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Dead Man's Watch

By Kay DiBianca

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“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Kathryn Frasier stopped her car in the field next to the trailhead and looked over at her half-sister.
Cece Goldman gave her curly blonde hair a shake. “You know I’m not an athlete, but you won the coin toss, so I’m doing my part.” She shrugged. “Besides, what can go wrong with a little jog in the park?”
“Great.” Kathryn took off her seatbelt and opened the car door. “It’s just one mile. Half mile out, half mile back.” She gave Cece a big smile of encouragement.
“A whole mile?” Cece wrinkled her nose. “You’ll probably have to carry me back to the car.”
“I know you’ll enjoy this. We’ll take it nice and slow. C’mon, let’s do a few warm-up exercises.” Kate swung out of the car and stood stretching her arms overhead, gulping in the chilly afternoon air.
The western foothills of the Rockies had finally thrown off their snowy blankets, and bright green shafts of spring pushed up through the brown stubble in the field, an earthy promise of warmer days to come.
Cece hopped out of the passenger side. “Ah, spring!” She whirled around with her arms spread like helicopter blades. “My favorite time of year.”
The ground was still spongy from the rain the day before, and their shoes made little indentations in the dirt as they walked to the trailhead. But the rain had drained down the steep slope on the east side to the plain below, and the upper trail was dry enough.
“I like your shoes.” Kathryn nodded toward Cece’s feet as she leaned down to touch her toes. “Nice color.”
Cece laughed. “I know what you’re thinking. I shouldn’t buy a pair of running shoes because of the way they look.” She stopped her jumping jacks and held one foot out. “But the salesgirl said these are good jogging shoes for beginners, so I picked out the brightest ones I could find.” She wiggled her foot. “I like fuchsia, don’t you?”
Kate tilted her head to one side, pretending to consider the beauty of her sister’s Nikes. “No doubt you’ll be the most fashionable jogger on the trail.” She twisted her body from side to side. “Maybe you’ll start a trend.”
“Now there’s an idea I could get behind. A line of runners’ clothes for non-runners. I think we’re onto something!” She struck a pose to show off her pink T-shirt and running shorts.
“I’ll let Runner’s World know you’re available for consultation. In the meantime, are you ready to jog?”
“After you, Wonder Woman. I’ll try not to slow you down.”
After a leisurely hundred yards, Cece picked up her pace. “Hey, this isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. There’re even some wildflowers alongside the trail. I didn’t realize it could be so beautiful this time of year.”
“Wait until summer. The hillsides will erupt with heather. It’s magnificent.”
“Do you run on this trail often?”
“No. I usually run at Campbell Park, but they’re holding a half-marathon here in a couple of weeks, and I want to run it as part of my training for the marathon. I thought it would be a good idea to come out here and get a look at the course.”
“Can you translate a half-marathon into miles for me?”
“It’s a little over thirteen miles.” Kate pointed to the ground in front of Cece. “Hey, be careful. This trail is level, but I see a few tree roots sticking out. Don’t trip.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m very observant.” Cece quickened her pace again. “I think I’m getting the hang of this. Look, I’m becoming an athlete!” As she threw her head back and her hands up in the air in a gesture of triumph, her foot caught on an exposed tree root. “Arrrrrrrrrgghh,” she screamed as she tumbled over the side of the slope next to the trail and skidded down the hillside. She stopped about ten feet below the trail and grabbed onto the branch of a spirea bush. “Help!”
“Cece, are you all right?” Kate started to ease down the dirt embankment.
“I turned my ankle. Can you give me a hand?”
“Hang on. It’ll just take a sec for me to get to you.” Kate shimmied down the slope and wedged her foot against a rock. She reached out to Cece.
“A hand! A hand!” Cece screeched.
“Don’t get nervous,” Kate said. “I’m right here. Take my hand.”
“Not your hand!” Cece screamed and pointed to the ravine below. “That hand!"

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