Prologue
All I can do is bite back the pain.
When the trap first snapped shut around my ankle, I howled up at the night sky like an injured animal.
But now that the initial shock is over, I can control myself more easily.
As my frightened hyperventilating slows down to soft panting, I try to assess the situation more clearly.
My boot and thick socks protected me from the rusty teeth trying to dig through to the bone of my right foot, but it doesn’t look good.The ankle nerves throb as I try to wriggle free without gouging the skin against the snare’s jagged fangs.
Sitting forward, I attempt to insert my fingers between the teeth while prising the trap open.
I may as well be trying to open Fort Knox with a nail file.
Huffing, I give up and look around the forest helplessly.It’s easy to see Muohta threading through the trees towards me.The Samoyed’s white fur glows in the moonlight.
It comforts me to know my new dog will be by my side.At least I’m not alone.
“Muohta.Good boy.Come.”Patting the ground next to me, I make encouraging noises.“I’m afraid I’ve gone and done something very stupid.My… my foot’s stuck in an old bear trap.Come and sit next to me.”
But Muohta has other ideas.Stopping two yards away from me, he barks.
“Come on, you naughty pooch.If anyone ever needed a hug, it’s me.”
When I speak, I notice my voice has a tremor.The cold, hard facts are slowly dawning on me.
I’m new in town.
No one knows where I went, and nor is anyone expecting me to come back.
And the shortcut I took across Ben Magoo’s land is totally isolated, as well as being half a mile away from the road.
Not that the road would have any traffic on it.This is Landslide, or as I like to call it, The Land That Time Forgot.
Luna, you damn fool!Why didn’t I listen to my best friend Tallie before I came here?
“Beware of those little backwater towns, Luna.One step—one word—out of line, and you can say bye-bye to your good girl reputation.”
“D’you think they’ll be conservative?”I’d mumbled the question even though I wasn’t really interested in the answer.I hate packing.I think I was trying to cram another pair of sneakers into my suitcase at the time.
“Mm-mh, definitely, but throw in a smidge of cabin fever and a hefty dose of distrust of strangers in there for good measure, too.My advice?Go to Landslide with a muzzle on those usually outspoken views of yours.And whatever you do, don’t wander off alone or go knocking on any spooky cabin doors.”
It’s so easy to forget all those cautionary tales about hikers straying off the path when you’re outdoors here, because Landslide is not a wilderness, exactly.It’s more like a land in limbo.A place suspended between utter isolation and a poor attempt at civilization.
Gritting my teeth, I see if I can lift my leg with the trap attached to it.Even if I can just hobble or crawl to the verge of the road, I would be able to sit there until a vehicle comes along.
“Argh!”The trap is chained to an iron stake driven into the ground—and I just yanked on it.In agony, I scream at the moon once more.
Female skeleton found in the woods on Ben Magoo’s land.
I can see the headlines in my head right now.
No!I won’t let this misfortune define who I am!I refuse to die.I’m a fighter, just like my dad.There has to be a way out of this.
“Muohta.”This time I force my voice to be calm.“Come and lie here with me.Let’s think of a plan together.”
Cocking his head to one side, the dog blinks and then barks again, his pink tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.
