Chapters (39)
- Cover
- Title
- Author’s Note
- Glossary
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Acknowledgments
Faye saw the woods and felt the rain at the same time. Given how cloudy it was, she wasn’t surprised by the latter. The trees, however, startled her. She had followed the same path the previous day but now, distracted by what she’d read in the notebook, hadn’t realised how far she’d walked.
She had expected to find Clare much closer to the cabin. Would the girl really have gone as far as the forest? What was she thinking? Had she walked all the way to the Bloukrans River to see how flooded it was?
It was when she took her eyes off the trees and focused on the path again that Faye saw the figure. Hood up and head down, the person approaching leaned heavily on a stick that was too short and crooked to offer any real support. The walker’s progress was slow and jerky, like that of a geriatric for whom motion was arduous. Faye recognised the red jacket, thin legs and bony hands. It was Clare. She ran to her.
“My God! Clare!”
The girl raised her hooded head. “I was hoping you’d come. I’m not sure . . . I’m—”
Tears shimmered in Clare’s eyes and she swayed against the silly stick. Faye tucked herself beneath the girl’s right arm, taking the branch from her. Clare leaned onto Faye’s shoulder, wheezing and crying. The older woman patted her lightly, noticing how bloody and dirty her bare legs were. They stood for a moment, rain dripping from their jackets. Clare shivered and sniffed, raising her left arm slowly to wipe her nose.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Faye shifted so she could look at the girl. “It’s okay. What happened? Your leg?”
“And my ribs. At first I thought my knee was gone. But here.” She gestured towards the left side of her chest. “It’s more painful here.”
“But what—”
“I fell.” The tears ran. “I was stupid. I’m sorry. I went to the edge,” she tilted her head towards the ravine, “to look down at the river and fell off a boulder.”
“Into the ravine?”
“I landed on a rock, on my chest, and then fell a bit further onto my knee. I was lucky. Really.”
“Hmm, perhaps. But you can barely move.”
“I know. I’m sorry . . . the pain. And I’m so cold.”
Faye took a deep breath. It was late. It was raining. Clare was shivering, bowed by pain and probably in shock. Heuningbos was about two hours away at a normal pace.
“Let’s see how fast we can move if you lean on me.”