Thrown to the Wolves (The Faith in Peril Trilogy) (9 page)

“I’ve got it. I’ve six strips, but my dress is spoilt now.” I gazed at the outfit. “It was one of my favorites.”

“Why hasn’t another shot been fired?” asked Anna. “I only heard two.”

“I don’t know. I wish they’d do more. It would be easier to follow.” Jacob poked at the fire with his walking stick. “This might be ready now.”

“Let’s drink and be on our way.” Anna looked determined. “We’ve wasted enough time already.”

When the bucket had cooled enough to touch, we took turns drinking, but the water was still dreadfully hot. Afterwards, Jacob ran to the creek to retrieve more, dousing the fire. It wasn’t long before we left the campsite, venturing into the forest, but a path did not present itself.

“Wish I knew if this was the right direction,” said Jacob. Molly lumbered on ahead, sniffing each tree as she went. “I love that dog, but I question her trainability. She’s awfully wild still.”

“I agree,” grumbled Anna, scowling. “This is probably not the right way at all.”

I glanced at her. “Are you all right?”

“I’m hungry.”

“As am I. We’ll look for mushrooms or berries.”

This seemed to perk Jacob up. “Good idea! I’d love some blackberries. Oh, yummy.”

“We’ll keep an eye out for those,” I said. “Or anything edible. Do we tie a strip of cloth yet?”

“Let’s walk this way for a while first,” said Anna. “Maybe we’ll have a better sense of where we are.”

“All right.”

“And listen for more gunfire. I wish Dat would shoot again. It would be easier to follow the way home.”

“I agree.”

Please shoot more. We need to hear you.

There wasn’t a path, so we cut through the woods in a single line, the dog marching out ahead and stopping to sniff at things every so often. Nothing seemed recognizable in the least. Having walked mostly in the dark, it was impossible to tell which way we had come. If only we had tied the fabric to the trees yesterday. I stopped, placing a strip over a knobby twig, driving the wood through the fabric. The light blue cloth hung in the open for the entire world to see.

That should do it.

I certainly hope so.

If we come through here again, we’ll know we’re going in circles.

I don’t think we’re going in circles.

Then where are we?

I don’t know.

The longer we walked, the more I thought about things, as I disappeared inside my own head, but, instead of finding peace and solace, renewed worries emerged. We had become well and truly lost. Our father searched for us, but why had he only shot twice? We needed direction now more than anything and guidance. I gazed around at trees that were no different from the ones the day before. We lacked an opening—an escape, preferably to a road or a field with a farmhouse. I longed for an exit, wishing we had reached the end of the woods.

Please help us find a way out, Lord.

I don’t want to be here anymore.

I want to go home.

Anna stopped to tie fabric to a tree. She glanced at me over her shoulder. “What will we do now?”

“Keep going.”

“I wish we knew if this was the right direction.”

“I know.”

Another shot rang out, and we all turned to our right, glancing into the distance. Jacob beamed. “That way! It’s that way!” He broke into a sprint, the dog chasing him.

A renewed sense of hope propelled me onward, with Anna by my side. “Oh, thank goodness!”

The excitement of having been found could not be understated. Elation and relief gave me an abundance of energy to run for a great distance, my feet pounding into the ground.

“I hope he shoots again!” yelled Jacob. “Dat! Dat!”

“I’m so happy!” cried Anna. “I’m starving! I hope Mam has lunch waiting for us.” She sprinted on ahead.

Ignoring the stitch in my side, I continued to run, until the elevation rose dramatically. Struggling to breathe, I slowed to a walk, hiking on the upward slope. Exhaustion forced me to stop at the top of what seemed like a hill, glancing down at Jacob and Molly, who kept running. They would soon be out of sight.

“Wait!” I shouted.

Anna waved to me. “It’s downhill now. You can do it, Rebekah.”

“But when we came this way, there wasn’t such a hill.”

“We have to follow the gunfire.”

Despite the stitch in my side, that hurt whenever I breathed, an uncomfortable feeling had me doubting what we had heard. What if the gunfire had come from a hunter? What if it wasn’t Dat’s weapon at all?

“Stop, Jacob!”

Chapter Seven

My brother continued running, with Molly up ahead, sniffing the ground. “Wait!” Anna and I hurried down the hill. The tip of my boot snagged a gnarled root, and I nearly stumbled. “What if that wasn’t Dat’s rifle? What if someone’s out hunting?”

“I doubt that,” said Anna.

We had caught up with Jacob, who turned to look at us. “I’m certain the neighbors are with him,” he said. “People have to be looking for us. You know how the district is. They come together when there’s trouble. We’re missing, and they’re trying to find us.”

“I hope you’re right, Jacob,” said Anna. “I dearly hope you’re right.” Her hands were on her hips. “But what now? Where do we go? What do we do?”

“Let’s tie some material to a tree,” I said. “At least we’ll know if we’ve been through here. That will tell us if we’re going in a big circle.”

“I’ll do it.” Anna tied a blue strip to a low-lying branch. “There.”

“I wish we could rely on the dog.” I pointed to Molly, who chewed on a tall blade of grass. “She should know the way home. How can we get her to take us there?”

“I know!” Jacob smiled. “We keep following her. She’ll get hungry soon enough. She knows food is at home. She’ll go there when she’s starvin’.”

“I’m starving now.” Anna grimaced. “I need to use the privy too.”

“Go behind the trees.” I pointed. “Jacob and I will wait for you here.”

“My belly doesn’t feel so good. I hope the water wasn’t bad.”

I sighed. “I feel fine so far. It would be awful, if it was contaminated, but the boiling should’ve taken care of that.”

“I’ll be back. I hope there aren’t any snakes. I hate snakes.”

“The snakes around here are harmless. You’ll be fine.” I leaned against a tree, watching Molly eating grass, while my mind spun unhappily. “This is such a mess.”

“I suppose.” Jacob looked thoughtful. “I know we’ll be found today.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve a sense about things.” A streak of dirt smeared his cheek.

“You do?” I found this amusing, trying not to smile.

“Of course. They’ll find us sooner than later. The gunfire came from that way,” he pointed. “That’s where we’re goin’. Molly is gonna be hungry, and she’ll take us home.” He glanced at the dog. “Won’t you, girl?”

“I hope so.” Having run like we did, I yawned, feeling exhaustion stealing upon me. “Gosh, I’m tired. If we don’t see anyone, I hope we can stop for a rest.”

“That’s a capital idea.”

“Thank you.”

Jacob slashed at the grass with his stick. “You’re welcome.” The foliage shook violently then, as something small and gray dashed out and into the woods. “Oh, look at that! That was a rabbit!”

My hand went to my throat. “That scared me silly.” The dog, having seen the commotion, ran after the animal. “Molly! No!” I sighed tiredly. “Come back!”

“She’ll return. It’s a fool’s errand. She’ll never catch that rabbit.”

When Anna returned, we continued, wandering towards where we thought the last shot had originated, although nothing seemed familiar. The woods grew even thicker here, the trees packed densely. The smell of moist earth and pine lingered, along with many buzzing insects, most of which looked like mosquitos and flies. A foul odor indicated something had died recently, but the smell drifted away, as we wandered silently towards an unfamiliar destination. Each person seemed lost in his or her own thoughts, and there were lengthy periods without talking. I remained uncertain about how far we had gone, but it was time to tie another strip of cloth to a tree.

“I’m stopping for a moment.”

Anna glanced at me. “We should find a place to sit for a while. I’m hungry. I’m thirsty.”

“Me too.” The light blue cloth blew in the breeze. “There.” The dog had been missing for the last hour. “Where did Molly go?”

“Molly!” shouted Jacob. “Come back!” He smacked a tree with his stick, the sound carrying. “Molly!” Then he stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled noisily.

“That’s amazing,” I gushed, astonished. “You should keep doing that, Jacob! It’s so loud.”

He grinned. “You think?”

“You should’ve done that yesterday. What other skills are you hiding?”

“Oh, if I had a rifle, I’m a pretty good shot. I’ve killed lots of things with Dat and David.”

Again I had to remind myself that he was only five-years-old. “You keep whistling. This will help us. We’ll find someone soon. I know it.”

“That dog,” griped Anna. “Really. What nerve that animal has. She’s so disobedient and wild. We failed in training her.”

“She’s very young still,” I said. “Dat’s been trying to teach her things. She’s willful.”

“Indeed. She’s been no help what so ever.”

“I know. I can’t argue with you.” Hunger gnawed at me, my belly protesting painfully. “I wish there was food. It must be lunchtime by now.”

“Let’s stop for a bit, and forage,” said Jacob. “Come on now. I think there’s something good up around the bend.”

I was less optimistic. “With our luck, it’ll be just like it is here. I’d love to see a field or a lake or something other than trees. I’m tired of these infernal trees.”

“Let’s sing while we walk,” said Anna. “Singing always helps in any situation.”

“All right.”

In our quest for a comfortable spot to sit, we trudged on through the woods, our boots sinking in soft earth, sometimes to the ankle. It was wetter here, but this was hardly a deterrent, as we were determined to find food and water. Moss covered boulders lay strewn across the landscape, as if deliberately placed. Hanging branches, dangling with leaves, filled my vision. Our voices, which rose in unison, shattered the stillness of the forest. I enjoyed the distraction of singing, while a familiar tune emanated from my lungs. Jacob whistled every now and then and kept singing.

“I would enjoy this more, if I weren’t starving,” mumbled Anna.

She had been so strong early on, and I felt as if she had faltered in her resolve. “We’ll find help soon enough.”

“What about this spot?” Jacob pointed to a patch of open space that looked dry. “We can stop here and look for food.”

“This will do.” I glanced around, but I could not see Molly. “I can’t believe she’s gone again.”

“Hunting rabbits she’ll never catch,” grumbled Anna.

“Let’s look for berries or mushrooms.” I held out a hand to my sister. “Come with me. We’ll go together. I don’t want to be separated.”

“Very well.”

“Once you’ve eaten, you’ll feel better.”

“I hope so.”

We trudged on, side-by-side, our eyes firmly on the ground. “It’s so wet. There have to be mushrooms somewhere.” We knew which ones to avoid.

“Like those.” Anna pointed to the ground, where a cluster of dome-shaped mushrooms had grown. “Those are bad.”

“Yes. We can’t eat them.” We wandered around, pushing back the leaves on bushes, yet only finding the offending mushrooms, which would be poisonous, if we ate them. The lack of variety in mushrooms bothered me. “This isn’t good.”

“What about water? I’m terribly thirsty.”

“There might be a small creek over there.” A wave of dizziness had me reaching for a tree.

“Are you unwell, Rebekah?”

“No, I’m fine. I just … need to drink something. Goodness, I’m lightheaded.”

“Let’s find water first then.”

“What else can be eaten?”

“Berries, dandelions, red clover, oyster mushrooms, wild onions …”

“That sounds lovely, but I don’t see those things.”

“I don’t either.” She seemed to have regained her stamina, running towards a grouping of trees. “Water’s here!”

“Oh, thank heaven. The Lord does provide. Now I wish He would bring a rescue.” I glanced above me, eyeing the branches of an elm tree. “Please help Dat find us. Please.” I joined Anna by the water’s edge, noting the little creek flowed swiftly, the water gushing over glistening rocks. “This is pretty.”

On her hands and knees, Anna threw water at her face. “Tell Jacob to light a fire and bring the bucket.”

“I will.” A think layer of mud coated the bottom of my dress. “Oh, drat.” A whistling sound cut through the air. “That’s Jacob.”

“I wonder where Molly went?”

“I’ve given up on that animal,” I said irritably. “As far as I’m concerned, she’s not helpful in the least.”

“She thinks this is a game.”

“Wouldn’t she be hungry by now? She’d want to go home.”

“She could’ve eaten something in the woods, or maybe she did go home. Maybe she abandoned us.”

I sat on my heels. “That’s likely. She’s been gone ever since she ran after that rabbit.”

“I doubt she caught it. They’re far too fast.”

“We need something to eat. Then we can rest for a while.”

“Why are we continuing on? There’s no reason to. We’re hopelessly lost, Rebekah. It seems the more we walk, the worse it is.”

“We have to emerge at some point. The forest doesn't go on forever.”

“This one seems to.”

I got to my feet. “I’ll find Jacob, and have him make a fire, then I’m looking for food. I need to eat.” My belly grumbled, reminding me of two missed meals.

After the fire had been made and water boiled, Anna and I foraged, aimlessly wandering around, searching for anything edible. I managed to find a small bushel of onions, tearing them from the ground, while Anna discovered blueberries, but there were only a few left on the plant. We brought our meager spoils back to the temporary camp, where Jacob sat with his back to a tree.

“What did you find?” he asked.