The Hunted

Fourteen

Blake

It took her six days to get back to Beare Lake.

She passed through a variety of small towns after following the road that Red had sent her on and then she'd hitchhiked along the I-70 East until she managed to hop a truck headed to Grand Junction. From there she hitched a ride to Salt Lake City where she camped out for a night before meeting family on their way to Boise, Idaho.

It was around six in the evening when Blake had the family drop her on the side of the road in an area that she knew to be about an hour walk from where Beare Lake was tucked against the backdrop of the Boise National Forest.

Home.

Seven weeks. That's how long she'd been gone. Long enough for everyone to think her dead. For Josh to have lost faith in her return.

Blake was sure that she looked horrible, even though she'd managed to clean herself up in a few streams along the way as she made her way home. But how she longed for a long, hot shower. And soap. Blake thought she might actually go to heaven when she got her hands on shampoo and conditioner. Her hair felt greasy and limp.

First, though, Blake wanted to see her brother.

It was the image of Josh's face that propelled her forward. Through the exhaustion and desperation to get home. It wouldn't be real until she was back there with him. Until the Montgomery siblings were together, she was no better off than if she were still in that jail cell.

Seeing the 'Welcome to Beare Lake' sign in the distance brought tears to her eyes.

Passing it made a sob bubble out from her chest.

And as she saw people milling about, wandering from houses on the perimeter of the community in towards the centre of town that fanned about the artificial lake, she almost buckled.

Her home.

Her people.

Blake didn't know who first shouted her name but at the sound, her knees started to give out. She nearly toppled but there were suddenly arms catching her. Her mind registered hair the colour of chestnuts, chocolate brown eyes, and a strong sturdy body that kept her standing upright.

"Hix," Blake cried as she tossed her arms around his neck.

The man gripped her hard, supporting her weight as others ran forward. The faces were a blur. Dark spots fluttered in her vision.

She managed to lock eyes with Hix just once, taking in the tears that pooled and fell onto his cheeks. "I made it back," Blake said, weeping already.

Hix might have said something but she didn't know. Because as she clutched to him, sobs wracked her body, her vision went black, and she passed out.

She slept for fifteen hours, waking the following day in the clinic. Lying on a hospital bed, hooked up to machines measuring her vitals, and a calloused hand holding hers.

Blake opened her eyes and already her head felt clearer. The fogginess was gone, abated by deep slumber and fluids. She stirred and raised her free hand up towards her nose, ready to pull out the oxygen tube, when a hand reached out to stop her.

"Oh no you don't."

She was crying even as she turned her head at that voice. Beside her, seated in a hard hospital armchair, was Josh.