Chapter 282: A Worse Fate
Rose crunched even lower as she heard footsteps approach where she was hiding. There had been a bigger rock not far from where she had been sitting, but it didn’t do much for a good hiding spot, and she knew she had to move soon. As soon as anyone was close enough, she would be spotted.
Rose hoped they would take the horse and leave, but that was clearly never part of the plan. She heard the horse protest, and someone swore.
"Stay still, you useless—"
Rose couldn’t see, but it was clear someone was trying to take the horse. It neighed loudly, and a struggle could be heard.
"Hey," Ryder cut in. "Careful with the horse!"
Something about his voice made it hard to ignore. It made her skin crawl. She knew without a doubt he was not to be messed with. How could she possibly escape this mess?
She clutched the map to herself as she looked around. The trees weren’t very good for climbing. They stretched out tall, and the branches were high up. However, it wasn’t like climbing was a good option—they could throw stones or worse to try to get her to come down.
Rose considered running, but she doubted she could outrun them. The path was also pretty rocky and uneven. She could sprain her ankle or worse—but Rose knew she would easily sacrifice her ankle to escape. If only the horse were close, she could use that to escape them.
She was also not sure about their numbers. She had heard three voices already, but something told her there were more than that. Five, perhaps? Rose couldn’t dare lift her head to take a peek.
"I said look for the rider and stop messing with the horse!" Ryder yelled at the men, then smiled deviously.