Wilderness Target (13 page)

The line went taut. He dug in his heels and pulled. Then it went slack, indicating she’d found a foothold and was climbing. He peered down the hole. Clarissa’s dirt-stained face came into view. Her expression brightened when she saw him.

He pulled harder on the rope, one hand over the other, until she was within reach. Then he stretched out a hand to pull her the remaining distance. She let go of the wall of the cave with one hand, and their fingers touched. He leaned forward to get a tighter grip.

“Give me both hands. I can pull you straight up.” His muscles strained to hold on to her.

She seemed reluctant to let go of the wall.

“You’ll still be held by the rope,” he assured her.

She pushed away from the wall. His first attempt to grab her other hand failed. Her eyes went wide with fear. He leaned farther into the hole of the cave, grabbing her hand and then leaning back. He heaved her up and into his arms.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, shuddering and shaking.

He held her close. “I’ve got you. It’s okay.”

She squeezed his neck tighter. “I thought I was going to fall.”

He rubbed her upper back. “I wouldn’t let that happen, Clarissa.” He held her until she stopped shaking.

She pulled back, blue eyes resting on him. In the early-morning light, even with the smudges of dirt on her face, she was beautiful.

“I said I’d get you out of there and I did. You can trust me.” The power of her gaze held him in a force field. He couldn’t look away if he’d wanted to. His throat constricted as he took in a breath and cupped his hands under her jaw. His lips brushed lightly over hers. She responded to his kiss, angling her head and leaning closer to him.

Her touch electrified his skin all the way down to his toes. He kissed her more intensely, covering her mouth with his. He dropped his arm to her back and pulled her close. He held her for a long moment, arms wrapped completely around her. His lips brushed over her silky soft hair. The warmth of the early-morning sun surrounded them.

He’d avoided kissing her before, afraid of what it might mean. Even now as he held her, he was concerned that she didn’t truly have feelings for him—that her desire had been fueled by the intensity of the situation they faced. She’d been up against the possibility of falling, even dying, in the cave. When he got her to a safe place, would she still have such a fiery and intense attraction to him? Did she want him because she needed his protection, or because she cared about him?

He held her, relishing the moment, the warmth of her body against his, and tried not to think about what it all would mean when they were back in Discovery.

The reverie dissipated when harsh male voices drifted up to the ledge where they rested. Ezra pulled free of their embrace and gazed below.

THIRTEEN

W
hen Ezra pulled away to peer over the edge of the ledge, Clarissa tried to restore strength to muscles that the power of his kiss had turned to wax. She felt as though warm honey covered her skin from head to toe. She was still floating in the euphoria of his kiss when the sharp voices of the men below jerked her back into reality.

Max’s men were oblivious to who was sixty feet above them. Both of them had rifles. They wore hats. She couldn’t see their faces, but neither one sounded like Don or Zeke. She shifted closer to hear them more clearly, and a sprinkle of dirt rolled down the ledge toward the trail.

Ezra pulled her back toward the rock wall behind them. His hand around her waist and his chest pressing against her shoulder reignited the emotion his kiss had created.

“Thought I heard something.” Down below, the men had stopped walking. “What do you suppose is up there?”

“Probably some wild animal,” said the second man.

“That ledge is steep. How would they get that high up?”

Clarissa willed herself to become a statue. The slightest movement might make the men suspicious. The steady inhale and exhale of Ezra’s breathing surrounded her. His proximity was a reminder of the moment they’d shared. As the thugs continued to debate down below, she lifted her gaze toward him. He offered her a slight upturn of his mouth. His brown eyes held warmth.

Believing that trusting in love only led to pain, she’d buried any desire for romance somewhere deep. But Ezra had managed to break through, to unearth what she had vowed she would never feel again. She had never wanted to be as vulnerable as she’d been at fifteen. Yet even as fear marred the memory of their kiss and being held, of feeling safe in his arms, the tiniest sprig of hope blossomed inside her. Was it possible that there were men who kept their word? The notion was far outside any frame of reference she’d ever had.

When the two men below decided to continue down the trail, Ezra did not avert his gaze from her. She stared into the ocean of mystery his eyes held, and wondered if a man like him could love her.

The voices of the thugs finally faded. Ezra let out a breath and moved away from her. “I think they’re gone.”

“Will we have to go down that trail?”

He rose to his feet and studied the landscape below. “There’s another way we can go. Around the side of the mountain and down the other side.”

She came and stood beside him. “Won’t that take longer?”

“Yes, but it’ll be safer. Now that we know which way they’re headed, we can avoid them altogether.” The two of them stood shoulder to shoulder. The back of his hand touched hers, and for a moment, she thought he would hold her hand. Not to lead her out of some danger, but as a sign of affection. Instead, he shifted his weight so their shoulders were no longer touching. She wondered what the kiss had meant to him. Had it been impulsive, like their first kiss, spurred on by the trauma of getting out of the cave alive? Or did it mean something more to him?

She cleared her throat. “Okay, so we go the long way. I’ll trust your judgment on that.”

“Let’s get moving. The first thing we’ve got to do is find some water.”

Out here in the wilderness, she trusted her life to him. He had shown a level of competence, savvy and strength that proved he was dependable. Trusting him with her heart, though, was entirely another matter.

* * *

Ezra led Clarissa down a narrow trail. Down below, they could see the tops of trees, and beyond that, a river. It would take them most of the day to get down the mountain and another half day to get to New Irish. They needed to find water before that—and he wasn’t certain where to look. While it was true that taking this path would bring them out on the opposite side of the mountain from where they had seen Max’s men, Ezra was uncertain about finding water sources.

He knew this part of the country from maps he’d studied, not from experience. He had withheld that information from Clarissa. She had enough to worry about.

She stopped suddenly. “What’s that noise?” Fear flashed in her eyes.

He quit walking, trying to figure out what she had heard. “Was it...the helicopter?” Of course Max would come back looking for them with that thing. There would be no way to avoid it.

Clarissa turned slightly, facing up the mountain. “No, it was more a banging noise.”

He listened, at first hearing only the wind. And then he heard the familiar sound. He shook his head and smiled. “Mountain goats.”

“Mountain goats?” Her voice was tinged with fear.

“That’s a good thing. If there are mountain goats around here, there has to be a water source close by.” The noise had come from the west. “We’ll have to go off the trail and up.”

She nodded and followed him toward the sound. The high mountain terrain grew rockier, with less vegetation. The clatter of the mountain goats butting heads floated on the wind from time to time, allowing Ezra to adjust their direction.

They climbed over a ledge, and the goats came into view. Two rams wandered on one of the larger rock surfaces. Ewes and their lambs were scattered among the rocky ledges. Many of them blended with the light-colored stone, not visible until they moved.

Clarissa said, “Wow.”

“They are neat animals,” Ezra whispered. “We’ll go around them. The less we disturb them, the better.”

She continued to shake her head. “They’re amazing.”

He held out his hand, uncertain if she would take it. He saw a momentary hesitation, but then she laid her soft fingers in his callused hand. Her touch sent a fiery charge through him and reminded him of the kiss they’d shared.

He dismissed the heat rising up his neck. This was purely practicality. She needed help getting up the steeper part of the mountain. At least that’s what he told himself.

They scaled the smooth slabs of rock while Ezra searched for a water source. “There’s got to be a mountain spring around here somewhere.”

“You don’t know if there is for sure?” she said.

“Our expeditions never went this high up the mountain,” he said.

He hoped they hadn’t wasted valuable time by getting off the trail.

She released a little laugh. “You know so much about this area, I assumed you knew everything.”

“I’m not all-knowing.”

“You kind of had me fooled.” Her voice was filled with admiration.

He shook his head as his cheeks warmed. He stood up as they came to a wide, nearly level ledge. “I don’t know everything about these mountains, but God knows.”

“God?” Understanding came into her eyes. “He’s involved in this, too, isn’t He?”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to pray to God to show us where that spring is.”

She nodded again. “Okay.”

He closed his eyes. “God, we’re very thirsty. If it be Your will, if You could lead us to a water source, that would be great.” He paused before saying amen.

When he looked up, Clarissa’s expression had a soft quality and admiration shone in her eyes. “You’re pretty tight with Him.”

Ezra nodded. “How about you?”

“Just getting to know Him. Still learning.”

“Tough first lesson, huh?” She continued to nod and gaze at him, the glow in her features never diminishing. “Let’s go see how God answered that prayer,” he said.

They worked their way farther up the mountain with still no sign of water. His stomach had begun to growl. This high up, there wasn’t even much vegetation. Sometimes God answered a prayer and the answer was no. Without water, they’d make it off the mountain and to the river, but their strength would be sapped, and they would be in no condition for any sort of confrontation with Max or his hired muscle. Plus they’d have wasted valuable time heading the wrong direction.

Clarissa grabbed his arm and pointed to a rock slab down below. “There.”

He scanned the area, not sure what she was so excited about.

“The reflection from the sun. There’s water in that indentation in the rock. It must be from the storm a few days ago.”

Grateful for Clarissa’s sharp eyes, Ezra headed toward where she had pointed, lifting her down one of the steep rock formations before they came to the tiny pool of water. “God provides,” he said. “We just can’t dictate to Him how He provides.”

“Water is water,” she said.

He pulled her ragged pack off his back and found the water filter right away. Though the canteen had been damaged, they still had the metal cup. “The filter works like a straw. You can have the first drink.”

She filled the cup, put the filter in it and drank until it was empty. “That’s so wonderful.” She handed him the cup and wiped her mouth. “My throat was really dry.”

The water tasted sweeter than honey as it traveled down his parched throat. They drank several more cups. Clarissa touched her cheek. “Do I have dirt smudges on my face?”

He nodded his head and half smiled.

Her mouth turned up, as well. “I know it’s kind of silly, but I would like to at least have a clean face.”

He tore off the cloth cover from the damaged canteen, dipped it in the water and handed it to her. She washed her face and then looked at him. “Better?”

He nodded.

“You have some smears, too.” She reached over and brushed the cloth over his forehead and cheeks. Her touch turned his insides to mush. He studied every angle of her face, the clear pale skin and her soft, blue-eyed gaze.

Ezra lifted the damaged canteen and turned it over in his hands. The bullet had gone clean through, creating two holes near the bottom.

“Maybe there’s something else in there we can use to carry water in.” The look of hopeful desperation on Clarissa’s face was endearing.

He shook his head, knowing that there probably wasn’t. He searched the pack anyway, for her sake. After a fruitless hunt, he refastened the pack. “Have one more drink if you want. We’ll have to make it down the mountain without water.”

As they worked their way off the rocky mountaintop, two things plagued his thoughts. He worried that Max would be able to locate them with his helicopter. Also, he wondered why they hadn’t seen a single search plane. If the others had been rescued, a search party would have been sent to find him and Clarissa. He hadn’t even spotted a rescue plane in the distance, looking for them in the wrong place.

He kept his dark thoughts to himself. He didn’t know anything for sure, and if Clarissa thought the others hadn’t made it out, she would lose all hope.

* * *

By midday the trees down below looked more like trees and less like dark smears. They must be at least halfway down the mountain. Fatigue lay like a heavy coat on Clarissa’s body, and she found herself starting to nod off even as she continued to put one foot in front of the other.

Ezra touched her shoulder from behind. “Hey, how about we veer off the trail and get a couple hours of sleep? It would be better for us to rest now and travel under cover of night.”

As anxious as she was to get into the concealment the trees provided, she didn’t have the strength to argue with him. He led her to a level spot where some brush grew.

“You rest.” He tore the pack off. “Use this for a pillow.”

“Aren’t you going to sleep, too?”

“I’m going to see if I can find us something to eat.”

For the past hour, the gnawing hunger in her belly had made it hard to think of anything but food. Still, it didn’t seem right that he should be deprived of the chance to rest. “Maybe I should go with you.”

“No, sleep. I’ll catch some shut-eye after I’ve found us some lunch.” He didn’t wait around for her to answer. Instead, he disappeared deeper into the brush. Clarissa rested her head on the hard pack and closed her eyes.

Something had shifted between her and Ezra—in a good way—though neither was talking about it. She had felt such a strong connection to him when they’d prayed for water. Finding the water had been a faith builder.

She closed her eyes, trying to get comfortable on the hard ground. A soft breeze ruffled her hair. Was it possible that someone like Ezra would really care about someone like her? She didn’t know if she could trust her feelings or not. She’d been down this road before.

She turned and stared at the huge blue sky above her. Maybe the second kiss had been a mistake, too. Would he get her to a safe place because that was his job? Or would he stay after all this was over?

She rolled over on her side and closed her eyes. Sleep came quickly. Her final thoughts as she drifted off were of Ezra, his soft, barely there smile and the strong arms that had held her.

She awoke with a start to the mechanical clang of an engine. It took her a moment to absorb that a helicopter was nearby.

She rolled over on her stomach and peered through the brush. The chopper hovered at her level, angling from side to side before pointing its nose downward. It landed on a flat spot several hundred feet below her. Two men got out—Don and Zeke. After they disembarked, the chopper lifted from the ground and disappeared around the side of the mountain.

The men were headed up the trail, rifles flung over their shoulders. Clarissa craned her neck. No sign of Ezra anywhere. Staying low to the ground, she grabbed the pack and darted in the direction he’d gone. She scanned the brush and the steep hillside. No sign of him anywhere. Down below, the men were closing in, their rowdy talk growing louder and more distinct.

Clarissa slumped to the ground. It wouldn’t be safe for her to wait here until Ezra showed himself. He might be hiding from the chopper, as well. She saw flashes of color through the grass from the men’s clothes, yellow and red. They were getting closer.

If she made a wide arc around them and stayed off the trail, their paths would never cross, and she could get to the bottom of the mountain without being seen. She kept her radar tuned to the sound of the approaching men as she worked her way through the brush and across the open areas. The gruff voices of the two men grew dim as she headed away from them.

Fear and physical exertion made her heart pound wildly. She took in a ragged breath and then glanced over her shoulder before descending down the mountain. She only hoped that Ezra would figure out where she’d gone.