Ryker gave his coat to Henrik. The kid needed it more than he did. Still, within a few minutes, it was Ryker whose body was shaking with cold. They’d barely made any progress in moving back to his car. Down below, they could hear the search party, talking, calling to one another as they moved through the forest.
Ryker and Henrik huddled down by the thick trunk of a tree. Henrik, having initially looked petrified when he’d come out into the open in front of Ryker, now seemed far more relaxed, though he’d hardly spoken a word since.
‘We need to get to my car,’ Ryker said, not taking his eyes from the trees in front of them. ‘It’s north of the house. Probably over a mile from here. But to get there we’ll have to move further inland to avoid them.’
Did Henrik even understand all of what Ryker was saying? He nodded as though he did. Ryker had so many questions. For now, the one and only aim, though, was to get to the car and get away.
‘I hear something,’ Henrik said, flicking his gaze off to the left. He shuffled closer to Ryker at the same time, as though seeking comfort.
Ryker looked at the same spot. He’d heard it too. It was why he’d stopped here in the first place. He couldn’t be sure how many people were out there searching. The men from the house – if they were up to it. Police? Any other locals who were part of whatever plot this was, or who had at least been tricked into helping against the ‘outsider’? Ryker was sure to be painted as the bad guy here, whatever the hell was going on.
The one thing he was most wary of? Dogs. He was content that, given enough time, he and Henrik could bypass all of the search parties, if they moved far enough away. But if they had dogs… That was a different game altogether. Plus, the longer he and Henrik stayed out in the cold, the greater the risk of exposure for both of them.
As they waited, Ryker had no sight of the men, but after a long period of silence, he was sure whoever they’d heard had passed by.
He rose, slowly, carefully. A further shiver ran through him with his elongated body more exposed. Henrik followed and Ryker put a hand behind his back to guide him off to the right, heading east – at least what Ryker thought was east – further inland and away from the house. A necessary step before they could circle north and to his car.
‘No,’ Henrik said, not moving from the spot. ‘Not that way.’
Ryker looked at him, trying to read his face, his mood.
‘More men,’ Henrik said.
‘Another house?’ Ryker asked.
Henrik shook his head. ‘The trees. Tree men.’
‘Loggers? Chopping the trees?’
Ryker motioned the action, his hand an axe, in case Henrik hadn’t otherwise understood. Henrik smirked and nodded.
Ryker guessed it made some sense that there would be logging out to the east of them too. The buildings at the logging site he’d been to the previous day were only a few miles north. It wasn’t unthinkable that the same operation covered multiple square miles around here. Or even that more than one company operated out here in the vast woodlands. Either way, Henrik’s apprehension was clear, and whether or not that apprehension was built on a solid foundation or not, Ryker had to give it attention.
‘We have to get to the car,’ Ryker said. ‘Then a town. We’ll freeze out here.’
‘We go to the road this way. It’s quicker.’
Ryker didn’t like that idea at all. The main road, even if it was potentially the shortest route back to ultimate safety, would leave them in the open, far too exposed to whatever threat they faced from the people hunting them.
‘No,’ Ryker said, shaking his head. ‘It’s too dangerous.’
But Henrik wasn’t listening. The next second he’d shrugged away from Ryker’s arm and moved at speed in the opposite direction. Ryker growled and set off after him.
‘Henrik!’
The boy took no notice. And he was surprisingly nimble on his feet when he wanted to be. Putting paid to all caution, he was more or less at a run, weaving left and right through the trees, darting over fallen branches and trunks.
‘Henrik, stop!’ Ryker hissed, trying to be quiet, discreet, but not really succeeding. It was one thing to move quickly but to move recklessly would only give away their position. But what could Ryker do except follow closely? He couldn’t let Henrik get away.
After less than a minute, though, Henrik suddenly pulled up. He panted from exertion. Ryker too.
‘What is it?’ Ryker said.
No sooner had the words passed his lips, he heard it.
Dogs.
Henrik’s panicked eyes found Ryker’s.
‘Come on,’ Henrik said.
Ryker didn’t question him this time. The dogs were somewhere behind them. To the north and east of their position. Getting back to the car in that direction was out of the question.
They both moved into a sprint. Or as close to a sprint as they could manage. At full pelt on a flat surface, Ryker was sure he could have outrun the youngster, but across the obstacles of the frozen forest, the lighter and more gainly youth had the advantage. Ryker, certainly fit but far heavier and three decades older, was soon seriously out of breath. His legs ached from lactate build-up. His lungs ached from constant heavy breaths. His head pounded from the fight he’d already been involved in…
Henrik looked like he could go on all day.
At least the cold wasn’t bothering Ryker so much now.
But the dogs were. Their frantic barking became louder with every stride Ryker took. Were they leashed?
Did it matter?
‘Henrik, be careful!’
Ryker saw it before the boy. Or at least had decided on caution first. He slowed up as they approached the ridge. Henrik did too, but only at the last second. Too late. He lost his footing – ice? Wet branch? He fell back onto his rear and with a panicked shriek slid out of Ryker’s view.
‘Henrik!’
In a moment of panic, Ryker raced forward, fearing the worst. Not quite. But it wasn’t good either. A long, icy, snowy slope. Ryker threw himself to the ground and slid down the bank after Henrik, at least a hundred feet of clear space in front of them – snow and ice, just a few sparse trees. At the end… A sheer drop.
‘Henrik!’ Ryker shouted out again. A pretty useless instruction really, he realized.
But then Henrik hit something unseen. A branch under the snow, perhaps?
Ryker hurtled past him, his speedier momentum aided by his much heavier frame. Snow blasted up into his face making it nearly impossible to see clearly, but he was sure the cliff edge was only yards away. He flipped his body over so he was on his belly. He squinted hard, fighting to see what was coming up. There. A stump.
He battled against gravity to shift his body weight across. Reached out with both arms. Tried his best to wrap them around the stump…
He managed it… for all of a second before the pendulum momentum of his body caused his grip to fail and his body twisted around so he was moving head first.
Five yards to the edge. Four. Three.
He reached out and grabbed what looked like nothing more than a thin branch sticking up from the snow. Somehow it held.
Ryker dug in. Feet. Knees. Fingers. Finally, he was at a stop.
‘Help!’ Henrik screamed as his flailing body raced toward Ryker.
Ryker reached out to try and grab Henrik’s arm. No good. Henrik slid by…
Got him. By the ankle. Ryker was nearly pulled away, too, but somehow had dug himself into the ice enough to hold firm.
Henrik’s scream heightened. When Ryker looked down, he could see why. The kid’s torso was out of sight, dangling over the edge of the cliff.
Ryker strained and grimaced. ‘Hold on!’
He doubled his grip by grabbing Henrik’s ankle with his bandaged hand. Well, it had been bandaged. Now the cloth was torn and bloodied and flapping freely. Ryker ignored the pain. He growled in effort as he hauled Henrik back over the edge.
Both of them rolled onto their backs, heavy breaths spilling into the cold air above them.
‘Close,’ Ryker said.
Henrik laughed. Ryker already liked him.
But they were far from in the clear. As Ryker looked back up the slope, he spotted the gathering crowd. One, two, three, four men at the top. Two dogs. On leads. Jumping against their restraints, barking and yelping with excitement and anticipation.
The next second, the dogs were unleashed.
‘Oh shit,’ Ryker said.