"Kate? Kate?" Pinch and I had been walking for half an hour. Navigating the woods was tougher than I'd expected, and somehow we'd managed to miss the picnic shelter altogether, winding up on the wrong end of the park's long, narrow pond. By the time we got back on track, the shelter was empty. I prayed we weren't too late. "Kate!" I shouted again, my voice hoarse with fear. "Sam?" The call came from the darkness to our left. "Sam, thank God!" Kate broke free of the treeline and leapt into my arms, Anders trailing just a couple yards behind. As she squeezed my battered ribs, I winced, but still, I held her tight. "Jesus, Kate, you scared the shit out of me – where the hell did you go?" "You guys were gone so long," she said. "We started to worry, thought maybe you were in some kind of trouble." "Damn it, Kate, you know better than that! The last thing we need is for you to go running into harm's way.
