Read Online Falling for Hope by Natalie Vivien - Free Book Online

the
woman helped her up, glancing down at her through the curtains of rain with an
apologetic expression.
    “It’ll be okay, Amy,” said Chris,
then, and she stepped forward and hugged her, holding her close as the storm
raged around them.
    It was so unexpected, and so
needed, that Amy felt tears well up in her eyes.   She swallowed her sobs and embraced Chris tightly.  
    She knew, now, that they were all
definitely in this together.
    Irene was grinning a little as she
turned the flashlight beam on them.   “Good.   Finally,” she said,
relief in her voice.   “All right,
ladies,” she said loudly, clearing her throat as she glanced back toward the
pathway.   “Let’s keep going.”
    “Hope!” bellowed Chris, her loud
voice traveling even through the downpour and the crackle of thunder.   Chris turned, and—together—the three women
continued up the mountain.
    Summer rain should be warm, thought
Amy miserably, as they slogged onward.   It shouldn’t be freezing.   And
Hope was lost in this miserable weather, had been exposed to it for hours.   Amy, Chris and Irene had only been walking
the trail for about twenty minutes.   Amy
couldn’t imagine how cold Hope must be.   And what if she was caught in a dangerous situation?   There were a million dangerous situations
Amy could imagine: images of bears and cliff faces and falling trees filled her
head.  
    They struggled up the path for what
felt like forever.   Eventually, Irene,
ever the optimist, her voice hoarse from calling out for Hope hundreds of
times, coughed and stopped, taking off her soggy baseball cap and running her
fingers through her short brunette hair.   “What if we picked the wrong trail?” she asked Chris and Amy.   Amy’s heart rose into her throat, and she
swallowed, trying to calm the drill of her pulse.
    “We might have.   There’s no way of knowing,” said Chris,
wiping the rain out of her eyes.   “I
don’t know.”
    They were following the Ambrose
Trail, which was the trail that intersected most of the other trails and
crisscrossed the mountain, leading up to the summit.   Under more pleasant circumstances, the women would have been able
to see that they were near a very pretty section of the trail now.   There was a tall waterfall that cascaded
down into a steep ravine, and the trail continued along the edge of the ravine
until it was no longer a ravine but an actual cliff face overlooking the
waterfall itself.   Amy imagined that she
could hear the roar of the waterfall, but it was probably just the roar of the
rain, since the waterfall was still a little further off.  
    “Harmony Falls is Hope’s favorite
part of the trails here,” Chris called over the downpour.   “That’s why I chose this trail, because it’s
the one she walks most often.”   Again,
Chris wiped at her face, spluttering.  
    They continued along the path, Amy
still sliding on the mud, her heart hammering as the trail began to get
steeper, one side of the trail morphing into a sharp drop-off.   The roar grew louder, then, and Amy knew
that around the bend ahead would be the waterfall.
    “Hope!” Chris called, and Amy inhaled
deeply, forming her hands into a megaphone shape around her mouth.
    “Hope, where are you?” she called
out into the rain.
    Another bolt of lightning tore open
the sky, and the wind screamed in Amy’s ears.
    And then…Amy paused.
    Over the roar of the waterfall, the
rush of the rain and wind and the booming thunder, had she heard…
    She stood very still, trying to
calm her heartbeat, listening with all of her might.
    Chris stopped, too, placing her
hand on Amy’s arm.   “Did you hear that?”
she bellowed over the storm.
    “Hear what?” called Irene from
farther up the trail.
    “Shh—just listen!” Chris called to
her.
    Amy held her breath.
    Yes.   There it was again.   It
was so faint, so low, but she’d heard it—definitely heard it—as
Chris stared back at her with wide eyes.
    A