Then they could push farther. He wouldn’t stop until they found Charlotte.
“I need to go back and make sure they’re all right.” Charlotte studied her father as she waited for his answer. They’d stepped away from the rest of the group—Brielle, Evan, Levi, and Uncle Carter. And Hugo.
She’d planned to accompany them all home, but as she relayed her tale to her father, a worry had slipped in, settlingdeep. Perhaps this was simply her longing not to lose Damien, but the feeling seemed like more. When she thought of walking toward the village, away from where she left him, panic welled inside her that couldn’t be from simple longing.
Something was wrong. Maybe with Gulliver. Perhaps with Damien. She couldn’t turn away and leave them behind.
Her father didn’t look certain, though. “We don’t even know this man, Charlotte. Besides, if he’s as capable as you say, he’ll have no problem finding Laurent after his animal is recovered.” His eyes held a bit of reproof when he spoke of Damien finding Laurent. As though she shouldn’t have given directions to an outsider.
Regarding anyone else, she would agree with him. More and more, though, she was having trouble thinking of Damien as an outsider. He certainly didn’t possess that title in her own life. Andshewas part of Laurent.
Even more, she wanted him to see that part of her. To meet her family, experience the village that had formed her life.
But before that could happen, she had to make sure he arrived, and an inner warning told her he needed help. She simply had to convince her father.
She pressed a hand to her chest. “Something’s wrong. I feel it here, and I can’t ignore it. I’m going back to find him and do what I can to help. I know the way to Laurent. I’ll be home as soon as we can get there.”
Papa studied her with eyes that seemed older than his years. The last thing she wanted was to put this worry on him. She was his youngest daughter, and he was accustomed to protecting her, even if she didn’t need as much oversight now.
She softened her voice. “I’ll see if Brielle and Evan willgo with me. The rest of you can return home and rest.” The search had clearly worn him out, giving him a haggard look that hadn’t been there before.
But her father straightened. “I’ll come with you. Brielle and Evan, too, if they want to accompany us. The others can go back to tell everyone you’re safe.” His look turned pointed. “Andre is nearly beside himself. Especially when I wouldn’t let him come along this time.”
Her heart clutched at the thought of her baby brother worrying. She’d been both sister and mother to him since Mama died when he was too young to remember. She should have thought what her sudden leaving would do to Andre.
She could remedy that later. For now, there was no time to lose. She looked past her father to the rest of the group. “Do you want to tell them or should I?”
Damien shouldn’t have pushed Gulliver so far.
They’d trudged hours into the night—he lost track of how much time. But he was determined to reach the lake before stopping. That last half hour turned out to be the mule’s undoing. There was nothing very different in the terrain, except that it grew hillier as they skirted the base of a mountain.
Yet by the time they reached the creek that fed into the lake, the mule’s limp had grown decidedly stronger.
“Just a little farther, fella.” He patted his faithful companion’s neck. “At least it’s not as cold as it has been.” After dark fell, a warm wind had begun to blow. A blessed relief, though he’d been sweating under his load for a while now.
At last, they reached the hollow where he’d staked Gulliverthe last time they came through here. He dropped his pack with a thud and sank down to sit on it. “We made it.” He could hobble Gulliver here again, then climb down to the cave. He wanted to see it once more, sure, but a bigger part of him wanted to relive those memories of his early days with Charlotte. She’d been such a slight, skittish thing, making him want to do everything in his power to ease her fears and protect her.
That last part hadn’t changed, but in only a few days she’d gone from timid to seasoned. Charlotte Durand truly was remarkable.
After unsaddling and feeding the mule, then securing him for the night, he gave the animal a final pat and turned to his own bundle. Trying to climb down the cliff wall to the cave with this massive load rising high above his head would throw off his balance. Better to leave the furs in the crook of a tree.
Once he’d secured them, he turned his exhausted self toward the lake. The moonlight shone across the expanse of snow that had layered over the ice. At least the tall bank around three sides of the lake would make it clear to newcomers that ice and water lay underneath the layers of pristine white.
When he dropped to his knees and peered over the cliff, he spotted the hand and footholds he’d used before. A layer of snow covered them, but that would be easy enough to brush off.
He lowered to his belly and swung his legs down the cliff, searching for those perches that had been so familiar only a week ago.
There. His left foot found a slot, then his right. The holdswere still icy, though he’d expected them to have melted with this warm wind. He managed to kick off the slippery covering.
One by one, he maneuvered down from grip to grip. Almost to the cave. He reached with his right foot to knock the snow off the crevice he needed to place his toe in, but his boot slipped on the icy stone.
He gripped hard to keep from falling, even as his body swung right with the momentum of his slide. He struggled to stretch far enough for his foot to land on the cave floor. He could manage it, just barely.
But the stretch shoved his other foot out of its hold, his boot slipping along the icy stone wall. His body nearly rent in two, and a cry slipped out as pain coursed through him. He pushed against the rock, doing his best to swing over into the cave opening. But his fingers were losing their grip.
He couldn’t stop the fall, but at least the snow below would give a gentle landing on the ice. He released the cliff completely and pushed away so he wasn’t scraped on his way down. He did his best to brace for the landing.
The drop into the snow wrapped frozen fluff around him, then his hip hit hard against the ice. A soft whoosh sounded again as the solid shelf beneath him gave way.
