Page 26

26

Raven

An hour later, we had a six-person team ready: my dog Mandy and Beatrice's dog Mike, radios, drones, rope, and medical kits. It wasn’t official, but it was efficient.

We met at the base of Croft Ridge. The air was colder than expected. The sun was starting to dip low, casting long shadows over the trees.

Troy passed out GPS locators. “We’ll split into pairs and sweep the area in a grid. Watch the ridge edges—if she’s injured, she may have tried to signal from higher ground.”

Dan crouched next to one of the dogs, holding out Beatrice’s sweatshirt. “Find her, boy,” he whispered to Beatrice's dog, Mike. Mandy was already going wild, so I let her go.

The dog barked and tore into the woods, nose down.

We moved fast.

Branches clawed at our arms. The ground was slick with mud in places. But none of us slowed down.

Every minute counted.

* * *

Beatrice

My voice was barely more than a whisper now. I needed water. My head throbbed. My body ached.

I couldn’t feel my legs very well anymore.

But I kept whispering, hoping the wind would carry my voice farther than my lungs could.

“Please… help…”

The tree groaned under me again.

A new fear crept in— it wouldn’t hold much longer.

I shut my eyes and pictured Raven. His voice. His smile. The way he said my name like it meant something.

Hold on, Beatrice, I told myself. Just hold on.

I floated in and out of consciousness and lost all sense of time.

My throat burned from screaming. My right arm was numb, maybe dislocated, maybe worse. The branch I was stuck on groaned with every gust of wind, and I wasn’t sure how much longer it could hold.

I was thirsty. Dizzy.

But I was alive.

And I wasn’t giving up.

I blinked against the light shining through the trees and forced myself to shift slightly, just enough to see the slope below me.

Still too far to drop. But maybe…

A sound.

Far off. Faint.

Is that a dog barking? Are those voices I hear?

I screamed again, tears stinging my eyes.

“ Help! ”

A pause.

Then—

“Did you hear that?” a voice echoed through the trees.

“RAVEN!” I screamed again, raw and desperate. “I’m here!”

* * *

“Raven!” Dan’s voice cut through the woods, where I was.

I took off running toward him, heart slamming against my ribs.

“The dog caught a scent—heading east on the slope!” Dan said.

Troy was already moving. I followed.

Mandy barked again—louder, urgent. She circled, then ran toward the edge of a steep ravine. My stomach flipped.

“No,” I breathed. “No, no,” I cried.

I froze mid-stride, watching Mandy as she made her way to the edge of the cliff.

“Beatrice,” I whispered.

“Over here!” I shouted, looking over the ridge. Then I saw her.

A flash of movement.

Her arm, barely lifted.

“BEATRICE!”

Hanging twenty feet below the edge, cradled in a crooked branch, blood on her face, eyes open.

“Raven,” she choked, voice cracking.

“BEATRICE!” I shouted. I’ll be right there, sweetheart.

Her head turned.

She was there— alive —clinging to a tree that jutted from the side of the mountain.

“Oh my God,” Dan whispered. “She’s on that branch.”

“Get me a rope,” I said, already moving.

Troy grabbed the line and anchored it to a tree as I snapped on a harness.

“Wait for me to help!” Dan shouted.

But I was already going over the edge.

The wind howled through the trees as I descended over the edge, every muscle tight, every movement deliberate. The ravine was deeper than I’d realized, the terrain below jagged and unforgiving.

But none of it mattered.

Because I saw her, clinging to a thick branch that jutted from the cliffside, her face pale, streaked with blood and dirt, her eyes fluttered open at the sound of my voice.

“Beatrice!” I shouted down again, the wind trying to steal the word from me. “I’m coming. Just hold on!”

She tried to smile, but her lips trembled. “Took… you long enough,” she whispered, I barely heard her.

I bit back a chuckle and a sob at the same time.

“I’ll never stop coming for you,” I said. “Not now. Not ever.”

The closer I got, the more I could see how bad it was; my eyes roamed over every inch of her. Her right arm looked useless—swollen, possibly broken. Her body was half-draped across the branch, legs hanging limp. She hadn’t moved in hours or days.

If that branch gave way…

I shoved the thought down. Not an option.

I braced myself and slowly, anchoring just above her. That branch and her sheer willpower held her up.

Her voice was a whisper. “I thought I was gonna die here.”

“You’re not,” I said.

She blinked at me. “Thank you.”

I wrapped the harness rope under her arms, my hands trembling as I worked. “I’ve got you.”

“Tell me this is real,” she whispered.

“It’s real. You’re going home.”

As I secured her to the rig, the branch creaked again, groaning under our combined weight.

“Troy!” I yelled. “Pull us up— now! ”

The rope went taut as they began lifting.

Beatrice winced, her breath hitching. “My arm…”

“I know,” I said gently. “I’ve got you. Just a little longer.”

Hand over hand, the team hauled us up. Every second felt like an eternity.

They pulled us over the edge, and I collapsed onto my back beside her, gasping.

Beatrice was in my arms before as soon as they pulled us up and over the edge, clinging to me with her good hand, her face buried in my chest.

“I thought I was going to die alone,” she whispered, voice breaking. “I thought no one would find me.”

“You’ll never be alone again. I swear it.”

We carefully loaded her into the truck. I never left her side—not even for a second.

“She needs a hospital,” Dan said, gripping the wheel.

“After she’s safe, I’m going after the one who did this,” I said. “We will have the police meet us at the station.”

We all knew who I meant.

And we all silently agreed.