Female Prey & the Elusive Prey Read online

  The ravine was treacherous. Besides all the loose or slippery rocks, the depth of the water varied widely. The old saw that still waters ran deep was true enough, though. If she could see the water flowing, it was probably shallow enough to ford. If she saw little or no movement, she had to go around. She wished she’d taken the time to make herself a walking stick. It would be very useful here.

  She was skirting one particularly dark and deep-looking pool when the rock she’d stepped on suddenly shifted under her weight. She flailed wildly for balance, but it was no use. She toppled over backwards into the very pool she was trying to avoid, praying that it wasn’t too deep as she fell. With all the gear she was carrying, she’d never be able to swim.

  The shock of the cold water made her yelp. She went under, felt herself hit bottom, and struggled to get her legs under her. Her feet touched the bottom and she bent her knees before pushing upwards as hard as she could, ready to gulp air as soon as she broke the surface. The weight and bulk of her backpack slowed her.

  The pool turned out to be no more than chest-deep. She stood gasping for breath, more out of shock than anything else, looking around wildly before she realized she wasn’t going to drown after all. Getting out of the pool proved to be difficult. There were few handholds, and she was soon shivering uncontrollably from the cold, cold water. She finally struggled out, dripping wet and chilled through. She’d have to get up out of here, on to level ground, and build a fire as soon as she could. She wished for the hot, dry weather she’d had to endure earlier.

  It wasn’t easy to get out of the ravine. She had to move a considerable distance downhill, shivering worse with every step, before she found an exit. After two tries, she found she couldn’t climb out still wearing her backpack. It was too bulky, and some of the contents had taken on water, making it heavier. She shucked it off, tying a rope to it. With the rope in her teeth, she clambered out, getting very muddy in the process. Finally out, she hauled the pack up, using the rope. Once she’d retrieved it, she leaned against a tree, breathing heavily. The exercise had about done her in for now, but she still had work to do. When she’d recovered a bit, she picked up her pack and carried it with her hands until she found a spot where she could make a fire. She cleared an area of the accumulated leaves, down to the bare earth, and used the drier leaves and some small twigs for kindling. She had some matches in a waterproof container on her belt. Once she had a small fire going, she carefully placed bigger fallen branches on it. As they were catching, she stripped off her sodden clothes. She had to remove her socks too, but put her boots back on. Uncomfortable as wet shoes might be, there were too many sharp or hard things that could hurt her bare feet. She collected more branches, feeding them to the growing fire before opening her pack to see what damage had been done.

  It wasn’t as bad as she’d feared. Her clothes were all wet, of course, but her sleeping bag, made to repel water, was only damp on the outside. She zippered it open and spread it out to dry. Her scanty food supplies were a bit wet, but she’d be eating them very soon anyway. A light blanket she’d packed was thoroughly waterlogged, as was her towel. Still shivering, she wrung everything out that she could, hanging it over various tree limbs to dry. She took an aluminum camp pot, filled it with water from her canteen, and emptied some soggy soup mix into it, setting the pot on the fire. Some hot food would take a lot of the chill out of her, but until her clothes dried, all she could do was huddle by the fire, trying to keep warm.

  He finally got out of the ravine once he was sure she wasn’t going to double back along it. It took some effort. The sides were steep and rocky, offering few handholds. Some exposed tree roots came in handy. He paused at the edge of the ravine to contact Kurt and Lloyd and tell them she was heading downhill along the ravine. They could cover both sides of it and intercept her while he followed up, driving her into the trap. She hadn’t really had much of a chance to begin with, he thought, but she surely did make them work for it. He started downhill, keeping the ravine to his left as a guide. The hunt ought to be over by tomorrow. While he was looking forward to her capture, he’d miss the chase she’d led them on.

  With any hunt, though, it was never safe to assume anything was over until it was over. Elf-girl had surprised them…well, him…more than once, and she might have a trick or two left to use. As he went along, he kept looking for any sign of her tracks, or anything at all that might show she had gone this way. By the time it was getting too dark to see much, he’d found absolutely nothing, and was beginning to think elf-girl had eluded him again. He felt suddenly very tired, and sat down for a rest. Where could she have gone now?

  He took a candy bar out of his pack and munched on it glumly as he tried to figure out where she was. It was very possible she was on the other side of the ravine. It was also possible she’d doubled back. Either way, he was too tired and it was too dark for him to do anything about finding out. Not much point in contacting the others right now either.

  As he sat in the gathering dark, something tickled his nostrils, faintly. He turned his head, trying to detect the smell...wood smoke. He stood slowly and shed his pack, looking around. While it was getting dark, it was still too light to see a fire, unless it was close by. He’d have to wait. In the meantime…he moistened a finger and held it up. There was no wind, but there was a slight movement of air downhill. For a moment, he wondered how he could have possibly gone past her, then realized she had to be on the other side of the ravine. If she’d built a fire, she wasn’t going to be moving any time soon. He sat down to rest, waiting for more dark.

  It was night now. Kimberley had donned some reasonably dry clothes earlier, and the hot soup had helped her shake the chill immensely. She was feeling much better now, but very, very tired. Maybe she wasn’t in as good a shape as she thought. She yawned, her jaw muscles creaking. This was a hell of a way to spend a vacation.

  The sleeping bag was dry now, and she stretched out on it. She looked up at her not-yet-dry clothes hanging from any available branches and smiled. Laundry day in the forest. The blanket should be usable soon, but her towel hadn’t seemed to be getting any less soggy with time. Well, maybe in the morning it would be okay. The small campfire crackled warmly, casting dancing shadows across the trees and the hanging clothes. It felt very cozy after her dunking in the creek, and she suddenly realized she was starting to doze. You just don’t go to sleep leaving a campfire unattended. It might wander off into the woods and cause all kinds of mischief. She sat up wearily and set about extinguishing it, dousing it with some water, poking it apart with a stick and throwing dirt on top of the embers. Finally satisfied that it was well and truly out, she laid back down on the opened sleeping bag with a sigh. After a long moment, she pulled the top flap over her and began zippering it together. She was so tired now that this simple task seemed to take forever, the zipper turning uncooperative in her fingers. Finally done, she started to take one last look around to see if she’d forgotten anything and fell asleep halfway through.

  She was on the other side of the ravine, all right. He could just make out the dim glow of her campfire in the distance. It was so faint he actually saw it better out of the corner of his eye than he did when he was looking directly at it. He couldn’t tell how far away it was, but it had to be fairly close if he could see it through these woods. So close…a ten-minute walk, maybe? But the ravine kept him away from her as effectively as if it had been a castle moat. It was hard to get into, hard to cross, and very hard to get out of…in daylight. He wasn’t about to try it at night. There were too many ways to break an arm or a leg, or a neck. Well, nothing to do but wait for daylight then, once he’d relayed this information to the others. Some time tomorrow they ought to have elf-girl in their grasp. He heaved a sigh of relief, and then immediately thought of all the other ways she could go, eluding them again.

  He was just too bone-tired to do any more hiking today. Sitting down with his back against a tree, he took out the radio and thumbed it on.
r />   “Here.” It was Kurt’s voice, low and gravelly.

  “Spotted our little wood nymph.” He said quietly. “Can’t get to her though.”

  “She walked you into the ground?” Kurt asked with a chuckle.

  “Just about. You try following her sometime. Look, I’m on the right bank of the ravine, she’s over on the left. Only reason I know that is she’s got a campfire going.”

  “So go get her.”

  “Not at night. Can’t see a damned thing down in there. I’m going to cross just before sunrise and try to follow her in.”

  “Left bank, she’s on?”

  “Yeah, for now, but she’s skunked us more than once. There’s a chance she’ll double back uphill.”

  “She’s makin’ us work for it.” Kurt observed dryly.

  “I think she’s enjoying the chase, and she’s in better shape than I’d thought. If she does double back, I’m gonna need some help.”

  “Hey, you’re the ex-commando.”

  “Ex-Ranger, and that was some years back. I need one of you two to head uphill along the left bank before dawn, just in case.”

  At the other end, Kurt groaned. “Shit.” He spat. “That’ll hafta be me then. Lloyd’s all tuckered out.”

  “So it’s your turn in the chase.” He grinned. “If I find out she’s still going downhill, I’ll contact you as soon as I know. If you don’t hear from me, just keep going uphill ‘til you find my lifeless body lying on the ground. With my last ounce of strength, I’ll point the way she went.”

  Kurt chuckled again. “You kinda like the chase too, don’t’cha?”

  “It’ll be more enjoyable when I’m looking back on it.” He answered, which was true enough. “If I contact you, remember, she’ll be heading your way, so get under some cover, let her pass and fall in behind her. Lloyd ought to be rested enough by then to head her off until we can close in.”

  “Roger that.” Kurt replied. “And then the real fun begins.”

  “Don’t count your chickens, man.” He warned. “This little girl is tricky. Might have given you the slip a lot easier.”

  Kurt snorted. “So it’s a good thing our lone commando was trailing her. I’m lookin’ forward to meeting this one.”

  “Oh, man, same here.” He yawned. “Over and out.”

  He pocketed the radio and heaved another sigh. He was getting a little old for this stuff, but it did have its own unique payoffs. He just hoped he’d be able to enjoy them. Before he went to sleep, he set his watch. It had a useful little alarm buzzer feature. It made no noise, but felt like a big bug rattling against his wrist, and it never failed to wake him right up. Sunrise would be around 6:30. At 5:30, he’d have enough light to see by, and the chase would begin again. Yeah, this one was memorable.

  Chapter Three

  Day 5

  Kimberley awoke with a start. For a moment she wasn’t sure where she was or why she was there, and then it all came back to her and she groaned weakly. It was daylight now. Time to start moving. She felt very tired as she gathered up her dried clothes, picking out some to wear and packing the others away. She’d overslept, something she did rarely when camping, and there was no time for breakfast. She’d have to munch on something as she hiked. She donned the backpack, heaved a sigh. At least it seemed to have warmed up since yesterday. She looked around once to get her bearings, and began walking downhill, towards that lake.

  He thought she was going to spot him for a moment as she looked around, and kept very still in the cover of some underbrush. She’d looked a bit worn as she broke camp, but very cute as she puttered around in nothing but her boots. He wondered why her clothes had been hanging from the trees. Obviously they’d been wet, but had she been washing them or had she taken a spill into the creek? Well, it didn’t really matter. He’d found her at last, and she was definitely headed back downhill. She was moving a bit slowly too. It was a relief to know she wasn’t some sort of supergirl after all. He let her get a bit of a lead on him before breaking out the radio. They’d all be together before sundown.

  She’d gotten a late start, but as much as she wanted to make up time, it just wasn’t possible. She’d pushed herself hard these past two days, and her body complained about it. Well, at least she was going downhill. The noise of water flowing down the ravine to her right was noticeably fainter than yesterday, but still enough to serve as a guide so long as the wind didn’t pick up. She walked along, trying to find a pace that didn’t tire her out. As she went, she kept looking at her watch. Her first rest halt couldn’t come too soon today.

  He followed carefully. From her tracks, he could tell she wasn’t moving anywhere nearly as fast as she had been. While that was a relief to his very tired legs, he had to be careful not to overtake her. She shouldn’t see him before the trap was set and she was in it. If she did, there was no telling which way she’d go, and he just didn’t want to chase her for another few days…or even a few more hours than was necessary. She seemed to be keeping near the ravine, which would make Kurt’s and Lloyd’s jobs easier. There was a nice cleared area near the trail down there, and she’d probably move right through it. Kurt and Lloyd could be waiting in ambush in the surrounding woods. If she turned to run, he’d be right there to stop her. He broke out the radio to pass on his information.

  She was tempted to stretch out the rest halt…very tempted. What was that old joke about temptation? What good was it if you didn’t give into it once in a while? She got to her feet with a small groan. Maybe the exercise would loosen up her muscles, and it would be easier next time. She sighed once, and began to pick her way downhill. To give herself a little encouragement, she pictured herself taking a nice long swim in the lake once she got there.

  The day seemed to drag on forever, and not just because he was tired. Elf-girl was moving pretty slowly too. He’d first thought that they’d reach the clearing sometime around three. Now it looked more like five, and if she kept fading as she seemed to be doing, it might be even later than that. He thought of Kurt and Lloyd waiting with growing impatience, and grinned to himself. Let ‘em wait.

  A little after noon, Kimberley quit kidding herself, and shucked off her backpack before sitting down on a convenient rock. She’d have to take a longer break, cook some food, try to get her second wind. If somebody caught up to her while she was doing that, well they’d catch up to her. But she couldn’t go on like this for the rest of the day. She was too worn out, too beat. She needed rest, hot food, and maybe a little more rest before she tackled the trail again. Not that there was any kind of trail here. The last mile or so she’d had to pick her way between trees and around thick patches of underbrush. Still sitting, she looked around for a good spot for a fire. There seemed to be one not too far away, but she was in no particular hurry just now, even with her stomach starting to make polite little growls. She didn’t have much food left, and the only question was whether to try to stretch it out, or just eat as much of it as she could now.

  She shook her head. If she ate that much, she’d be getting drowsy inside of an hour, and then what if she actually eluded her still-unseen pursuers for a few more long days? She’d get mighty tired of a steady diet of fish from the lake.

  She tilted her head back, eyes closed, and gave a long, loud sigh. The noise startled something in the bushes nearby, which ran off with a prodigious amount of noise of its own, startling her and making her heart jump as she leaped to her feet. For a moment, she’d thought they’d finally caught up to her. Then, realizing she’d just scared some animal….a rabbit, maybe? She laughed ruefully and set about starting a fire.

  The faint smell of wood smoke warned him first. He stopped almost in mid-stride and sniffed the air, trying to tell where it was coming from. Somewhere up ahead, he thought. He shed his pack carefully, so as to make no noise, and crept forward more slowly.

  She was in a small clearing, poking at a fire she’d apparently just started. An aluminum camp pot sat on the ground next to her. So she was goi
ng to cook herself a hot lunch? Intent on the fire, she didn’t see him, and he faded back into the trees to a spot where he could watch her. She was humming some tune he couldn’t quite catch. As he watched, she stood, stretched and yawned hugely before setting the pot on the fire. That done, she laid down near it on her back, seeming to go completely limp, but with her curly head turned to keep an eye on the cooking.

  She probably couldn’t see him at all from that position, but he kept under cover all the same. She did look a bit worn out, he thought, and that lying-down trick was supposed to rest you all over. For a moment, he considered rushing her as she was now, overpowering her, and dragging her bound down to Kurt and Lloyd. She probably wouldn’t go willingly, though, and he didn’t care to carry her weight along with his pack. No…as long as she was heading in the right direction, let her carry herself for a bit longer. He settled down to wait, and meantime get a little rest himself.

  She was getting awfully tired of freeze-dried everything. Even out on a dig, they usually had fresh meat once in a while. This alleged stew might be filling, and it didn’t taste too bland, but she really would have liked a nice well-done steak, along with a baked potato and a salad…one with plenty of ranch dressing. So why was she out here now? Kimberley sat up and took a look at the stew. It was bubbling, and there were lumps here and there as the desiccated components took on water. She sighed. The idea had sounded thrilling, months earlier: To be hunted down by strange men in a forest, taken captive far away from any possible help. It so matched one of her darkest fantasies that she’d almost jumped at the chance, even putting up with the physical required beforehand. Now she was tired and hungry out here in that damned forest, with no sign of any attackers…just that feeling she was being watched, which she hadn’t had for a little while now. Well, she’d wanted an adventure, but she’d forgotten how strenuous they could be. Right now, the thought of being ravished by strange men just seemed annoying. She massaged the back of her neck with her hand. The backpack seemed to be putting a strain on her there, something new. As she ate the stew, she wondered if it was possible to just call this whole thing off? Call someone to come get her, and she could spend the rest of her vacation at that beautiful lodge she’d started her hike from. The food there was really good, she recalled, and the beds very comfortable. Hot showers too…or baths. A nice long soak in a hot tub would do wonders for her right now.