Crossing the Deep (18 page)

Without saying a word, he laid Sid back down on the ground carefully.

“Wha— what are you doing?” she whispered through sniffles.

“Come on. It’ll be dark soon.” Asher held out his hands, which she took. Without any gentleness, he lifted her up and threw her arm over his shoulder. He didn’t look at her as they left Sid’s body behind.

Chapter Fifteen

To Asher, time passed like molasses as each step away from his friend got harder and harder to take. The woods became more difficult to hike through, but that wasn’t the only reason. Asher couldn’t get Sid’s face out of his head. Every time he blinked, he saw it: lifeless, as if it wasn’t even Sid anymore. He tried as hard as he could to not think about it, to lock it away in some deep part of his brain, so he could focus on the now, but he couldn’t.

Tears burned his eyes, threatening to drop again. His chest felt tight, and he struggled to hold it together. He could not afford to have another breakdown.

And he couldn’t think about the woods, either. He had no idea where they were going or if they were getting closer to people. For all he knew, they were walking so far away from civilization that they’d never be found, and if they ever were they would be as frozen and lifeless as Sid.

He would never see Grant or Georgia again. He’d never see his aunt or David or Susan. This was it. In a few days, if that, he’d be bear meat just like Sid.

“Hey, are you all right?” Rachel asked, breaking him out of his morbid thoughts.

“Peachy,” he snapped.

“Asher, I know—”

“You know what?” His voice broke. “What do you know, Rachel? You want to talk about how I feel? Fine. I feel just dandy. Yep. Great really. Never better. My best friend, the only person I’ve ever cared about in my life, is dead. I can’t do anything for him. I can’t even carry him out of the woods, because I have to deal with you! And on top of it all… if that wasn’t enough… I’m stuck out in the woods with a Bible-pushing, accident prone, know-it-all who couldn’t follow a direction if it killed her. So yeah, I’m beyond great!”

When she told him she was sorry for the fiftieth time on the stupid trip, Asher refused to answer or even acknowledge she was there. He had nothing more to say to her, and even if he did, he didn’t trust himself to say it.

A few hours later, they hadn’t stopped and appeared to be no closer to home. He’d done a good job at ignoring Rachel and clearing his mind of all things Sid. He took one step at a time — one rock, one fallen tree, one breath.

He felt himself sliding back into the now and noticed for the first time that the sun had almost gone down. It was the fourth time he had seen that particular sight. Asher was sick of it.

“We’re not going to make it back tonight.” He stopped walking to survey the situation. A plus was the creek roared about five yards away from them, so they had water if needed. The con was that they would have to deal with wild animals coming down to get water. But what did it matter now? They were as good as dead anyway.

“We can’t stay out here.” Rachel shivered against him. He shut his eyes and tried to push away the urge to warm her. There was no way he could care for her, not after what had happened to Sid.

“Do you have any other suggestions?” he asked harshly. She opened her mouth and then shut it after a few seconds.
That’s what
I
figured
.

“This spot is pretty flat. We have the rocks around us for a little protection. It’s not much, but it’s all we’ve got.” He let go of her arm and left her standing there. “It’s more than Sid has,” he said under his breath.

****

Rachel stood by herself for a minute or two then hobbled over to one of the larger rocks that surrounded the flat area. She eased herself down and closed her eyes, begging for this to be over. With the roar of the water filling her ears, she wanted to be away from it and home in her nice, warm bed. As awful as she had felt at home for the past two years, she wished she was back there. More than anything she needed her Mama.

She rubbed her hand over her forehead, nursing a pounding headache. They hadn’t stopped to drink since they’d left Sidney’s body, and she figured she was dehydrated. If she could have laughed, she would have at the irony of dehydrating next to a flooded creek. With no food, she wasn’t sure how they could even go on tomorrow. It was going to take a miracle.

Rachel wished Asher had laid down the backpack closer to her, so she could have gotten out her Bible. She was sure there was some verse, somewhere to give her comfort. At that moment, she couldn’t think of any. But knowing how mad he was at her and how raw his emotions were, she wouldn’t ask him for it.

Under the soaked muddy sock, her ankle ached and her toes felt funny. She felt so selfish to think that just yesterday her foot was her biggest worry. It seemed so insignificant in hindsight.

About eight feet across from her, Asher leaned back on his own stack of rocks with his knees pulled up to his chest and his hands loosely over them as if he’d given up. He had his eyes open, but he wasn’t looking at her. He wasn’t looking at anything. Rachel knew what he had to be thinking, because it’s what she would have been thinking, and she didn’t blame him. She hated herself for Sid’s death, too. As much as it pained her, she knew that he had every right to never look at her again.

As darkness fell, Rachel lay down in the cold, damp leaves. She never would have thought of that pavilion in the cemetery as “luxury”, but next to this, it had been a five-star hotel. Wishing for it all to be over with soon, she let sleep take her away.

****

Asher never noticed when the darkness took him over. He had more important things on his mind like if he made it back, how was he going to tell David his little brother was dead? If Asher related to Sid as a brother, then David would be like a father — the only real father he’d ever had. David had taken care of him when no one else would, and when he definitely didn’t deserve it.

Sid and David’s parents were still alive, and Sid lived with them — well, he had a room there. If residency was based on actual time spent, then David’s home would be Sid’s primary residence. Asher loved David almost as much as he loved Sidney. At home, he didn’t pester him about God or salvation. He wasn’t Pastor David. He was just plain David. Asher appreciated that.

David would be devastated, as he should be. The whole community would be, the whole church. Bitterness filled him. Served them right. A lot of good their prayers for safety had done.

Rachel’s mom would miss her, too, if she didn’t get back. For the first time in a few hours, he turned his attention toward her.

Moonlight shone down through the trees just enough to see her huddled in a ball, lying in the leaves across from him. Her sleep didn’t seem very peaceful. The numbness in his body eased some, and he started to feel regret. Regret for all of the things he said to her. Blaming her for Sid’s death was the easy road to take. Maybe he took it too far?

Asher watched Rachel breathe, following each rise and fall. It made him think of Sid. Breathing was something he’d never do again. It was over for him just like that.

As he watched her fitful sleep, he wished more than anything to go over and hold her. When he realized it was more for him than her, he threw that idea away. It was Rachel’s fault they were in this mess to begin with, wasn’t it? He couldn’t betray his friend, no matter how much he cared for the girl.

He shut his eyes just for a second, trying to get some kind of rest. The sound of a breaking stick made his eyes shoot back open. His first thought was a bear or a fox or some other wild animal. Of course, it would be his luck to go this far just to be eaten by a grizzly.

Asher sat very still and took shallow, quiet breaths to see if he could hear the sound again. The next sound came from farther to the right but still in front of him. He grabbed the flashlight and shined it out in the woods. If he was going to be eaten, he wanted to know by what.

Nothing was there.

The sound came again, this time closer. It sounded as if it was coming from the little hill of trees behind the rocks Rachel slept in front of. “Rachel?” Asher whispered, shining the light back on her. She didn’t flinch, but she seemed different than she had before — peaceful.

Sweat beaded on his forehead even in the cold night air. Something was out there with them; something that would get them if given the chance.

Asher heard shuffling leaves up in the same area, and he shined the light up there again, expecting to see something hairy.

It was Sid.

Sid, still in his red coat and mud-soaked jeans.

Sid, who looked like death.

“Sidney!” Asher jumped, trying to stand, but his legs wouldn’t hold him. He fumbled with his flashlight, at last getting it to shine on his friend’s face.

“You let me die out here, brother,” Sid accused bitterly. His voice sounded the same as Asher remembered, but the movement of his jaw was rigid like it had already set. His eyes were off-white and fixed. He looked like something out of a scary movie.

“I didn’t. I didn’t even know you were out here. You were supposed to be going for help.” Asher pushed his back against the rocks again to stand up. This time, he made it.

“You let me die out here,” Sid said again. “You let me die for her.” He sneered down at Rachel with disgust. Asher had a split second to move before Sid attacked her.

Asher rushed to throw his body on top of hers. He kept his eyes closed and his body as close to hers as he could, waiting for the attack. It didn’t happen.

When Asher looked up, Sid was gone. Nothing was around but dark sky, and the only sound was the rushing water.

He heard his name and jumped.

“Asher?” she said again, a strange look filling her eyes. He had to admit, he enjoyed how she felt under him. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“Fine.” He smiled, hoping it was convincing.

“Why are you on top of me?”

“Um…” He wasn’t sure how to explain that he was protecting her from a ghost.

“Um? That’s not a very good answer.”

“It’s all I have.” He should roll off her. It would be the right thing to do. In her inexperience, he doubted if she had ever been this close to a man. He didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.

But — she wasn’t protesting. In fact, she smiled up at him as if she wanted him there. Asher balanced himself on his knee and rubbed the stray red curls from her face. He needed to kiss her. He was tired of fighting it. Yes, he was furious at her, but he also realized he loved her.

Not wanting to wait any longer, he placed his hand under her neck and raised it. She bit her lip as he brought her up to him. Asher hesitated, but only for a second. When she smiled, he took that as an invitation and crashed his lips to hers. He expected the same sensation as the first time he had kissed her, the same warmth coursing through him.

Instead her lips were ice cold.

His eyes flashed open and saw she wasn’t creamy and peach any more. Her skin now resembled Sid’s, and her dead eyes were fixed on him. “No!” he shouted, shaking her. “Don’t be dead. Don’t be dead,” he panicked, pulled her to him, and clutched her head in his hands. He couldn’t lose her, too.

“You chose her over me,” Sid whispered in Asher’s ear. He squatted next to Asher, his cold eyes sparkling. “And now you have nothing.”

Asher yelled when he woke up. It took him a minute to get his bearings and even then, he wasn’t sure what to make of them.

Frantic, he crawled over to Rachel, scared of what he might find. Her skin was the same creamy color he’d grown to love, and she was breathing.

It had just been a dream.

Shaking, he swallowed hard, trying to push the knot down his throat. He guessed he should be happy. At least Jason hadn’t made his usual nightmare cameo, though he hoped Sid wasn’t going to become his new dream stalker.

Not wanting to be alone, he sat as close to Rachel as he could without touching her and leaned back against the cool rocks.

The night dragged on, and Sid’s words kept ringing in his ears.
“And now you have nothing.”

Chapter Sixteen

Tuesday
Morning: The day of…

Everything hurt. Her arms hurt. Her back hurt. Above all, her foot hurt. She didn’t want to get up. Exhausted, she wanted to just lie there, uncomfortable as it was, and ignore the day. The day before had been horrible. The path was flooded. Sidney was dead. And Asher hated her.

She didn’t look for this day to be much better.

Rachel rolled over as easy as she could but still managed to groan. The mud caused her clothes to stick to her body, making her feel icky. She wished she could change into her extra set, but didn’t see the need. If things went like they normally did, she wouldn’t need them. Her day would consist of walking, getting her hopes squashed, some sort of traumatic experience, and finally darkness. They were getting into a very bad pattern.

Clouds had rolled in while she was sleeping, causing a blanket of gray to cover the woods. Seemed appropriate. She prayed it didn’t mean it would rain again, or worse, it was cold enough to snow. It was November, after all. Their luck, it would do the latter.

She found the strength to sit up and leaned back against the rock behind her. Her breath clouded the air when she breathed. The temperature had bottomed out through the night. Great.

Her fingers and cheeks felt numb. She closed her eyes and prayed as hard as she could for God to deliver them. Time wasn’t their friend and hadn’t been for a few days. They needed out, and out quick.

Once she finished her prayer, she noticed for the first time that Asher wasn’t there. She panicked, thinking he’d left her in the night. He’d been so furious at her it wouldn’t be beyond reason for him to leave her there alone. Maybe he couldn’t take the guilt and went back to get Sid? Or maybe he just left and had already found a way to cross Deep Creek.

“Asher!” she called, trying to use the rocks to stand. “Are you here?”