Where the Forest Meets the Stars(42)

“I . . . think two. In that car. I don’t know for sure! They killed Little Bear!”

“That car followed us from Effingham?”

Ursa nodded, her body shuddering with heaving sobs.

“You have to stop crying! Please! If they hear you, they’ll know where we are!”

Ursa swallowed her crying in gulps, and the silence gave Jo a chance to concentrate. In the part of her brain that could function outside survival instinct, she comprehended that the men must have something to do with Ursa’s past. But she couldn’t think beyond that or her urge to keep Ursa safe. The men could shoot into the house any second. Connecting to 911 and describing their remote location would waste too much time. She hoped Gabe had heard the gunshots and called the police, but she had no guarantee that he had.

To get in, the men would have to use the front or rear wooden doors. The old house was raised up on cinder blocks, and the windows were located halfway up the wall, too high for easy access from the outside. Jo dragged Ursa away from the door, afraid a bullet might pierce through. She stood at the entrance to her bedroom, trying to think. The men would know their shots had awakened them. Little Bear had thwarted a surprise attack. Now the men were on the defensive. They would assume Gabe was still with them because they hadn’t seen Jo drop him off at his cabin. They would be afraid Gabe and Jo owned a gun.

But they would get bolder the longer there was silence in the house. They would know they had their quarry trapped and would kick in the doors. Jo and Ursa would have to go out through a window, but that would force them to run into the open area around the house before they could hide in the woods. The two bug bulbs on the porches would give the men plenty of light to see them and take aim.

A line from the Nirvana song Gabe had played on the jukebox ran through Jo’s mind. Darkness would be less dangerous. “Get down and stay here,” she whispered to Ursa. Ursa obeyed, crumpling to the floor in the doorway. Jo crept into the kitchen and quickly pushed the stove light button off. She crouched in the darkness, waiting to see if anything happened. Maybe they would worry when they saw the light go out. They would imagine someone lying in wait with a gun.

She crawled on the floor to the back door, shot up to flick off the bug bulb, and dropped down again. Now the rear of the house was dark. Only the dim bug bulb at the front screen door remained on, but she couldn’t turn it off because its switch was on the porch. From the floor, she opened the knife drawer and took out the biggest blade.

She crawled back to Ursa with the knife clutched in her hand. “Get up and be quiet,” Jo whispered, pulling her cold, clammy hand. Ursa stood, her body trembling. Though being near a window was risky, Jo had to ready an exit. The lower part of the window in her bedroom was blocked by the air conditioner. The one in the other bedroom was a better choice anyway, because it was on the dark rear side of the house. When the men came in the doors, Jo and Ursa would climb out the window and run for the woods.

It was a good plan. It would work. Unless more than two men had surrounded the house. But if there were that many, surely they would have attacked by now.

Jo pulled Ursa into the empty bedroom and pushed up on the window. It was stuck. The summer humidity must have made it swell. She shoved with all her strength, and the wooden frame finally budged. The air conditioner was on again, and she hoped it had masked the sound.

Jo used the knife to cut away the screen. “If they come in, jump out the window and run for Gabe’s house through the woods,” Jo whispered close to Ursa’s ear. “Don’t use the road. Stay in the woods. Hide if you think someone is following you. They’ll never find you out there in the darkness.” When Jo started to leave, Ursa clutched her arm. “I’m going to get my phone and your shoes,” she explained, but she had to pry Ursa’s hand away.

She crept to her bedroom and felt around for her phone on the floor. When she found it, she set the door lock and closed the door. After she got Ursa’s shoes from the living room, she returned to the spare bedroom, closed the door, and set the knob lock. Now the men had two more locked doors to break down. That would give Jo and Ursa time to make it to the woods without being seen.

Jo slipped Ursa’s purple gym shoes on each of her cold bare feet and tied them with shaking hands. She realized she’d forgotten to get her own shoes, but she didn’t risk going to get them.

She pressed Ursa to the wall next to the open window. Only minutes had passed since the shots were fired, but it felt like an hour. Even if he’d heard, Gabe couldn’t have driven over that fast. She pressed 911 in her phone. The call didn’t connect. She moved to a different place in the room and entered the numbers again. She watched as the phone tried to connect, her every nerve more electrified with each squandered second.

A foot kicked the front door hard. Jo jumped and nearly dropped the phone.

“Jo!” Ursa said.

Jo put the phone on the floor and held her close. “It’ll be okay. Do what I said. Stay in the woods until you get to Gabe’s. If you can’t find his cabin, run far and hide. We’ll find you when it’s safe.” The man continued kicking the front door. The terrifying sound was amplified by more kicking on the rear door. Now Jo knew where both men were, but she couldn’t send Ursa yet. The man at the back door might see her running. Jo lifted Ursa and placed her rear on the windowsill. The doors were breaking. Jo and Ursa pressed together, sharing the same wild heartbeat. One of the men would get through any second. Jo hoped it would be the one at the back door.

A shot cracked and then another. The man at the front door was using his gun to take out the bolt lock. He fired again. Almost simultaneously, the kitchen door’s lock gave way with a crash of breaking wood. Jo lowered Ursa to the ground, but she stood petrified, staring up at Jo. “Run!” Jo whispered. “Hurry! I’ll follow!”

Ursa took off for the woods to the west. As Jo crawled out the window, she heard the rev of an engine on Turkey Creek Road. She dropped to the ground and ran for the woods just as Gabe’s truck careened around the corner spraying gravel. He fired a shot into the air, trying to draw the gunmen away from the house.

His timing couldn’t have been worse for Jo. She was out in the open. But at least Ursa had made it to the woods.

Gabe skidded the truck to a halt near Jo’s Honda, jumped out, and crouched down, using the cab for cover.

“Gabe! Watch out!” Ursa screamed.

“No! Get back!” Jo shouted when Ursa burst out of the tree line.

Still running, Jo heard feet thudding behind her. Shots fired. The man from the back door was shooting at Ursa. Or maybe at Jo. Gabe was trying to cover Ursa as she ran, but the man at the front door was firing on him.

Jo was running through a battlefield. Guns cracked all around her. She collapsed, the back of her left thigh burning. She couldn’t move, in shock from the bullet wound. The man who’d shot her pounded past.

He was heading for Ursa. Jo got up, feeling no pain, but her damaged leg prevented her from running as fast as she needed to. In the pale celestial light, she saw Ursa running toward Gabe’s truck. She had almost reached it when the man fired. Ursa went down. Jo stopped and pressed her hand to her mouth to cover her scream. But the man knew she was there. He turned around, his gun aimed straight at her.

Gabe bellowed a primal sound of rage and fired his gun. He was in the open, charging the man to divert his attention from Jo. The man turned away from Jo to return fire, but he stumbled backward and slouched to the ground before firing more than two shots.

Gabe was still standing. “Get down!” he shouted.

Jo flattened on the ground and watched him run to the man. He took the man’s gun away and patted his body. He found another weapon and took it.

“How many are there?” he called to Jo.

“I think two. Ursa is hurt!”

“I know, but stay down!” He scuttled over to Ursa, his gun ready.

Jo was relieved when she heard him speak to Ursa. She must be okay. Gabe left Ursa and ran to Jo. “Are you hurt?”

“Just a little. What about Ursa?”

He didn’t answer.

“Tell me!”

“It’s bad.”

“Oh my god!” She got up and ran for Ursa, dragging her left leg. “You have to stay down!” he said, running with her. “I’ve killed two, but there could be more.”

Jo sank to the ground next to Ursa and Gabe crouched over her, peering around for more assailants. Ursa was on her back. Jo didn’t need a light to see where she was hurt. In the dim glow of stars, she saw the dark stain soaked into the fabric of her pink Hello Kitty pajamas. She’d been shot once, on the right side of her stomach. She was breathing, but she was in shock. Her body trembled and her eyes stared at Jo, but she didn’t seem to see her. “Is an ambulance coming?”

“Lacey called 911 when we heard the first shots.”

“They might not bring an ambulance!”

“She heard all the gunfire. They’ll bring an ambulance,” he said, but he looked worried. He laid down his gun to call Lacey. “Are the police coming?” he said. “What about an ambulance? Not me. Ursa is hurt bad.” After a pause, he said, “Yes, the girl.” He listened for a few more seconds before ending the call.