She’d said what she was going to retrieve, but his cloudy mind hadn’t picked out the words. If he let himself, he could easily drift into oblivion as he lay here, mired in muddy snow.
A thumping registered, approaching from somewhere past his feet. He cracked his eyes open. Only a little, for the light made his head pound harder, but he could just make out Audrey walking toward him.
He let his eyes drift shut again. His mind didn’t have the strength to decipher what she carried.
She dropped to her knees beside him. “I gathered the packs, then found two walking sticks that will help you get back up to the cave. I wish you could stay here and rest a while, but the searchers might be out any time, and we have to get you to shelter.”
If he’d had the energy, he might have groaned at her suggestion.She was right, they weren’t safe out here. But climb that mountain? Everything inside him revolted against the idea.
Then cool soft fingers brushed across his brow, sending tendrils of relief all the way through him. As her touch feathered down his temple, new life seemed to rise up everywhere her hand moved.
He focused on steadying his breathing as she stroked his other temple. She might really be an angel, as much power as her fingers possessed.
Then she pulled her hand away, and the ache resumed in his head.
“More.” The word slipped out, a desperate attempt to restore the comfort of her touch.
Those gentle fingers settled on his brow again. “This?” Her voice sounded uncertain, tentative.
He leaned into the touch as she slid her hand down the side of his face. “Helps.” If only he could tell her how much.
She continued to stroke his face—his brow, his temples, his cheeks. But when she ran the tips of her fingernails through his hair, he nearly groaned. He’d better get up now, before her fingers lulled him to sleep.
Forcing his eyes open, he saw her beautiful face. Even with worry lines fanning under her eyes, just the sight of her brought something alive inside him. She’d done so much for him. The least he could do was put forth whatever effort he had to so they could both get up to the cave. He couldn’t let her be discovered helping him. When she was ready to return to her people, it had to be on her own terms.
Locking that determination inside to fuel him, he dropped his gaze to the bundles beside her. “Let me have the walking sticks.”
Getting on his feet sent a new wave of pain through him. Not the all-consuming inferno engulfing his hip from before, but a smaller flame had definitely rekindled there. His ribs and head had resumed their pounding, too, making even shallow breaths a challenge.
As he gripped the poles, he worked to steady his breathing. That might take days, though, so he finally turned himself toward the mountain.
He managed the first few steps with a little of his dignity intact. But as they ascended, Audrey hovering on the side of his injured hip, the pain and exhaustion pressed him lower, stealing both breath and strength. Only his grip on the sticks kept him from crumpling onto the stones he stumbled over.
“You can do this. We’re making good progress.” Audrey kept up steady encouragement, her gentle tone nudging when he wasn’t sure he could manage another step.
It might have taken all day to reach the trail beside the cliff where the path grew steepest. It certainly felt like hours had passed since they started out from the mountain’s base. Audrey had grown tense beside him, probably worried about searchers appearing. He hadn’t the strength to focus on anything other than the next movement.
“We’re almost there.” Her hand gripped his arm, pushing him up the last part of the slope.
The green of juniper needles appeared in his blurry vision. A few more steps. Once he reached the darkness of the cave, he could give in to the fathomless exhaustion that was desperate to overwhelm him.
The moment the shadow of the cave covered him, his arms slackened like custard, and his knees buckled. His ribsscreamed, but they could hardly grow louder than when they’d screeched as he struggled to climb.
Audrey’s arms were at his back, easing him to a sitting position, then helping him lie back. Laying his legs out straight to soften the pounding in his hip.
Without her, he might have died down in the muddy snow—a slow, torturous end. He had so much to thank her for. And he would make sure he said the words ... as soon as his body found the strength.
Audrey finally let herself pause to breathe. As they’d climbed the last few steps to duck behind the juniper tree, she’d glimpsed people on the mountain beside theirs. Brielle had been one of the figures, but Audrey hadn’t waited to determine who was with her. She could only pray they hadn’t looked to this spot before she tugged Levi to safety.
There was nothing she could do about the muddy footprints marring the ground where Levi fell. At least their tracks disappeared on the stone mountainside.
Levi needed to be moved deeper into the cave where they’d camped before, but that could wait a little while for him to regain some strength after the climb. She should bring a few blankets to keep him warm and provide a softer pillow than the hard stone. She also needed to wrap the hip to support the joint as it healed. And the arrow wound on his side should be re-tended. That bandage could also help wrap his injured ribs. She should do a full check for other injuries, though the thought of that sent heat swarming up her neck.
But all that could wait a few minutes. Levi needed rest,and her own mind needed a moment to clear. This was a good time to see how many searchers had come out today.
When she peered out the cave opening, people had already moved onto their mountain, so she stayed well within the shadows of the cave, leaning out only enough to see them. Two of the men entered the nearby cave they’d found yesterday. They brought a torch this time, which they lit just before entering with knives drawn. Within less than a minute, they reemerged. That cave must be as small as this one.
As the search party spread wide, fanning both higher up the mountain and down near its base, Audrey’s middle churned. They would find Leonard soon. Two older men from the village traipsed toward the cluster of trees where she’d procured a brace for Levi’s leg. They would probably be the ones to discover the blood and footprints, which would lead them to Leonard’s body.
