* * *
Sylvia became slowly aware of an intense ache; her temples were throbbing painfully as she regained consciousness. Then, her eyes snapped open as she remembered.
She pushed herself up to sit, then gently probed her right temple. Her fingers came away clean, so at least she wasn’t bleeding.
Immediately she sought the sun and marked the positions of the shadows the trees made. They hadn’t moved much, if at all, so she hadn’t been out long. Maddy was nowhere to be seen on the hillside; she must have left at a run.
The fact that Maddy had left her where anything could find her kept her from immediately running after the girl. She wasn’t eager to help such a person.
After a few minutes trying to regain her senses, she realized she had to follow Maddy, no matter how she felt about it—the girl had stolen her pack. Sylvia checked that her knives were still in place, and yanked the one out of her boot after she got to her feet.
Sylvia was actually beginning to look forward to reporting Maddy to the Gate Keepers and the city council. She was without question out of control.
Still, she shouldn’t leave the girl out here, and she wanted her pack returned, so she trudged down the hillside, keeping her eyes peeled for signs of Maddy’s passage. More importantly, she watched for signs of any mountain lions or wolves in the area. She knew better than to get so distracted out in the wilds that she wouldn’t notice a mountain lion trailing her.
The trail itself didn’t give her any trouble; it had been a dry summer, but a recent rain had given the ground some moisture, and made Maddy’s footsteps easy to follow.
Anger fueled her for a while, feeding her energy as she reconsidered Maddy’s actions. As the day wore on, though, she grew hungry, especially when she realized how long ago her breakfast had been. Her stomach grumbled at the thought of food. She couldn’t believe Maddy had taken her pack and rations—not to mention the expensive tools Sylvia kept for her travels. If anything happened to her firestarter…
As it neared dusk, she began to look desperately through the trees for signs of Maddy, hoping the girl would be smart enough to safeguard herself during the time when the mountain lions were most active. All of the girl’s previous choices didn’t give Sylvia much confidence, however.
Six