AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“On the outskirts of Los Angeles. In the woods, but the woods there aren’t like here. It’s more like sagebrush and pinyon.”
“Mountain lions,” he said thoughtfully.
“Yes, I would imagine. Coyotes as well.”
“Does she have any meat with her?”
Brenda gave a startled laugh. “Why would she have meat?”
“Like a snack. Beef jerky or something. Did they bury her purse with her?”
“It’s a messenger bag, but yes, they dumped it in with her, after they took her cell phone and all her money.”
“But she could have a Slim Jim.”
“I suppose.” She had no idea where this was going. “Do you mean so she doesn’t starve?”
“No. All she needs to do is crack the wood somehow.”
“Okay, but even if she can do that, which I think she can because she always has a metal nail file with her, what about all the dirt?”
“A mountain lion will dig through loose dirt if there’s meat under there. She just has to get that jerky close enough to the surface so it’ll draw a lion to her. Once the mountain lion has dug away enough of the dirt, she can get through the rest. Then toss the meat as far as she can so the lion doesn’t go after her.”
“Meat,” Brenda said thoughtfully. “I guess. She does have a blood sugar problem that makes her grumpy if she doesn’t eat. I suppose she could have some beef jerky in her purse.”
“I recommend the hickory smoked. Wild animals go crazy for it. I don’t ever give human food to animals, in fact I have a strict rule about it on my trips. But I’ve seen a lynx get hold of a piece of smoked pork. He ate the pork and about a foot of dirt surrounding it because it still had the smell.”
“All right. I’ll make sure she stops at a convenience store for some snacks before she gets kidnapped by bad guys. Now I just have to figure out how she can make a hole in the coffin.”
They spent the next hour or so conversing about ways to splinter plywood. This was Brenda’s “happy place.” Brainstorming issues in her book was something she usually did alone, although sometimes Maura used to toss ideas around with her. It had been a good distraction from her treatments.
Maura would have loved this particular brainstorming session. Some of Galen’s ideas were so ridiculous they sent both of them into gales of laughter.
“She can’t lick a hole in the wood. Saliva isn’t going to soften the wood that much,” she said through her giggles.
“Enough to get that nail file in.”
“Hmm…maybe?”
“Does she have any power tools in her purse? Or a hammer?” he asked.
“No! She’s just an ordinary person. Like me.”
“Ordinary?” He shot her a glance full of offense, as if she’d just insulted the queen of the realm. “You are not ordinary.”
His fierceness took her aback. “Of course I am. I’m about as ordinary as a person could be.”
He gave her one more appalled look, then turned his attention back to the road ahead. After that he clammed up, and she didn’t get another word out of him until they reached the trailhead.
nine
Galen set a beginner’s pace as they headed up the LadyBird Ridge Trail. When they’d walked for about an hour with no complaints from Brenda, he sped up just a bit. He wasn’t sure what she could handle. Often people believed themselves to be in good shape, until they encountered the real-life conditions of a trail.
But Brenda was a trooper, and even though he heard her breathing pick up and noticed sweat gathering on her forehead, she kept up with him quite well. He could do this trail at twice the speed, if he had to, but this pace would get them to LadyBird Rock in plenty of time to do the return trip if she still wanted to.
Was he hoping they might have to spend the night on the ridge?
Sure. He was only human. He’d take any moment with her as gravy, an unexpected bonus that he should appreciate while it lasted.
