Chapter 9 - The Ridge Trail
The climb up the limestone ridge tested every ounce of Nora’s remaining physical strength. Her fractured ribs felt as though they were grinding together with every inhalation, each step sending a jolt of fire through her torso. She had fashioned a makeshift sling out of her scarf to hold the grocery sack, keeping both hands free to help Mia navigate the steep, shale-covered inclines.
The rain returned by mid-afternoon, turning the mountain path into a slick slurry of mud and fallen pine needles. Mia didn't complain once. When the trail became too steep, the child scrambled on hands and knees, grabbing tree roots and exposed rocks with a quiet determination that broke Nora’s heart and gave her strength at the same time.
“Look, Mom,” Mia said, pausing on a flat outcropping of limestone that overlooked the valley below.
Nora stopped, leaning heavily against a birch trunk to catch her breath. Looking down through the misty veil of rain, she could see the state highway winding like a grey ribbon through the trees. Parked along the shoulder near the bait shop they had left two hours earlier were two dark SUVs, their red and blue emergency flashers pulsing silently against the gloom.
They had arrived. If that store clerk had picked up the phone, Nora and Mia would already be separated, Mia locked in a state facility, Nora in county holding under suicide watch.
“Are those bad men?” Mia asked, her small hand finding Nora’s.
“They’re people who are doing bad things for money,” Nora said softly. “Come on. We have to keep moving before it gets dark. We need to reach the river crossing before nightfall.”
They pressed on along the ridge, the wind picking up from the north. Nora’s denim jacket was soaked through, offering little warmth, but she kept Mia wrapped tightly in a thick flannel shirt she had pulled from the cabin’s cedar chest.
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As twilight began to bleed into the sky, the sound of the Clarion River grew louder—a roaring current swollen by forty-eight hours of continuous autumn rain. When they finally descended the eastern flank of the ridge to the riverbank, Nora’s heart sank.
The timber footbridge that had once crossed the river was gone. In its place, only two moss-covered stone pilings remained, the dark water churning violently between them.
