Chapter 26

• She had no idea how long she’d stayed hidden amongst the trees. It was one of those times that felt like hours but, in reality, could only be a few minutes. Peeking around the tree once more, she noticed the puddles on the ground in the open area between the shore and where she hid, she was pretty sure it was more than a few minutes. Her muscles hurt, she was cold and now that the adrenalin had ebbed, she was scared. All the wrong thoughts were whizzing around in her brain. What if the canoe was gone, how would she get back? Could she even find her way back by going all the way around the lake? What if the storm didn’t end before it got dark? Was she going to last the night here alone? Unless Devin noticed the canoe missing, there wasn’t another soul on earth that would even know she was missing. She didn’t want to turn into one of those horror stories of people lost in wilderness and never found again. She really didn’t.
• Rolling her shoulders Rayne tried to relax, but with her shivering and fear wouldn’t allow that to happen. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms and tried to warm up. Her feet were throbbing and she finally allowed herself to examine them and see how much damage she’d done by running over the rough ground. Picking up her right foot, she turned it to look at the bottom, it had a few scratches and was dirty, but she didn’t see anything wrong with it. Her left foot, however, wasn’t in great shape. There was a long gash covered with bits of nature and blood. She brushed it off as best as she could, gritting her teeth as she pulled a piece of twig out. If she had to walk back, she was sure it would be the longest walk of her life.
• Her bare legs hadn’t faired all that well either. They were covered in scratches that were likely going to attract every mosquito on the planet when the wind and rain stopped. She was going to be an insect smorgasbord. Rayne looked deeper into the trees and scanned the area around her, if the bugs were the only thing she had to worry about, she’d consider herself very lucky.