Fire in the Woods Preview

Chapter 4

I yanked my jeans free of a thorny bush. I swear I had to be crazy. Just that morning something screeched in the woods so loud it almost burst my eardrums. But here I was, wandering around in those same woods, probably lost, bent on finding and helping a boy I didn't even know. My chest ached with pressure from my short, choppy breaths. Why did the forest seem so much more sinister than it normally did?

"Auoi calinart, est."

The gruff, masculine voice echoed through the trees. The language was odd, musical. Kind of like singing, or maybe Norwegian—or maybe a Norwegian guy singing. I couldn't decide.

An elderly man wearing a long, dirty winter jacket slapped a tree branch as he sped-walked around a bush. He nearly plowed into me.

"Sorry," I said, backing off the path.

The man gazed up at me. His nose crinkled as if a foul odor suddenly hit him. He blinked and continued on his way, but his icy cold countenance hung with me for a minute. And his eyes ... No one had eyes so blue. Except maybe David.

I shivered. Not sure why, but the old dude creeped me out. His head bobbed as he moved through the bushes. He had to be delirious, wearing that warm coat in the middle of August.

"Pardon me." A woman with gorgeous long blond curls ran up the same path. Her jacket brushed against me as she passed. When she caught up to the old guy, she grabbed him by the arm. They muttered, heads close, before he shoved her away and continued down the trail. The woman turned her face toward the sky, fisted her hands, and continued on after him.

The dude had to be her father or something. Why else would she take that kind of crap from him? I sniffed out a laugh. I hoped that wouldn't be me and my Dad in twenty years.

I pushed through the brush and plodded on. The trees were probably laughing at me, because I was pretty sure I'd seen the one with the big black knot in the bark at least three times, now. Stinking, stupid, big, black, knotty tree.

A rustling of leaves deep within the trees startled me. I froze, and stared down another gorgeous, enormous buck. Or was it the same one as that morning?

"Hey, beautiful," I whispered.

Swirling antlers blended with the landscape. He barely seemed to notice me.

"Good boy." I clawed for my camera, slipping it out of my pack. "Just stay right there." I pressed the picture button and zoomed in. Click. Gotcha. But a closer shot would be even better.

I inched forward. Majestic black eyes emitted a sense of serenity, calming me from within their gaze. Crack. The twigs broke beneath my feet. Dernit. The deer's ears twitched.

"It's okay buddy. It's me, remember?"

Two little baby steps brought me closer. I held my breath, trying to keep quiet, but my phone vibrated, the ringtone reverberating through the trees. The buck bolted.

"You're not going to chase him again," I told myself. A grin broke across my lips. "Oh, yes you are."

Jumping over fallen trees and stomping in muddy patches, I followed him deeper into the woods. My phone finally stopped ringing, but the buck was long gone ... again. I laughed and leaned over, resting my hands on my knees. I was starting to make a habit out of this.

"Jess?"

I screamed and whirled toward the voice.

David raised his hands. "Sorry. I thought you saw me."

"Saw you? I was looking at the stinking deer." I held my hand to my heart, willing it to stay within my chest. "You scared the crap out of me."

His lips contorted into the cutest pout as he settled onto the ground. "Sorry."