Footprints Read Free Page B

Jenny's tent from the muddy ground. Back under the canopy, the ground was much drier. It wasn't high enough to set up the tent under the branches, but she could stretch the tent out and use it as a tarp. It was perfect to further protect her from the elements.

Annja also found a large pile of deadfall and the branches were almost all dry. She hacked several into smaller lengths and then scraped out a fire bowl depression in the ground. On the bottom she laid the tinder bundle and set some thin kindling sticks above it.

Here goes nothing, she thought. She scraped her fire starter against her knife blade and saw the sparks fly into the tinder bundle. They caught almost immediately, and even with the cacophony of noise from the rainstorm, Annja could still hear the snap and crackle of the wood as it caught.

Heat radiated up toward her and Annja shivered again, as if trying to throw the water off her skin.

I need to get these clothes dry, she thought.

She added more wood to the flames and set two of the thicker logs nearby to begin burning. When she was satisfied she had a sustainable fire going, Annja removed her clothes.

Her jacket was still fairly dry, but she'd gotten wet pretty much everywhere else. She stripped off all of her clothes until she huddled around the fire nude, feeling the wood smoke curl up around her, wrapping her in its warmth.

On the branches above her, Annja draped her clothes, letting the heat and smoke dry them out.

The area was littered with pine boughs and Annja knew that sleeping on them could be almost a luxury if they were soft enough. The spring growth hadn't occurred yet so they were obviously dead leftovers from before the winter snows. Still, when she gathered enough of them and lay down, it was quite comfortable.

The wind howled around her sanctuary. I wonder where Jenny is in this mess? Annja frowned. She knew there was a chance that her friend would not survive the night without any of her camping gear. The wind, rain and falling temperature together could kill even an experienced outdoors type.

Still, Annja knew that Jenny was remarkably resilient. And she also had a lot of training. Annja rooted through her pack and found the energy bar she always kept there along with the bottle of water she'd packed. Some feast, she thought, but at least she had something.

The rain continued to hammer the forest. Annja couldn't remember hearing about any major storm systems threatening this area, but that didn't mean much in the mountains where the weather could change from minute to minute.

She finished her meal and then leaned back against the thick tree trunk. Thanks to the way the branches drooped almost to the ground, the heat from the fire warmed the area nicely. Annja felt relaxed and comfortable, despite the fact that she was sitting naked in the midst of a terrible storm. If she wasn't worried about Jenny's whereabouts she'd actually be having a great time.

But it was definitely not a night to be out alone. Still, she had her sword. And she had a fire and shelter. Water wasn't an issue yet. She'd just eaten. So even though she was out in the woods with three armed guys who had warned her not to hang around, Annja didn't feel too bad. As soon as the rain let up she'd start her search for Jenny.

She touched her clothes. The heat and smoke were doing their job nicely. She pulled them down and slid them back on. Her body heat would finish drying them.

She fed another log onto the fire, watching the flames jump around in the slight breeze that had managed to work its way inside the relative safety of the drooping tree. The heat enveloped her. Annja felt her eyelids drooping. She tried to blink away sleep, but she took another deep breath and nodded off.

When she woke, the sun wasn't shining. In fact, it was still pitch-black outside. It was dark inside the shelter, as well. The fire had died out and only red coals remained, smoldering from a lack of fuel.

Annja reached for a branch to