Page 12 of Hunting for her Heart
If I can figure out a way to get food out here and a good place to hide in, I’m hopeful I can last the seven days on my own.
Twenty minutes later, I notice the trees ahead starting to thin, so I slow my pace. When I get to the edge of the tree line, I have to take a step back, a fear of heights forcing me away from the edge.
It appears as if I’m on top of a cliff with a straight drop to the valley, at least five hundred feet below. My wide eyes take in everything. The land goes on as far as I can see. It’s mostly all trees, but I can see what must be small villages scattered throughout.
Taking another step back, I look to my sides. This is theedge of the forest. I should have gone straight instead of limiting myself like this.
I start to jog away from the cliff at an angle away from where I started, as I try to calculate how long I have left. Maybe twenty minutes before they release the men? And if any of them head straight in my direction, probably another thirty or so if they are running at full speed. It’s hard to guess since they will be much faster than me.
I’m sure they aren’t malnourished, either. I don’t even know when I last ate. Was it really only last night that I escaped the compound?
I don’t know what else is in the woods, but I need to find a place to hide near a water source, and hopefully, food. Although I have no idea what’s edible in these woods, I could try to watch the wildlife to find out.
After a couple of minutes, I slow down as a humongous tree looms in front of me. The trunk, instead of being one large shaft, is made up of several pieces that intertwine around each other. When I move closer, I can see some gaps between them.
Glancing over my shoulder, I listen for a moment, making sure I can’t hear any footsteps, and when only the sound of birds chirping can be heard, I step right up to the tree trunk and look for a space big enough to slip into.
There are so many twists and turns to the trunks that it takes me a minute before I can find a way in. I have to climb, though, which will be difficult. But then I’ll be able to slip down inside. My arms are weak, and it takes me several attempts to pull myself up, scraping my arms and legs as I move.
I let out a small breath of relief when I finally make it abovethe gap. I take a seat for a minute so I can catch my breath and look around for any sort of food, but nothing stands out. It’s only going to be harder when the men are released, but hiding feels more important than eating right now.
If I go back to the stream early in the morning, maybe there will be some wildlife I can follow to find edible plants. A horn sounds in the distance, and my body tenses up. The first group of men are being released. I have no idea how many that is; the old man had just said they were staggering them.
I glance down the hole between the trunks where I plan to hide and start to second-guess myself. Not only is it a bit dark and probably full of bugs, but will I be able to pull myself out of there once I get in? I look up, wondering if I can hide higher in the branches, but they appear too far apart for me to reach. I’ll never be able to get up there.
Looking at the surrounding trees, I wonder if some of them would work better, but then, in the distance, I hear what sounds like a war cry from a man, and I quickly turn, placing my feet in the hole.
Fear makes the decision for me, and I try to gently lower myself into the tight space, but my arms give out, making me fall into the hiding hole, scraping my skin as I go, and I cry out in pain.
I try to rub my sore arms but hiss when I make contact, realizing I’ve ripped through my dress and broken the skin. A bit of blood comes away on my fingers, and I groan in annoyance. Hopefully, there are no animals out here that are attracted to the smell of blood.
I find a little spy hole to peek out of and make sure the coast is still clear. The hole is bigger than I would prefer, about a foot tall, but it’s only two inches wide, and I feelconfident nobody could grab me through it. I take a moment to look around me. Luckily, I don’t see any bugs, and the space is just big enough for me to sit down.
Exhaustion hits me hard the second I think about sitting, and I decide to give in. I haven’t slept since the night before last, and even that wasn’t a good sleep with the looming knowledge that I was to marry Paul.
I have to bend my knees, and it’s a tight fit, but with my peephole higher up, nobody will be able to see me unless they press their face right up to it. It’s the safest place I can be right now to take a nap. Because now that my head is resting against the inside of this trunk, I can’t keep my eyes open.
Just a little nap so I have the energy to find food later.
Chapter Five
Hawk
“This is bullshit,” I seethe, as another group of men are released into the hunt.
“Patience, Hawk,” Ronan tells me as we continue to stare into the spot in the forest where we lost sight of her.
“We need to protect her,” I tell him angrily, even though he already knows this. “How can we do that if we’re not even out there?!”
“If we go into the forest now, we’ll be disqualified, and another group will be able to lay claim,” he tells me calmly.
“I say we don’t wait the full week,” Bo says simply. “We just grab her and leave. Who’s gonna stop us?”
“They might send people after us for breaking their precious tradition,” Ronan tells him. “It also won’t help our cause if they think Redmere is in the habit of stealing women and being untrustworthy.”
“If she gets hurt before we get to her?—”
“She won’t,” Ronan says firmly, cutting me off. “Ifthe gods decided she is to be fated to us, that means she must be wise and brave. She’ll find a place to hide.”
