Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 20835 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20835 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
“Oh, I couldn’t,” she replied, even as she snagged the bag from me and clutched it against her ample chest.
The man turned back around, shaking his head with a deep laugh. “You know there isn’t a chance in hell she’s getting those pickles back from you, so just say thank you, baby.”
“True,” she conceded with a grin. “Thanks so much.”
I returned her smile as I paid for the rest of my things and lifted the bag filled with snacks off the counter. “You’re welcome.”
The man wrapped his arm around the pregnant woman’s back. “Headed anywhere in particular?”
“I’m not one hundred percent sure.” I pressed my lips together, my nose wrinkling while I gave it some thought before I explained about my assignment and losing my partner. “So I probably won’t go as deep into the state park as I had originally planned. Which will suck for my assignment, but I don’t want to risk anything happening while I’m by myself.”
“Stick to the eastern side of the park,” he suggested, a gleam of concern in his eyes as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket. Flipping it open, he removed a scrap of paper and asked the gas station attendant for a pen. After scrawling a number on it, he handed the note to me. “The trails aren’t used quite as much because of their proximity to private property where trespassing is enforced, and you can give us a call if you need help.”
I accepted the paper from him, my brows drawing together. “Thanks, but the last thing I need is to get arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Feel free to ignore the trespassing signs if you come across any,” he offered with a grin. “My family owns most of the land butted up against the state park, so if anyone gives you trouble for being there, just tell them Leyton said it was okay.”
“Really?” I bounced on the balls of my feet, excited at the chance to explore territory that hadn’t already been covered by my classmates.
Leyton nodded. “It’s the least I could do after you gave up one of your snacks so Evette got what she was craving.”
“Thanks so much. I appreciate it.”
He waved off my gratitude as he inserted his credit card into the reader to pay for their stuff.
Evette opened a bag of chips to start eating them, mumbling, “Just promise you’ll be careful.”
“Always,” I assured her before leaving.
Instead of parking where I’d planned, I circled the mountain so my car was closer to the land owned by Leyton’s family. Then I stuffed my snacks into my backpack, grabbed my giant insulated stainless steel tumbler of water, and climbed out of my vehicle. After locking the doors, I headed down the trail into the woods, jotting notes about the path I took in my journal.
I wrote down my observations of the landforms I passed and took a few soil samples along the way. Although it wasn’t required for the class, Dr. McCord had recommended that all of the geology majors keep a list of research ideas in our field journal so we would have plenty of material to refine into a focused research question when we got to our study project course our senior year. Shelley hadn’t paid attention to his suggestion, but it wasn’t surprising now that I understood she only took the class to keep her dad happy while she looked for a rich guy to marry.
My irritation at the girl who was supposed to be out here with me subsided when I spotted a large rock outcropping through the trees. It was probably a good mile off the path, and I’d already passed two No Trespassing signs along the way, but I didn’t hesitate to set off in that direction since Leyton had given me permission back at the gas station. About halfway there, I stopped to snap a few photos of a sandstone boulder with boxwork weathering unlike anything I had ever seen. It was enough to complete my report, but I was curious about the rock formation up ahead.
Twenty minutes later, I stared up at the outcropping. “Wow.”
The layering on the exposed face of the rock was gorgeous, and the formation was even bigger than I expected. Jutting about a thousand feet up, it was basically a mountain at the base of a bigger mountain. As I circled around it to my right, my jaw dropped when I spotted a small opening.
With vines growing around it and covering most of the crack, I would have missed it if I hadn’t been tracing my path with my hand on the rock wall. My curiosity got the best of me, and I tugged the plants to the side to peek in the opening. Using the flashlight on my phone, I examined the interior before stepping inside. Although it was still sunny outside, I had to keep the light on because it got darker the deeper I went into the cave system.