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“Does it feel like the tunnel is going up to you?”
Laura was startled by Seth’s question. Embarrassed that she had been caught so deep in her thoughts, she suppressed a sharp retort. Snapping at him might feel good in the short term, but Laura would eventually regret it. Instead, she focused on the tunnel. On her feet and her senses, trying to discern whether they were moving deeper into the earth or coming up out of it.
“I...I think we are! Moving up, I mean.” It might be her mind playing tricks on her, but the floor of the tunnel seemed to be sloping upward. It was slight, but there.
Laura looked ahead and laughed. There really was a light at the end of the tunnel. Or at least a sliver of something that wasn’t dusty and dank.
They reached the door, and Seth pushed. The wood made some creaking noises, but nothing else happened. It did not open.
Laura set Abby down and focused her light on the latch, trying to give Seth enough illumination to hopefully figure out how to open it. Her headache had only worsened with all the emotional highs and lows of the last hour. It seemed as though her body was flooded with adrenaline or dread every ten minutes.
“It’s stuck, isn’t it?” Laura was trying to keep her tone even, aware of Abby’s little ears.
Seth didn’t turn to look at her, using both hands to fumble with the rusty latch. “It’ll be okay. If I can’t get the latch to work, then we’ll break it down.”
“Break it down?” Laura heard the doubt and hope in her own voice. Was everything in her life so contradictory?
Seth’s hands paused, and he turned and gave Laura an arrogant smile, knocking on the door in front of them. “Yeah. This is a wood door. An old, wood door. We can handle this.”
Laura wanted to believe him. She wanted to argue with him. Before she could do either, however, Seth spoke with smug satisfaction. “Got it.”
He pushed the door again, and this time it gave an inch. Then, nothing. Again. Laura made a sound of frustration. She was surprised when Seth turned and put his hand on one of her shoulders, squeezing it lightly. “Hey, hey. It’s okay. It looks like there’s a bunch of foliage growing on the outside of the door. Vines or something.”
Laura felt foolish. Of course. The tunnel door wasn’t exactly used every day. Nature had done what it always does. It had persevered, covering the ground and taking back what had originally belonged to it. She needed to get a grip. “Sorry. You’re right. I don’t know why I’m acting like this, but I’m done. No more hysterics.”
Seth laughed and squeezed her shoulder again before letting go. He was reaching into his pocket as he spoke. “You’re not being hysterical. I grew up with three sisters. Sisters who were all teenagers at one point. Believe me, I know hysterical.”
Laura knew her expression was rueful. He made it sound like teenage girls were torture. Which, they probably were to a brother.
“Besides, I’d say you have plenty of reason to be upset. I’m not exactly calm myself.”
Laura appreciated his efforts to make her feel better. She watched with growing excitement as he used the pocketknife to cut the plants that were visible through the one-inch space that the door had opened. Once done, Seth closed the pocketknife and put it back in his pocket. He looked at Laura and Abby, smiled and pushed the door open.
They climbed out of that tunnel and walked into paradise. The sky was blue and the birds were singing. Laura could smell pine. It was a beautiful day. The kind of day for skipping and playing and laughing.
The wind blew, and Laura felt the tears threaten again. Smoke. She smelled smoke. Or at least she smelled the suggestion of smoke. She’d forgotten about why Seth said he came up her mountain, onto her land. “There really is a forest fire, isn’t there?”
He was looking in the direction from which the wind had blown. Down the mountain. In between them and help. His voice was heavy with regret. “Yes, Laura. There really is a forest fire.”
* * *
Seth’s instincts were pushing against each other. The part of him concerned about a group of armed men coming out of the tunnel wanted to run down the mountain. Down meant people. Down meant safety. The part of him that did not want to get caught in a forest fire wanted to run up. Up meant no flames and no flashes of burning heat and no death by smoke inhalation. The one thing his warring intuition agreed on, however, was that they should not stand there and wait.
Seth heard Laura murmuring to Abby. He couldn’t make out the words, but the tone was maternal and loving. He turned and shut the tunnel door. From the outside, the exit looked like a root cellar. He searched for a lock on the outside of the door, but there wasn’t one. Old Man Grant’s paranoia had apparently not gone far enough to encompass their current situation.
That was a shame.
Seth scanned the area and found some large fallen branches. Dragging them over to the door, he began to place them on top of it. He had just positioned the last branch when a small rock was tossed on top of his pile. Surprised, he looked up and saw Abby grinning at him. One chubby fist was empty and one was still gripping a small stone.
“I help,” she said. She was beaming like she had welded the door shut.
Seth couldn’t stop his smile. “Good job. You’re a big help.” His smile dimmed when he saw Laura walking toward them, struggling to carry a large boulder. Seth hurried to take it out of her arms.
She released it to him without a fight. “I thought some of these boulders would go well with your pile. They’re certainly heavy enough.”
Seth moved to place the boulder on top of the branches. Once he was done, Abby tossed her second rock. “One, two, three.”
Seth laughed. “Yep. Three rocks. Let’s get a few more, okay?”
Abby gave him a serious face. Or at least he thought it was supposed to be a serious face. “Get more.” She started scanning the ground by her feet, exclaiming in delight when she found another pebble.
Seth went over to where Laura was, seeing several other large rocks. “Let’s stack on a few more of these and then get moving. The weight will slow them down, but they’ll get around it eventually.”
Laura nodded, carrying a rock over and placing it in the pile. “Headed where? I’m not crazy about the idea of walking into a forest fire.”
Her tone indicated that was an understatement.
“Me, neither. But we can’t stay here. Those men will eventually figure out we’re not inside the cabin. And since there are only so many places to search, they’ll find the tunnel. We need to get far away from here.” Seth looked into the forest as though that would provide some kind of answer.
Laura lifted her face and watched at him. Her expression wasn’t exactly warm, but she didn’t seem like she wanted to punch him again. That was probably a good sign.
Seth was comfortable in the woods. He was good at navigating them. Surviving in them. But this was Laura’s mountain. She had grown up here. She was the one with the expertise right now. “We need a plan,” he said. “Well, we need a safe place to go while we make a plan.”
“What about the fire?”
Seth considered what he had seen of the fire. The way the scent of smoke wafted on the air, just hinting at its existence. “I still think it’s moving slow. Hopefully, firefighters are putting it out right now. Maybe it will end up being a nonissue. Or a way for us to find some emergency personnel to help us.”
“It’ll be dark soon. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but night is coming.” Laura was sounding like the practical and self-sufficient daughter of a mountain man. Seth liked it.
“We really need to get away from here,” Seth said. “I don’t like the idea of waiting around to see what comes out of that tunnel. Any ideas?” Seth was willing to consider just about anything at this point.
Laura stared up the mountain. “Maybe.” A pause. “There’s a creek not too far from here. Well, it’s more like a river actually. If we walk on its banks, it should cover our tracks. Make us harder to find.”
Seth felt savage satisfaction in his grin. “Yes. I like that idea. Lead the way,” he said.
Laura picked Abby back up and started making her way through the forest.
“Do you want me to carry her? I don’t mind.” Seth asked the question to Laura’s moving back.
“No. I’ve got her.” Laura answered to the trees in front of her, not slowing or turning around. She was heading into a part of the forest that looked just like—well—every other part of the forest. Seth was suddenly very thankful. If he had to be trapped on a burning mountain with an assault team after him, at least it was with a woman who was raised in this wilderness.
Seth tried to think through their next steps, but he needed help. “Once we get there, we’ll have to decide whether to go up or down the creek.”
Laura turned around, surprise on her face. “What?”
“The creek. We’ll have to decide which way to walk.”
Laura continued through the trees. Her voice was contemplative when she spoke. “We can take the creek for a mile or so—long enough to lose any trackers. There’s a place upstream where we should be able to get out without leaving too much evidence.”
Seth nodded even though Laura couldn’t see it. “That sounds good. Then what?”
“I know of a shelter not too far off. It was a place my dad used when he was hunting and didn’t want to come all the way back to the cabin. It’s sparse, but it’s well hidden and has supplies.”
“I like the sound of hidden and supplies.” He hoped those supplies included weapons and ammunition. His service weapon was not going to provide a lot of protection against an armed team.
“I think I should head there with Abby.”
Seth jolted. “You? With Abby?”
Laura did not turn around and look at him. “Yeah.” She went on as though that was not a startling statement. “The creek is just over this rise.”
Seth heard the creek before he saw it. It was perfect. Active enough to cover their tracks but shallow enough on the edges to allow them to walk without getting soaked.
They started trekking upstream, making sure to stay where the water would cover their tracks. Abby was watching the water, pointing at something every once in a while.
Laura spoke quickly, blurting her words out in a torrent of emotion. “Look. These guys are after me.” She glanced at Abby, and the anguish on her face hurt Seth. “And Abby.”
Seth waited. He did not see how agreeing with her would help anything. Laura continued, still talking quickly, her voice thick with sentiment. “You should go. You can probably make it back to town safely, especially if you’re not with me. You don’t need to get caught up in this.”
Seth stopped walking. There was no way he could process what she had just said and keep moving at the same time. She thought he would leave her to save himself.
Filled with disgust at the very idea, Seth’s voice was now heavy with emotion. “I’m not leaving you alone. I don’t care what makes the most sense—I’m not leaving you two alone. We’re going to get out of this mess together.”
Laura looked at him. Oh, how he wished he could read that expression in her dark eyes. Did she believe him?
She opened her mouth, but Seth cut her off, angry that she thought he would be so cowardly as to save himself while letting a woman and child die. “No. I will march back to that tunnel and try to take care of that assault team by myself before I leave you two out here alone. We’re all going to the shelter. We’re all going to make a plan. We’re all going to make it out of this.”
She still looked like she wanted to argue. “Besides,” he said, “they were watching the cabin and saw both me and my truck. They know we were in there together, and I’m sure they think you told me everything. I’m as big a liability as you are at this point.”
Laura’s voice was soft, but not defeated or angry. For that, at least, Seth was thankful. “All right. The shelter is this way.”
They left the creek at the designated spot and headed up the mountain. Seth’s legs started to burn after just a few minutes. He looked at Laura in front of him, Abby’s arms wrapped around her neck.
Seth wanted to reach out and put his hand on Laura’s shoulder to stop her but was afraid of destroying the fragile trust they seemed to have built. Instead he quit walking and coughed. Laura paused and turned to look at him. She had a question in her eyes, and he struggled to find the right words. “This is pretty rough terrain.”
She waited, watching him. Probably wondering why he had stopped their progress to state the obvious. Seth felt himself becoming flustered, which made him want to snap. No. That approach wasn’t going to work. He decided to just say it and wait for the rejection. “I was wondering if you wanted me to carry Abby for a little bit. She has to be getting heavy.”
Laura looked at Abby, who seemed to be following the conversation with her sweet dark eyes. “She’s been sick all week. I thought her fever had broken but it felt like it was coming back when I was carrying her in the tunnel. Are you sure you want to risk it?”
Seth couldn’t stop the laugh. “I’m pretty sure, all things considered, getting the flu is the least of my worries right now.”
Laura looked up at the sloping forest in front of them. She kissed Abby on the check and held her out toward Seth. “Thank you. A break would be nice.”
Seth took the little girl, surprised at how light she felt. She was warm and wound her arms around his neck without hesitation. Laura began walking again, and Seth followed. The daylight was fading, and they needed to find a safe place to make it through the night. And they needed a plan for getting past both a forest fire and a group of armed men. Help us to make the right choice, Lord. I don’t want to let them down.
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