Crossing the Deep (5 page)

As he walked with her in his arms, he felt her relax against him. It felt nice. Under different circumstances, it might even be fun to spend time with her.

The light fading in the sky made him worry. He had no idea how far they were from Deep Creek Trail or where Sid had run off to.

Asher took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. He couldn’t let Rachel know about his increasing anxiety, or how tired his arms were becoming from the weight of her and their backpacks.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, causing him to flinch. So much for that brilliant plan.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie. I need to know. Your heart is beating overtime. I can feel it through your jacket.” Asher felt her tense back up in his arms. He missed how she had felt before. “Asher, tell me,” she demanded when she didn’t answer him right away.

He clenched his jaw. Did he think he liked her stubbornness? “I don’t know where we are.”

He took the chance and glanced over at her face just inches away from his shoulder. Worry lines crossed her forehead. “Didn’t I say we were lost hours ago?”

“I thought you were just overreacting then.”

“I don’t get it. I don’t understand how we can be lost. All I did was walk straight down the Harker Cemetery cutoff. So all we had to do was walk back up and turn right to get back to Deep Creek Trail.”

“Well, we must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because we have been walking a lot longer than it took to find you, and we haven’t seen hide nor hair of Deep Creek Trail.”

“Oh my, God,” she said, more as a prayer than a figure of speech. “What did I do?” she added under her breath.

“You got nosey, got hurt, and got lost,” he answered. “But to be fair, it’s not entirely your fault.”

“It’s not?” She sounded surprised he would say that.

“No. That hole you stepped in played a small part.”

“Stupid hole.”

“Yep. Sorry, but I have to put you down a minute so we can get our bearings.” As gently as he could, he sat her back onto the leaf-covered path and laid the packs beside her. After stretching his sore muscles and popping his back, he tried to get the lay of the land. There had to be a way out of this. He just wasn’t seeing it.

The only things he saw were trees and more trees. He felt like that guy dressed in red and white you were supposed to look for in one of those puzzle books he used to like in kindergarten, except no one seemed to be looking for him.

“Hello! Is anyone there?”

“What are you doing?”

“It’s a trail, Rachel… in the middle of a national park.
Someone
has to be around who can help us.” He started yelling for help again and heard her chiming in behind him.

The longer they were out there yelling with no replies, the more irritated he got. Hungry and tired, he felt his patience running dangerously low. Sure, no one had made him go back and get Rachel. That woman — Susan — had asked him to, but she didn’t force him. He went back for Rachel to be a nice guy. A lot of good that did him.

Stupid girl.

Stupid hole.

“
Sid! Sidney Andrews, get your little scrawny butt back here so I can kick it!”
It felt all wrong. How long did it take to get help and bring it back?

“Where do you think he is?”

An expletive slipped out of his lips, and he didn’t even try to stop it. “I don’t know. Do I look like a psychic?”

After yelling for a good five minutes and not hearing any replies, Asher’s throat hurt, and he gave up. Frustrated, he jammed his hands in his jean pockets and stared out at the trail in front of him. It was becoming a habit for him. He was afraid to turn around and look at Rachel, because he didn’t want her to see him so flustered. Ignoring her meant ignoring the problem. Something he was good at.

“Look, I’m sorry about all of this. I didn’t mean for any of it to happen.” She said it like she could read his mind. Maybe she could for all he knew; some weird part of the “Jesus Salvation Package.”

Asher couldn’t ignore her any longer. He turned to the girl lying on the cold forest floor. Her eyes were wide with trepidation, and the cold had paled her lips. “I told you before, it’s done. It’s over. We have to focus now.” Maybe if he said it out loud enough, he’d start believing it.

All of their options rolled around in his head. He knew he had to do something as soon as possible. The sky had more black than color in it now. Before long, there would be no light to see. Then they would be stuck out there for the rest of the night. With the Smokies’ reputation for black bears and other assorted critters, that prospect didn’t appeal to him.

“I’m going to go a little bit farther down this way to see if I can see anything. When I do, I’ll come back for you.”

It was a perfectly reasonable request, but by the way her eyes became as big as saucers, he could tell she didn’t feel the same way.

“You’re going to leave me?”

“I won’t be gone long.”

“That’s what they all say,” she yelled, causing Asher to flinch. He hadn’t seen that coming. Her small frame seemed so tiny huddled there; an innocent girl unable to protect herself in the woods. A few strands of her red hair had escaped the gray toboggan and hung around her dirt-smeared face. His heart ached to go and tell her that it would be okay, but he couldn’t. Why would he give her false hope on top of everything else?

“Sid is probably goofing off somewhere. Knowing him, he forgot the name of the path you took or something. He'll be back, but it'll be too late. We have to do something to help ourselves. We can’t stay here tonight.”

“And I can’t walk,” she frowned. He could read her guilt-ridden face like a wordless book. She said she felt horrible for getting them in this predicament. He would have been scared too if he had been in her shoes. Looking at her across the dirt path, he couldn’t take it.

Sighing heavily, he walked over to her, squatted down, and placed a strand of hair behind her ear, letting his fingers glide over her chilled cheek. “It will be all right,” he said, willing it to be true. “I have to go on my own, so I can move faster. The sun isn’t going to wait.”

He waited for her to answer. She just nodded. It was good enough for him.

“I need a flashlight. Do you have one?”

“No — well, I don’t know. My mom might have packed one. She kinda went overboard with the packing.” Rachel didn’t sound happy, but at least she wasn’t hysterical. A small victory was still a victory.

He crawled over to the pack and opened it. “Wow, you weren’t kidding.” In awe that she had a mother that would do that much for her, he moved the purple book to the side along with her scribbled-on notebook. Curious, he scanned the page. The name James Harker seemed to be the most important by the exclamation points all around it. Why had that name stood out so much?

“Find it?”

“Not yet,” he said, pushing the notebook to the side and digging deeper. “Got it,” he held up the large, yellow flashlight which had been between the first aid kit and three bottles of water.

Turning the light on to make sure it worked, Asher shined it on Rachel, who hugged her legs close to her body, favoring her right. “I won’t be gone long,” he promised, hoping she wouldn’t yell at him like she did the last time he mentioned it.

“I’ll be right here.” Her attempt to smile broke his heart. She was trying to be brave and strong, but her voice betrayed her.

“Okay, I’ll try to hurry.”

“I’ll be fine. Sorry for the meltdown before. I know I have God with me.” The way she said it almost sounded convincing.

“I hope you are in good standing with Him right now,” he said, trying to keep it light and maybe see a smile before he left.

“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” she quoted like a mantra. Asher had nothing more to say to that. Rachel had her beliefs, and he had his. If a belief in an imaginary friend got her through this, more power to her. He had to live in the real world, though. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Not if you don’t get going. I’ll be fine. Be careful.”

“Gotta be.” He quirked his lip. “Goin’ on my own. God doesn’t stick with me like He does you.” With that, he turned and ran down the path. Every step he took away from her made him feel more and more anxious.

Chapter Five

Rachel shivered. Night closed in on her, and she saw no sign of Sid or Asher. The guys had been gone way too long.

She had never felt so exposed in her life; sitting in the middle of nowhere, lost in the Appalachian Mountains. The trees seemed to grow taller and closer the darker it got, and she prayed not to have a panic attack out in the middle of the woods. Her flight response needed to disappear for the time being. She couldn’t flee if she couldn’t walk.

Strange noises invaded her ears from all directions. Just birds and bugs, she hoped. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about all of the other animals — the ones that weren’t cute and cuddly — that were out there with her, too. Bears, foxes, and snakes to name a few. It didn’t help that when she opened her eyes again, it was dark.

“Great,” she muttered. “Easy supper for the bears tonight. Can’t walk. Can’t run. All alone. Just great, Rachel. This trip has been awesome. Great idea all around.”

Rachel moved her foot from her pack and groaned. It ached, but she had to ignore it. She’d ice it later when she got back to the hotel.

Rummaging around in her pack, she finally found something to give off light. She flipped the cover of her e-reader, pushed the button at the top, and smiled when it lit up. It was better than nothing.

The little clock in the corner said 5:34.

“What’s he doing?” she asked, shining her dull light down the trail. “Did he leave me, too? Am I seriously talking to myself?”

Deciding she couldn’t sit there and be easy pickings for the hungry woodland animals, she prayed for strength as she tried to stand. In no way, shape, or form was she going to spend the night alone out on that trail. She had to suck it up and be a big girl, hurt foot or not. All of the worst scenarios kept filling her head. Asher could be hurt somewhere, or worse.

She clutched her pack clumsily in one hand, and her e-reader in the other, trying to balance on her good foot like a lopsided scale. “Oh, God,” she prayed. “Please, please, please help me do this.”

Deciding now or never, she took a deep breath and put weight on her right foot. Instantly, pain shot up her leg, into her knee, and exploded throughout her body. Her eyes stung with tears and curse words she never said stuck to her tongue.

“Worst. Trip. Ever!” she yelled when those inappropriate words faded. There was no way she could walk like a normal person. Plan B sounded like a good option. That plan consisted of stepping with her good foot while scooting her hurt one behind her so she wouldn’t have to put as much weight on it. Taking another step, the pain hit again when she slid her injured foot, but thankfully it was bearable. Feeling encouraged for the first time in a while, she took another step the same way. It hurt, but was manageable.

“Thank you, Jesus,” she said, more confident with each step she limped.

Rachel stopped to get the backpack Asher left and rested a second. She’d gone all of five feet.

“Asher,” she yelled into the darkness. “Can you hear me?”

She held her e-reader out like a flashlight. The pale blue light lit up an area only a few feet wide, but it was better than nothing. She kept limping, kept yelling, and kept praying. “You promised you’d be back by now!”

The sound of a twig breaking a few yards away caught her attention. “Asher,” she said, relieved to have him back. “Did you find anything? Did you find Sid?”

No one said anything, but she kept hearing creaks. Something wasn’t right. “Asher?” she whispered. The e-reader shook in her hand as she held it out and squinted to see through the dim light.

Instead of a voice, she heard a growl.

****

Asher was getting mad.

He had expected to be back to Deep Creek Trail by now, but had no such luck and no idea where he was. Worse, he had no idea how Rachel was holding up alone in the dark.

When he realized they were doomed to spend the night in the woods, he felt like throwing up. Part of him, a large part, wished he had never gone on the blasted trip. Home wasn’t
that
bad, was it? He sighed. Yeah, it was.

Resigned to give Rachel the bad news, he backtracked to her.

****

A growl!

Her mind screamed, and her legs trembled. All kinds of terrible images overtook her brain, from bears to werewolves.

The next growl sounded closer, and Rachel raised her minimal light to see. Not that she wanted to see what was stalking her. If she ignored it, it would go away, right? The figure got close enough to the dull blue light to make out a silhouette. She could barely make out a shape: short with a long snout, tiny ears, and four legs.

A dog, maybe? A fox?

What was she supposed to do? Stand still or run? Could she even run with her hurt foot? She wished she had read that survival manual her mom had loaded on her e-reader, or even paid attention to the survival shows her father used to love to watch.

The animal inched closer, almost as if trying to figure her out.
“God, protect me,”
she prayed, deciding it best to stand as still as she could. Though standing still became more and more difficult with every nerve in her body telling her to run.

A light in the distance startled her when she first saw it. It started off small and then got bigger like someone running. “Rachel!” she heard Asher yell. She refused to move and wished she could respond in some way without alarming the animal. If it saw Asher, it would go after him… which would be good for her — not so much for him.

Terrified, she stood as still as she could. When the light of her e-reader suddenly shut off, she slowly rubbed her finger up to the top to turn it back on, because she didn’t want to be in the dark. “Rachel!” he called again, and she willed him to just shut up. This fox didn’t need a reason to attack either one of them.

Asher’s flashlight lit up the forest much more than her little tablet ever could. The bright beams hit her eyes and, without thinking, she brought her hand up to shield them. When she did, her e-reader slipped from her fingers and smashed on the ground, shattering.