Chapter 15

After hours and hours of walking back and forth several times, I did not come across the trail, or any kind of trail at all, to be honest. To make matters worse, it was getting colder as the night began to fall.

My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Yet another worry to add to the pile of worry that was building in my mind.

"This has got to be one of the top ten dumbest decisions I have ever made," I grumbled to myself as I slumped on a rock, giving up on moving any further in the dark.

There were plenty of branches around that had fallen from the trees, and I thought for a moment about making a fire and possibly cooking something over it.

"Oh, get real, Mara!" I snapped as I wrapped my arms around my knees, trying to hold on to what little heat I had left. "You are not a girl scout and wouldn't know how to hunt unless it was on a good bargain for the meat you cook on your stovetop."

Shivering harder, I let my mind wander back home, trying to