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She
shook her head again. This time a wooziness threatened to
swallow her up. Taking several more breaths, she bent over and
managed to keep from blacking out again. “You need to find shelter and
pronto, Leigh Ann Readon. Shelter and a phone. Maybe not in that
order. Just seeing another person would be a better start. Give
you an idea of where you are.” She took her time getting to her
feet. Turning in a complete circle, she searched the landscape
again, hoping to find some sign of civilization. If not that,
maybe a body of water. People always flocked to bodies of water.
But the raw countryside continued as far as she could see. “Well, shit. Guess I’ll have to
hoof it, and hope I find something soon.” Off to her left was a tree line.
She debated whether or not to head in that direction. Not
knowing the area, were there any wild animals she’d have to
worry about? “What if there’s bears? Bears
can climb trees. So can mountain lions, or any lions, for that
matter.” She looked around her again. “What if I overshot
France, and I’m now in Africa? Does this look like the veldt to
you?” Trees?
Or open field?
Six of one, half-dozen of the
other. “Well, the longer I continue to
stand here and debate the issue with myself, the later it’s
going to get, until it’ll be too dark to keep going.” She opted for the open field.
“That way, if someone shows up, I’ll be able to see them and
flag them down. Or if some kind of creature shows up, I’ll be
able to see them… Stop it! What am I doing? Trying to freak
myself out?” Pain
sliced up her arm when she inadvertently jostled it. Hissing,
she winced. A check of her wound showed a long tear into her
skin from her elbow to about midway toward her wrist. The
bleeding had slowed to a crawl, and there was a hole at both
ends, making her believe the bullet had exited and wasn’t lodged
in her arm. Saying a quick prayer of thanks, she removed her
blouse and wrapped it tightly around her arm before tying the
ends in a knot, using her teeth to make it tight. Slipping it
back over her head, she set her arm inside the improvised sling.
Once it was settled, the pain lessened.
Okay, so now I’m walking
around in my bra. Big deal. I’ve seen skimpier bikinis.
She checked the area again as
she took off. She needed something to drink in addition to
getting medical attention. Although it wasn’t a hot day, it was
muggy, and it wasn’t long before she began to think sticking to
the open field wasn’t one of her best decisions. Twice she was
forced to pause and rest in order to keep from blacking out.
At the bottom of a hill, she
silently rejoiced to see a small stream. Rushing to it, she
knelt and scooped up several mouthfuls of the cold liquid. She
couldn’t remember tasting anything as wonderful. Once she was
full, she wiped her face and chest. It was enough to give her
her second wind. Leigh scoped out the terrain
again. She didn’t know how far she’d gone, but wherever she was,
it was literally in the middle of nowhere. “I’m not in France.
I’m willing to bet anything I’m not. But I’m not in Kansas
anymore, either.” She managed a wry grin at the bad joke.
Something caught her eye. A
movement. She stared into the distance, waiting to see if it
happened again. It did, and she jumped to her feet. She started
to wave her good arm and shout at it, when common sense took
over. What if it was an animal? What if it was something— Another movement. This time
there was no mistaking what she’d seen. A figure stood from
where it had been crouching in the tall grass. His back was to
her, but there was no mistaking it was a man. She frowned. A man who appeared
to be naked, at least from the waist up. He was looking off into
the distance at something, and he raised his arm. He raised his
spear. Leigh stared in wide-eyed
fascination. A half-naked man with a spear? “Where the hell am
I?” The guy
gestured and shouted something she couldn’t make out. Was he
shouting
to
someone, or
at
something?
“All right, Leigh Ann. Do I
attempt to approach him? What if he’s not friendly to total
strangers? And don’t forget the fact that I’m female. I could be
setting myself up for something I’ll regret later on.” She swiped the hair away from
her face, when a soft growl came from over her left shoulder.
Fear threatened to turn her legs into concrete as she slowly
rotated her head to look in that direction. Again, a rumbling
came from the throat of some creature she couldn’t see, this
time closer. She backed away, moving as
slowly as she could. Something moved in the grasses. Whatever it
was, it blended in perfectly. She
fought to keep calm. Fought not to bolt and run, because if she
did, whatever was stalking her, and it
was
stalking her, would bring her
down before she took a dozen steps. The thing took two steps
forward, parting the grasses until she could see the enormous,
broad head the color of sun-ripened wheat.
Oh, shit! It’s a mountain lion. A big, ginormous
mountain lion! She blinked, and the blood
seemed to drain out of her body. Were those teeth sticking out
of its jaws? Or tusks? |
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