Falling for Hope by Natalie Vivien Page A

I guess—”
    “Okay, so this is what we’re going
to do.   We’re not going to worry,
because she might have just not noticed the storms, might have just kept on
hiking,” said Irene, voice even and reasonable.   “Amy and Chris and me are going to go up the hill, taking the
trail that Chris thinks Hope might have chosen.”
    Chris shook her head, folding her
arms.   “She could have taken any of a
dozen, Irene.”
    “I know that.   But we’ll take the one you think she
would have taken,” said Irene, shaking her head as Lindsey came in, dripping
wet but clutching a high-powered flashlight.
    “Do you really think it’s wise for
you three to go out there?” asked Cole, leaning against the table.   “I mean, what if something happens to you?”
    “What if something’s already
happened to Hope?” asked Chris, snapping.   Amy glanced up in surprise as Chris turned away, blowing air out of her
nose in a snort.  
    “I know Hope,” said Irene, clicking
on the flashlight to see if it worked.   An intense beam of light danced through the kitchen at the exact moment
that the power flashed off.
    “Well, crap,” said Lindsey, her
voice loud in the darkened kitchen.   It
was only noon, and it was as dim as twilight.
    “I know Hope,” Irene
repeated, “and she would have returned by now.   Something’s wrong, and we need to help her.   Simple.   Amy, do you have
a thicker jacket?”
    Amy shook her head, drawing the
windbreaker closer about her shoulders.
    “She can wear mine,” said Chris
gruffly, taking her jacket off the hanger behind the kitchen door and handing
it to Amy.   Chris shrugged into her own
windbreaker.
    “I’ll feed the kitten,” said
Lindsey, kissing Amy’s cheek, and then, in a whirlwind of movement, Chris and
Irene and Amy were on the front porch, staring out at the pouring rain, feeling
it drive like slivers against their faces, the wind roaring through the trees
like a train full of ghosts.
    “How are we going to find her in
this?” Amy shouted, raising her voice to be heard over the rain.   Fear made her whole body go cold.  
    “Just don’t give up hope…on Hope,”
said Chris, and despite Chris’s outburst yesterday, Amy felt a surge of
gratitude that Chris had joined the search.  
    “Stay together,” said Irene,
pointing the flashlight into the rain.  
    Together, the three women stepped off of the porch,
into the storm.
     
    Embracing Hope
     
    The flashlight beam swung in a wide
arc, barely illuminating the entrance of the first trail into the woods as Amy,
Chris and Irene began to trek up the mountain.   Amy drew her hood closer about her face and squinted, trying to make out
the path in the torrential downpour.   Her heart raced.   It was only a
little past noon, but the world was as dark as if night was descending, with
heavy, black clouds hanging over the mountain.
    It looked—and felt—like a
nightmare.   Because Hope was missing.
    “This is the trail head!” Chris
bellowed over the roaring winds, causing the trees to thrash and groan
overhead.   “All of the main trails start
from here.”
    “So, which one would she have
taken?” Amy called out, her voice snatched away from her, silenced by the
raging storm.  
    Chris shook her head, making a show
of shrugging.   “I don’t know.   I guess we’ll try the main one.   There’s dozens of trails she could have
taken, and the rain has washed away any signs of her presence.”
    Amy choked down the beginnings of a
sob as she followed Chris and Irene, who was holding the high-powered
flashlight before them, down the first trail stretching off to the right.
    Their tight-knit group of friends
had been coming up to Hope’s cabin for summer parties for years, and the women
had hiked these trails many times—but no one knew them as well as Chris and
Hope.   They’d explored every rock and
crater of the mountain together, and Chris was the only one who might have a
chance at tracking Hope down