She left the house then and made her way to her mother’s SUV, and slid into the driver’s seat. Backing out of the parking spot, she put the car in drive and rolled down the path toward the exit. Ten minutes later, she was on Route 20, driving toward Ebey’s Landing. In another sixteen minutes, she pulled up to the Sunnyside Cemetery.
Erin exited the car and turned to enjoy the view. She could see Mount Baker on the horizon to her left, and turning clockwise, she could see the peaks of the Cascade Mountains. Turning again, she was graced with the other breathtaking view of the Olympics looming large over Puget Sound. The whole view was a picture-worthy scene, and if she had taken her phone, she would have snapped a few.
She turned around and started walking in the direction of the access trail that was small and overgrown, and it led to a larger parking lot and a sign that pointed to the Prairie Ridge Trail. On the trail, there were only a few people ahead of her, and she was grateful for this fact because she didn't want to have too many encounters with other people who were hiking. A few feet in front of her, she spotted the Jacob Ebey house and blockhouse, which is one of the oldest landmarks in the state.
She walked through fields of wheat until she made it back to the trail that started to become rugged. With each step she took in the direction of the west, the route shrunk in width, and the ground became more unstable. The soil was pushed by her boots as she walked. She made the decision to turn around and go in the opposite direction, which led her to go by the Pratt sheep barn and into the forest.
She smiled appreciatively as she roamed the forested area, listening to the whistle of birds and the rustle of the bushes as animals rushed by. She even spotted a few bunnies and squirrels that darted past her in an attempt to hide.
When she heard a clear hissing noise coming from the bushes, it caused a sudden jolt of fear in her chest. She hurried up her pace in order to get through the thicket and onto the bluff as quickly as possible. She started climbing the steep incline that would eventually bring her to the peak of the hill.
She folded her hands over her chest as she took in the breathtaking panorama of the beach and the waves slamming against the rocks below. She then moved her focus to the untamed flowers that were growing along the slope. There were butterflies flitting from one blossom to the next. After spending some time simply taking in the scenery, she eventually turned around and started walking back down the trail.
After making it to the T-junction, she made the decision to head in the opposite direction, taking the route to the right that led to a path she wasn’t familiar with. She made the decision to go, despite the fact that the path was overgrown with bushes. The path led her along the brink of the cliff, but the view from that vantage point was far more breathtaking. She inched her way closer, determined to get a better look at what lay below. The edge collapsed without warning.
“Ahh!!!” Erin screamed as she started to tumble. Her body was prevented from free-falling by something incredibly strong, and her head made a violent impact with the vertical face of the cliff. Her hand came up to support her head as the circles danced in front of her eyes. She fell forward in a slouched position and then passed out.
When Erin came to, it was late evening. Her head pounded, and her body ached with pain all over. She cast her gaze in all directions in an effort to establish her whereabouts. The moment her eyes settled on the ocean in front of her and the jagged rocks that protruded from the surface of the sea below, she remembered what had happened. She tried to get up but cried out in agony when a sharp pain radiated from her ankle up her leg. She slowly dragged herself into a sitting position with her back against the wall.
“Help!” she shouted, hoping a passerby would hear her. “Help! Can anybody hear me?” The only sound that came to her ears was the crashing waves below. She continued calling for help until her voice grew hoarse. Her leg throbbed uncontrollably. She tried her best to take her mind off the pain, but it was unbearable, and a few hot tears splashed down her cheeks as she released short rapid breaths.
“Help!” she called out again. This time her voice was barely above what she sounded like when talking. She could tell that the sun had set as the sky had darkened— the pink and orange hues indicative of the day’s transition into nighttime. The wind nipped at her face as the temperature fell. More tears rolled down her cheeks, but this time it was out of despair. She was afraid that she would never see her family again. She’d never get to tell her mother how much she loved and appreciated her. Jules wouldn’t know just how proud she was of her and how much she had inspired her. Her tears flowed harder when she thought about her father. She would never get to tell him that she loved him and that she forgave him. A sob left her lips as her mind finally landed on Brian. She clutched at her chest through the fabric of her blouse as her heart ached. She would never get to tell him just how much she loved him and wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of her life with him. Overcome with her emotions, she dropped her head into her palms and sobbed. When she was finally able to calm down, she pulled off her flannel shirt and used it to cover herself from the chin down as the cold became biting.
She wasn’t sure how long she had been on this ledge, but the chattering of her teeth as the time grew colder told her that she was in for a long night. She prayed that they would find her body before she started to rot.
“Erin!”
Erin sat up, and her ears perked up at the sound of her name being called out in the distance. Were her ears deceiving her?
“Erin!”
Her heart beat frantically in her chest at the realization that she hadn’t imagined the voice.
“Here! I’m here!” she tried calling as loudly as she could.
A few seconds later, a light came from above and landed on her.
“Oh my gosh, Erin. Are you all right?” her father called out, his voice frantic with fear.
“I’m okay, Dad, but I think my leg might be broken,” she called up to him.
“I’m coming for you,” Joel informed her.
She had never been happier to hear those words than she was now.
Five minutes later, her father was on the ledge with her. Erin threw her arms around his neck as she buried her face in his chest, and cried tears of relief.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you now,” Joel soothed her, running his hand over her hair comfortingly. “I’ll never let you go.”
ChapterTwenty-Five
“Ow, ow, that hurts,” Erin cried out as her father held her right leg in his hand to examine her injuries. She could tell that her ankle was swollen as her father’s fingers connected to her flesh, which was stiff to the touch.
“I know, sweetie, I’m sorry, but I need to determine the extent of damage to your foot,” her father said.
“Okay,” Erin relented, pulling the heavy coat tight around her. Her father had shrugged it off and placed it around her when he noticed how hard she was shivering.
“It’s broken,” he confirmed. “But it will heal without trouble as long as we get you to the hospital before it gets any worse.”
