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With ht taken away and not a sound in the car but Lark’s soft breath and the hum of the wheels on the road beneath us, time seems to stretch out forever More than once, I’, but I sensed she was serious about following her directions

So I holdme

We drive on and on, the road huravel road The terrain tips up sharply, but that doesn’t help e Mountain foothills lots of tih to reach any of our favorite spots and the park roads close at sunset, anyhich won’t be long now

I felt sun shining through the car s onto my lap for the first part of the drive, but now the inside of the car is cooling down

Cooling, cooling, and the sh my blindfold fades to blue…

Lark cracks the s, letting in a breeze and the calls of night insects, and still we drive Up, up, up, turning three more tiine

I sag with relief and let out a long breath

Finally We’re here

Wherever here is

Chapter 11

Mason

I’ue still in my mouth But I haven’t kept my peace all this tiether in ht as she sla from the trunk

I turn towardhappens

After several more minutes pass, I realize she must intend to leave me in the car for a while

I sit in silence, n of where she went Once or twice, I think I hear footsteps and the crack of a twig underfoot, but another thirty ht goes quiet except for the buzzing of insects and the occasional call of a night bird

My anxiety turns to irritation, and then back to anxiety again, as the smell of campfire smoke drifts to my nose

Someone lit a fire