CHAPTER TWELVE
Emmeline climbed. As the terrain became increasingly steep and rocky, the sporadic young hardwoods and occasional pines had become a coniferous forest of massive, old-growth pines and firs. She wove in between the trunks, climbed over boulders, and scrambled up rockslides, all to the beat of the never-ending pounding from somewhere up the mountain. Bang, bam-bam. Bang, bam-bam. There was a rhythmic cycle to the noise. Sixteen sets and then a short pause. Emmeline had plenty of time to mark the pattern as the mountain seemed to reach into infinity. When the sixteenth set finished, she held her breath as she counted to four and the cycle repeated itself again.
Emmeline continued her climb. As annoying as the noise was, the rhythm let her set a good pace and helped take her m
