Chapter 4

It wasnt long before Ivy was able to make out lights in the distance, which came as an immense relief. Shed been beginning to wonder if shed somehow been transported to the middle of a national park or something, with hundreds of miles of untouched wilderness stretching out ahead of her. Shed done her time in the Girl Scouts, but she was hardly a survival expert, especially without anything on her except the clothes on her back. No pockets in the dress pants she was wearing meant that her wallet and phone were in her handbag, which shed last seen in the passenger seat of her car. God knew where either of them had ended up.

Lights meant people, she told herself. People meant answers… at least about where she was right now, if not necessarily about how shed gotten here. And hopefully, people would mean a dry change of clothes. Right now, shed settle for a heater to sit in front of… even drying her boots out would be a huge improvement. She lengthened her stride and hastened for the lights, feeling suddenly a lot more optimistic about this long walk. As if to encourage her further, fencing began to appear in sporadic places along the dirt road… rather primitive fencing, of course, not much more than some wood nailed together, but right now she was beyond happy just to see some signs of civilization. The lights were closer, too. Once she got to whatever farmhouse or town was up there, shed be okay.

But the distraction of the fence wasnt enough to stop her noticing the high sound that came shivering out of the air from just up ahead, and Ivys paced slowed, a frown creasing her brow. That certainly hadnt sounded like the occasional cries of birds from the forest. It wasnt long before it came again, and this time she was certain of what shed heard — the high, frightened whinny of a horse, this time accompanied by the sound of splashing. Ivy hastened on, distracted by the sound, worried about what she might find around the bend in the road ahead. Had a horse fallen into the lake, somehow? From what she could tell, the water was still shallow at the shore — she hoped very much that the creature wasnt hurt. At the same time, it was a promising sign. Horses, generally speaking, meant humans, too. And she could do with seeing a friendly face right about now.

But to Ivys dismay, there were no humans in view when she moved around the bend in the road and saw the next stretch of lake shore spread out before her. But it didnt take long to spot the source of the sound. There, a few dozen feet away, a darker shape cut out against the dark water of the lake… a horse, struggling to free itself from the water. It wasnt too far from the shore, she realized as she approached, skin on the back of her neck prickling. How had it gotten into the water? Could it have been ridden there? There was no sign of a rider… nor was the horse wearing any kind of tack, saddle or bridle, which made her a little less worried that there might be a drowned rider about to surface from the depths.

Hey there, buddy, she said soothingly as she approached the edge of the water. The horse had turned a pair of frightened, white-rimmed eyes to her as it spotted her, and it made another uneasy sound now, whinnying loudly and shifting away from the banks where she was standing. As the water splashed around its legs, she realized what the problem was. This stretch of the lake shore was home to tall reeds, reeds that had clearly been beaten down in this area in particular. The horse must have walked into the water for some reason — to graze on the reeds, maybe? Did horses eat reeds? Perhaps it had been thirsty. But whatever the cause, the remnants of the reeds seemed to have wrapped themselves around the horses legs — she could see it tugging at them when it moved, only wrapping itself more and more tightly in them.

At least it wasnt too far out, she thought, assessing the situation with her hands on her hips. The water only reached as high as the horses belly, so while it was clearly unhappy with the situation, at least its life wasnt in any immediate danger. And when she grabbed one of the reeds closest to the shore, it felt easy enough to break in her hands. If she could get the horse to calm down enough for her to approach it, she should be able to get it free of the tangled reeds.

Hey, buddy, she called, hearing her voice rasp with a combination of her evening of unusual exertion and the cold air shed been breathing. Hey, now. Are you okay, there? Will you let me help you?

It had been years since shed spent much time around horses, but shed been a pretty big horse nut when shed been a kid, and it was surprising how much had stuck with her — the low, soothing voice, the slow pace you needed to speak at to calm them down. It was pretty clear that this horse was tame from the way it seemed to calm as soon as she spoke to it, its watchful gaze still fixed on her face, but a lot of its initial fear seeming to fade. It uttered a low whinny, shifting its weight uneasily in the water, and stretched its neck toward her, just slightly, and she couldnt help but smile.

Thats right — you need a hand, dont you? Need to get those reeds out of the way so you can come back to dry land. Thats okay. Im coming, alright? You be chill, and Ill be chill, and well have you out of there in no time. Keeping her eyes on the uneasy horse, she took a couple of cautious steps toward the waters edge. The horse watched her closely, and she could see that it was ready to bolt or bite if it needed to… but it stayed still as she slowly lowered herself to pull her boots off. They were still sodden from her first trip into the lake, but she wasnt going to undo all the drying-off theyd done over the last hour or so. Barefoot again, she took a ginger step down from the bank and into the water, wrinkling her nose as her toes sank into the silt under the water. The shore had been sandier where shed emerged from her own little swimming trip — here, the ground felt thicker, harder to walk in. Was it possible that that had something to do with how the horse had gotten stuck?

Cold out here, isnt it? she murmured, seeing the horses ears flick back with unease as she took a few careful steps toward it. Cold in this water. Well get you up onto the shore and drying out in no time, wont that be nice? Hope you dont have a rider, she added, glancing up and down the lakeshore worriedly. From here, she could just make out a rope looped around the horses neck, a slightly lighter color than its dark brown coat. Shed known a few people who rode horses bareback, only a rope around their neck to guide them by… was it possible that that had been what had happened here?

No need to assume the worst, she told herself as she moved closer to the horse with both hands raised. Its eyes were still cautious, but it seemed to be beginning to trust that she was there to help. She was a few feet from it now, expecting the familiar scent of horse to wash over her at any moment… that soft, sweet smell of hay and horse sweat that had been such a delight to her when she was a kid… but her senses were still overrun by cold night air and the wet smell of her own damp clothing and the lake she was standing in.

Here we go, buddy, she said softly as she took the last few steps to reach the horses sides, slowly as she could without risking being knocked over by the lake water. The horse huffed a little, shifting its weight in the water, leaning away from her as she reached out a cautious hand to touch it — grimacing, she made a soothing sound in her throat as she stepped closer. The last thing she needed was for the creature to spook and go lurching out even deeper into the water, or to get more tangled in the reeds… strange, though. Close up, it was difficult to see what exactly the problem was, here. There were plenty of reeds around the horse, of course, tangled around its forelegs, but from what she could see, the ends of the reeds were floating loose. So what was holding the creature down?

It extended its neck toward her, soft nose sniffing at the air, and Ivy lifted a hand automatically to stroke the proffered head. But something was wrong. Even in the cold lake, shed expected the horses skin to feel warm to the touch… but the fur she stroked was ice-cold and slimy, more like the reeds tangled around its legs than a warm-blooded creature. Instinctively, she pulled her hand back… and then the horse struck, eerily fast, with none of the caution it had displayed thus far. Ivy shrieked as the horses jaw opened, wider than should have been possible, to reveal a mouth full not of the square molars of an herbivore… but the sharp, pointed teeth of a creature that ate meat.

And before she could get out of its way, she felt those teeth sink into the sleeve of her blazer and begin to pull her, with terrifying force, deeper into the lake.