Had he regretted letting go? Had he thought Maybe, just maybe, I would have been okay if I held on? Did he blame me for not holding on to him?
Up again. Climbing, climbing, climbing until I was so high my empty stomach made me light-headed and I had to stop, eyes squeezed shut, until the feeling passed.
Then I looked out, and when I did, I wasn't looking for a road. Wasn't looking for a house. I was looking for him.
I told myself I was looking for his body. That if I could find it, I could mark the spot, make sure he got a proper burial. But that was a lie.
I was looking for Rafe. In spite of every bit of logic that told me he was dead, I could not stop myself from looking. From feeling he was out there.
Of course there was no sign of him and so, finally, I began scouring the landscape in earnest.
I made out the brown ribbon of a dirt road and a distant clearing that could be a town. However, if we were at the north end of the island, a clearing was just as likely to indicate a past forest fire or logging operation.
I was about to decide the road was our best bet when I spotted a thin line of smoke rising near the foot of the mountain. I found a better vantage point, and could make out the faint outline of a roof, smoke swirling above it. The sight was so incredible that I didn't quite believe it at first, climbing yet another evergreen, until I was certain I wasn't imagining things. There was a house or a cottage down there. And someone was home.
I scrambled down the tree and took off to find the others.
When I glimpsed the white of Daniel's T-shirt, I started to run, grinning for the first time in days. Kenjii hit me in a full-on tackle, her vine-leash dangling behind her, as she knocked me down and licked me like we'd been separated for months.
"I saw a road," I blurted as Daniel rounded a bend in the path, Sam right behind him. "There's a road down there. I think there's a cabin, too."
"What?" Corey brushed past Daniel and Sam. "A house? You saw a house?"
Hayley barreled forward. "There's a house? Where?"
I took a deep breath. "I think I saw a cabin. Whether there's anyone in it or not--"
"Who cares?" Corey said. "It's civilization. Let's go."
He broke into a jog, and his knee g
ave way. I managed to catch him before he fell.
"The only place you're going is flat on your ass," Daniel said. "Slow down. Even if it is a cabin, it's not going anywhere." He turned to me and I could tell he was struggling to play it cool. "You said there's a road?"
"I did. That part I'm sure of. And where there's a road, there are people. In theory."
The grin burst through. "In theory." He threw an arm around me, a half-embrace, whispering, "Good work," and I started to shake a little. It was over. Our ordeal was almost over.
Except it wasn't. Our real problems--being subjects in a supernatural experiment--had only begun.
I took a deep breath and hugged Daniel back. We'd worry about that later. For now, we needed to get to civilization.
Before we continued, I insisted on checking Corey's knee.
"Looking good, huh?" Corey said as I cleaned the scrapes. "You've got the touch."
Apparently, I did. The bruises were fading already.
When we set out again, I motioned for Daniel to walk up front with me. No one tried to join us. They figured we were discussing the situation and planning our next move, and they were happy to leave that to us.
"You want to talk about Sam?" he said. "I take it you guys had a falling out."
I gave him part of the story--that I'd told her my theory about Salmon Creek and the people chasing us, and she'd reciprocated by insulting me.
"She blows hot and cold, and it makes me nervous," I said. "I feel like when she is being chummy, she's putting it on to get what she wants. It's almost..."
"Sociopathic?"