“Joey, take care .Take great care.”
She closed her eyes and left the office without a backward glance, clutching the map in her fist.
Chapter Five
The next morning was warmer than she expected. Loosening the collar of her jacket, Joey checked the contents of her light knapsack a second time and finished the last bite of muffin. She had forced herself to eat more than she wanted, but she knew she was going to need all the energy she could find during the day ahead.
Joey studied the map a final time, folded it neatly, and tucked it in her jacket pocket. She had a good seven miles to go over heavily wooded country just to reach the near side of the lake; that would be the easiest stretch, since she’d be able to follow a dirt road haphazardly maintained by the town. After that, she’d be passing onto private land—Luke’s land. Three or four miles beyond the opposite shore of the lake lay Luke’s cabin. As Collier had said, it was a good day’s hike, but she felt nothing but anticipation and excitement at the challenge; it felt good, and right, to be finally doing something.
She did not dwell on the fact that a very insistent part of her longed to see Luke again.
The sun had warmed the day even more since early morning; Joey shed her jacket and wrapped it around her waist, pulling the knapsack in place over her shoulders as she started for the road leading out of town. She’d gone a little way in that direction a few times during her explorations, particularly since it was roughly in the direction she had hoped to find the site of the plane crash. But she’d never gone as far as the lake.
Her steps were firm, and her heart beat fast with excitement, fresh mountain air cleared the cobwebs from her mind. The gravel and earth under her feet rolled and crunched as the road narrowed to a rutted path through the trees.
Joey had never felt quite so aware of the wilderness as she did now. The rich scent of the trees was delicious, birdsong seemed sweeter than any man-made music. The contentment she felt seemed to have no logical source, but for once she didn’t ask for logical explanations
By the time she’d been walking for several hours, Joey was beginning to feel less elated than tired. She’d determined to hold out until she reached the lake, just beyond the halfway point of her journey, according to the map, she should be close. Her stomach was rumbling with a reminder that strenuous physical activity required plenty of fuel, and for once she was more than happy to comply with its demands.
The first glimpse of water brought Joey to a halt where the path curved to begin its passage around the lake Lac du Loup—Wolf Lake. Considering how many times the subject of wolves had come up over the past few weeks, Joey wasn’t surprised.
In the past Joey had considered one wilderness lake very like another, but for some reason she found herself regarding this one with considerably more appreciation.
The noon sunshine sparkled like diamonds on the pristine blue surface, Joey had no doubt that the old cliché was completely appropriate. It was a large lake, and the far shore was no more than a greenish-brown haze of distant trees, flanked by the ubiquitous mountains.
Somewhere beyond the other side lay her goal, Luke’s cabin. Joey squinted as if she would somehow be able to make it out, and then gave up in favor of searching for a good spot for a picnic lunch.
She wandered some distance along the lake shore before she found just the right place. The trees came nearly down to the waters edge, shielding the lake from the path. A number of large, flat rocks provided an excellent site for laying out her lunch and basking in the sun.
With a groan of satisfaction, Joey eased herself down onto one of the rocks and shrugged off her knapsack. A quick search of the contents revealed her sandwiches, only slightly squished and still edible. In fact, at the moment they looked like a banquet.