CHAPTER 34
The toe of Dart’s boot caught on something in the darkness and he stumbled forward, cracking his kneecap against a hard, exposed root. He flung a slew of curses into the night and stretched out on the pine needles, trying to rub away the shock of pain by kneading at it through the thick denim of his jeans. A faint sigh of wind fluttered the boughs above his head, but that was the only sound he heard. The crickets had stopped.
His knee still throbbed, and his ankle sent out tender shoots of pain, as well. From the last time he fell. He’d grabbed a new flashlight from home, but the batteries were weak and his quick search hadn’t turned up any spares. The beam of light was pathetic, doing little to clear a path before him, but it was two hours to sunrise and Dart needed to log so
