harder by the minute. By the time he pulled up beside Emma’s car, the rain was falling fast enough to make her car just a blur of red paint.
Jack pulled his rain jacket out of the back seat, slipped it on, and grabbed a bag that he kept under his middle console. Inside he kept a flashlight, a knife, and a few first aid items. Jack knew this trail like the back of his hand, the same way he knew all the trails in Evergreen Park. He’d taken it many times, and it climbed to the highest peak in the park.
She must’ve come up here right after the event. After he’d professed his love for her. Somewhere in between she’d found out she had some genetic predisposition to get sick like her mother.
Jack headed up the path, lighting the way with his flashlight even though it did little to clear his vision because of the rain. The soil was wet and he didn’t want the wheels of an ATV to tear up the ground. Hopefully Emma was already on her way down the path, and he wouldn’t have to walk far.
After about ten minutes of walking, when he was over halfway up, he began to worry. He’d spoken to her at least half an hour ago. They should’ve crossed paths as she headed back down. With the rain coming down as hard as it was, she wouldn’t waste any time. Something felt wrong.
“Emma?” he called out in the rain. “Emma, where are you?” He slipped on the wet ground as he took a step higher, and his flashlight went flying into the darkness. Jack cursed softly under his breath. He could see the light somewhere off the path. He needed it, and Emma needed him.
He stepped off the path, swiping back bushes and tree branches. Then he bent to grab the flashlight and drew his hand back quickly when something snapped his flesh. Or more accurately, bit him. He knew a snake bite when he felt it. He also knew that this kind of rain filled up the snakes’ dens, forcing them out, searching for higher ground. He should’ve been more cautious sticking his hand into the brush.
Jack grabbed his flashlight and shined it on the ground all around him, hoping to get a glimpse of the snake, but it was long gone. He stood and yanked off his T-shirt. He tied it above the bite site, hoping to keep the venom from traveling through his body.
Then he started heading back toward the trail, feeling light-headed already. He stopped walking to keep himself steady. Falling face-first on the path in the middle of the driving rain might not turn out well. And he needed to get to the hospital. Right after he located Emma.
Jack pulled out his cell phone, shielding it under his raincoat, and tapped on Emma’s contact. She didn’t answer. Then he tapped on Granger Fields’s contact. He lived close by on Merry Mountain Farms. He’d be able to get here quick.
Granger answered almost immediately. “Hey, Jack. What’s up?”
“Granger,” Jack said weakly. He’d been bitten by a snake before, and it hadn’t affected him this fast. That wasn’t a good sign for what kind of snake had bitten him. “I’m on the trail to Blue Sky Point, and I’ve been bitten by a snake.”
“What?” Granger said. “Are you okay?”
Jack couldn’t worry about himself right now. “Emma’s up here too. I’m looking for her. I need your help, buddy.”
“On my way,” Granger said. “And I’m calling nine-one-one.”
“Thanks. Might want to hurry,” Jack said. As he reached the trail, he began calling Emma’s name again. This time, she called back to him from somewhere in the distance.
* * *
Emma had never been so glad to hear Jack’s voice in her life. She’d also never been so glad for someone not to listen to what she’d said. The downpour had come just as she’d located her mom’s bandana in the dirt. At that same time, as fate would have it, her cell phone battery had died. She was stuck on this cliff, huddled under a large bush, which was providing some shelter. Even so, she was cold and wet, and a little terrified of the wildlife that she knew was up here.
“Jack!” she called out again, wondering what was taking him so long. He’d sounded close when she’d heard him call to her. Where was he?
“Emma?” he said after a moment.
She blinked past the rain and saw him standing on the