Spirit Flight Read Online Free PDF

purification ritual.
    Maybe she hadn't been as badly injured as
she'd thought.
    The pulse in her throat pounded in time to
her rational mind saying, lie, lie, lie .
    She'd been broken. She'd returned to
consciousness in the cave with the sound of drumbeats and masculine
words.
    A healing ceremony? He'd said she was on
thunderbird lands.
    Hadn't she thought there was a mystical
quality to this area when she'd first arrived?
    She looked at the fire. How could something
so small put out so much light and heat and last so long? How could
it battle so successfully with the cold air that had to be coming
in through the cave's opening?
    Then again, what did she actually know about campfires? Until this trip she'd had zero
experience with camping that didn't involve an RV or a cozy
cabin.
    She put her shoes on and tied the
dirt-encrusted laces. With one last glance at Ukiah, she walked
into the shallow anteroom and stopped just beyond the cave's
mouth.
    Deep gray clouds filled the sky. Cold, wet
air hit her face—the force and sting of it making her want to
retreat. She shivered, looked down into the canyon and for an
instant was scrambling, sliding, falling.
    Her chest tightened. Her throat locked and
throbbed. Sweat trickled down her sides.
    She glanced up and could see the canyon rim.
It wasn't too far away. The climb didn't look too hard.
    I can do this. I need to do this.
    She couldn't let fear paralyze her. She was
okay. She would be okay.
    She reached for an exposed root and placed
her foot on a small cluster of rock. Listened for the sound of
motorcycle engines or voices.
    All clear.
    The climb got steeper, harder. It'd looked
deceptively easy from below.
    How had Ukiah gotten her to the cave?
    She felt a fluttering in her chest. His
climbing down with her didn't seem possible, especially during a
furious storm.
    Reaching the top, she paused, listened again
to make sure Ethan or Kaitlyn weren't nearby, then pulled herself
over, the muscles in her arms burning.
    The wind grew stronger. Standing, she looked
down the face of the mountain and was completely overwhelmed by the
miracle she'd been given. Not just her life. But Ukiah's presence
in it.
    Drawing a deep breath, she forced herself to
look for the place where she'd lain broken.
    There it is .
    Would they come back to make sure she was
dead? Or were they so confident that they'd already reported her
missing?
    The second seemed more likely. She rubbed
her arms, the chill of Kaitlyn's final wave causing the rise of
goose bumps.
    She walked a short distance, found shelter
from the brisk wind so she could relieve the pressure on her
bladder. And then like a fatal attraction, returned to the spot
where Kaitlyn had stopped the bike.
    Marisa shuddered. Her stomach heaved. Her
skin felt coated by ice.
    She wrapped her arms around herself, sorry
now that she hadn't woken Ukiah and suggested they both leave the
cave. She couldn't climb back to him.
    The wind picked up. The sky darkened and
roiled as if attuned to her fear and distress. The gray clouds
churned, became charcoal black as thunder sounded an ominous
warning.
    It was only a matter of time before Ukiah
woke and noticed she was missing. He'd come looking for her. But in
the meantime she needed shelter and the grove of trees in the
distance was her best hope.
    A rumble of thunder greeted her decision and
she glanced at the sky. Shivered at how angry it now looked. Its
dark violence filled her mind and made her hurry along the path
near the canyon rim.
    The trail narrowed. Brush scraped her legs
and sides. She angled toward the wider path she'd been running on
the day before. Reaching it, she saw motorcycle tracks.
    Her heart skipped and beat erratically. The
tracks looked fresh. But how fresh?
    Did Ethan and Kaitlyn know she'd survived?
Is that why the tracks continued downward, in the direction of the
trees rather than upward toward the place they'd camped.
    Uneasiness squeezed her chest, timed to
another roll of thunder.