Wild Ice (6 page)

Chapter Eight

The Fall

As the sound of the creek grew louder, Lauren sped up her pace. Anticipation zinged through her body for what she’d find through the trees. Would the same egret be there fishing? Or would it be a snowy egret this time? Or a great blue heron? She’d seen the same egret there again but had yet to see him catch a fish. Would she finally catch him in the act this time? Would he be crouched low, hiding in the branches or would his neck be outstretched, poised and ready to pluck a fish from the flowing water? Hopefully, she’d get there in time to see it before it flew away.

It was morning and the sounds of the refuge were lively and uplifting. There was much to be done in the bird world; food to scavenge for, hiding places to be found, predators to evade…

Before Lauren reached the waterfall, her foot bumped something on the ground and pain shot through her ankle. She fell forward with an
oomph
and the air whooshed out of her lungs.

The yellow dog blinked big brown eyes
at her, confused as to why she was suddenly on the ground.

After lying flat on the ground to catch her breath, s
he dusted off her hands and assessed the damage. Behind her, a tree root stuck up out of the ground. Her foot must have caught under it and sent her sprawling. There were a few scratches on the palms of her hands from blocking her fall. She pulled down her sock and her ankle was tender to the touch. This wasn’t good. There was no one around for miles and she was a long way from the cottage and her ankle hurt like hell.

Gingerly, she
stood up and tried to put weight on her foot. She instantly yelped in pain. Then her ankle started to throb.

Buddy yipped and danced around her.

“I can’t walk, Buddy. My foot is hurt,” she told him.

Ignoring the rising panic in her throat, she
sat back down and tried to formulate a plan. Remain calm, Lauren tried to think. That was the first rule in a crisis, right? It was at least a mile from here to the cottage. There was no way she could make it that far even if she had crutches.

She looked around for a branch or
a stick or something she could use as a walking stick. What she found was nothing bigger than a twig and certainly nothing that would support her weight as she hobbled back to the cottage.

She tossed the twig aside and Buddy lunged for it. He shoved it at her and she stroked his yellow fur. When he realized she didn’t want to play fetch, he dropped it on the ground with a snort.

What was she going to do? Hop on one foot all the way back home? She could try to crawl, but her foot would drag behind her and hurt just as bad as walking on it.

The refuge trails were clear across the other side of the marsh
and this trail wasn’t used by anyone but her. Even if she screamed for help she’d have nothing to show for it but a hoarse voice. The refuge office was still closed up tight and the trails still gated from cars. No one else was out here and if someone was, they were trespassing and probably not the kind of person she’d want helping her anyway.

Lauren slid off her backpack and after digging through it, she remembered she’d forgotten her phone at the cottage. There probably wasn’t even a signal way out here on the trail anyway.

Remain calm
. There was no one to wait for. No one knew she was missing. Her mother might send a search party for her after a few days of not returning her calls, but she’d probably interpret her daughter’s absence as Lauren exerting her independence.

A
turkey vulture circled overhead. Probably plotting how to make a meal out of her.

Remain calm
.

At least it wouldn’t be getting dark for a
little while. She still had time. Time for what? She didn’t know, but she’d figure something out. She had to. There were no other options.

The big yellow dog
whined and nuzzled Lauren’s hand with his nose.

“
Can you go get help?”

He nudged her leg and she winced when the movement jostled her
injured foot.

“
Go and get help,” she encouraged him.

She didn’t know
where
she wanted him to get help or
who
from, but it was better than sitting here and doing nothing. She had to at least try.

“Go.” She made her voice sound excited
, yet urgent in hopes it would convince him that, yes, he really did want to go and get help.

He bounced on his feet
and scampered back and forth as if he was urging her down the trail.

“Go!
Go get help!”

He barked and
finally sprinted off down the path.

Go get help, Lassie. Timmy is stuck in the well.

Lauren
almost laughed out loud at how ridiculous it sounded. Sure, the dog was smart, but for all she knew he could just be going home—wherever
that
was—for some kibble and forget about her like yesterday’s chew toy.

With
Buddy gone, the trail seemed a little more intimidating. Normally, the sounds of the wetlands brought comfort to her, but right now they were a stark reminder that she was all alone.

Weighing her options, s
he flipped over onto her hands and knees and crawled until the pain forced her to stop. Pebbles dug into her knees and rocks poked through her socks. She rested for a few minutes, pulled her hair back into a braid, so it wouldn’t drag in the dirt, and then crawled a little further. When she was out of breath, she looked back to assess her progress. She had gone roughly fifty feet.

Discouraged and exhausted, s
he sat back down with a sigh. At this rate it would take her well into the next day to reach the cottage. And that was
if
she crawled throughout the night. Oh well. There wasn’t any other way.

She took the water
bottle from her backpack and took a drink. At least she had enough water to survive for days before the vultures would descend on her.

Just when she was contemplating whether or not to start hopping on one foot, she thought she heard something.
When she heard a dog collar jingle, she thought for sure she was hearing things. Sure enough, the yellow dog trotted up to her and planted a sloppy kiss across her cheek. Being on the ground put her at his level and he took full advantage by licking her face until she pushed his head away with a laugh.

She was so happy to see him that she wrapped her arms around him and buried her nose in his thick fur.
So what if he hadn’t found any help? At least she wouldn’t have to spend the night alone.

The idea vanished when she heard footsteps coming down the trail—
human
footsteps. Who did the dog find to help her way the heck out here? He hadn’t been gone all that long, so they must have been fairly close by.

Lauren strained her ears and stared up ahead.
Eventually, a man came walking down the path. He was tall and athletic and her eyes were immediately drawn to the scowl on his face. His eyes were a deep dark blue and probably twinkled when he smiled, but he wasn’t giving her that expression now. He wore jeans and a T-shirt but something about them looked expensive. The new athletic sneakers on his feet were dusty from the trail. It looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days, but that added to his mysteriousness.

He may have been dressed casually but there was nothing casual about the man standing in front of her.
The frown on his face looked out of place on his handsome face. He glared at the dog. It wasn’t meant for her to see, but he glared nonetheless. There were so many emotions swirling in his eyes that she didn’t have enough time to decipher them all before he blinked them away.

He didn’t look like a crazed woodsman come to have his way with her, put her over his shoulder and take her to his cabin, so that was good. At least the dog would protect her—she hoped—if the man had ill intentions.

Who was this man and what was he doing on the trail? He certainly didn’t look like a birder—or at least he wasn’t dressed the part of one. And the people she’d encountered on nature trails were usually friendly and eager to share their discoveries. This man didn’t look to be eager about anything. Especially about finding Lauren sitting on her butt in the middle of the trail.

She didn’t know whether to thank the yellow dog or tell him to take this unhappy man back where he
’d found him.

Lauren
decided to break the silence first. It was obvious the man was too mad at the dog to speak to her.

“Hi,” she said cheerily despite the awkward situation. “I, uh, tripped on a tree root and down I went.” She touched her swollen ankle to make her point.

He didn’t say anything
in return. He just bent down and looked at the aforementioned ankle. He was so close that Lauren could smell the clean scent of his shampoo.

“Can you stand up?”
he asked, his voice abrupt.

It was silly to notice the muscles in his forearms at a time like this, but it was awfully hard not to when he was standing there looming over her the way he was.

“Yeah, I think so,” she answered with more confidence than she felt.

He put his hand out and she had no choice but to take it. His
palm was rough, yet warm and she told herself she imagined the zing from the skin-to-skin contact.

When she got
to her feet, she winced. Even without putting weight on it, the ankle still throbbed.

Before
Lauren knew what was happening, the man scooped her up in his arms and started carrying her down the path. The breath went out of her lungs with a whoosh.

“You don’t have to carry me.” She twisted in his arms to survey the trees. “I just need
to find a stick to use as a—“

“It’s either this or I toss you over my shoulder,” he said gruffly.

“Oh...okay.”

She settled into his easy stride and tried not to think about how much her foot hurt
. Or how rock-solid his arms felt around her. Or how manly the tall stranger smelled. Or how she could feel the warmth from his chest seeping through his shirt. She just helplessly sat there as he carried her down the trail.

* * *

The big yellow dog trotted behind them and Lauren took small comfort in him being nearby.
She didn’t know what the dog’s relationship was with the man, but she was grateful he’d found him and brought him to her. Even if the guy did seem bent out of shape about it.

When
the man turned into the clearing, Buddy darted around them and ran full speed ahead to the mansion. The man followed in his wake and paused at the back sliding glass door to fumble for the latch.

“You live here?” she asked, unable to hide her surprise.

He sighed as if answering the asinine question would be too much of an inconvenience for him.

Lauren started to tell him she’d be fine on the nearby patio chair
, but before she could form the words, he whisked her inside.

It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the dark interior. When they did, she was surprised at the elegant
furnishings. Well, not surprised because they matched the house, but surprised because they didn’t match
him
in the slightest.

“You’ll have to wait out
side,” she craned her neck to tell Buddy.

The yellow dog pushed by them and barreled into the house.

Oh no. The man probably didn’t want dusty dog prints all over his beautiful home. As it was, he probably didn’t even want
her
inside his home, but in Lauren’s defense, he was the one who carried her inside.

“I’m sorry,” Lauren sputtered. “He’s not mine. I don’t know who he belongs to.”

“He’s mine,” the man told her.

“Oh.
Well that explains a lot,” she said. “He’s a great dog,” she added, happy to find some common ground.

The man
grunted and slid the door shut behind them. Thanks to that great dog, he was playing “rescue the damsel in distress” and he didn’t like it one bit.

“
Your dog is very smart,” Lauren commented. “I’d probably still be out there hobbling along if it wasn’t for him. What’s his name?”

“Mel.”

It seemed like a particularly ordinary name for a perfectly extraordinary animal.

“Just Mel, huh?”

“It’s short for Mellow.”

She smiled. “I’ve been calling him Buddy. Real original, I know.” If not creative, it was
an accurate name.

The man
carried her into a massive living room and deposited her onto a plush overstuffed sofa next to a beautiful credenza.

The first thing Lauren noticed about the room was that the
heavy drapes were pulled shut. What a pity to hide such a spectacular view! The only light came from the TV flickering in the corner. A portable putting green sat off to the side. The TV was switched on to a golf tournament, the lush greens stretched across the high definition screen. So, the guy liked golf.