At the hotel, for the first time in months, she had a sound sleep. Perhaps it was fatigue from the long journey. Whatever the case, she was up early the next morning. By the time the sun shot its first orange rays over the horizon, she was driving the little red sports car out of town. The car wouldn't have been her choice, but it was the only rental available...unless she wanted to wait around for half a day until another was returned. The little red car might be inappropriate, but it would suffice.
She studied the map Mr. Muldrow had sketched for her. Compared to the spider web of highways in Los Angeles, it looked simple. Singing softly, she turned onto the three-lane highway and used the center lane to execute a left turn onto a four lane highway. A green sign indicated Huntsville was only 17 miles away. Another thirty minutes and she would be at the old log cabin. Camping equipment filled the trunk along with enough clothes to last a week. Surely there would be a Laundromat close. The only thing left to purchase was food, and there was bound to be a store near the cabin.
The next turn found her on a narrow two lane highway that was a succession of curves. When she caught up with a motor home going forty miles an hour, she found no place to pass. After thirty minutes she spotted the sign indicating the state highway where she was supposed to turn. The narrow state highway stretched like a black ribbon through the forested hills. Only one vehicle passed her in the fifteen minutes it took her to reach the next turnoff indicated on the map. The country was getting wilder and the homes were farther apart. Turning on a wide gravel road, she stopped to study the map. There was no street sign, but according to the map, it had to be the correct road. The route could always be retraced if it was the wrong one. The cabin couldn't be much further. The map indicated a bridge and a town not far ahead.
The road gradually narrowed and climbed through hills choked with brush and huge oak trees. She maneuvered the car around washed out places and eased it over rocks that erupted from the surface of the dusty road. At one point the road became one lane and curved around the face of a cliff. On one side was a massive rock cliff covered with green moss. On the other was a canyon cloaked with so many trees that it looked like a patch of broccoli.