Page 30 of Trail to Trouble

“You were the one in such a hurry to pack up camp and scoot along this morning,” Bianca added.

After her tongue-lashing, Bianca faced forward again.

She shared a glance with Hunter.

Bianca hadn’t taken her happy pill this morning. It still puzzled Hannah a bit that Bianca had agreed to this kind of trip, but sometimes friends just do the right thing, and she had to appreciate that Bianca would do this for her, even though her friend was cranky today. This was a long time for Bianca to go without modern conveniences like a flush toilet, a hot shower, and a latte. Only twenty-four hours or so and Bianca’s life would be restored. Tomorrow they’d pack up, head back to the base camp, and then head home.

Home, back to the horrible life that loomed over her. The trial. But once that was over, she could move on. A slight shiver raked through her. What if Sebastián wasn’t found guilty? What if he didn’t get sentenced to prison? What would this mean for her with him on the loose? Her body tensed. She’d live her life in fear of what he might do to her.

“Hey, you okay?” Hunter’s voice sounded.

She turned her head to face him. No, she wasn’t, but he didn’t need to know that.

“I’m fine, just sad we’re on the last day of this fabulous vacation.”

Those words drew a big smile from the handsome man in the canoe next to hers.

Bianca huffed.

“This has been great. I got some awesome photos,” Alyssa said.

Within the hour, they’d paddled up to the next campsite, which resembled the others. A small sandy beach area and a campsite equipped with a picnic table, fire pit, tent pads, and a pit toilet tucked back into the woods a bit. Lovely.

Even with very little help from her friends, their tent was set up and their gear was unloaded from the canoe within thirty minutes. She hustled, wanting to get on the trail to Lover’s Leap Falls. Their guide’s vivid description of it had a heavenly image already planted in her head.

“We’ll pack some sandwiches and picnic on top of the falls,” Hunter said as he pulled lunchmeat, cheese, and bread from the cooler.

She walked over to the picnic table to help him.

“Ham or turkey?” he yelled out.

“Turkey,” Alyssa responded.

“I’ll do the same,” Hannah added.

“Bianca?” Hunter asked.

Either she ignored him or didn’t hear him because she stood with her back to them over by the water.

“Bianca?” Hannah yelled out.

Her friend spun to face them. “Huh?”

“Do you want a ham or turkey sandwich for our picnic lunch today?”

“I’m not going,” she replied in not much more than a whisper.

She wore a strange expression. Not one of frustration with the trip. Oddly, more like one of concern.

Hannah walked toward her. “What’s the matter? Are you concerned about the length of the hike?”

“It’s not all that much farther than the ones we’ve already taken,” Hunter added.

“No,” Bianca said and dropped her gaze to the ground.

Now that Hannah was closer to her, she could see the deepened worry lines on her friend’s face. What was that about?

Bianca’s skin turned pasty white, and she wrapped her arms around herself as if trying to contain her visible shivering.