© 2009

The blur of greens and browns filtered into the shapes of countless pines and firs spanning the highway as far as the eye could see. The constant whir of the engine for the past 650 miles became gruff chugs as the bus prepared for the stop ahead. Harper Kane sat up and stretched in the worn faux leather seat in an attempt to ease her cramped muscles.

She’d fallen asleep almost immediately after leaving the San Francisco terminal, but had an abrupt awakening when the bus suffered a thunderous tire blowout and lurched to the side of the road just before the Oregon border. Since then, she had just dozed, with that prickly feeling of being not quite asleep or awake.

Harper admired the infinite shades of color in the surrounding autumn foliage. She loved living in northern California, but Oregon would always have a fond place in her heart. Especially because her elder brother, Bobby, still lived here.

She hadn’t seen him in six months, a long time for them to be apart. But with the Olympic trials nearing, her training had been rigorous. She needed all the time in the water she could get.

But she needed this time away from the pool even more. Her focus had been waning a little lately. Besides, her racing times were better than they’d ever been.

The bus finally slumped to a halt, assaulting her senses with exhaust. She took a few sips from her twenty-four-ounce water bottle to wash the filmy taste from her mouth, and then tucked it in the worn backpack resting on the adjacent seat.

“ Hood River.” The driver’s monotone voice sounded tinny over the microphone.

They were actually stopping way outside the town limits. Given that she was the only passenger on the bus, the driver had grudgingly agreed to stop close to Bobby’s remote home in the woods. Which meant the side of the road rather than the station in Hood River itself.