kind of defensiveness. A need to prove that he was a capable man, strong and able to protect them.
He had hurt his family and had run because he could not figure out a way to make things right. He’d felt like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs for a very long time. But he wasn’t that. “I’m a grown man who grew up in the Oregon woods. I’m a trained park ranger. I have outdoor skills, too. Hunting and tracking. Navigating in the forest.”
She was looking at him, and he saw her throat move as she swallowed.
“You have the knowledge of this mountain, and I am beyond thankful for that. But no one person can do this, Laura. No one person should have to do this. I’m here, and I am more than just another body. I want to help. I need you to let me help.”
She was still listening. Still looking at him. Here, in this enclosure, with that sweet child on her lap, Laura looked very small. Very alone. But she wasn’t alone right now, and Seth suspected that she had been alone in the past for far too long. He knew all about that.
He’d been alone, too.
And Seth was tired of it. He had a family back home. A family who loved him. Wanted him. And he ran because he couldn’t swallow his pride. Accept their help. Avoid taking his anger at his wounds out on them. Laura did not have any of that. They were both suffering from the same thing but Seth’s was self-inflicted. He’d known he had made a mistake about a week after he’d left. Then, he had spent more than a year telling himself he needed to live with the choices he made. Now, though, after all this running, of watching this incredible woman, Seth decided that he was going to try to fix his mistakes. If God gave him another chance, he would not take it for granted.
Seth tried to put every ounce of his determination and sincerity into his voice. “You worry about keeping us on course and helping us find a safe place when we need it. I’ll worry about whether the fire is catching up or where those men are. We’re a team, and that means you can rely on me for some things. In fact, I want you to rely on me. Please.”
“Okay.” It was whispered, but Seth thought she was perhaps shy instead of hesitant. Something shifted in his soul; something happened in this space. He was more open. Hopefully that shyness on Laura’s part meant she picked up on it, too.
But they had to get off this mountain. It was literally on fire. Their escape options were shrinking. And these men were not going to give up anytime soon. That was okay, because Seth was not going to give up, either. And he would put his will up against someone else’s any day of the week.
Seth was feeling alive again, the blood pumping hard through his veins. But this time it wasn’t pumping with fear. Nope. This time his body was surging with determination. “So this area was just searched again.” His voice was brisk. No nonsense. It was time to set aside emotion and focus on the mission. They needed to get out of this cave. “That probably means it’s safe, for now.”
“Yeah, but they know the fire is closing us in. They are using it. The search area is getting smaller and smaller.”
“You’re right. So we need to up our level of caution. And that river is becoming much more viable as a Plan B.”
“I really don’t want to cross it with Abby.”
“Me, either. But if it comes to that, we’ll do it. And it will be okay.”
“Okay. We have about four hours of daylight left. Traveling in the dark is sounding better and better to me.”
“Agreed. So let’s go. We’ll be careful, but we’re going to keep moving. If you know of any more of these hidey-holes, a route that takes us past them might be worth a slight delay.”
“You think we’re going to run into more men.”
Seth paused. But he would not lie to her. “Yes. I do. But they seem to be completely lost in the woods, and that will definitely work in our favor. They don’t seem to know how to track. Or how to move quietly. We’ll use that.”
Laura breathed in deeply and sighed it out. Seth almost smiled as he watched the slump leave her shoulders. He could practically feel her gathering herself up. She shifted, putting Abby on her feet, and whispered to her. Seth could hear her telling Abby that they were going to go outside again. That they still needed to be as quiet as possible. That it was dangerous, but Seth and Mommy were going to keep her safe from the bad men.
Seth couldn’t see Abby’s eyes, but he watched Laura look intently into them. Then she smiled and kissed Abby on the forehead. Laura looked at Seth. “Okay. We’re ready. Let’s go.”
Seth lifted the flap up slowly, and peeked outside. He saw nothing unusual. Heard nothing but the normal sounds of the forest. The smell of smoke had become constant, but the sky still looked blue.
He held out a finger to Laura, gesturing for her to wait while he checked it out. He kept his weapon at his side, but was ready to lift it and use it if needed. He lowered the flap, concealing Laura and Abby inside as much as possible. After walking around for a couple of minutes, Seth felt confident that it was as safe as it could be in their current circumstances. He holstered his gun.
He opened the flap and saw relief take over Laura’s face. “It’s okay. We’re clear.”
Laura came out, and Seth automatically reached down to carry Abby. She came without hesitation, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in the space between his shoulder and his face.
Laura started to walk ahead of them, but Seth reached out and took her hand. She looked surprised, but she didn’t pull away. They moved forward then, a little group of three. Laura was still in the lead. Seth was looking all around, trying to make sure he would see if they ran into the men again.
He knew he was being ridiculous, but he was thankful Laura was going along with it right now. He was going into the territory of hypervigilance. There was a fine line between being aware and getting paranoid. Between observing your surroundings and stressing your body out so much that it began to misfire. S
topped functioning the way it should. Seth forced himself to take it back a step. He squeezed Laura’s hand and then let go, wrapping both arms around Abby.
As much as he had liked walking with her warm hand in his, he knew this was better for their safety. He was able to keep up and observe their surroundings a little better. He could watch his footing while holding Abby.
Laura gave him a concerned look, and he just smiled at her. He tried to look reassuring, but was glad he didn’t have a mirror to see if it worked or not. It must not have been too bad of an approximation, though, because Laura smiled back and continued leading the way.
She was going a different way than before. They were still in the cover of the trees, but they weren’t on the route they’d been on when Seth first saw the shining reflection. He reached out and touched her back. “Why are we headed a different way?” His voice was as soft as he could make it and still have it be audible. He felt bad questioning her, but he wanted to understand where they were going as best he could without actually knowing what the land looked like up here.
“I’m still taking us in the same direction, but I want to incorporate possible hiding places into our route.” Her voice was so soft that Seth only understood what she was saying by looking at her lips while listening. He nodded and gave her a thumbs-up sign, and she started walking again.
For all that being a hermit’s daughter had caused Laura pain in her life, it seemed like it was the very thing that would save theirs. Her knowledge of these woods was so complete that it was almost unbelievable. Even people who lived on the other side of the mountain probably didn’t know their land as well. It was one thing to live in a place. It was another thing entirely to have that place be your whole world. This mountain had been Laura’s whole world for a very, very long time.
The trees thinned out and Seth tried to see if he could tell where they were on the mountain. There were small patches of snow that had not melted scattered here and there, indicating that they were making progress in their goal to go up. Even though it was spring, the snow would probably get heavier the higher they went. But snow was good because up was good.
The heavy canopy over them finally gave way and Seth found he was ready for blue sky. A reminder that there was a whole world out there for them. More than tree after tree.
Instead, he saw smoke. Thick, heavy. The entire sky was black.
TEN
This alternate route took them closer to the open fields than Laura would have gone otherwise. But she knew of a couple of hiding places this way and those things had proven to be really, really useful. So she chose this route.
Which meant that she took them right into the fire. In her effort to keep her daughter and Seth safe and alive, Laura had walked them right into the hot spot. Some guide she was turning out to be.
Laura didn’t even try to force the shock off her face before turning to look at Seth. She was stunned and scared to her core and there was no way she could pretend otherwise. She simply wasn’t that good of an actress. She would have said something, but all words had fled. The phrases had seen that smoke and understood its implications and run far, far away. She and her baby were stuck here, but at least her words were safe.
“I don’t smell the smoke, so that’s a point in our favor.” Seth was not shocked. At least he did not look or sound shocked. Maybe he was better at suppressing his emotions, but Laura didn’t see any signs of distress or panic in his demeanor. That was okay because she had enough for both of them.
“The smell of smoke is the same. Constant, but not overpowering. It’s coming this way, though. That wall is definitely headed at us.” He continued on as though he were talking to a functioning adult.
Abby looked at Laura and she flinched. Her daughter had the same shocked expression on her face that had to be gracing Laura’s own. Her daughter was scared. Sick. She should be bundled up on a couch, watching cartoons and eating soup. With medicine.
Not okay. If Seth could focus, look at this newest threat objectively like it was just another obstacle, then Laura could, too. She would. She slowed her breathing. She knew how to handle this. Fires were not uncommon in the Colorado mountains. Her dad had not just taught her about what to do, he had drilled it into her head.
“The animals here aren’t alarmed yet. I don’t see a flood of them fleeing the blaze.”
Seth looked around and slowly nodded. “That’s good. That’s really good. That smoke looks bad, but we’re not in the thick of it.” Yet. Laura absolutely heard that little word that Seth did not say out loud. She felt its echo in her soul.
“Yeah. And we don’t want to be anywhere near it. The smoke is something else. That blaze has got to be a monster.”
“Do you think we can still make it up the mountain? That smoke isn’t just coming from the side. It’s almost catty-corner in front of us.”
Laura looked at the smoke. It seemed alive, and she could almost see it moving. Not just caging them in at their side, but coming at them somewhat head-on. She mentally went up the mountain, seeing the different paths they could take. The river was looking more and more appealing, so Laura concentrated on the routes that ran parallel to it.
Fires were dangerous, and they could move awfully fast in the right circumstances. Laura could conceive of three nightmare scenarios. One, the fire could chase them to the river and catch them before they made it to the water. Two, the fire could circle around them and somehow come between them and the river.
Or three, they would make it to river before the fire got them but then drown or be pummeled to death by the boulders hiding in the current.
Laura’s stomach churned as all three scenarios played out in her head. No. No, no, no. This was not going to happen. Please, God. Give me the wisdom and strength. Help us to get through this storm.
“I don’t know, Seth. I’m afraid it’s going to cut us off. I’m really worried that it will circle ahead of us and come down between us and the river. We can’t get caught in the middle. We just can’t.”
Seth shifted Abby to one arm and wrapped the other around her. This was not the time or place, but Laura couldn’t stop herself from taking comfort from this strong man. She needed to soak up some of his strength. His confidence. His calm.
“It’s okay, Laura. It’s going to be okay.”
She couldn’t help but laugh, even if it was choked up and muffled. “You keep saying that. You’ve said that at least twenty times in the last two days.”
“Because it’s true. I have faith.” Seth sighed, looking her in the eye. “Or at least I want to. I want to so much. I want faith, Laura. Faith in God. Faith in my abilities. Faith in your abilities.” Another sigh, but his voice was still sure. “We are going to be okay.” He sounded like he believed it. Very convincing. And it helped. Hearing his firm belief that they could overcome any obstacle they encountered, including fires and guns and mysterious bosses, helped her to believe it, too.
He squeezed her then, increasing the pressure in such a gentle way that he was almost physically holding her together until she was ready to take over the job. He had a Donovan woman in each arm, and he still seemed strong enough to take on the rest of this mess. Laura had missed knowing someone else was there. Having someone she could lean on.
She had missed having a partner.
After taking a few selfish moments, and thanking the Lord that she was able to do so, Laura straightened and stepped away. She bent forward and put a hand on each of Abby’s cheeks, leaning in to kiss the little girl’s forehead, eyelids, nose and chin noisily. Abby laughed and Laura found it impossible to be scared when her daughter was giving off such joy.
Laura let go and looked at Seth. “Okay, I’m ready. I think staying within eyesight of the river should be priority number one. I’ll feel a lot better if we can see our Plan B at all times and know it is still there and viable.”
Seth didn’t hesitat
e. “Sounds good to me.”
“That means we’re giving up some cover. And we’re giving up access to some hiding places I know.”
Seth nodded. “I get it. I’m with you that the river is the most important, though. We’ll be as careful as possible, but we need to get off this mountain. Now.”
The words weren’t even fully out of his mouth before Laura started walking. There was nothing worse than standing around feeling uncertain. Anxious. Laura was ready to move in the right direction.
Her pace was faster than before, though she was still sure to not break branches or leave a very noticeable trail. She headed directly to the river, and some of the instinct to run lessened when she heard it. It sounded fierce. This time of year was when the river was at its fullest. The snowmelt swelled the rivers and they came crashing down the mountain, wearing down rock and anything else in their path.
It was a white-water rafter’s extreme dream. And one of her worst nightmares. If they had to get in that water, then things were bad.
She stopped her direct path to the river and began moving back up the mountain, this time angling until the water came into view. The final bit of instinct telling her to run for the water died down then. She could see it. Plan B was as safe and as viable as a crazy Plan B could get.
She turned to make sure Seth and Abby were still with her, and of course they were. Just like before. They were right there and they were safe and she was safe and she was not alone. Her looking had less to do with wanting to make sure Seth was doing what he said and more to do with the way seeing him reassured her.
Abby was staring at the river, obviously enthralled by the rushing water and the loud roaring sound it made. She was pointing and saying something to Seth, but the sound of the river drowned it out. Laura could only see her daughter’s smile. And Seth’s gentle one in return.