AS THEY PLODDED ALONG, water percolated into Melony’s shoes and she again cursed herself for not zipping her tent last night. Her hiking boots would have been much more appropriate.
Occasionally, a fallen tree blocked their path, so they either had to walk around it or climb over it. Cold feet and an empty stomach helped to lower her degree of feeling. Her entire body was numb and humming, as was her brain. She knew Hunter must also feel the pressure of trying to travel as quickly as possible before the rain started in again.
After they hiked along for some time in silence, Melony finally had to break the quiet around them. The only things she’d heard for the last half hour was the slosh, slosh, sloshing of their shoes upon the wet, marshy ground—the singing birds had evidently gone into
