Chapter One

It was a warm night. The sky, a deep crimson colour, was ablaze with millions of tiny twinkling stars. They seemed to be smiling down on the world as it lay, as though asleep, under a soft canopy of reddish moonlight. It was a night ordained, reflected Katrin, later. A night which would change the course of her life forever.

Katrin sat with her back to the hills and her face to the fire. The flames leapt and danced with vivacity, now shooting into the sky as though to lay hold of the stars, now retreating into the ground, but only to shoot back up again with even more vigour and determination. Katrin’s older sister, Meredith, who sat next to her on the low, flattish log which they had adopted as a bench, appeared to be in a trance as she watched a delicate ribbon of smoke wind its way into the night sky and disappear entirely from view. Her large, brown eyes stared unblinkingly into a land that only she could see; a land far, far away and yet drawing nearer every day, a land where she was finally able to lead the comfortable, normal life which she had so longed for. With a contented sigh she pulled herself back into reality and cast a loving glance at the shiny gold-plated ring on her ring-finger. The tiny diamonds looked even more beautiful in such a light, and they seemed to reflect every warm shade the night was graciously bestowing over shrouded creation.

“Just think,” said Meredith, combing her long, glossy curls with her fingers, “in less than a month I’ll have a real chair, and a real bed, and a real house...”

“I know- a real life. I hear you say it so often now.” Katrin’s voice betrayed her emotion.

“Aw, c’mon Katrin,” said Meredith, putting an arm around her sister’s shoulders. “You know this type of life just isn’t for me. All those nights lying on the ground in sub-zero temperatures; it doesn’t do anything for me anymore.”

“I think you’re lying,” said Katrin, resolutely. “I think you really do enjoy life in the wilderness. Remember last week, when you said how wonderful you felt after climbing that mountain which was higher than any we’d ever tackled before? You said there was nothing like the feeling of pushing past your own limits. I heard you say it, I even wrote it in my diary. I think you’re lying to yourself. I think you want Simon to think that you’re like every other girl, that you want to cook and sew and be a housewife all your life and run about picking up his dirty socks and starching his ties- whatever starching is. I can see through you, you know. After all, I am your sister.”

Meredith’s face showed signs of amusement, although she was trying desperately hard to suppress the smile which sought to break out over her face and gain full lordship over her expression.

“You just don’t want me to go, because then you’ll be lumped with mum and dad again,” she ejected.

“It’s not that,” said Katrin, staring glumly at the toe of her boot. “It’s just... well, maybe it’s partly to do with that, but... “

“It won’t be all that bad,” Meredith tried. “It’ll be nice to be back in the caravan for a bit- you’ll be able to have nice hot showers again.”

“That’s the only bit I’m looking forward to,” said Katrin, dismally.

“Oh, you’ll be fine,” said Meredith, faking a grin that even the Cheshire Cat would have been proud of. “Don’t look so disconsolate. Remember, only two more months and you’ll be back at Gran’s, and then you’ll get to see all your friends again.”

“If they’ve not all moved away by then,” said Katrin with a sigh. “Why can’t you and Simon just get married over here, and then he could explore with us, you know, join our team?”

“Because,” said Meredith with a laugh, “Simon would rather thrown away his football collection than become an explorer. I’m going back to Scotland in a fortnight, Katrin, and that’s final.”

Katrin continued to stare glumly at the toe of her boot. The night was growing peculiarly still and quiet; even the birds had hushed their singing. The flames were beginning to diminish a little in height, but certainly not in vigour. The fire seemed more alive than ever as it crackled and hissed and leapt and danced as though it had a mind of its own.

Then, all of a sudden, the stillness was shattered by a shriek. A shrill, ear-piercing shriek that sent shivers up and down Katrin’s spine.

“What was that?” she whispered, clutching Meredith’s arm.

“I... I don’t know,” said Meredith, her face seized with alarm. “Maybe it was a... a cougar...”

“Oh, Meredith, it sounded so near...” cried Katrin, in a bare whisper. “But it... can’t... it won’t... come near the fire?”

“No, I don’t think so,” said Meredith, slowly. “Katrin, take my hand. There. Now all we can do is wait...”

The two girls sat close together, their wide eyes peering desperately into the darkness for any sign of their predator. A minute passed, two minutes. The tall pine trees in the distance swayed deceptively in a gentle breeze, and Katrin thought she could make out the outline of something crouching among them. The girls’ hands became icy with fright, and the pounding of their hearts seemed to resound in the night air like a thousand steel drums in concerto. Five minutes passed, and yet the silhouette between the trees remained motionless.

At last, Katrin spoke up.

“Meredith, what do you think it is? I don’t think it’s big enough to be a cougar. Do you see it, that shape between the trees?”

“I see it, and I don’t think it’s big enough to be a cougar, either. But whatever it is, it lies so still, almost as if it were...”

“Dead?” Katrin let go of her sister’s hand. “Do you think so? But what about that scream?”

“Perhaps it was shot?” suggested Meredith.

“Shot? But there wasn’t a gunshot- we would have heard it. What if it isn’t dead, Meredith? Shouldn’t we page Dad? I know they’re on the other side of the mountain, but...

“Katrin, listen!” said Meredith, putting a finger to her lips. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“That, that noise. It’s like... it’s like... like a baby crying.”

Katrin’s eyes widened with astonishment as she, too, became recipient to the very quiet and yet unmistakable sound of the feeble cries of a tiny infant. Where it came from she was uncertain, but it was certainly no figment of her sister’s imagination.

“Oh, Meredith, I hear it! It’s... it’s awful! But surely you don’t think... it wasn’t the scream of a child that we heard! I don’t like this, Meredith. Not one bit. We really ought to page Dad.”

“Sssshhh,” whispered Meredith, laying a hand on Katrin’s shoulder. “I’m going to go and investigate. You can stay here if you like, but I must find out where this child is. I so hope it’s not hurt.”

“You’re crazy!” cried Katrin, catching Meredith’s arm as the older girl bravely stood to her feet. “What if it’s a trap? What if that thing between the trees really is a cougar, and it’s just waiting for one of us to make a move before... before it... Please, Meredith, don’t be so stupid!”

“I’m going over there,” said Meredith defiantly, and pulled her arm free. “Stay here, watch out for me.”

“Meredith...”

But it was too late. Meredith’s tall frame disappeared into the darkness, armed only with a broken-off piece of log which she had lit for a torch in the now-faltering fire. Any respect for her sister’s courage was swallowed up in the raging whirlpool of fear and despair which had seized Katrin’s entire body with the most violent force, thrusting her into a place where she felt all alone, defenceless and at the mercy of a vicious wild beast who was plotting his attack with more skilfulness than that of a surgeon. But she followed her sister with her eyes, never allowing them- even for a moment- to roam from the stately, silhouetted figure, and that small, helpless, flickering light. She could watch. She could do nothing else, but she could watch.