The faster he moved, the clumsier he got. Not only were his feet numb, but his gloveless hands burned from so much contact with the icy stone. Rocks skittered from under his feet, and he stumbled to his knees more than once. But he still made progress.
His pursuers wouldn’t have wet feet to slow them down, though. They could travel twice as fast as he could over this mountain.
His only hope was to hide. He no longer had time to find the cave.
He straightened and scanned the area around him. Boulders littered the slope, several of them large enough to conceal him. But his pursuers would see him the moment they passed wherever he perched. Could he shift arounda rock so he always kept the stone between him and his pursuers?
Perhaps. That seemed like a questionable possibility, but it might be his only option.
The echo of stones clattering behind him brought his attention around. The two men had reached the base of the mountain, and a third had joined them now. One appeared to be the woman who dressed like a man, but he didn’t take time to recognize the others. He didn’t have a second to waste.
Spinning back around, he glanced from boulder to boulder to pick the best choice. A rock that would shield him completely and allow him to shift around it when his pursuers passed.
There. The stone about fifteen strides forward and a little down the slope should do.
Just as he started forward, a force slammed into his side. He stumbled to the left and barely kept from tumbling.
A piercing pain penetrated his awareness, like a knife between his ribs. He twisted to see an arrow protruding from his right side. His breath came hard. His thick fur coat had stopped the missile from going in deep. He could pull out the head and keep moving.
Fumbling with the buttons of his coat, he finally worked enough to pull the right flap away from his body. As he moved the coat, the arrowhead shifted inside him, biting deeper into his flesh.
He reached for the place where the shaft met his side. The stone head penetrated his skin but hadn’t fully submerged in his flesh.Thank you, Lord.
Locking his jaw, he wrapped his hand around the base of the shaft and gave a hard outward tug.
The arrow pulled out of his flesh, leaving behind a fresh burning. He pressed his shirt to the area to staunch any blood flow. He could bandage himself later. The arrow still protruded through the hole in his coat, but he didn’t have time to work it out now.
Sounds of footsteps on rocks drifted toward him, but his pursuers had disappeared temporarily behind boulders on the slope. He had to move now.
Ducking low, he scrambled forward and down to the boulder he’d chosen to hide behind. He reached the stone and tucked behind it, then forced himself to still. His breath came in deep gasps, the icy air burning his lungs and making his vision wavy. His side still stung, and his feet felt like limestone blocks that didn’t belong to his body.
But maybe he was safe.
The steps grew nearer, perhaps reaching the place he’d been when he was struck with the arrow. A man’s voice sounded, too low for him to understand. The woman responded, her words also indecipherable.
Levi forced his breath to slow and quiet. His eyes struggled to focus, as though he were light-headed. He worked for deeper breaths, though still as silent as he could manage. Was this a side effect of so much exertion with his feet benumbed? He’d never felt this odd sensation, like he was both heavy and light at the same time. Of course, he’d never run through an icy creek then climbed a mountain before.
The footsteps came closer but didn’t sound like they were on the same path as before. Had they gone farther up the mountain? Or down? Maybe the searchers had spread out.
His vision became even more blurry, and a fog descended in his mind, making it hard to think through the questions.Had he grown too cold and his body was beginning to succumb to the elements? Surely not. The air held the sharp bite of winter, but many of the nights he’d endured on the ride north to this place had been more frigid.
His mind finally registered footsteps almost precisely above him. He had to move, had to shift down below the boulder. He might already be too late. With his vision so dim, he couldn’t know for sure.
With as much effort as he could manage, he lifted the foreign blocks his feet had become high enough so they didn’t scrape on the stone.
If he tucked down on his belly and curled his feet underneath him like a turtle, the light fur of his coat might blend into the rock. If they saw him, they may think him an animal and come to investigate.
Still, he bent low, tucking as close to the boulder as he could. Though his sight seemed to be growing darker, his ears picked out the sounds of footsteps above him still. Were they moving faster now? Past him? As he strained to focus his eyes, a yawn forced his mouth open. Why would his body not cooperate? The cold must have addled him completely. He’d heard that sleepiness could be one indicator that a man’s body had grown so chilled that he risked freezing to death.
He had to stay awake. Had to make his eyes work again.
As best he could tell, his pursuers had moved past him. He needed to shift around to keep the stone positioned between him and them, but he didn’t dare move when he couldn’t see where he stepped. Only a faint light penetrated his vision now.
Fear shivered through him. Would the blindness leave when he got warm? How could he start a fire if he couldn’t see tofind the cave? Maybe it would help to take off these wet shoes and socks and wrap his feet. He’d have to move around a great deal to remove the coat and tug off both his tunic and undershirt. Perhaps he would wait for that part until he knew for sure his pursuers were out of sight.
Even now, strains of their voices drifted back to him.
Pressing close to the boulder, he shifted his back to the voices. His numb fingers struggled to pull off his boots. His legs moved when he told them to, but the sensation was so strange since he couldn’t feel his feet. Another yawn forced its way out while he worked. His head felt impossibly heavy, yet fear gave him strength to finally tug off both boots, then the stockings.
