Shadows at Sunset: Sunset Trilogy ~ Book 1 Read Online Free Page B

state for nothing. Dakota circled back every few minutes to check on me, making sure I was still headed in the right direction.
    After about fifteen minutes of hiking up the mountain, I stopped, leaning against a tree to catch my breath. Despite the plummeting temperatures, I was sweating under my jacket. A few owls hooted in the distance, as if talking to each other. Dakota returned to me again before trotting ahead, his black shape a shadow in the moonlight. Then he halted, listening, sniffing the air, concentrating. He stood motionless, focusing on clues that no human could sense.
    Instead of continuing up the mountain, he turned and headed across the side of it. I followed, stumbling a little as I tried to balance on the uneven terrain. It took a few minutes, but I finally got the hang of walking lopsided. I lost sight of Dakota as he disappeared in the distance again, but I continued straight ahead, stepping carefully over the rocks, logs, and tree roots I watched for in the flashlight beam.
    As I trudged ahead, still stumbling from time to time, doubts crept back into my head. What in the world had I been thinking? Did I really think I could find Ryder before he succumbed to hypothermia or a hungry wild animal? Although I knew many of the animals that lived here, I certainly didn’t know them all. And talking to them occasionally didn’t mean that they would know what to do with a little boy unless I specifically told them.
    Lost deep in my concerns of all the possible outcomes, most of them less than desirable, I suddenly tripped over a tree root. My foot stuck to the ground and my body lurched forward. As I instinctively reached out to break my fall, the flashlight fell to the ground with a thud. My hands landed on a few rocks, scraping my cold palms. Before I could catch myself, my head struck the jagged corner of a small boulder. Searing pain shot through my skull. I could only imagine the black and blue mark this would leave.
    I finally came to a stop on the ground. Breathing deeply, I shivered--not from the cold, but from the fear that I could have really been hurt. As I sat up, trembling, I brushed the dirt off my hands by rubbing them against my jeans. My shaking began to subside and I raised my hand to gingerly touch the throbbing side of my forehead along my hairline. It felt sticky and moist and I knew at once that I was bleeding. Great, I thought. Ryder’s in big trouble if I’m the only one who can help him. I have to be more careful out here! Not only was I worried about Ryder, but now I had to keep myself alive, which apparently was a lot harder than I had bargained for when I set out. I was very familiar with these mountains, but the time I had spent wandering through them had always been during the day. I couldn’t remember ever venturing out at night like this. And now I knew why. Under the cloak of darkness, every rock, log, and root posed a threat.
    As soon as I composed myself, I scanned the sloping forest floor for my flashlight. Fortunately, it was still on and I caught sight of it resting against a large tree trunk, the beam of light a dim circle against the bark. It was downhill from me, and I crawled toward it. I didn’t trust my own two feet until I could use the flashlight to make out the tree roots and rocks. I grabbed it and spun the light around until I saw the boulder I had slammed into. My legs were still a little shaky as I stood and trudged up the hill. Reaching the rock, I sat on it to take a quick rest.
    All this time, while I was nearly killing myself, Dakota had disappeared and I suddenly wasn’t sure where I was. I heard an owl in the distance and wondered if it was the same one I had seen when I had first set out. Then, without any warning, a tree branch behind me snapped under the weight of someone or something, and I jumped. Spinning around, I moved the flashlight beam into the eyes of a large black bear. It winced from the bright light as it let out a low growl.
    I