Chapter 24 Annie
Gray, again.
The world around her was gray, and dull, and flat, despite the wispy clouds scattered across a cornflower sky.
Despite the lake shimmering with late-morning sunlight, and the forest in all its glorious summer hues of emerald, jade, and moss.
It was all clouded over, and Annie sat stiffly in the skiff with her eyes on the mountain, ignoring the man who was rowing her across the lake.
“You sure you’re all right?” Jake asked for the third time in as many minutes, and Annie nodded again without looking at him.
“I’m fine.”
Her eyes were still faintly rimmed in red, but with any luck, he would chalk it up to allergies and eventually let it go.
She’d waited at the window of her room all morning until Daniel’s truck rolled past, headed toward town, then she called Jake to ask for his help retrieving the empty snares they’d left on the south shore.
She had no intention of running into Daniel anytime soon and would have preferred to go alone if Justin Grimes weren’t still somewhere in the area, roaming the woods at large.
Jake rowed silently for another minute, then said, “You know, my dad used to take my mom up here when they were courting.”
“Oh yeah?” Annie didn’t take her eyes from the summit.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Back before the restaurant burned down. He’d take her out rowing on the lake after dinner. Said he spent his way through paycheck after paycheck, but he always saw the romance as a worthy investment in his future.”
Annie met his gaze briefly, giving him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “That’s sweet.”
Jake nodded and pulled the oars across the surface, water swishing with each stroke.
Annie turned in her seat. The southern shore was rising up to meet them, feathered with the sunlight falling through the firs, and the moment the bottom of the boat scraped dirt, she hopped out and started walking.
“Be right back.”
“Wait, I’ll come, too,” Jake said quickly, scrambling out behind her and looping the rope around the felled log onshore.
Annie said nothing as she led the way under the trees, stopping to gather both snares and brushing off dirt and pine needles.
“All right, let’s go.”
She stepped past Jake, headed for the boat, then he called out behind her.
“Hey, wait a minute.”
Annie turned back wearily. “What?”
“Uh…” Jake pulled a hand across the back of his neck. “It’s nice out,” he said after a beat. “Clouds are supposed to roll in this afternoon, and it’s gonna rain for the next few days. What do you say we take advantage of the sunshine and go for a little hike since we’re back here anyway?”
Annie sighed. “Jake…”
He took a step toward her.
“Annie, it’s… it’s just a hike. I just want to cheer you up. You seem a little off. Besides, it might be a good idea to look around in the woods for anything out of the ordinary since they haven’t caught Grimes yet.”
With another sigh, Annie set the traps on the ground.
“Okay.”
They hiked south, then up and around the wide swath of briars that ran rampant on the eastern shore of the lake before angling east on an old, overgrown trail.
As they crossed the wide valley that lay in the shadow of Lewis Ridge, Jake kept up most of the dialogue while, during lapses, Annie’s thoughts drifted, leaving him in silence.
After a while, he conceded the conversation entirely, and they walked quietly beneath the ancient trees, alive with birdsong.
Jake veered off toward a cluster of velvety thimbleberries peeking out from beneath frilly leaves, picking some and offering them to Annie, who tried her best to smile as she took them from his open palm.
“Look, there’s more over here.” He stepped toward a thin vein of bloodred berries that broke the solid green thicket.
Annie left him to strip the bush and wandered farther into the trees. Why did it have to be so beautiful out? It was such a perfect day, flaunting its summer loveliness in the face of her misery.
She stopped walking and rested for a moment with her back against a tree.
“Look at that!” Jake called out excitedly from somewhere behind her. “I found the mother lode!”
But Annie didn’t respond. There was something bright on the ground up ahead through the trees, right where the land began its upward slope toward the ridge.
Lying in a little sunlit clearing a mere fifty yards away was a heap of vivid color. Neon hues that did not belong to the woods: teal blue and brilliant orange.
“Jake…” she called, voice tight with alarm.
He was at her side in moments, and she pointed into the woods.
For three full seconds, he was silent.
“Oh no,” he breathed, and broke into a run.
Annie followed, right on his heels as he sprinted through the trees, the clearing rising up to meet them.
As they drew nearer, the heap of color on the ground took shape with the body beneath it, and as she had on the ridge, Annie fought against the bizarre sensation that her mind was floating up and away.
The orange and blue were a tank top and shorts. There was a woman lying on the ground.
Barreling ahead of Annie, Jake stumbled over an exposed root and staggered into the sunlight where the woman lay, her head and shoulders hidden behind a fir trunk.
“Stay back!” he shouted at Annie, but she ignored him, rounding the tree to find the woman with her head twisted away, long fair hair fanning over her face and the mossy ground around her.
Annie’s hands flew to her mouth.
Jake stepped around the woman and knelt beside her, sweeping the hair away from her face.
All-too-familiar purple bruises ran the length of her neck, and a sound escaped Annie’s lips, like that of a dog who had been struck.
Though she longed to squeeze her eyes shut, to turn and run, she could do nothing but stand and stare at the lifeless face of the woman Daniel had chosen over her.