Edward takes aim

“T his way!” Eric yelled.

Her sneakers slipping on the wet sand, Cari followed him into the woods. “Hurry!” she said to Craig and tried to peer through the darkness to the pool house. Edward still hadn’t emerged.

Into the safety of the woods.

The three of them, running, slowed their pace only a little to follow the twisted path through the trees. The rain had turned to a drizzle, but a fresh burst of large cold drops fell onto them every time a gust of wind shook the leaves.

Like rifle fire, Cari thought.

Rifle fire hailing down.

The clouds parted just then for the pale moon to show through the treetops, making the woods silvery and ghostlike. The leaves shimmered eerily, wisps of mist rose damp and warm around them.

“Where are we going?” Craig called.

“Just keep running,” Cari said, breathing hard. “Ouch!”

A twig on a low tree branch snapped hard against her forehead. She stopped, stunned by the sudden stab of pain. Rubbing the spot, she realized she was okay.

A gust of wind sent down another volley of raindrops from the trees. She ducked away, too late, and was completely drenched.

They ran a bit farther into the woods. The path ended suddenly, and brambles rose up menacingly, blocking their way.

“Where are we going?” Craig repeated, sounding a little more frantic. “Stop! Come on —where are we going?”

They stopped and huddled together under a wide tree. The ground is dry here, Cari realized. The trees were so thick, the rain couldn’t get down to them. She struggled to catch her breath.

A tremor of wind. The leaves seemed to shiver.

“Is he coming?” Craig asked, pressing both hands against the rough bark of the tree.

They all listened.

The only sounds were the eerie whispers of the wind and their own heavy breathing.

“He’s going to hunt us down,” Cari blurted out. “Like animals.”

She pictured again the four heads on the wall of the trophy room. The four human heads, their expressions frozen in horror.

Were they the victims of Edward’s last hunting party?

“We can’t just keep running,” she told them, wiping the warm perspiration off her forehead with the sleeve of her T-shirt. “We need a plan.”

“We’ve got to get off this island,” Craig said, searching behind him, his face reflecting his fear.

“We’ve already tried that,” Eric said, tugging nervously at his ponytail. He slapped at a mosquito on his arm. “We can’t get off the island without a boat.”

“We’ll build a canoe out of tree bark,” Cari said. “Isn’t that what the Indians did?”

“Very helpful,” Eric muttered. Despite his fear, he smiled at her. “You have a weird sense of humor.”

“Just trying to keep it together,” Cari said, realizing she could lose the struggle at any moment, fall apart, let the fear take over. At least the rain had stopped.

“We’ve got to call the police,” Eric said. “Willow Island is only ten minutes away. If only …” His voice trailed off.

“All the phones are back at the hotel,” Cari said, slapping a mosquito on her knee.

“So we’ll go back there,” Eric said.

“You’re not serious,” Craig exclaimed.

“Yes, I am. We’ll sneak back to the hotel and call the police.”

“But what if Edward or Martin—” Craig started.

“That’s the last place they’ll look for us—right?” Eric asked.

“I’m not so sure,” Cari said, rubbing the fresh mosquito bite that swelled on her knee. “We don’t know where Martin is, do we?”

“They’re probably both coming after us,” Craig said, his voice trembling. “Hunting us down.”

“So we’ll double back, sneak into the hotel, and call the police,” Eric said. “Then we just have to hide out until the police get here.”

“Hide where?” Craig asked doubtfully.

“I don’t know. In the hotel maybe,” Eric said impatiently.

“I think it’s safer hiding in the woods,” Craig said.

“Safe for how long?” Eric asked.

“Eric is right,” Cari said. “We can’t just hide forever. We’ve got to do something to save ourselves, to get us away from this dreadful place, and to save Jan. At least if we get into the hotel we have a chance of phoning someone, of getting help.”

After a few more seconds of whispered discussion, they all agreed to the plan. “We should stay off the path on the way back,” Cari said as they started walking quickly in the direction of the hotel.

A burst of wind brought another shower of water down on them.

And then they heard the rifle shot.

And saw Edward just ahead, between two low trees; his rifle was aimed at them, poised to explode in another shot.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20