Mistaken Identity

Mistaken Identity - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

What started as a wonderful day, soon turned into a stormy afternoon. Duncan and Addie had made their peace and were working together traversing the woods in hopes of finding civilization. “It’s amazing!” Addie muttered as they walked and snacked on some apples they had found in a grove, “I mean, growing up in Atlanta, just an hour or so drive from here, this area is as wild and untamed as the Guatemalan jungles.”

They had been trudging through the forest all morning without a house or human in sight. Duncan knew they were heading in a direction that should, thinking eventually it would lead them somewhere.

The only problem were the storm clouds that gathered. From the look of the darkening sky, rain was going to come pouring down on them any minute. They had been seeking shelter, with nothing in sight. It was now late afternoon and they both knew they needed to find a place for the evening.

The sky grew darker and the atmosphere around changed. The scent of rain hung  heavy in the air. Duncan’s shoulder had a continuous dull pain, but nothing he couldn’t live with. Getting out of the weather was his worries now.

Both Addie and Duncan had picked up speed, even though their bodies were tired from the trek all day.

“One good thing,” Addie smiled as she looked up at him, “we’ve lost the madman!”

Duncan smiled because he knew she was right, but he also knew he was still out there and now worried about Beth and Rodney. They needed to get to civilization and try to call Rodney or Jackson and tell them what was happening.

The first drops of rain were sheltered somewhat by the tree limbs overhead. The few autumn leaves that had clung to the trees were holding firm as the rain began to fall. The creek next to where Addie and Duncan had walked for the past couple of hours began to overflow with a flux of streaming water and the ground around them began to get muddy after an hour of the constant rain.

As the rain grew and pounded the earth and their bodies, both Duncan and Addie were soaked. They found partial shelter under a large tree and huddled together trying to stay warm as the temperatures dropped. Duncan wrapped his arm around Addie trying to share some of his body heat with her. She realized then, that he was burning up with a fever.

“Duncan, you’re hot as a flame! You need some antibiotics.”

Duncan smiled at her, their tension from earlier today gone, “I guess I can’t take that as a compliment.”

Addie smiled back, he was hot in so many ways, but right now she was talking about his temperature. “Duncan, how long have you been like this?”

He shrugged with his good shoulder, “Not sure, since I was a wee one, I was told I was cute...” Addie pushed against his chest but he just pulled her close and tucked her head under his chin. He chuckled and Addie found herself laughing too.

“Be serious. How long has your temperature been high?” She needed to get his temperature down, but right now he was helping her stay warm. She was sure her fingers would be numb if not so close to his body.

“After we stopped at the stream for water and ate the apples, I thought at first it was because of the hike and exertion. About the time the rain started was when I realized it was more.”

She pulled away from him just enough to see his face, “You need to tell me these things.” He just nodded.

They sat drawn together like two lost souls clinging to each other as the wind picked up and blew the leaves scattered on the ground around them. Lightening flashed in the distance as the sky grew dark and bleak as the thunder rumbled.