Mountain Secrets by Elizabeth Goddard (good books to read for teens txt) 📕

Just like the tree that had stopped the Durango. Just like the fallen trunk that had grabbed her from the river.

That was her only hope. Jewel stretched and reached, could feel her stitches tearing apart, ripping skin. A scream tore from her mouth as pain sliced through her, but her arms caught the tree and she dug in, held tight as the bark grated across her arms.

Jewel scrambled her legs up the side of the trunk and under her, craving the protection of the tree that had kept her from falling to her death. If only she could stay there.

Pressing her face into bark, drawing in the scent of cedar, she almost wept. But she knew she had no time to catch her breath or gather her composure. Jewel crouched and watched the area near the Durango, searching for the man after her, but she saw no one. She scrambled forward on her knees until the ground leveled out enough that she could stand and took off running to the south toward town. Away from the cliff and the Durango. She could only hope that her absence from the Durango would draw the attacker after her and away from Officer Roberts, but at the same time she didn’t want to be found.

With her injuries, fighting the dense undergrowth was no easy task, but the thick copse of spruce, cedar and hemlock would help her hide.

This was the beauty that had drawn her to Alaska. This was the beauty that would keep her here and safe. She had to live another day to enjoy it. From tree to tree, around ferns and over mossy logs Jewel pressed as hard and as fast as the terrain would allow her.

When she could run no more, she hid behind the trunk of a spruce as wide as a dining table. She leaned against the tree and slid to the base, resting for only a moment. Though she knew the tree could hide her from sight, her desperate pants for oxygen were too loud and would give her away.

God, please don’t let him hear me. Please don’t let him find me. And please protect Officer Roberts.

Jewel didn’t doubt God listened to prayers and answered them, but she wondered if maybe the mistakes she’d made and the secret she carried that had cost a life already and might cost more before this was over, kept Him from listening. Or kept the prayer from reaching Him. She didn’t have the answers, but she couldn’t lose hope.

Jewel sucked in oxygen, breathed in the earthy scent of the ancient forest until finally her heart rate slowed. She was still alive for the moment.

She listened. Whoever was after her didn’t seem to be running—she couldn’t hear any footsteps. Had he even followed?

Finally, Jewel stood. Her body hurt, but she had to keep moving. Pressing her hands into her thighs, she bent over her knees, stretching her back.

Was it Buck who had done this? She had suspected he was behind her attacks. But he was back at the house with Meral, wasn’t he? This new development messed with her suspicions, and the whole reason she’d been going to town to talk to Chief Winters.

Footfalls crunched on needles.

Jewel turned and pressed her body against the tree, leaned just enough to see beyond the trunk and not expose herself. She saw no one. But still she heard him coming.

She pushed from the trunk and crept deeper into the woods. Fighting the greenery, especially since she tried to move quickly, made too much noise. If only she hadn’t dropped her weapon.

How had it all gone so wrong so fast?

She could ask questions later, but first she had to survive. All she had to do was stay alive until help arrived. Had Officer Roberts been able to call for help? Was he still alive?

Her stitches hurt and her body ached afresh as though she’d come crawling from the river just this morning. She’d already tried using self-defense tactics against her attacker, but she was in pain and the man was much stronger. That didn’t lend her much confidence to try again, and instead, terror gripped her.

She dropped next to another tree, catching her breath.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” Jewel yelled, and her voice cracked with a cry from deep inside she hadn’t expected. She sounded desperate and afraid—which she was, and now he knew it. She had revealed too much, proven that he had her just where he wanted her. The sound of her voice echoed through the forest, sounding eerie and like something from some twisted horror movie.

And Jewel was crumbling.

A cry broke from her throat. What was she doing except leading him right to her? Her questions didn’t matter. He could hear her movement, could see where she’d been. Could have caught up with her by now if he’d wanted. Why was he torturing her?

Exhaustion and pain ate away at her resolve. She wanted to drop to the ground and wait for him to find her. After all, it was inevitable, wasn’t it? Why not wait here and hang on to what energy she had left to fight?

Jewel reached deep down inside.

Get.

Up.

And run.

Hide.

She knew the area—probably better than her attacker did. Knew the woods and could use that to her advantage somehow.

She skirted the rocky outcropping and kept going. She had to make it back to the road up farther, closer to town, where her chances of running into someone and getting help would be greater. That would mean miles of running and hiking, but Jewel had spent the past two decades hiking in the woods. Participating in many of the outdoor activities her guests enjoyed, sometimes serving as a guide. She could likely outlast her pursuer.

That was if she wasn’t already injured.

As she continued on, pain lashed at torn stitches and her chest ached with every deep breath while doubts clawed at her. She came upon a hiking trail, which would make it easier for her. While she