OUT OF THE DARKNESS (THE PRESCOTT SERIES) Read Free Page B

oppressive, heavy with moisture. Each roll of thunder reminded her of the fateful day that she couldn’t face. Reality would have to wait until she could cope with the fear instilled in her.
    At dusk, she found an outcropping of rocks that sheltered the ground beneath, creating a small dry area. Small shrubs grew around the opening. Spindly blades of grass, now withered by the frosty nights, lay limp against the moss covered rocks.
    Jade crawled under th e protrusion of rocks and prayed she had not taken some wild animals shelter, only to have it return at any moment to reclaim its residence.
    Legs drawn up to her chest for warmth, s he gazed out on the moonlight filtering through the overhead canopy of leaves to dance on the sparse underbrush. Reasonably dry and her stomach full, she drifted into an uneasy sleep.
    Startled awake she laid still and listened.
    The sound, which had awakened her, was the morning sounds of the forest: birds chirping, small animals scurrying through the brush. Natural sounds. Soothing sounds. Jade dragged herself from under the rock ledge, put her back to the sun, and trudged forward.
    Days? Weeks? How long since she’d left the encampment? She’d lost count.
    Would she be lost forever? She stayed close to the stream, yet hadn’t found one trail to follow in the last two days. She merely wandered about in the woods, until she thought she would lose her mind. Don’t stop, she told herself. Just put one foot in front of the other. Sooner or later it would be over; one way or the other.
    Each day she foraged for food, sti ll hunger was never far away gnawing at her stomach. Nights were the worst. She’d crawl into whatever shelter she could find and listen to the night creatures while she shivered from the cold. Wolves howled in the distance and she prayed they wouldn’t come any closer.
    Fear was always present. Nights, she spent in darkness with an ever-present, unknown terror, but she pushed it to the back of her mind with the light of day.
    D esperation drained her strength. She walked when she could and crawled when she had to. Time was the enemy. It had no beginning, and, God help her, it had no end. Sometimes when she fell, all she wanted to do was curl up and lay there, never to move again. Then she would remember the reason she’d left the village and would make herself get up. She had to. Her child’s life depended on it.
    M iles converged one upon the other. Coaxing one foot in front of the other, she trudged on until her step faltered, and her courage became nonexistent. Time became meaningless. Hours seemed like minutes, days seemed like weeks.
    A break in the trees appeared up ahead. She started to run, fell, but couldn’t bring herself to rise. Exhausted, she crawled through the rocks. Brush scraped her hands and knees until they bled.
    J ust as the last of her energy ebbed from her body, she reached the edge of the clearing. She struggled to lift her head and recognized the imprint of wagon wheels. Her strength evaporated as the rains from the earth on a hot summer day. For the first time in months tears formed in her eyes. She lay on the ground and hoped against hope someone would find her.
    Her painful knowledge of the past , held captive by fear, drifted away on a sea of forgetfulness. Jade closed her eyes to sleep.
     

CHAPTER 2
     
     
    Jason Prescott clicked to the team and smacked their backsides with the lines. He’ d left town early this morning and the decision he’d reached weighed heavily on his mind.
    He shook his head and reached out to touch the fuzzy head of the eight-month-old baby fast asleep on his sister Margaret’s shoulder. His child. His and Sue Ellen’s. But Sue Ellen was gone. She died exactly one week after their child’s birth.
    Margaret placed a hand on his forearm. “I know this will be hard Jason, being separated from Emma, but I don’t kno w of another solution. Do you?”
    “ It won’t just be hard for me, but for your family, also”