Present Danger by Elizabeth Goddard (shoe dog free ebook .txt) 📗

to convulse. Still, he searched for a possible way closer, belying the obvious hopelessness building in his heart. Denying what he knew to be true. And finally, through the burning trees, he saw what he feared.

The cabin was gone.

If Terra was still inside, she was gone too.

THIRTY-THREE

Groaning with the effort, Terra launched up and onto a massive boulder, finding a foothold before she slipped. Then another. Climbing wasn’t her thing—it was Jack’s thing—but she knew enough, and her survival depended on getting to safety. She scaled higher and higher until she made it to the top of the boulder. From there she could find the safest route out of the forest, and the likely route taken by the arsonist.

Someone who also wanted her dead. He’d purposefully locked her inside that cabin by somehow jamming the locking mechanism. She didn’t know how or why, and might never get the chance to find out now.

To escape the cabin, she had removed the log shelf from inside the cabinet where the artifacts had been stored. Then she’d used the shelf to pound out the nails in the boards covering a window and climbed through, barely escaping the flames that were now consuming the forest she loved. Terra focused on surviving and refused to give in to sheer terror. She had to remain single-minded.

A whimper fought to escape her dry mouth. Jack. She hoped he didn’t get caught in the wildfire.

With one last grunt, she pulled herself off the boulder and onto the higher ground of the mountain slope. From here, she could see the fire raging below and the smoke rising. Wildland firefighters should be on their way if they weren’t there already. Even if her text hadn’t gone through, Jack would have seen the fire. Terra swiped her arm across her sweaty brow and eyes. A bitter taste filled her mouth.

All the times she’d advised others to take a pack with supplies, especially water, and she’d left her pack in her vehicle. She needed water. The forest needed water.

Apprehension gripped her and could paralyze her if she didn’t push through. She couldn’t imagine any sane person would intentionally set a forest fire.

Whatever the reason, a fire raged. Anger flared inside her.

From her perch, Terra searched the areas the fire hadn’t touched. The flames traveled east with the wind. She peered at her cell, which had lost its charge, and she doubted she could have gotten a signal anyway.

God, oh, God, oh, God . . . please let them put this out before it grows even bigger.

Though fire played a natural role in forest management, it was a destructive force to be reckoned with.

Especially when you were in the middle of it!

Terra was on the side of the blaze opposite of where Jack would have approached on the trail. She hadn’t been able to text him again.

Terra rubbed her temples.

If only she could let him know she’d made it out of the cabin alive. The only way to do that was to make her way to safety and tell him herself. Even though the fire was heading east, the direction could change at a moment’s notice, putting her in danger. Depending on how hot the fire burned, it could rage through previously soaked areas, which could slow it down but sometimes not enough.

As it was, trapped on this side of the fire line was bad enough without the fact that the arsonist was out there somewhere too. He could still be a threat. Terra did a 360. Her breath caught when she spotted more flames coming in from the west. The arsonist?

Whatever the reason, her escape route options were diminishing fast.

A wave of heat hit her. She turned back to the closer fire racing this direction. Trees crackled and burst into flames much too close for comfort. A small swath of evergreens still remained between her and the Grayback River to the north of her no more than two miles away.

Terra scrambled down and over the rocky outcropping, heading for the thick woods that would soon be engulfed. Making it to the river before the flames caught up would be a race against time. She would have to run even though she was already dehydrated. Terra paced herself as she dashed between trees, over dry pine needles, and around shrubs and undergrowth. Here most of it was dry and would feed the fire.

Terra gasped for breath. Sweat beaded on her face, her back, every inch of her body. She couldn’t afford to lose more fluid, but what could she do?

What’s more, her limbs cramped and threatened to give out.

Hot flames bore down on her from behind as she made her way to the river. Hundreds of glowing sparks floated and swirled in the air.

Chuff, chuff, chuff.

A helicopter.

She glanced up and spotted the chopper swooping over the forest. Terra was in the trees. They would never see her. She had another half mile or more to get to the river. Leaning over her knees, she caught her breath. Sucked in the dry, hot air. Pushed through a coughing spasm before she pressed on.

As she neared the river, the terrain grew rocky. A wide band of large boulders lined the river all the way to the bank. At least it wasn’t a canyon or a ravine that could trap her in the forest. She could climb down.

Terra clambered over the boulders, making her way toward the river, which she hoped would stop the blaze. But fires could jump water when trees exploded and sparks drifted.

God, please . . .

The air was hazy with smoke, and she struggled to breathe. If the flames didn’t get to her, the smoke would take her out. She continued making her way toward the rocky bank of the Grayback River. Where the boulders extended across the river, they caused whitewater rapids. She would have to make her way farther down if she was going to cross.

Terra breathed in too much smoke and a fit of hacking spasms hit her.

Don’t panic. Don’t panic.

Panic