With the sun just peeping through the clouds over the eastern mountains, Jay tightened the cinch on Thunder Boy’s saddle, then hefted saddle bags filled with trail mix and emergency rations into place.
He turned to see Paige struggling to saddle Peaches. He grimaced. Fool woman!
“Once I pick up Bryan’s trail, I’m going to be traveling fast,” he told her. “You won’t be able to keep up.”
“I’ll keep up.” Wearing Henry’s floppy hat and a poncho over her jacket, she righted the saddle. She grappled under the horse to find the cinch. Henry had loaned her some gloves, too. She’d need them before this was over.
“It may take all day to catch up with him. You’ve never ridden more than two hours at a time. If you fall back, I’ll have to leave you on your own,” he threatened.
Henry helped her settle her saddlebags on the horse and snugged a bedroll wrapped in oil cloth down tight.
“Don’t you worry about me. I won’t slow you down.”
Of course she would. And he couldn’t leave on her own, not with mountain lions and bears prowling the area. She’d be defenseless.
“I know you feel this is your fault—”
“It is my fault. I’m going to make it right.”
Even if it kills me.
Jay tied his bedroll to the back of his saddle. No telling how long they’d be out in the weather. He could feel the temperature dropping already. It wasn’t unheard of to get snow in the higher elevations in late May or even early June.
He slid his rifle into its scabbard.
If Bryan hadn’t been so cocky about living off the land, if he hadn’t been as determined and as stubborn as his aunt, Jay wouldn’t be going off after him into what could be turning into a serious storm. He could’ve stayed home, sat by the fire.
Enjoyed Paige’s company.
Ha! That was a laugh. He’d blown that possibility when he had asked to be Bryan’s guardian.
Henry helped boost Paige into the saddle.
Mounting Thunder Boy, Jay adjusted his rain slicker to cover himself as best he could. “Stay inside the corral. I’m going to take a look, see if I can spot Bryan’s trail.” The rain that had been falling wasn’t going to help. In low spots Bright Star’s hoofprints were likely to be washed out.
“If you leave without me, I’ll just follow you,” Paige warned.
Yeah, Jay didn’t doubt that for a minute. She didn’t have the good sense of a spider to get in out of the rain. Plenty of spunk, though.
He opened the corral gate and walked Thunder Boy out. He kept his eyes on the ground. He figured Bryan was most likely heading to the lake where they’d taken the fishermen on Saturday. There’d been a lot of fish caught. Easy pickings is what Bryan would think.
Man, that felt like a thousand years ago.
But maybe Bryan would think that was too obvious. That Jay would find him too easily. He could just as well have taken a different trail to throw Jay off. The kid was foolish to travel at night. Despite the boy’s familiarity with all the trails in the area, in the dark it would be easy to get lost.
He patrolled the edge of the trail leading up the hill. Finally he spotted Bright Star’s hoofprints. He could tell from the small cutout in the horse’s left rear shoe.
He waved to Paige. “If you’re coming, let’s get a move on.”
Once out of the corral gate, she heeled the horse up to a trot. She bounced like a rubber ball in the seat. At that pace, it was going to be a long day for her.
As she approached Jay, he turned his horse along the trail. He kept his eye on the ground as she came up behind him.
“We can go faster than this, can’t we?” she asked.
“We could, but I might lose the trail.”
Close in to the main house, several trails took off in various directions. Most weren’t used much. But Bryan and he had ridden them all.
“Too bad Bryan doesn’t have a cell phone,” Paige said. “We could track his GPS.”
“You’ve been watching too many big city police shows. In these mountains there’s no cell coverage unless you have a satellite phone.”
“I don’t like crime shows. I watch PBS and Discovery.”
“Ever see a show about Native Americans tracking their game?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You won’t need to. Just watch me.”
He heard an unladylike snort and smiled. At times he couldn’t help but be amused by her determination when toughness was required. All five-feet-nothing-much of her could bristle like a mama bear protecting her cub.
The higher they went, the harder the rain fell. Visibility dropped to almost zero. They were inside the rain cloud itself.
He glanced behind him. “You still with me?”
“I’m here.” Peaches plodded along following Thunder Boy, which is what she liked to do. Paige was hunkered inside her poncho as far as she could go.
“You can still go back. You could follow the trail home.”
“Keep moving, cowboy,” she said, her testy voice making it clear she wasn’t going to quit. “Bryan’s all alone. He could be scared or hurt. I can stick it out as long as you can.”
She probably would, just to prove a point, he realized.
He came to a rocky section of the trail. Thunder Boy picked his way gingerly along the uneven path.
Behind him, he heard Peaches slip on a rock, followed by a cry of alarm. He turned in his saddle. “Are you okay?”
“I’m just dandy.” She gripped the saddle horn with two hands.
Brave girl!
* * *
Paige decided this was the stupidest thing she’d ever done. She could barely see Jay ahead of her through the mist and rain. Peaches kept losing her footing on the slick rocks. On the edge of terror, Paige was sure both she and the horse would slide off the trail and down the hill at any moment.
Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!
But what else could she do? She couldn’t passively just wait for Jay to bring Bryan home. Because she’d been so wrapped up in herself and what she needed, he’d run away. She hadn’t been thinking about him. She hadn’t listened to his pleas. She’d been deaf to what he needed.
Exactly like her own mother.
Tears filmed her eyes, making it even harder to see through the mist. She wiped them away with the back of her gloved hand.
She vowed that she would never again ignore a child’s cry for help. Not with Bryan. Not with any child if she was ever blessed enough to have one of her own.
To her surprise, Jay reined his horse off the trail and under a stand of fir trees.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, following him. “Have you lost Bryan’s trail?”
“Nope.” He dismounted. “The horses need a rest. So do you.”
“I can keep going.”
“Fine. But you’ll have to walk. The horses come first.”
He was right, of course. She pulled her feet from the stirrups to dismount and slid to the ground. When she landed, she couldn’t prevent the groan that escaped. Her legs felt like she’d been doing splits for hours and they were stuck in that unnatural position.
“Walk around. That’ll loosen your muscles.” Jay led the horses to a spot where they could munch on some spring grass.
The layers of overlapping branches above Paige protected her from some of the rain. Still there was a steady drip, drip as drops ran off the tips of the tree branches, plopping onto the ground and on her head.
Jay handed her a granola bar and a steaming cup of coffee he’d poured from his thermos.
The coffee was almost hot enough to burn her tongue, but it felt wonderful as the liquid warmed her from the inside out.
“How far ahead of us do you think Bryan is?” she asked.
“Hard to tell. Bright Star’s hoofprints have collected a lot of rainwater.”
“Do you suppose he’s smart enough to find some shelter to get in out of the rain?”
Jay looked off up the trail. “I don’t know. Not many natural caves around here. A few rock overhangs. I taught him how to make a lean-to out of his poncho. That won’t give him much shelter, but it would keep some of the rain off him and be a windbreak of sorts.”
“If he stays out in this, he could catch pneumonia.”
Jay took the empty cup from her and poured himself some coffee. “I’d say he’s about as stubborn as his aunt is. He won’t quit ’til he has to.”
She twisted her lips into a frustrated grimace. She’d always thought of her determination as an asset, not a liability. She’d hate to think some of the same genes she carried were now putting her nephew at risk.
“Think you’re ready to ride?” he asked.
“If Bryan can keep going, so can I.”
She found her muscles weren’t quite as willing to get back on the horse as her stubborn streak was. But Jay boosted her up. She grabbed the reins and the saddle horn.
“Let’s ride,” she said with more bravado than she felt.
* * *
Jay kept a close eye on the trail. He thought they were catching up with the boy. He’d seen one spot where Bryan had pulled off the trail to take a break. The poor kid had to be exhausted. Jay couldn’t be sure when Bryan had sneaked his horse out of the stable—probably before it had started to rain. But he was confident Bryan hadn’t gotten much sleep.
There was no sign that Bryan had turned off to the lake where they’d taken the fishermen. That worried Jay. The kid could be headed deep into the wilderness. Unlike some hiking trails in the national park, there were no shelters for hikers to get out of the weather on the route Bryan had chosen.
They’d ridden another half hour when Jay heard an ominous sound.
“What was that?” Paige asked.
Jay pulled his rifle from its scabbard. Worked back into position in his saddle. “Gunshot.”
He dug his heels into Thunder Boy’s ribs. This wasn’t hunting season. Bryan had a gun. The shot had to have come from him. But why?
He’d find out soon enough. Though the way sounds echoed in a forest, he couldn’t be sure, but he thought the shot hadn’t come from too far away.
As the trail wound through trees and outcroppings of rock, he sent up a quick prayer. Keep the boy safe, Lord.
He heard a horse coming before he saw Bright Star barreling toward him at full gallop, saliva dripping from his mouth.
The saddle was empty.
“Whoa, boy! Whoa!” Jay tried to block Bright Star’s frantic flight. He waved his arms. Reached for the flying reins. The terrified horse dodged past him.
“Stop him!” Paige cried.
Jay turned to see Paige nearly lose her seat lunging for Bright Star. She failed to catch the horse, who raced past her, as well.
“Jay, what happened to Bryan? Why is his horse running like that?”
He watched Bright Star until he was out of sight. Chances were good the horse would make it back to the barn on his own. Nathan would take care of him. Unless Bright Star fell and broke a leg before he got home.
“I’ll check on Bryan. You stay here.” He reined his horse up the trail. He didn’t know what had spooked Bright Star. Or why Bryan had taken a shot at something. It had to mean trouble. He didn’t want Paige caught in the middle.
A minute later, it didn’t surprise him to hear Peaches galloping up behind him. That woman was all grit and gumption. A man could learn to love that about her.
Alert to any possible danger, Jay carried his rifle across his saddle. He kept up a fast pace along the trail as it twisted and turned through the woods. When he reached an area where a forest fire had scorched the earth three years ago, he slowed. With the trees burned to charcoal stumps, wildflowers and grass covered the landscape. Only a few pine seedlings promised to return the scarred section to a forested hillside.
A great place for bears to forage, he thought.
“Bryan!” he called. “Can you hear me?”
He listened for a response. If anything, the rain was coming down harder now than it had before and was turning into big, fat drops that were being blown around by an increasing wind. Forerunners of snow if the temperature kept dropping.
He kept Thunder Boy moving at a steady pace. “Bryan! Where are you?” The gunshot could mean anything. That the kid had shot himself accidently. Or that the boy had encountered a mountain lion or a bear.
Jay called out again. “Bryan! We’re coming.”
At last he heard a faint reply. “Over here!”
That’s my boy! “Stay where you are. I’ll find you,” he shouted.
“Did you hear him? Is he all right?” Paige’s voice trembled, either with fear or excitement.
“We’ll find out in a minute.” Jay forged ahead, still watching the ground and keeping his eye on the surroundings.
Suddenly his blood turned icy cold. Bear tracks! Big ones.
He turned in his saddle to survey the area. He didn’t want a bear to sneak up on them. Paige was lagging behind.
“You’ve gotta keep up with me,” he ordered gruffly.
“I’m trying.” Paige urged Peaches to pick up her pace.
Around the next bend, he spotted Bryan sitting under a tree. He held his rifle at the ready.
“We’re here, son. You can put down the gun now.” Dismounting, Jay dropped the reins to the ground knowing Thunder Boy would stay put. He walked toward the boy. Bryan’s face was pale, his eyes wide. His hands holding the rifle shook.
Jay knelt beside him and gently took the rifle from him. “It’s okay, son. You’re going to be fine.”
Suddenly Paige was kneeling beside him. “Bryan, honey, are you all right? We heard a shot.”
“A b-bear. H-he was right on the t-trail. B-Bright Star spooked and threw me. My g-gun went off.”
“Where’s the bear now?” Jay asked.
“I dunno. He...took off...over the hill. I was...afraid he’d come back.”
“Did you hit him? Is he wounded?” Jay really didn’t need an injured bear raging through the woods.
“Naw. Bright Star reared...as I was trying to get off a shot.”
“Just as well.” Jay touched Paige’s arm. “Get the bedroll and thermos from my horse. He’s going into shock.”
* * *
Paige dashed over to Jay’s horse. Her hands were cold, her fingers uncoordinated. She struggled to undo the ties that held the bedroll in place, her ill-fitting gloves making the task even more difficult. This was her doing. Her fault that Bryan had been thrown from his horse.
When the bedroll finally came loose, she grabbed the thermos and rushed back to Bryan’s side.
“Are you hurt?” she asked as Jay poured some coffee for the boy.
“My ankle. I t-twisted it. I couldn’t get it out of the stirrup. I can’t stand up.”
Dear Lord in heaven. “I’m so sorry, Bryan,” Paige said. “It’s my fault you ran away. I didn’t recognize how desperate you were. I was going to tell you this morning. But you were gone. I want you to be happy. If that means you staying here, then you’ll stay.” She gulped down a sob. She’d only known she was desperate to be his guardian, as her sister’s final wish. To be loved by her sweet nephew. “You don’t have to move to Seattle. I promise I’ll talk to the judge. Tell him you’d be better off with Jay and Grandpa.”
“You’ll do that?” Doubt turned his question into a prayer as he took the cup from Jay and sipped the warm liquid. He wrinkled his nose.
“I will. Just as soon as we can get you back home. I promise.” She knew her promise meant she’d have to return to Seattle, to her condo and her job, alone.
She soothed her hand over Bryan’s smooth cheek. “I promise,” she repeated, her throat constricted with the heartbreak of unfulfilled love and longing. “But I’m going to come visit you. Often.”
Slowly, as though he wasn’t sure he could trust her, Bryan nodded. “Okay.”
Jay examined the boy’s ankle. “I can’t tell much with your boot on, but I don’t want to take it off. I’m afraid it will swell up and we’ll never get the boot back on.”
He glanced around the open clearing. Only then did Paige realize it had begun to snow. White flakes had begun to pile up against blackened tree stumps and in places sheltered from the wind.
“We need to get out of this weather and get Bryan warmed up before we start back. The horses need a rest, too. I don’t know how long this storm is going to last.”
“What happened to Bright Star?” Bryan asked.
“He’s probably already back at the barn,” Jay said. “He was moving pretty fast last time I saw him.”
“Shouldn’t we leave here in case the bear comes back?” Paige’s nerves were jangled enough. She didn’t need an angry bear charging at them from out of nowhere.
“I don’t think he will.” Jay stood. “You stay here. I’m going to take a look around, see if there’s a cave or someplace we can hang out for a while. Keep your eyes open and yell if you see something.”
“Something like a bear,” Paige clarified.
“Yeah, something like that.” He secured their horses then walked off through the trees.
Paige sat down next to Bryan and straightened the bedroll that covered him. “If you’re hungry, we’ve got some trail mix and granola bars in the saddlebags.”
“I’m okay.” His color was better than when Paige had first seen him, which was a good sign.
Paige checked around for the bear. She hoped the gunshot had scared him off permanently.
“Are you real mad at me?” Bryan asked.
“No, honey. I’m not mad at you. Although running away wasn’t the way to solve the problem. I’m mad at myself.” Oddly, she wondered if leaving her family’s home and moving to Seattle had been her way of running from her problems. And what of Jay selling his ranch and moving to Bear Lake? Had he been running away, too?
“How come you’re upset with yourself?” Bryan asked.
“Because it was selfish of me to want you to move to Seattle when you obviously wanted to stay here.”
He lifted one shoulder in an easy shrug. “Seattle might not have been so awful. I mean, you’re not a bad person or anything.”
She almost laughed. Now he decided it wouldn’t be so bad. Leaning toward him, she kissed Bryan on the cheek. “Maybe you can come visit me someday.”
“Can I still use the hotel pool and stuff?”
“Absolutely.”
A branch cracked behind Paige in the woods. She spun around, exhaling a breath when she saw Jay in his yellow slicker returning.
“I found an overhang that looks deep enough to give us some cover,” he said. “Let’s lift Bryan up on Thunder Boy. It’s too far for him to walk on that bad ankle.”
Jay brought his horse closer. Together she and Jay got Bryan up on his good leg. He hopped a few steps, grabbed on to the saddle and Jay boosted him up.
Leading Peaches, Paige followed them down the hill through the trees until they reached the overhanging rock Jay had found. Over the years, wind and rain had hollowed out a six-foot-deep space. It didn’t look like much of a shelter to Paige, but the ground was dry toward the back and the hillside blocked the worst of the wind.
“We’ll get Bryan settled,” Jay said, helping Bryan then unsaddling the horses. “I’m going to gather some wood for a fire.”
“I feel like such a doofus,” Bryan said as he lowered himself to the ground. “Messing up my ankle and stuff.”
Paige tucked the bedroll around him. “Jay thinks you got your stubbornness from my genes.”
“Really?” He laid down using Peaches’s saddle for a headrest. Paige propped up his foot on a small boulder to keep the swelling minimized. “Mom could be pretty stubborn, too, if she wanted to do something and Grandpa didn’t want her to.”
“We came from the same gene pool.” She smiled down at the boy and brushed his damp hair away from his forehead. “You rest now. It’s been a long day for you.”
For her, too, she thought as she sat down and leaned back against the rough wall of the cave. She closed her eyes.
Before she knew it, she felt the warmth of a fire on her chilled feet.
“You’re back.” She smiled at Jay, who was squatting down adding twigs to the fire he’d built.
“Back to two sleeping beauties.”
She glanced at Bryan. “Poor kid. My selfishness sure did a number on him.” He could have been killed or badly mauled by the bear. That, too, would have been her fault.
“You wanted to do the right thing.”
“That’s what I’m going to do as soon as we get back to Grandpa’s house and I can talk to the family court judge.”
“You’re really going to give up the guardianship thing? Go back to Seattle without him?”
She pursed her lips to stop the denial that wanted to fly out of her mouth. Afraid to speak, she simply nodded.
He tipped his hat back and gazed at her with such intensity, it made her stomach churn.
“I wish there was a way you could stay here.” His voice was low and intimate, almost drowned out by the drumbeat of the rain.
Her heart echoed the same rhythm. She wished she could stay, too. But without a job...