Alice fell to the ground hard. Danny's violent blow knocked the wind out of her lungs. She coughed and grabbed at her side, feeling a shooting pain in her ribs. Danny continued to move about wildly as he relived Hobi's attack in his fevered dreams. He tried to crawl away from his attacker; his movements causing the steel trap to cut deeper into his leg.

"Danny, stop it!" Alice shouted. She straddled Danny, grabbed his arms and held them down at his sides. "Settle down, please!" She pleaded.

Danny groaned loudly until his thrashing finally stopped. After their struggle Alice was utterly exhausted. She pressed her forehead into his chest, panting, her heart thudded against her chest. As her head rested against Danny, Alice could feel the heat radiating from his body. At this rate, would Danny survive the night? This sweet, gentle man was fighting for his life and damn if she wouldn't do her best to keep him alive. Danny was her future and she wasn't about to let him go! Alice sat alongside the injured man, brought his head onto her lap and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Danny, please hold on. Dupe will be here soon. Don't give up, please! I love you!" Alice cried.

It didn't take long for Dupe and Evan to set up camp.

"Are you sure I can't help?" Rowan asked.

"No, we've got it under control," Dupe said. "You sit by the fire and rest."

Rowan sat by the campfire and realized he was worn out. He rubbed his face in an effort to remain alert. "Do you have any idea where to start looking Mr. Du Plessis?"

"Well, as you know, the waterholes are miles apart," Dupe said as he poured packaged pasta into a pot of boiling water. "We'll drive to the furthest one and if they're not there, then we come forward to the next one and so on. The Search and Rescue Team will be bringing another helicopter in the morning so we'll have air support and their units will be searching on the ground as well. We will find them tomorrow."

Rowan nodded thoughtfully, concentrating on the flames. Soon, his eyes became heavy and his head jerked as he struggled to stay awake. "If you don't mind, I think I'll lie down for a minute."

"Yeah, sure," Dupe said. "Dinner should be ready soon."

Rowan smiled and laid down to rest. He was fast asleep and snoring softly within minutes. The pasta was ready twenty minutes later. Dupe served up only two plates.

"Don't you want me to wake him up?" Evan asked.

"Nah, let him sleep. He can eat something in the morning."

The old man and the young boy then settled down to eat. "Sorry about what I said earlier, Dupe."

"You have a good heart, Evan. But sometimes your heart gets in the way and you act before you think things through. I hoped you learned something today."

"I have," Evan said softly.

"Now eat your dinner. Oh, and since I cooked, you clean up."

Evan smiled. "Okay." He was grateful Dupe had allowed him to come along. Evan loved Danny with all his heart and he wanted to be there when they found him. Danny and Alice had to be all right! They just had to be!

Alice had checked Danny's leg. The wrappings were drenched in blood. While Danny thrashed about the steel trap had caused more damage to his leg. Alice had wrapped his leg with the remaining pieces of her shirt and hoped that would stop the bleeding.

The animals outside the perimeter of the camp could smell the fresh blood. The beasts began fighting amongst themselves; the smell of blood had sent them into a frenzy. Alice could see the lion pacing back and forth in desperation, attempting to find a way into the campsite. She could hear the Spotted Hyenas' haunting laughter-like calls. Their hoot-laughs or giggles sounded as if they were mocking her. So far, the fires encircling their camp had kept all the predators from venturing in.

Alice stroked Danny's face softly. He had settled down and was resting quietly, his head propped on Alice's lap.

"You know, Danny, I didn't think I could ever feel this way about another man ever again. You stole my heart the first time I laid eyes on you. You're gentle and kind and such a good man. The more time I spent with you, the deeper my love grew. When Vanessa told me that you and her were an item, it was as if she had ripped my heart out of my chest, thrown it to the ground and stomped on it. I believed her because I didn't think you could ever care for me. We kept fighting like cats and dogs so I thought, hey, Danny doesn't like me very much. How stupid of me to think you could ever love me. But you proved me wrong. When you kissed me last night, I thought my heart was going to burst! What I had wished for and dreamed about had finally come true with our first kiss. By the way, you're a very good kisser," Alice said smiling. "Danny, please, you have to keep fighting. You're the best thing that's happened to me since Charlotte. I don't want to lose you. Please stay with me. I don't want to go on without you!" Alice said, tears streaming down her face.

Rowan awoke with a start. Was it morning already? It seemed he had just laid down to rest a minute ago. It was the crack of dawn and Dupe and Evan had already packed everything into the jeep.

"Morning, I was just coming to wake you," Dupe said.

"Sorry, I've overslept. Are we ready to go?" asked Rowan as he got to his feet.

"Yep," Dupe said heading back to the jeep with Rowan at his heels. "No time for breakfast. There're some snacks in the cooler. You better eat something to keep up your strength."

"Thanks," Rowan said as he settled into the back seat.

Dupe spoke as he drove off. "The S and R units are on their way and the helicopter should be in the sky in half an hour."

"Great," Rowan said as he bit into a protein bar.

The night had finally turned into day. Slivers of morning sunlight filtered through the trees, creating in Alice a sense of peace for she knew they were going to be rescued soon. She wondered if there had been another beautiful sunrise as the one she had witnessed just the day before.

During the night Alice worked hard to keep the fires burning and their luck had held up – no animal had come into their camp. Only the lion remained, continuing to pace back and forth. Alice kept the rifle close in case the lion lost its fear of fire and would choose to attack.

Danny had made it through the night, yet, Alice didn't know how much longer he could hold on? He was still running a high fever, however, he was no longer agitated and had not moved for quite a while. She had talked to him for hours, telling him all about her life story. She told him things she had never shared with another human being. Maybe one day, when he was well, she would tell him what she had shared last night.

Dupe drove up to the waterhole. Evan was the first to see the jeep.

"Dupe! The jeep!" Evan said pointing downhill. Rowan and the boy jumped out of the vehicle and ran down to the crashed jeep. Dupe stayed behind to radio the rescue units.

Evan reached the jeep first. "DANNY! We have to get to Danny!" Evan shouted at Rowan.

"Maybe they're not under it! They could have been thrown out or…"

Evan hadn't considered this. He ran up the hillside to search. Dupe finally arrived at the jeep. "One of the rescue units will be here in about ten minutes."

Not long after a truck pulled up and four men exited the vehicle and rushed down to the crash site. Within minutes the jeep was rolled over on its wheels and to everyone's relief the jeep was empty.

Dupe turned to the rescue unit coordinator. "This boy has a gift. He can track anything."

"Well, then he can join my best tracker. I'll call the helicopter to search over this area. It shouldn't be long before we find them," the coordinator said.

Dupe turned to Evan. "Okay, Evan, prove me right."

Alice heard the helicopter above them. Unfortunately, the trees were keeping them hidden. What could she do to attract their attention? A thought came to her; she rushed to a tree and broke off a branch. She threw the branch over one of the fire pits creating thick gray smoke. The helicopter crew was bound to see the smoke – they just had too!