The birds kept chirping and the sun kept shining.No one jumped out of the shadows with a big-assed crossbow.I waited a few minutes just to be sure and then tossed another stone out.
Again, nothing.
I gathered the tattered remnants of my courage, taking one shaky step out into the sunshine before stopping to scan the clearing for any sign of the bad guys.Nope.No one in sight.Maybe they really had taken off.Bad guys would have schedules to keep, too.If nothing else, they’d need to catch the right tide to make it back to wherever they’d come from before dark.
I loosened my death grip on Diego’s collar, but he stayed by my side, alert and watchful.“Let’s go home, boy.I think I’ve had enough alone time for today.”
Right now, getting lost in a whole crowd of people sounded heavenly.My mind flashed back to the Zodiac I’d seen on the beach when I arrived.I’d just have to make sure it was nowhere in sight before I left the safety of the tree line for the open beach.Made sense that whoever owned the Zodiac was the one that shot the arrow at me.
So far so good.I took another couple of steps, still poised to make a dash back to the cave if necessary.
Nothing stirred.
I was starting to feel decidedly paranoid.
There really had been someone shooting at me and chasing me.I hadn’t imagined it.“You heard them, right, boy?”I rested my hand on Diego’s back, his presence lending me courage.
Diego let out a softwoofand nuzzled my hip.He really was the best male companion I’d ever had, bar none.
“Okay then.”I surveyed the path I’d come up on.“Should we follow the path back, or strike out cross country?”It really wasn’t much of a choice.Charging through the underbrush would be difficult, and possibly just as dangerous as getting shot at.Add to the difficulty of maneuvering in heavy brush, the fact that doing so would make enough noise to waken the dead… It would be insane to even try it.“Fine.The path it is.”
I kept a close eye on everything as I hurried toward the familiar path.Just because no one had popped out yet didn’t mean it was safe.I glanced down at Diego.He’d sense another person close by long before I did.
Yeah.I might be just a tiny bit paranoid.
The walk back down the path wasn’t anywhere near as relaxing as I normally found it.Diego took point, walking in front of me with his body held stiffly on alert and his ears in constant motion.
Would I ever be able to relax and enjoy my island again?
For the first time since the arrow had sailed past my ear, I felt anger start to rise.How dare they!What gave them the right to ruin the one place where I could come to be alone?I hoped their boat got a hole in it when they were far from landfall, and they had to bob up and down in the ocean until someone found them.That would teach them to stay away from my island.
Diego stopped so suddenly, I almost tripped over him.My pulse cranked right up to high speed again.The big mutt let out a muffled sound, a strange cross between a growl and a bark.
What the hell?
Before I realized what he intended, he took off to the left down a path I could barely make out.He headed in the wrong direction, away from the beach and the safety of the kayak.Damn.Of course I had to follow him, but when I caught up with him, I’d bloody well make sure he knew who the boss in this relationship was.And it wasn’t him.
Every time I trusted a male, I ended up regretting it.
I ducked under a low hanging branch at the last second, barely missing getting clotheslined.
“Diego.Stop,” I hissed in a low voice.No point in alerting the bad guys to my presence if they were still in the area.
The big dog paused, turning to look at me.He let out a low whine but immediately pivoted to plunge farther down the side trail.
I sighed and fought my way through the underbrush behind him.This trail must have been made by raccoons or some other type of rodent that kept the bottom two or three feet clear but failed to get rid of all the low hanging branches that kept slapping me in the face.
I froze at a noise up ahead.It sounded like some kind of wounded animal.Had those morons shot some poor beast and left it to die slowly of its wounds?In this damp climate any type of untreated wound could easily become infected and cause the poor animal untold pain and suffering.
No wonder they were in such a hurry to get off the island.They were probably hunting illegally, and they didn’t want to get caught.The penalties for poaching were stiff.
Unless…
I felt the shock go right through my system.
Unless they’d shot the spirit bear.
I stopped trying to be quiet and plunged down the path in the wake of Diego.Branches reached down, trying to hold me back, catching on my clothes and slapping me in the face but I barely felt them.I felt sick at the thought that someone might have actually harmed the magnificent white animal.
