on the hiking boots she’d bought while in town with Annie. She tried to remember if she’d ever owned hiking boots. Probably not, but Annie had said they were essential.
Thinking of essentials, Dana wandered into the kitchen, only to discover she was out of coffee. With a sigh, she grabbed her jacket and headed for the door.
She blinked when she stepped out of her cabin into sunshine and stared up, not yet used to the heart-stopping, magnificent view that surrounded her. The woods were beautifully inviting in the morning light, the black of the tree trunks and branches in stark contrast with the bluish white of the snow dusting the boughs and shawling the ground.
The air held a silence that was still alien to her and she drew in another breath, letting the scent of pine and crisp, clean mountain air fill her lungs, while the silence soothed her heart and her spirit. She wanted to laugh at the joy she felt just from the simple, clean scent.
As she started walking down the snow-covered lane toward the office, Dana spied what had to be animal tracks. A few she recognized as likely belonging to Bogart. Other tracks looked like maybe deer. And still others, she couldn’t recognize at all.
She felt a keen urge to follow the tracks and explore her surroundings more than she already had, but first things first. She needed coffee.
And just maybe she’d see Kellen in the office and have another chance to get to know her better. Something she was looking forward to with admitted pleasure.
*
The river was angry. Swollen and dark, it was flowing faster and stronger than usual, thanks to the recent storm.
Kellen gritted her teeth. The water was bitterly cold and she could feel the icy temperature cut through her wetsuit, feel its sharp stings each time it splashed her face. She flinched as the pain registered. Oh Jesus, that hurts . It caused her chest to tighten as if gripped by a vise and was making it increasingly difficult to take a deep breath.
They’d been searching for a missing boy since dawn before finally spotting him. He was floating face down in the river. There was no time to waste and Kellen had plunged into the dark, frigid water the moment Tim had fastened the rescue harness on her.
Even then, she barely managed to catch the edge of the boy’s jacket, holding on with all her strength before the current could carry him out of her reach. Somehow, she managed to secure him to the rescue rope, then wrapped her arms and legs around him.
Holding him against her chest, fighting to keep his head above water, something struck her side with a glancing blow, distracting her momentarily. A familiar childhood nightmare flashed in her mind. Monsters—in the closet, under the bed, under the water. It was only for a second or two, but enough that she slipped underwater.
She surfaced quickly, coughing violently, but could see what had hit her—one of several small trees the river had claimed.
She renewed her focus on the boy as the one solid reality in the tumbling, shocking, cold universe she was in, while trusting her team and the belay rope to stop them both from going downstream. She knew it didn’t take long for hypothermia to kill, and she had no way of knowing how long the boy had been in the icy water.
Long enough, she feared.
He was completely unresponsive and his lips were blue. Kellen thought she might have felt a pulse, but it could have been wishful thinking. And he was so still, she wasn’t even sure if he was breathing. But she needed to believe he was.
Even as she felt the beginning of a headache brought on by the cold, she found herself wishing there was more she could do. But she knew it was taking all she had just to hold their position and keep the boy’s head above water. The world was fast becoming blurry, her arms ached, and she could no longer feel her hands or feet.
She was so damned cold. But she was equally determined to hold on. Time slowed to a crawl while she held the boy and
Thinking of essentials, Dana wandered into the kitchen, only to discover she was out of coffee. With a sigh, she grabbed her jacket and headed for the door.
She blinked when she stepped out of her cabin into sunshine and stared up, not yet used to the heart-stopping, magnificent view that surrounded her. The woods were beautifully inviting in the morning light, the black of the tree trunks and branches in stark contrast with the bluish white of the snow dusting the boughs and shawling the ground.
The air held a silence that was still alien to her and she drew in another breath, letting the scent of pine and crisp, clean mountain air fill her lungs, while the silence soothed her heart and her spirit. She wanted to laugh at the joy she felt just from the simple, clean scent.
As she started walking down the snow-covered lane toward the office, Dana spied what had to be animal tracks. A few she recognized as likely belonging to Bogart. Other tracks looked like maybe deer. And still others, she couldn’t recognize at all.
She felt a keen urge to follow the tracks and explore her surroundings more than she already had, but first things first. She needed coffee.
And just maybe she’d see Kellen in the office and have another chance to get to know her better. Something she was looking forward to with admitted pleasure.
*
The river was angry. Swollen and dark, it was flowing faster and stronger than usual, thanks to the recent storm.
Kellen gritted her teeth. The water was bitterly cold and she could feel the icy temperature cut through her wetsuit, feel its sharp stings each time it splashed her face. She flinched as the pain registered. Oh Jesus, that hurts . It caused her chest to tighten as if gripped by a vise and was making it increasingly difficult to take a deep breath.
They’d been searching for a missing boy since dawn before finally spotting him. He was floating face down in the river. There was no time to waste and Kellen had plunged into the dark, frigid water the moment Tim had fastened the rescue harness on her.
Even then, she barely managed to catch the edge of the boy’s jacket, holding on with all her strength before the current could carry him out of her reach. Somehow, she managed to secure him to the rescue rope, then wrapped her arms and legs around him.
Holding him against her chest, fighting to keep his head above water, something struck her side with a glancing blow, distracting her momentarily. A familiar childhood nightmare flashed in her mind. Monsters—in the closet, under the bed, under the water. It was only for a second or two, but enough that she slipped underwater.
She surfaced quickly, coughing violently, but could see what had hit her—one of several small trees the river had claimed.
She renewed her focus on the boy as the one solid reality in the tumbling, shocking, cold universe she was in, while trusting her team and the belay rope to stop them both from going downstream. She knew it didn’t take long for hypothermia to kill, and she had no way of knowing how long the boy had been in the icy water.
Long enough, she feared.
He was completely unresponsive and his lips were blue. Kellen thought she might have felt a pulse, but it could have been wishful thinking. And he was so still, she wasn’t even sure if he was breathing. But she needed to believe he was.
Even as she felt the beginning of a headache brought on by the cold, she found herself wishing there was more she could do. But she knew it was taking all she had just to hold their position and keep the boy’s head above water. The world was fast becoming blurry, her arms ached, and she could no longer feel her hands or feet.
She was so damned cold. But she was equally determined to hold on. Time slowed to a crawl while she held the boy and
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