get them. He turned and saw the dark-haired woman with the long fingernails behind him. Then he felt an acute pain in his head, and the dimly lit forest went very dark.
*****
Abbey saw Mark topple inexplicably like a sack of potatoes, landing terrifyingly close to the edge of the canyon, his body splayed in the unorganized and slack manner of the unconscious. She fell to her knees and grasped his leg as if to stay Mark’s fall into the river, while looking wildly about for the cause of his collapse.
The forest and the trail behind Mark remained empty. She thought she could see a ripple of something , like the ghosts they had seen the day before, move through the underbrush, but she blinked once and it was gone.
Caleb, meanwhile, had lunged into the trees and grasped a stout stick, which he started waving in front of him like a weapon.
“We need to pull Mark away from the edge,” he called. “It’s going to try to drive us off the side.”
Abbey’s stomach fluttered with terror. “What are you talking about? What’s going to try to drive us off the side?”
“The dog,” Caleb said, his voice low and terrible. “Can’t you see the dog?”
Abbey searched the trees frantically, but saw nothing but the stoic Madrona reaching its branches to the sky. “I don’t see a dog,” she said. Was Caleb hallucinating?
“It’s one of their dogs. It’s right in front of us.”
Abbey licked her dry lips and tugged as hard as she could on Mark’s leg. She couldn’t budge him. “I really can’t see it. Are you sure?”
Caleb wheeled over to his left, his branch weapon aloft. “There’s the other one. They’re closing in. I’m going to try to draw them away while you pull Mark from the edge. Or do you want to make a run for it, while I pull Mark away?” He glanced over the edge of the jagged precipice at the raging water below them, his freckled face pale and tight. “There’s no way we can jump. There are no good options here.”
The prospect of either jumping, or running through the woods pursued by one of Selena, Nate, and Damian’s vicious dogs, made Abbey’s knees weak.
She stared at the rows of slender pine trees around them. The underbrush on the rocky canyon top was sparse; there was no way the dog was hidden from her view. And what had happened to Mark? A small pool of blood had formed beneath his head in the loose soil on the rocks. Had he hit his head on something? No. No low-hanging branches blocked their way. It was like his attacker had come out of nowhere and then vanished—which was impossible.
Wasn’t it?
What had Ian’s card said? To know, to will, to dare… to know.
Caleb swung the stick wildly in all directions.
“Wait!” she said. “In the quantum world, we create reality by our observation. Particles are in every possible position until we observe them, and then they appear to pick a state. If witchcraft is entanglement on a macro level, maybe it operates by the same principles. Don’t look at the dogs. If you don’t observe them, they can’t be here, and this isn’t happening.”
Caleb responded in a clipped voice. “I hate to break it to you Abbey, but this is happening.”
Mark moaned and lifted his hand to his head.
“Why can only you see them?” she hissed. “Because you believe in this witchcraft mumbo jumbo is why. I don’t, so my brain isn’t collapsing the wave function.” She shook Mark. “Get up. Get up.” She pulled him into a sitting position. His face was distended with terror, and blood snaked down the back of his neck. Clearly, he could see the dogs too.
“My brain is about to collapse between a set of teeth,” Caleb snapped. “Maybe we can give them some granola bars.” He fumbled with the zipper of his pack, but before he could get it open, he dropped the pack and thrust the stick wildly at nothing, and yet nothing appeared to grab hold of it and thrust Caleb’s arm from side to side. Could “nothing” grab a
*****
Abbey saw Mark topple inexplicably like a sack of potatoes, landing terrifyingly close to the edge of the canyon, his body splayed in the unorganized and slack manner of the unconscious. She fell to her knees and grasped his leg as if to stay Mark’s fall into the river, while looking wildly about for the cause of his collapse.
The forest and the trail behind Mark remained empty. She thought she could see a ripple of something , like the ghosts they had seen the day before, move through the underbrush, but she blinked once and it was gone.
Caleb, meanwhile, had lunged into the trees and grasped a stout stick, which he started waving in front of him like a weapon.
“We need to pull Mark away from the edge,” he called. “It’s going to try to drive us off the side.”
Abbey’s stomach fluttered with terror. “What are you talking about? What’s going to try to drive us off the side?”
“The dog,” Caleb said, his voice low and terrible. “Can’t you see the dog?”
Abbey searched the trees frantically, but saw nothing but the stoic Madrona reaching its branches to the sky. “I don’t see a dog,” she said. Was Caleb hallucinating?
“It’s one of their dogs. It’s right in front of us.”
Abbey licked her dry lips and tugged as hard as she could on Mark’s leg. She couldn’t budge him. “I really can’t see it. Are you sure?”
Caleb wheeled over to his left, his branch weapon aloft. “There’s the other one. They’re closing in. I’m going to try to draw them away while you pull Mark from the edge. Or do you want to make a run for it, while I pull Mark away?” He glanced over the edge of the jagged precipice at the raging water below them, his freckled face pale and tight. “There’s no way we can jump. There are no good options here.”
The prospect of either jumping, or running through the woods pursued by one of Selena, Nate, and Damian’s vicious dogs, made Abbey’s knees weak.
She stared at the rows of slender pine trees around them. The underbrush on the rocky canyon top was sparse; there was no way the dog was hidden from her view. And what had happened to Mark? A small pool of blood had formed beneath his head in the loose soil on the rocks. Had he hit his head on something? No. No low-hanging branches blocked their way. It was like his attacker had come out of nowhere and then vanished—which was impossible.
Wasn’t it?
What had Ian’s card said? To know, to will, to dare… to know.
Caleb swung the stick wildly in all directions.
“Wait!” she said. “In the quantum world, we create reality by our observation. Particles are in every possible position until we observe them, and then they appear to pick a state. If witchcraft is entanglement on a macro level, maybe it operates by the same principles. Don’t look at the dogs. If you don’t observe them, they can’t be here, and this isn’t happening.”
Caleb responded in a clipped voice. “I hate to break it to you Abbey, but this is happening.”
Mark moaned and lifted his hand to his head.
“Why can only you see them?” she hissed. “Because you believe in this witchcraft mumbo jumbo is why. I don’t, so my brain isn’t collapsing the wave function.” She shook Mark. “Get up. Get up.” She pulled him into a sitting position. His face was distended with terror, and blood snaked down the back of his neck. Clearly, he could see the dogs too.
“My brain is about to collapse between a set of teeth,” Caleb snapped. “Maybe we can give them some granola bars.” He fumbled with the zipper of his pack, but before he could get it open, he dropped the pack and thrust the stick wildly at nothing, and yet nothing appeared to grab hold of it and thrust Caleb’s arm from side to side. Could “nothing” grab a
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