Daughtry pulled on her coat and made her way to the barn. She had to get away from the house and Nicholas in order to sort through her feelings. Grabbing a bridle, Daughtry went to the corral, intent on singling out Nutmeg for a ride.
Nutmeg saw Daughtry and whinnied softly, but Poco, after months of neglect and an absent owner, was the one that came to Daughtry. The horse snorted once, then pushed its muzzle against Daughtry’s neck, almost pleading.
“So you want to go for a run, do you, Boy?” Daughtry asked softly while stroking the velvety nose. She looked across the corral at Nutmeg, then secured the bridle on Poco and led the horse to the stable to be saddled.
Several of the ranch hands immediately offered to assist her. She started to refuse, but because of her condition and her own uncertainty as to what she should or shouldn’t do, she finally relented and accepted their help.
Once on Poco’s back, she headed out for a trail she’d ridden most of her life. The air was cold and snow had fallen on the high mountains the night before. The open valley in which the ranch was situated had received only a dusting of snow, though, nothing that Daughtry concerned herself with. Instead, she took the opportunity to pray and think about what Nicholas had said.
“Dear God,” she whispered with a glance heavenward, “I think I need to talk about this. You’re the only One I can explain it all to, because You’re the only One who truly knows what I did and why.”
Poco was used to years of such prayers and kept plodding along as though this were perfectly normal.
“I realize,” Daughtry continued, “that I did wrong in marrying Nicholas the way I did. I wronged him, I wronged my folks, and I wronged You. I made pledges that I shouldn’t have—but now that they’re made, there is certainly no turning back.”
The words of Ecclesiastes 5:2 came to mind. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
Daughtry pondered the scripture for a moment before resuming her prayer. “I did speak rashly and without any real thought of the consequences,” she admitted. “But I’m not trying to take back my pledge in marriage and my vows to You. I just need to understand them. I need to know what my marriage really and truly means.”
Not that I can do anything to change the past, Daughtry thought to herself. She noted that Poco had followed their old trail high into the rocks, so she slowed the steed down, still contemplating her life before God.
“I love Nicholas,” she told God, “but I’m afraid we both married each other for all the wrong reasons. He needed a wife to please his father and keep his inheritance, and I needed to escape my father’s ever-watchful eye.” She laughed at her choice of words and glanced heavenward again. “I suppose You know all about children who try to escape Your watchfulness.”
Back at the ranch, Nicholas began to worry about Daughtry. He searched through the house and when he found her gone, he tore out, barely grabbing his coat, and headed for the barn.
“Daughtry?” he called as he entered the empty stable. There was no answer.
“Daughtry!” Nicholas called again, coming from the stable. Just then Garrett rounded the corner.
“What’s wrong?” he questioned, seeing the concern on Nicholas’s face.
Nicholas gave a sigh. “Daughtry is upset with me. She stormed out of the house, and I haven’t seen her for about an hour. I thought maybe she went for a ride, but Nutmeg is right there in the corral.”
Garrett quickly surveyed the horses and shook his head. “But Poco’s not.”
“Poco?”
“Her horse and favorite traveling companion before she left home. Nobody else would be inclined to ride him.” Nicholas saw the apprehension in Garrett’s eyes.
“I’d better go find her,” Nicholas replied and went to saddle his horse.
“I’m coming too,” Garrett stated.
The men were saddled and ready to ride within minutes, and without telling anyone else where they were headed, Garrett and Nicholas rode out side by side.
Daughtry felt renewed by her prayers. She could see now that though both she and Nicholas had made mistakes, the focus needed to be taken from the past and placed on the future. They had both been wrong in their actions, but they could easily put those things behind them and start anew. Of this, Daughtry was confident.
Realizing she’d been gone for a considerable amount of time, Daughtry turned Poco around and headed for home. Nicholas had asked her to forget the past and forgive him, and Daughtry intended to do just that. Somehow, together, they would put aside the circumstances under which they married and build a marriage that would be strong and faithful. A marriage that would bind them together, forever.
Daughtry smiled and began to hum to herself. She let Poco pick his way through the narrow canyon path and thought absentmindedly about what she would say to Nicholas. She was so deep in thought that the first few bits of rock falling from the steep canyon wall didn’t even attract her attention. They did, however, cause Poco to stop and prance back a step or two.
Poco’s actions caused Daughtry to snap to attention just as a huge rock slide covered the path directly in front of them. The loose rock combined with small amounts of snow gained momentum and rushed downward to block the passage through the canyon.
“Easy, Poco,” Daughtry whispered and stroked the animal’s neck to offer comfort. “We’re okay.” Daughtry glanced around behind her and knew that she would need to dismount in order to get Poco turned around.
Daughtry slid to the ground and reached out to take Poco’s reins just as another slide captured the horse’s attention and caused him to rear up and whinny nervously. Daughtry barely managed to avoid the pounding hooves.
While backing away from Poco, she lost control of him and the scared horse seized its freedom and ran.
For a moment, all Daughtry could do was stare after Poco’s retreating form. “Great!” she muttered. “Now, I’ll have to walk home.”
Daughtry picked her way through the rubble and moved past the slide area. She knew she would need at least two hours to make the trek home, but what else could she do except begin walking? No one knew where she was, and only Nicholas knew that she was upset. He might even presume that she needed the extra time to sort through her feelings about him. Walking with determined steps, Daughtry would have laughed at herself had the whole situation not been so infuriating.
“Do you have any idea where she might have ridden?” Nicholas asked his father-in-law.
“She has her favorite places. One path in particular,” Garrett responded and pointed to the west. “There’s a secluded path that winds up into the rocky foothills. She always liked to take that route.”
“Let’s check there first,” Nicholas replied.
“Look!” Garrett pointed to the ground. “Tracks! I’d stake my ranch that those belong to Poco.”
The two men followed the tracks that led them in the same direction Garrett had suggested. With a smile, Garrett turned to Nicholas. “Daughtry can be pretty predictable.”
“So far, I haven’t been privileged to see that side of her.”
Garrett laughed. “I think you have. Isn’t this about the third or fourth time you’ve been involved in her running away?”
Nicholas grinned. “I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way. She does seem to favor running rather than dealing with issues head on.”
“She can be quite stubborn,” Garrett agreed. “So can her mother.”
The men had progressed along the path for nearly half an hour when they heard the unmistakable sound of horse hooves pounding through the canyon.
Garrett gave Nicholas a fearful look. “She wouldn’t be riding like that unless something were wrong.”
Just then Poco cleared the canyon and came into view. Nicholas felt his heart in his throat, and Garrett turned ashen at the sight of the riderless horse.
“Dear God,” Garrett whispered, “let her be all right.”
Nicholas pressed forward to halt Poco while Garrett watched in stunned silence. The horse whinnied and snorted at Nicholas, rearing back twice before finally settling down to allow the man access to the reins.
“What do you think?” Nicholas questioned, turning to Garrett.
“In truth, I don’t know what to think. I don’t like to think about it at all. It reminds me of Julie.”
Nicholas nodded. “But the horse is unhurt. Maybe he just got spooked and threw Daughtry.”
“That girl would have to be unconscious to be thrown from this horse. They’re too comfortable with each other. Most likely something happened to cause Daughtry to dismount.”
Nicholas looked hard at his father-in-law. “Have there been any strangers around lately?”
“None that I know of. Why?”
Nicholas shook his head. “It’s nothing. I just wondered if someone could have made her dismount.”
“I doubt there’s anyone around these parts that would want to do harm to Daughtry. Years ago we had banditos to worry about, but they moved off to the south as Bandelero grew. Most likely she got off Poco to see to nature’s call—or some other perfectly logical explanation.” Garrett was trying hard to sound convincing, but in truth, he was desperately frightened for his child.
“You’re probably right,” Nicholas admitted, but the words did nothing to comfort him.
Nicholas tied Poco to his saddle and urged his own mount forward. Before he could go very far, however, Garrett called out to him, “Nick, would you pray with me?”
Nicholas turned to the man who had once wanted to beat him for stealing his daughter. The minute his eyes met Garrett’s, a silent bond was formed. Each man acknowledged, without regret, the position the other held in the life of Daughtry.
With a slow nod, Nicholas waited until Garrett came even, then bowed his head and prayed for his wife.