Chapter Ten

Felix marveled over how quickly the slender, shapely legs of Ari’s petite body were able to cover ground as his longer, lean muscled ones struggled to catch him up with her.  If she’d remembered his club foot, she wasn’t giving him allowance for it as she moved along at a pace that was as close to a jog as one could get and still be walking.

“I don’t need a bodyguard,” she hissed over her shoulder as she leapt over  a log-like branch that had fallen off a half-dead tree. 

“What’s bothering you?” he managed with labored breath. “Geez, can you slow down just a bit?”

“If you can’t keep up, then go back,” she snipped.  “I didn’t ask you to come along to begin with.”

His ankle was beginning to pain him from the unfamiliar demands that he was putting on it, but he held firm. “I’m not going back.”

She abruptly stopped