Maintaining a steady pace, I steered the machine directly towards the churning water below the small waterfall, not pausing to think twice. As I hit the surface, the snowmobile pivoted slightly, losing its grip on solid ground before finding purchase on the water. To my astonishment, I glided across with surprising ease.
I never expected it would work this effectively. All these years, and I could have been exploring the other side of the river on a machine rather than on foot. But I suppose the risk was never justified until now. Losing the snowmobile would have been disastrous for my survival. However, at this moment, only Buttercup mattered.
I revved the snowmobile up the small incline and navigated it through the woods, dodging fallen logs and unfamiliar terrain, but unwilling to slow down. Bursting from the treeline on the other side, I squinted, trying to pick up Betty’s tracks.
Deer paths crisscrossed the field; the snow trampled down and iced over several times, like freeway cement, offering little in the way of tracks. To make matters worse, snow had begun to fall in sporadic flurries, further blurring any hope of picking up a trail. It’s times like now that a hunting dog would be helpful.
I cursed.
As if things weren’t bad enough, the sun had dipped below the mountain range. The fading blue light of dusk softened the shadows, making dents in the snow difficult to discern.
I spent another hour riding back and forth along the treeline for a few miles in either direction. It was no use. With no clue which way she’d gone, I could be out here all night.
If I had to bet, she would have headed south toward civilization. She wouldn’t go north; that only led further into the woods. Deciding to take my chances, I set off south, moving away from the imposing mountains and cliffs at my back.
Come hell or high water, I would not stop until I found her.
Chapter 21
Betty
Waking, I relished that moment of euphoria before my senses took over. I hummed inwardly and smiled. I’d slept surprisingly well. Everything was warm, cozy, and soft, but admittedlymusty.
I curled my lip in disgust; fur tickling my nostrils as it always did when Mr. Beans slept on my face. I sniffed and buried my nose deeper into his coat, trying to place the smell. The blooming stink of him caused me to recoil.
“Ugh… Gross, Mr. Beans,” I chastised. In his drama, he was letting himself go.
The scent was very distinct and earthy, as if he’d been rolling in the greenhouse potato bin and then dipping his paws in the tanks. I sniffed again. There was definitely a fishy perfume to his fur, threatening a gag to rise in my throat.
Gray had been spoiling him with filets of river trout since we arrived. Leave it to Mr. Beans to make a cologne of it. It wasn’t unlike him to roll in his food bowl when he was especially taken by a meal.
I stroked his fur, my fingers sinking in to scratch his skin just the way he liked. His coat had grown thick in the colder environment. In response to my scratching, a long, deep purr emanated from him, so profound it vibrated through my entire body like a massage chair.
My eyes snapped open, hand stilling. Unless Mr. Beans had been hitting the gym and dosing testosterone, the sound of his purr was all wrong.
I inched my fingers out of the fur and tried to squirm, but I was wedged like a wine cork in the neck of a bottle. Yesterday’s events rushed back like an avalanche, each disastrous moment a tumbling boulder over the earthquake of the day.
This was not the cabin, nor my bed, nor my cat.
I blinked hard, telling myself to wake the hell up. This was no time to dally. Blinking a few more times, there was too much fur obscuring my vision to see what I was working with. Only a slight glow of light filtered through the bristles of hair, and I couldn’t reach my face to clear it.
It was black fur, pressing in on all sides, dense and cumbersome. To make matters worse, there was a sharp rock digging into my back. My helmeted head, wedged between the cliff and the ground, was immobile.
I was hopelessly stuck, but too scared to even imagine by what.
The furry thing shifted then, and the creature purred one more time, its massive weight rolling against me and stealing my breath. It settled and let out a deep sigh, and thankfully, the distance between me and the wall grew enough that I could shimmy, and shimmy I did.
“Please God, let me live,” I whispered while I wriggled like a worm, inching my way down until I could finally free myself from the crevice that had held me captive.“Why me?” I whisper-cried.
Pushing myself away and scrambling to a sitting position, I put space between me and the enormous, fuzzy black ball of breathing flesh until my back hit the wall on the other side of the cavern.
Bear.
It was a ball of pure bear.
Fuck me.
I stifled a scream, clapping my hands over my mouth. My fingers, once knuckle-deep in the bear’s fur, assaulted me with their smell, like a slap in the face. A squeak of disgust escaped me, and I dropped my hands to spit a few times, sure the smell now lived in my mouth.
