The Gathering (Darkness Rising 1)

"She--" Rafe stopped and looked at Daniel.

"Took off?" I said. "Like she does sometimes?"

He nodded. "We set out this morning, but we didn't get far before she ..."

"Ran away," I finished.

A glance at Daniel, then he went on. "Right. I sat down to wait. She comes back when she's done, and there's nothing else I can do until then. This time, though, she was gone longer than usual. I started getting worried, so I left our packs and headed down the path. That's when I smelled the smoke. I've been looking for her. I heard the crashing, came out to the road, and saw you guys."

Daniel anxiously eyed the smoky horizon as Rafe explained. He tried to start the truck, but it was too badly damaged.

"We have to go," he said. "That fire's coming fast."

Rafe shook his head. "Go on. I need to find her. She's probably just back at the cabin--"

"She's not," I said. "We just left there."

He rocked on the balls of his feet and I could tell he'd barely heard me.

I grabbed his arm. "Rafe."

"What?"

I lowered my voice as I pulled him away from Daniel. "She's a cat, right? She thinks like a cat now. She'll do what every other animal is doing--running away from the fire. We'll cut through the forest and try to find her on our way back to town."

He nodded. "I'll do that. You guys go on. The road's faster."

"If Annie's out there, I'll help."

"We'll help," Daniel said as he walked over. "Now let's move it."

We split up, staying within shouting range. Daniel veered off first. Rafe came over to me after Daniel was gone.

"You didn't tell him, right?" he said.

"No." Not yet, I thought. I was sure he'd insist that I never tell Daniel, and I had every intention of doing so, as soon as we were out of this mess. "If he sees her in cat form, he'll say something to warn us. If that happens, we'll ...

figure something out. But we'll find Annie. One way or another, we'll find her."

Maybe I'd been driving fast enough to put some decent distance between us and the flames. Or maybe the fire had shifted direction or hit a firebreak. Whatever the reason, as we searched we weren't running for our lives with flames licking at our heels.

We could smell it, and ash flakes still drifted down, so we moved at a steady jog, a few hundred feet apart, calling for Annie as we made our way to town.

Like us, the wildlife was on the move but not as panicked about it. I saw families of raccoons and a small herd of black-tailed deer making their way steadfastly toward town. When I caught a glimpse of tawny fur slinking through the underbrush, I picked up speed. Both guys ran over just as the cougar appeared around a hemlock and glanced over at me. Then I saw the grizzled fur and torn ear and let out a sigh.

"Marv."

He stopped and chirped.

"Go on," I said. "Find someplace safe."

Another chirp, like he understood, and he took off at a lope into the forest.

We'd gone about another twenty feet when a crashing in the trees had us all jumping. Something was running our way. Something big enough to make the saplings shake and the dead undergrowth crackle like gunfire.

"Bear!" I shouted.

THIRTY-FIVE