Hotline to Murder

seemed to wake up. She looked down the trail. She looked at Shahla. “It’s too steep.”
    “Slide down it then. Get down it any way you can.”
    Still Tina hesitated.
    “Go,” Shahla said. “Go, go, go.” She gave Tina a push that almost knocked her down the hill.
    Tina went, stumbling, down the trail. Shahla went after her, half sliding, half running. The bumping was painful, but she ignored the pain. They made good progress. Just as she thought they were going to get away, she heard sounds behind her. Sounds that were getting closer. She looked over her shoulder. It was Nathan, all right, silhouetted against the night sky, swooping down on them like an avenging demon. Well, not as graceful as a demon, but just as determined. She thought she saw something in his right hand, probably a knife.
    Shahla had to make a quick decision. She couldn’t speed up or she would overtake Tina, who was having trouble with the steep descent in the dark. She had to protect Tina. If she went off the trail, would Nathan follow her, or would he stay on the trail and go after Tina?
    Shahla stepped off the trail to the left, in the direction away from Nathan’s knife hand. She stood in the low brush and watched Nathan approach. His out-of-control rush threatened to send him sprawling, but, unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Shahla placed the box cutter in her left hand. If Nathan stayed on the trail, she would attack him as he went by.
    He slowed down. He wanted her. As he came abreast of her, Nathan tried to slide to a stop. He managed to grab Shahla’s right arm with his left hand, but his momentum carried them both down the hill. Shahla felt the pain of a thousand needles in her back as she fell against the stiff branches of the brush. Nathan fell partially on top of her and then bounced off.
    Shahla twisted her body and tried to stand up, but she didn’t have a solid footing and fell forward into the brush. More pain. Nathan was beside her, also struggling to right himself.
    She heard him say, “You’re coming with me,” as he raised the knife. “Even if I have to cut you up.”
    Shahla was still off-balance, but she was able to shove him in the chest with both hands. As she did this, she lost her grip on the box cutter. It disappeared into the brush. His knife cut across her left shoulder. Then he fell backwards, and so did she. She received more damage from the sharp wooden spines. Now she and Nathan were separated by a few feet. She tried to stand and make a run for it, but the brush was too thick to allow easy movement.
    She turned to face him. He was uphill from her. He stood up and towered over her, with the knife raised high, a fearsome apparition. Shahla felt naked without the box cutter. She wondered whether she was going to die. Even in the dark, she could make out a manic expression on his face. He was crazy.
    Although they were only a few feet apart, the thickness of the brush kept him from coming straight toward her. He stood, motionless, and seemed to ponder the problem. She started edging away from him, slowly, working her way through the brush. It scratched her bare legs, but she barely noticed. She had put a few more feet between them when Nathan came to life. He yelled something unintelligible and stumbled forward, surprising her.
    With his initial rush, he covered most of the distance between them, but his legs became caught in the unyielding branches, and he lost his balance. Shahla tried to duck away from the upraised knife as he fell. His body hit her, but she managed to twist clear of him so he didn’t land on top of her.
    Her face went into the brush, and she felt a branch stab her close to her eye. Now she was mad. She pushed herself up. Nathan was sprawled face down beside her. She jumped on his back and shoved his head into the brush. Hard. He screamed. She saw the knife, still in his hand. She lunged and grabbed his hand, twisting it so that the knife fell into the bushes.
    He started to get up. Shahla climbed back on top of him and shoved his head into the brush again. He screamed again.
    “Don’t move,” she hissed.
    She felt his muscles tense for another try. She pushed his head down. He grunted, and his muscles relaxed. This might work. He was lying in the brush, facing downhill at a steep angle. It must be very painful for him to move in this awkward position. As long as Shahla stayed on top of him and could keep him from moving, she had the advantage. She wondered how long she