Stentorian: adjective meaning very loud.
And so we crossed the field. Passed the tin-roofed woodshed and the barn, passed the cows, who bellowed and flipped their tails at flies irreverently. As we hiked up the mountain, the soft wet ground gave way beneath me. I slipped, grabbed at a sapling. I was mistaken; it wasn’t green and strong inside, rather hollow and brittle, a ghost of its former self that pulled free from the carpet of fallen foliage easily. Further I slid. Lawson shouted and reached for me. By the time he’d found sure footing, a boulder to brace his body, I was beyond his grasp. Mud seeped through the knees of my jeans. Across the ridge, a stentorian shot rang. When I stood, I saw a silver truck. But there was no sign of the hunters, just the gun echoing.
