Cold Fear Read Free

to Paige, the last time he hugged her. He refused to
accept that his last words to his daughter were spat at her in anger.
    “We’ve got to get help, Em. At first light, I’ll double
time it back to the shuttle bus drop. We’ll alert the rangers.”
    “But it took us two days to hike to this spot.”
    “We have no choice. You stay here in case she returns.
Do not look anymore. Stay here!”
    Emily sniffed and nodded. “And hungry. She’ll be hungry,
Doug.”
    “She’s a smart girl. She’ll build a shelter or
something.”
    “She’s from the city. She has never set foot in the
woods in her life. Not until I dragged everyone here! Why is this happening?
She was so heartbroken yesterday at our arguing. She said she would run off of
a mountain because of me. Doug it’s me, it’s…Damn it Doug. Why weren’t you
watching her? I don’t understand how you could let her walk off. Why?”
    “Stop it! This does not help! We cannot sit here blaming
ourselves. This does not help Paige. Do you hear me? Don’t give up on her!”
    Emily nodded, stifling her sobbing.
    “Doug, exactly how did you hurt your hand?”
    “I told you, chopping wood,” he said, almost ready to
confess. “I--I was distracted and sent Paige to be with you.”
    Emily said nothing. Minutes passed.
    “You were gone a long time, Emily. What were you doing
out there?”
    Emily sniffed, whispering, “Dealing with my past.”
    Thunder rolled in the distant darkness. An hour later,
the fire began hissing as the raindrops fell. Doug and Emily moved to their
tent.
    The rain intensified. Doug hoped with every fiber that
Paige had built a shelter. He knew the rain would reduce chances of picking up
her trail.
    Neither he nor Emily slept more than five minutes.
    They stared at the flames, struggling to survive the
rain.
    But the fire died.
    “Guess what I’m going to do.”
    Emily’s monster had returned.

TWO

    Fear seized Paige.
    She stood absolutely still in the dusk, afraid to move,
to swallow, to blink. Her heartbeat was deafening.
    She heard the noise again. Very near. Coming from the
dark stand of trees.
    Huffing, then clicking.
    She saw nothing. A branch snapped loudly under the
weight of something colossal.
    Gooseflesh rose on her arms.
    Something is out there in the darkness. Something
large is watching me.
    Trembling, Paige moved slowly away. Every instinct
screaming at her.
    Run!
    More branches breaking.
    It’s moving closer!
    Run! Run! Run!
    Groaning, panting, running, scrambling. Her adrenaline
surged propelling her up a cliffside, then another, down a scree. Not feeling
the rocks scraping and tearing at her hands and arms, she crossed a stream,
slipping, driving hard, not stopping, scaling another small cliffside, racing.
Her knees banged and slipped until she collapsed beneath an overhang with a
concave rock roof, not much larger than the rear window dash of a midsize car.
    Her gasping was deafening. Ears ringing.
    Oh, please! Stop this! Please!
    Several minutes later her breathing decreased.
    Safe. Please let me be safe.
    From her shelter, she watched night fall over the
mountains, listening to the loudest thunder she had ever heard blasting over
the Rockies from one corner of the world to another. Lightning flashing in the
angry sky, then a downpour.
    In the dark, she extracted a T-shirt and sweatshirt from
her pack, putting them both on. It helped. One may have been inside out. She
did not care. She felt around for food; she knew she had stuff in there. Her
fingers fishing, finding an apple, then a nearly-full bottle of water.
    Be smart. Take a small sip.
    She lay in the darkness, shivering in rain-cooled air,
flinching with every thunderclap.
    Does it hurt to die?
    Paige began to cry.
    She cried until she fell asleep, only to be awakened
several times out of fear that the huffing sound had returned.



THREE

    In the frigid pre-dawn light, Doug
studied his wounded hand.
    It was wrapped in a strip he’d torn from the T-shirt
that