Carolina Moon

tiny breeze toyed with the pages. She was going under, being dragged under.
    “Someone’s watching.”
    “Hmm? Honey, you’ve only had two glasses of this stuff, haven’t you? That’s a mighty cheap drunk.”
    “Someone’s watching.” She took Faith’s hand, and her grip was like iron. “Run. You have to run.”
    “Oh shit.” Out of her depth, Faith bent over, tapped her hand on Tory’s cheek. “Come on back now. Get ahold of yourself.”
    “He’s watching. In the trees. He’s waiting for you. You have to run.”
    “There’s nobody here but us.” But a chill worked through her. “I’m Faith. I’m not Hope.”
    “Faith.” Tory struggled to keep the pictures clear, to hold yesterday and today separate. “He’s back in the trees. I can feel him. He’s watching. Run.”
    Alarm rushed into her eyes, turning them big and bright. She could hear it now, just the faintest rustle from the brush beyond the clearing. Panic wanted to seize her, the cold fingertips of it scraped her skin.
    “There are two of us, goddamn it.” She hissed it out as she snatched up her purse. “And we’re not eight years old and helpless. Run my ass.”
    She pulled her pretty pearl-handled .22 out of her bag, and hauled Tory to her feet.
    “Oh my God.”
    “You snap out of it,” Faith ordered. “We’re going after him.”
    “Are you crazy?”
    “Now, that’s the pot calling the kettle. Come on out, you limp-dicked son of a bitch.”
    She heard the snap of a twig, the swish of leaves, and charged forward. “He’s running. Bastard.”
    “Faith! Don’t.” But she was already racing into the trees. Left with no choice, Tory rushed after her.
    The path narrowed, all but died out in a tangle of underbrush. Birds shot toward the sky like bullets, screaming in protest. Moss dripped down, caught in Tory’s hair. She batted at it as she sprinted to catch up to Faith.
    “I think he went toward the river. We might not catch him, but we’ll scare his sorry ass.” She pointed the gun toward the sky and pulled the trigger.
    Gunshots blasted, echoed, and seemed to vibrate through Tory down to the toes. Birds exploded out of trees and rushed the clouds. At the sound of splashing, Faith grinned like a lunatic.
    “Maybe he’ll end up gator bait. Come on.”
    Tory could smell the river, the warm ripeness of it. The ground went soggy under her feet, had Faith sliding like a skater. “For God’s sake, be careful. You’ll shoot yourself.”
    “I can handle a damn pissant gun like this.” But her breath was heaving, as much from the flood of emotion as the run. “You know the swamp better than I do. You take the lead.”
    “Put the safety on that thing. I don’t care to get shot in the back.” Tory caught her own breath, pushed the tangled hair out of her face. “We can cut this way toward the river, save time. Watch for snakes.”
    “God, I knew there was a reason I hated this place.” The first rush of adrenaline was gone, and in its place was an innate disgust for anything that crawled or skittered. But Tory was pushing ahead, and pride left her no choice but to follow through.
    “What was it about this place that appealed to you and Hope?”
    “It’s beautiful. And wild.” She heard footsteps, heavy, deliberate, and threw up a hand. “Someone’s coming. From the river.”
    “Doubled back, did he?” Faith planted her feet, lifted the gun. “I’m ready for him. Show yourself, you son of a bitch. I’ve got a gun and I’ll use it.”
    There was a thump as if something had fallen or been dropped. “Christ Jesus, don’t shoot!”
    “You step out, and you show yourself. Right now.”
    “Don’t go taking potshots. Holy God, Miss Faith, is that you? Miss Faith, it’s just Piney. Piney Cobb.”
    He eased out from the trees with his back to the curve of the river where cypress knees speared the surface. His hands shook as he held them high.
    “What the hell were you doing, sneaking around in here, watching us?”
    “I wasn’t. Swear to God. Didn’t know you were hereabouts till I heard the shots. Scared me down to the skin. Didn’t know whether to run or hide. I’ve just been frogging, that’s all. Been frogging the last hour or so. The boss, he don’t mind if I do some frogging in here.”
    “Then where are the frogs?”
    “Got the bag right over there. Dropped it when you called out. You scared ten years off me, Miss Faith.”
    Tory saw nothing in his face but fear, felt nothing from him