Chapter 42

FORTY-TWO

Terror gripped Carolyn as she ran through the trees, the dense forest had shielded the ground to some extent and made the going easier, but a monster was out there searching for her tracks and trying to find a way through with his snowmobile to get to her. She'd ran one way and then the other, ducking down to hide from view, but her tracks in the snow would be easy for him to follow. Her only chance was to confuse him by crossing over her tracks so he couldn't know which way she'd gone. The roar of the engine came close and she ducked under a low branch piled high with snow and pressed her back to the trunk. Daring to peek around the tree she made him out in the pelting snow, standing up on the snowmobile and peering all around. As long as the snow kept falling, she had a chance to double back. Horrified, the next moment she heard him laugh with glee and take off along a parallel track, when suddenly he parked and started to wade through the thick snow. Not able to see clearly from her position, she moved from her hiding place to stare in amazement as a woman came moving swiftly down the trail, her blonde hair flowing out from under a knitted cap.

Fear had her by the throat. Was he going to grab this poor woman and hurt her too? Seconds later he bounded out of the forest. He lunged at the other woman and grabbed her by the hair. The woman let out a piercing scream and fought back like a wildcat. Watching in terror, Carolyn moved forward with her fists clenched ready to fight, but would she get there in time? The next second, a man came out of the trees bellowing like a charging bull. Amazed, Carolyn gasped as the other man dragged the woman from her captor's grasp and then punched him in the chest. The stranger was huge, and the monster staggered back and then held up both hands in front of him as if in surrender, and then without a backward glance, he turned and ran back into the forest. The engine of his snowmobile roared as he took off in a cloud of white. As the noise of his engine got louder, terrified Carolyn searched for a place to hide. The snowmobile was coming straight for her. She must get away. Surely, the man and woman would help her if she could get back to them, but how could she get past him?

Panic gripped her as she scanned the white landscape. Everything in the forest looked the same and she had no idea how to get back to the cabins. She must try something or she'd die anyway. Maybe if she tried to run in a circle, she might get back to them. It was her only chance to survive. Exhausted, Carolyn ran zigzagging through the trees, pumping her arms and lifting her knees. She must get away. Lungs burning, she stopped and bent over, hands on knees, and glanced behind her. The snow was falling so thick and fast, she couldn't see a thing. Think. I could be walking around in circles. What can I do? White smoke surrounded her as she moved off again and then she slowed and broke some branches on the tree beside her. Moving more slowly, she did the same every few trees. In the distance she could hear a snowmobile. It sounded as if it was coming from two different directions. Terrified, Carolyn ran blindly and burst out of the forest onto a wider track. The snow was thicker here and snowmobile tracks cut deep into the clean white crust. She heard a noise and opened her mouth to scream. Her captor was right behind her.

"Oh, there you are." As if he had all the time in the world, he climbed off the vehicle and grinned at her. "This is a perfect place. Why wait any longer?"