This was bad. This was very bad. Verity closed her eyes and
allowed herself a pointless moment of wishing that they’d all
gone to town in the truck with Pam, but that being off the table,
she set about the business of getting Addison upright. Verity
pulled her up to a sitting position, then dragged her to her feet.
“Come on,” Verity said. “We’re going back. We’re going
to find them.”
The woods were different now. The invisible, magnetic
current that had ushered them along was gone, and without
it, the path seemed less distinct. Verity looked ahead and saw
a mossy boulder she felt sure they’d already passed. She looked
back the way they had come and saw nothing she recognized.
It was as though someone had swept in while she and Addison
were distracted by their search for the button and moved all
the identifying landmarks around.
Even the path itself had changed. It was treacherous in
a way it hadn’t been before, paved with slippery stones and
gnarled roots at every step. And on top of everything else, now
it was dark.
Verity and Addison linked elbows and shuffled their feet
along the path like elderly widows on an icy sidewalk. Careful
though they were, after a few minutes, Addison tripped on a
rock and fell to the ground, clutching her scraped shin.
“Are you all right?” Verity asked.
“I think so,” Addison said. “Can we just sit and rest for a
second?”
She seemed smaller now, frail and fragile. Verity felt
slightly guilty for wishing that it was capable, matter-of-
fact Annika she was out here with. Or even Alix or Amber,
whose exuberance and giggly good cheer would have at least
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