Chapter 7

Day Five

Kimberley awoke with a start. For a moment she wasn’t sure where she was or why she was there, and then it all came back to her and she groaned a little. It was daylight now. Time to start moving. She felt very tired as she gathered up her dried clothes, picking out some to wear and packing the others away. She’d overslept, something she did rarely when camping, and there was no time for breakfast. She’d have to munch on something as she hiked. She donned the backpack, heaved a sigh. At least it seemed to have warmed up since yesterday. She looked around once to get her bearings, and began walking downhill, towards that lake.

For a bad moment, he thought she was going to spot him as she looked around, and he kept very still in the cover of some underbrush. She’d looked a bit worn as she broke camp, but still very cute as she puttered around in nothing but her boots. He wondered why her clothes had been hanging from the trees. Obviously they’d been wet, but had she been washing them or had she taken a spill into the creek? Well, it didn’t really matter. He’d found her at last, and she was definitely headed back downhill. She was moving a bit slowly too. It was a relief to know she wasn’t some sort of Supergirl after all. He let her get a bit of a lead on him before breaking out the radio. They’d all be together before sundown.

She’d gotten a late start, but as much as she wanted to make up time, it just wasn’t possible. She’d pushed herself hard these past two days, and her body complained about it. Well, at least she was going downhill. The noise of water flowing down the ravine to her right was noticeably fainter than yesterday, but still enough to serve as a guide so long as the wind didn’t pick up. She walked along, trying to find a pace that didn’t tire her out. As she went, she kept looking at her watch. Her first rest halt couldn’t come too soon today.

He followed carefully. From her tracks, he could tell she wasn’t moving anywhere nearly as fast as she had been. While that was a relief to his very tired legs, he had to be careful not to overtake her. She shouldn’t see him before the trap was set and she was in it. If she did, there was no telling which way she’d go, and he just didn’t want to chase her for another few days…or even a few more hours than was necessary. She seemed to be keeping near the ravine, which would make Kurt’s and Lloyd’s jobs easier. There was a nice cleared area near the trail down there, and she’d probably move right through it. Kurt and Lloyd could be waiting in ambush in the surrounding woods. If she turned to run, he’d be right there to stop her. He broke out the radio to pass on his information.

She was tempted to stretch out the rest halt…very tempted. What was that old joke about temptation? What good was it if you didn’t give into it once in a while? She got to her feet with a small groan. Maybe the exercise would loosen up her muscles, and it would be easier next time. She sighed once, and began to pick her way downhill. To give herself a little encouragement, she pictured herself taking a nice long swim in the lake once she got there.

The day seemed to drag on forever, and not just because he was tired. Elf-girl was moving pretty slowly too. He’d first thought that they’d reach the clearing sometime around three. Now it looked more like five, and if she kept fading as she seemed to be doing, it might be even later than that. He thought of Kurt and Lloyd waiting with growing impatience, and grinned to himself. Let ‘em wait.

A little after noon, Kimberley quit kidding herself, and shucked off her backpack before sitting down on a convenient rock. She’d have to take a longer break, cook some food, and try to get her second wind. If somebody caught up to her while she was doing that, well, they’d catch up to her. But she couldn’t go on like this for the rest of the day. She was too worn out, too beat. She needed rest, hot food, and maybe a little more rest before she tackled the trail again. Not that there was any kind of trail here. The last mile or so she’d had to pick her way between trees and around thick patches of underbrush. Still sitting, she looked around for a good spot for a fire. There seemed to be one not too far away, but she was in no particular hurry just now, even with her stomach starting to make polite little growls. She didn’t have much food left, and the only question was whether to try to stretch it out, or just eat as much of it as she could now.

She shook her head. If she ate that much, she’d be getting drowsy inside of an hour, and then what if she actually eluded her still-unseen pursuers for a few more long days? She’d get mighty tired of a steady diet of fish from the lake.

She tilted her head back, eyes closed, and gave a long, loud sigh. The noise startled something in the bushes nearby, which ran off with a prodigious amount of noise of its own, startling her and making her heart jump as she leaped to her feet. For a moment, she’d thought they’d finally caught up to her. Then, realizing she’d just scared some animal….a rabbit, maybe? she laughed ruefully and set about starting a fire.

The faint smell of wood smoke warned him first. He stopped almost in mid-stride and sniffed the air, trying to tell where it was coming from. Somewhere up ahead, he thought. He shed his pack carefully, so as to make no noise, and crept forward more slowly.

She was in a small clearing, poking at a fire she’d apparently just started. An aluminum camp pot sat on the ground next to her. So she was going to cook herself a hot lunch? Intent on the fire, she didn’t see him, and he faded back into the trees to a spot where he could watch her. She was humming some tune he couldn’t quite catch. As he watched, she stood, stretched and yawned hugely before setting the pot on the fire. That done, she laid down near it on her back, seeming to go completely limp, but with her curly head turned to keep an eye on the cooking.

She probably couldn’t see him at all from that position, but he kept under cover all the same. She did look a bit worn out, he thought, and that lying-down trick was supposed to rest you all over. For a moment, he considered rushing her as she was now, overpowering her, and dragging her bound down to Kurt and Lloyd. She probably wouldn’t go willingly, though, and he didn’t care to carry her weight along with his pack. No…as long as she was heading in the right direction, let her carry herself for a bit longer. He settled down to wait, and meantime get a little rest himself.

She was getting awfully tired of freeze-dried everything. Even out on a dig, they usually had fresh meat once in a while. This alleged stew might be filling, and it didn’t taste too bland, but she really would have liked a nice well-done steak, along with a baked potato and a salad…one with plenty of ranch dressing. So why was she out here now? Kimberley sat up and took a look at the stew. It was bubbling, and there were lumps here and there as the desiccated components took on water. She sighed. The idea had sounded thrilling, months earlier: To be hunted down by strange men in a forest, taken captive far away from any possible help. It so matched one of her darkest fantasies that she’d almost jumped at the chance, even putting up with the physical required beforehand. Now she was tired and hungry out here in that damned forest, with no sign of any attackers…but having the feeling she was being watched, which she hadn’t had for a few days now. Well, she’d wanted an adventure, but forgot how strenuous they could be. Right now, the thought of being ravished by strange men just seemed annoying. She massaged the back of her neck; the backpack seemed to be putting a strain on her there, something new. As she ate the stew, she wondered if it was possible to just call this whole thing off? Call someone to come get her, and she could spend the rest of her vacation at that beautiful lodge she’d started her hike from. The food there was really good, she recalled, and the beds very comfortable. Hot showers too…or baths. A nice long soak in a hot tub would do wonders for her right now.

She chuckled dryly. She had no way of calling anybody out here, but if there were strange men out beating the bushes for her, maybe they did. But would they, if she asked? She didn’t know. Supposedly, lots of women had sampled this little trek to adventure, but this was her first time, and there was probably a lot she was unaware of yet. It couldn’t hurt to ask, though…could it?