Laughing Fate (27 page)

She kept walking, however, determined to make it back home as soon as possible. By now Perri would be absolutely frantic. Potter would be furious with her and devising interesting ways of killing her. She wondered if they were out looking for her? Had she kept this place secret from her friends? It had always been Drea and Kyle who came here with her. Would they find her walking along the dirt road and flinching at every noise?

Well, if they did find her, they definitely wouldn’t find her flinching and cowering like a coward! She was the infamous Puck Berri, she could get through this, right? Right. Her inner drill sergeant came to life and began yelling at her to pick up her pace. Emboldened by these thoughts, Puck began walking more confidently. SHE was the predator, remember?

As she was thinking that, her foot hit pavement. The road still wasn’t all that smooth, it would have pot holes, but she had finally reached the halfway point! She’d done it! Puck did a quick victory dance and continued on her way. Only about 15 miles to go and soon it would be day light!

****

Potter was tired and starting to panic. He’d been searching all night for Puck. They had called the police, but until she was missing for 48 hours there was nothing they could do. They had split up and searched all of Puck’s known hide outs. Problem was that Puck had so many dang secrets that she was would probably never be found. Once he found her, he was going to tie her up and force her to tell him everything from her past. No more secrets.

The sun was just now rising in the sky, slashing red and purple through the sky. Potter tried not to think of what could have happened to Puck. If she turned out to be one of those bodies thrown in the slough…No! Potter wouldn’t think of that. He had to keep his mind alert so he could find her. And he would find her, he had to.

Right now he was driving along highway 101. There was several beaches up and down the coast that she could have stopped at. He didn’t know where else to look if this didn’t turn out anything. Brad had already searched the town streets for her, Steve had searched Elk River, Perri and Shannon had searched the different parks, Dave was searching the local beaches, and still no sign of her.

Potter saw a sign for Trinidad. This was the last town to be checked. Potter pulled in to town and cruised the side streets. He checked at the beach, all the parking lots, the parks…nothing. He parked at the gas station and walked indoors.

The clerk was a weary looking woman in her late forties with hair that was pulled back into a tight bun. Potter strode over to her and showed her Puck’s picture.

“
Have you seen this girl? She went missing sometime after four pm yesterday.”

The lady peered at the picture and slowly nodded. “That girl came in here yesterday morning right before my shift ended. She was humming to herself and bought a peach and a full tank of gas.”

Potter felt a thrill course through his body. He’d found her! She was somewhere close by, he just knew it. He questioned the clerk about local attractions. Most of them had already been checked out by their search group, but there was one place they hadn’t thought of.

“
Don’t know why she’d be going up to Kneeland. It’s pretty much deserted now. Used to be a small town way up in those hills, but the economy was so bad that they all moved down here. About all that’s up there now is a small airport and lots of woods. It’s a favorite for hunters come deer season.”

It sounded exactly like a place Puck would go. Potter thanked the lady and quickly walked to his car. He pulled out his cell phone and called Dave. “I found her. She’s at Kneeland. Have everyone come and help me search for her.”

Potter bowed his head and closed his eyes. He prayed that she was still alive. That she was just stuck somewhere and waiting for help to arrive in her jeep. The problem was that that didn’t sound much like Puck. The idiot was probably either walking alone in the dark, lost…or something bad had happened. Potter shoved all those thoughts away and concentrated on finding her. He could worry and rant and yell once he found her and she was safe in his arms.

Chapter 10

Little warrior found

Puck felt pain shooting up her leg. She had been walking with her new found spunk when she stepped in a pothole and twisted her ankle. It was now quite swollen and each step was agony. When she had first picked herself up, it hadn’t hurt that bad after the initial sharp pain when she’d twisted it. She’d been walking slowly for the past half hour, trying to put most of her weight on her good leg and her walking stick.

Really, could anything else go wrong? About the only good thing was that the sun was finally coming up. Puck was tired, sore, broken, and cold. Not to mention thirsty. Oh, and dirty too.

Puck glared up at the heavens and shouted, “Anything else? Want to throw some locusts my way? Maybe smite me with boils? Oh I know! How about gad flies? Or frogs?”

This was really not turning out to be the fun adventure that she’d envisioned.  Her whole body was sore from walking, her feet for sure had blisters, her thighs felt as if her muscles were being burned alive, and did she mention that her ankle hurt? Because it did.

Puck heard the tormenting snap of a twig behind her again and swung around to glare in that direction. For the first time it was light enough to see what was following her. She stared in surprise at the mangy looking golden retriever that stood there watching her. A dog. She was being hunted by a dog. Puck felt laughter bubbling up out of her, she laughed until she was exhausted and even then a giggle would pop out every other breath. She had been so afraid and tormented by a little dog that was looking at her as if she was crazy.

The poor dog looked abandoned, it was practically skin and bones and was shaking from the cold. Puck knelt down and extended one hand. She murmured sweet little nothings to it, trying to lure it closer. The dog tentatively came forward and sniffed her hand. When she tried to pet it, it quickly backed away and lowered its head. Puck felt her heart squeeze at the wariness of the poor creature. No one should ever be abandoned.

She continued talking sweetly to it and resumed her trek. Sure enough the dog followed, a good five feet behind her. She talked softly to her new friend while she walked and slowly it drew closer to her. Soon it was padding along right by her feet and even allowed her to pet it.

“
I’m going to call you Taly. It’s short for Talitha. Do you like it? Sure you do. Soon as I get you home I’ll feed you and give you a nice warm bath. Doesn’t that sound nice?” Puck smiled when she saw the dog give a little tail wag. She had just found herself one smart dog.

She’d walked another twenty minutes or so when she saw two headlights speeding up the road. Remembering the last time she’d dove for the side of the road, Puck decided instead to stand still and let the car stop. It was the only sensible thing to do and besides, her ankle hurt.

****

Potter was gunning it up the mountain, frantic to find Puck now that he had a location.  He was just making a turn when he saw a figure standing in the middle of the road. It was holding a walking stick that was taller than they were and a dog was standing by it’s side. Instead of moving aside for the fastly approaching car, the figure was holding their ground,  refusing to budge. They would have to be stupid to not move out of the way, his car was going too fast and had too little room to stop. He had found Puck he just knew it, how many little idiots could there be in the world?

Potter braked hard and turned his wheel to avoid hitting her. His heart was pounding in his chest, his vision a narrow tunnel completely focused on Puck. She must have realized her mistake because she jumped out of the way, one of her legs buckling underneath her.  Potter jumped out of his car the second it stopped skidding and ran over to Puck. She sat where she had fallen on the dirty side of the road. Her cheek was smudged with dirt, her shirt was torn from what looked like bushes (there were still some leaves hanging off of it),  and her hands were grubby.  His heart was still pumping painfully, adrenaline pumping through his body. He’d found her- and she was safe. She had never looked more beautiful.

Potter picked up Puck in a giant hug and buried his head in her neck. He felt her hand wrap around the back of his head, her fingers sinking into his hair. He snuggled her closer and breathed in her scent. Potter held her like that for what seemed like an eternity. He was so relieved that she was safe, that he had her in his arms where she belonged.

He sat her down and looked her over again, checking for injuries. Did she have any bite marks? Had a sea gull attacked her? Maybe she had rabies? Ticks! Ticks were in the woods, better check for ticks. He was deciding whether it would be impolite to check her body for ticks when he realized that she was smiling, a wide happy grin.

As if she hadn’t just scared the holy crap out everyone, as if she hadn’t lied to him and put herself in danger. Again. The little idiot was just fine, but for how long? If she kept this up she’d be dead by the time she was thirty.  He felt all the tension and worry and grief mold itself into anger. Why was she walking all alone on a deserted road? Anything could have happened to her! Didn’t she even care if she lived?

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE?!”

“
Well, you see my jeep broke down…”

“
You lied to me! I asked if you were on an adventure and you said no! Do you have ANY idea of what we all went through to find you? None of us have slept all night, Perri was crying the last time I saw her…My God woman! What are you doing walking through the woods at night?!”

“
I told you, my jeep broke down.”

“
THEN WHY DIDN’T YOU STAY IN IT?”

Puck winced at his tone of voice. He was furious at her. When he’d first jumped out and hugged her to him, he had felt just like heaven. Why couldn’t he be her angel right now? It may not look like it, well on second thought it probably did, but she had gone through quite an ordeal and it would be nice to be hugged, not yelled at!

She felt her own anger well up. Why wasn’t he comforting her? What kind of idiot rescued someone only to scream at them? She had expected him to be angry, but had thought he’d at least wait until she’d showered and changed her clothes first!

“
BECAUSE YOU IDIOT! I DIDN’T WANT TO WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT DAY TO BE RESCUED!”

Potter glared at her, his fists clenched by his sides. He grabbed Puck by the shoulders and shook her once. Then he crushed her to him and growled in her ear, “You’re going to marry me and you are never going to pull a stupid stunt like this again! Do I make myself clear?”

Puck stiffened at the order. A part of her wanted to lean into Potter and accept his strength and allow him to protect her. She pushed that moronic thought aside and elbowed him in the gut. She was made out of stronger stuff than that. She didn’t need a man to protect her!

“
I will not marry you! Not like this! I rescued myself, I’ll have you know! You may have been searching for me all night, but I was walking all night through the dark and the cold and the pain. And if you hadn’t nearly run me over right now, I’d still be walking towards town! I don’t need you to protect me! I don’t WANT you to protect me!”

Puck limped over to her stick and picked it up. The stupid oaf thought that just because she’d gone on one date with him that he could order her around? She did not think so! She smiled to see Taly growling at Potter. Yep, she was a very smart dog indeed. She called Taly over to her and slowly started to limp away. She tried to do it with as much dignity as possible, but her ankle was sending wave upon wave of agony up her leg. Still, she kept her chin up and her back straight as she continued down the road.

Potter stared after Puck in amazement. The stupid fool was actually going to refuse his ride? It had taken him twenty minutes to drive up here! He frowned when he noticed her limping. What had happened to her foot? Was she hurt? He ran after her but quickly backed away when that dog of hers growled at him. Where had she gotten the mutt? It looked even dirtier than Puck did if that was even possible.

Potter slowly approached, his eyes focused on the dog. He wasn’t afraid of dogs in general, but this one looked like it might have rabies.

“Umm, Puck…are you hurt?”

Puck snorted and kept limping down the road.

“Puck, I’m sorry I yelled at you, ok? I’ve just been so worried about you- I was half convinced that I’d be finding your corpse. And then I see you traipsing down the middle of the road, who does that anyways? Why didn’t you call me or stay in your jeep? Did you think that I wouldn’t find you?”

Puck paused, partly because her ankle was killing her and partly because Potter no longer sounded angry. He sounded tired and sad. She wished she could see his face, she could read it better than anyone. She would have to turn around to see it though, and that would be tantamount to admitting defeat. She didn’t want Potter mad at her. She definitely didn’t want Potter to be hurting. She stared down at her shoes and wondered what to do. Pride demanded she keep on walking down the road alone.

She felt Potter come up behind her and encircle her with his arms.

He hugged her to him, but kept his hold on her gentle. He kissed her softly on the neck and murmured, “You are the strongest girl I know. Anyone else would have given up by now, or not even  tried the hike to begin with. I can’t even imagine what you’ve gone through, but apparently you fell in dirt, ripped your shirt, acquired a dog and a walking stick, and hurt your ankle. I don’t want to lock you away, Puck. I just want to be by your side when these little adventures happen. I just want you safe and by my side. If that means falling headfirst into every mishap you stumble upon then so be it.”