She didn't want to go all the way to the Boyds' camp anyway, because she didn't want Rick to think of her as an interfering mother. But she waited, for a few minutes, somehow believing that Rick would soon be coming down the hill. When she saw a light at the top through the trees, moving and shining down a trail, she was sure it was Rick on his way back to the cabin. Then it stopped, a short distance below the rise, but she couldn't tell what was happening because of the trees. The beam of light moved, appearing and disappearing, and then she could only see a dull glow coming from one place. Was he lost? Oh God… what if he had fallen?

There was a trail up the slope; somehow she had to find it, to get to that spot of light and make sure that her son was all right. She moved slowly, cautiously, afraid that she might step into a chuck hole or trip over a fallen branch. Soon, to her surprise, she found herself on a well-defined trail angling up the slope. Still she moved slowly as the trail was steep and treacherous, and one wrong step could prove disastrous. The climb was difficult. She stopped now and then to make sure that she was still heading up toward the light. At one point the trail moved away from that pinpoint of illumination, and she nearly walked into a tree. She stayed on the trail, and in time it did angle back in the direction of the light.

She was breathing heavily from effort as the trail seemed to become steeper, but finally she realized that the spot she was seeking was directly ahead of her, only a short distance away. She paused to catch her breath and thought about calling out her son's name, but a sound, a noise she couldn't identify caused her to remain quiet. What if it wasn't Rick at all, and she was nowhere near the Boyds' camp? It was possible she was approaching a total stranger, and if that was in fact the case, she didn't want to be seen.