Jo gazed across the meadow, at the hill, and sighed.
“We’ll find him,” Dove said to her, squeezing her arm.
She looked at Dove with resigned, disconsolate eyes. “He’s not here.”
“Where is he?”
Jo shook her head. She swallowed the pain gripping her throat. “Come with me.”
Dove was quiet, so were the others as they followed Jo. No one asked any questions.
She walked with her head down. The ground was a liquid green and brown.
She led her friends across the meadow, across the trail they had happily tread on yesterday morning, to the fallen tree she had put Red’s body under the night before; to the place where she had been standing when Jon swooped down and took her away. She knew there was no danger being in that spot now, but there was the dread of what she was about to find.
She stopped at the trunk and turned around, scanning the uncertain faces of her friends. In the light of day, she saw just how dirty and beat up they were. They eyed her as if they weren’t sure about her mental state. She took a deep breath. “When I was escaping from Red last night, I burned her head and stabbed her with a stick of aspen. And then I...well…she fell unconscious, so I dragged her over to this log to hide her. But…I don’t know if she’s alive. And I don’t know if she’s one of them, or not.”
April covered her mouth with her hand. The others shifted uneasily. Mike’s gaped and his brow creased.
Jo knelt and began to dig out Red’s body. Mike squatted beside her. She scraped carefully at the earth and foliage until her fingers grazed supple flesh. A swatch of clothing became visible.
“Oh, my gosh,” Mike uttered under his breath.
The others moved up close behind them.
Jo halted for a second when a patch of Red’s face appeared. She took a nervous breath. Her hand swept the dirt away from the soft flesh with quick, short strokes, revealing pale skin dotted with auburn freckles. She carefully flicked the soil from the girl’s head and her copper-colored hair became visible. Jo expelled the breath she’d been holding.
“Help me get her out of here,” she said, looking up at Drew, the only guy not hindered by injury. Together they moved the crumpled, dust-covered waif out of the hole and away from the tree trunk. Her left shoulder had obviously experienced trauma and dried blood stained the front of her white tank top in a shade of rust-brown. The burn on the side of her head was gone; the charred scalp was healthy and covered with thick hair.
“Oh, Red.” Dove fell on her knees on the opposite side of the still body. While April continued to brush the dirt off Red’s clothing and her bare legs, Dove picked up her wrist and felt for her pulse.
“Is she alive?” April asked.
Jo tensed and her stomach twisted.
“Yes,” Dove answered excitedly, holding Red’s hand in hers.
“Thank, God,” Mike said.
Lary blew a breath out through his lips.
Jo tilted her face to the sky and sat back on her bottom. Thank you, Lord. With her knees bent, she folded her arms on top of them and hid her face. The feelings she had kept in check over her ordeal with Red began to unravel. Emotion poured over her like an ocean wave—it wasn’t just about Red. She held her trembling lips together and squeezed her eyes shut tightly, but the tears managed to slip out between her lashes. She willed herself to hang on because she didn’t want to break down. Not here…not yet. Her throat was swollen and her jaw ached.
There was a light touch on her hip. She sniffed back the fluid running out of her nose and turned her head, expecting to see Dove’s hand. But it wasn’t Dove’s hand. The small body lying next to her moved. She blinked to clear her vision. Red peeked up at her with sleepy, emerald eyes, with crumbles of earth still in her eyelashes. Her dry lips turned up in a weak smile. She lifted her arm, trying to reach Jo’s shoulder, but she was too weak and her hand grazed Jo’s arm and fell limp on the grass.
“Jo,” she said, in a barely audible whisper.
Jo scrambled to her knees and bent over Red. She smoothed Red’s hair back from her forehead. Her heart raced.
“I’m sorry,” Red whispered.
“Red, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
There was contrition in Red’s gaze. “Jo…” Her eyelids fluttered and closed, like a green flame burning out.
Dove checked her pulse again. “We’ve got to get her out of here—fast.”
Jo wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. She looked up at Mike, “Do you think you can carry her?”
“I can try.”
But his wrist was in too much pain. Lary wanted to try, but it was obvious he couldn’t.
“Step aside, children.” Drew squatted beside Red. He placed his arms underneath her and lifted her up. “The ride might be a little bumpy,” he said, looking down at the girl’s face. April stood beside him and rubbed his arm. Drew’s whole body seemed to swell with strength. “Let’s make like a nut and bolt.”
Even Lary managed a grin.
“I know a short-cut,” Jo told them and led them back the way she and Galen had come that night.
Jo took a last look at the meadow. The grass gleamed and the sunlight glinted on leaves. She spotted something shiny and stooped to pick it up. She studied it for a few seconds and put it in her pocket.