Powering through the pain of his sprained ankle, Asadi dragged mesquite branches to the highest sandhill peak he could find. Several trips up and down the dunes had left him winded, sweating, and a little disappointed with the size of his pile. But it was as good as it was going to get, and the fact that he had a fire at all was a feat worth celebrating.
Asadi used a few of his embers to ignite the brush, then did his best to block the blossoming flames from the raging wind with his body. As the flames grew, he moved closer and took comfort in their warmth. The blaze was nice, but still no comparison to the comfort of his nearby shelter. Longing for its protection, he turned back to it and stared. There was temptation to crawl back in his lodge and convalesce for a while, but he couldn’t bring himself to abandon his post.
Tempted to cry at the thought of losing Savanah, Asadi threw a couple more mesquite branches on the fire and turned toward the rows of endless snow-covered sandhills. In the blink of an eye, he saw a shimmer. It looked like a flashlight about a hundred yards away. He waited a minute, then one more, praying that Duke and Savanah had seen his signal fire.
When another minute passed without a sign, Asadi did the unthinkable. He left the comfort of the flames to go after them himself.
Lacey gently tugged the reins to slow Surf down as she raced up to the barn. Near the entrance by the corral, she leaned back in the stirrups and brought him to a halt. Stiff from the cold, she forced herself out of the saddle and slid to the horse’s side. Her frozen feet radiated with a shock wave of pain when her boot heels struck the ground.
Vicky dashed up, looking frantic. “Oh, Lacey, thank goodness.” She looked past Surf, clearly in search of the others. “Did you find them?”
Lacey’s face was so cold she could barely get her jaw working. “Crash. Out there.”
Vicky’s hand flew to her mouth. “Are they hurt?”
Lacey nodded, before talking through the stiffness in her face. “Asadi’s got a busted ankle. Made it to one of the wells. But Savanah’s hurt, and she and Duke are missing.”
“What happened to Savanah?” Vicky asked.
“Don’t really know. Asadi said she might’ve broken some ribs. Hit her head, I think. But by the time I got to the crash, Duke and Savanah had left. So, she’s at least up and moving.”
Vicky looked only slightly more relieved. “I’ve been calling Ray, but he still won’t answer.”
Lacey held up her phone. “Been trying to call Garrett since I got a signal but he’s not picking up either.”
“I’ll call Crowley.” Vicky pulled out her phone and brought up the sheriff’s contact info. “Have him put together a search-and-rescue team.”
Lacey pulled out her keys. “I’ll go back and get Asadi from that drill site.”
Vicky looked back up and shot a skeptical glare. “You sure you can find him again?”
“I’ll just follow the same road that brought me back here. Should only take a few minutes.”
“Want me to go with you?”
“I can handle it,” Lacey assured her. “Just stay on the phone until you get someone out here. We’ve got to find Savanah and Duke before that storm rolls in.”
“Don’t worry.” Vicky gave a reassuring nod. “I’ll have someone on the way out to help us by the time you get back.”
The only good thing about the cold, Asadi determined, was that his body was going numb. There was still a dull pain in his ankle but for the most part he couldn’t feel a thing. No doubt he was doing permanent damage to the ligaments. And the farther he moved from the safety of his camp, the more uncertainty set in. He was starting to wonder if he’d even seen a light at all.
Asadi was about to turn back when he saw a beam of light two hills over. Without even thinking, he shouted and waved his arms wildly. “Over here! Over here! This way!”
When the beam of the flashlight swung in his direction, Asadi couldn’t help but smile. Without giving a thought to the pain in his ankle, he careened down the knoll, careful to keep his own beam straight ahead so Duke and Savanah could follow it. He tried desperately not to show his overwhelming joy, which was difficult when he was nearly about to burst.
Asadi threw up a hand to shield his eyes from the harsh glare. “I was beginning to think I wouldn’t find you. Was just about to turn back.”
“Glad you didn’t,” Duke answered shivering. “I was headed the wrong way.”
Asadi didn’t know what registered first, the fact that Duke said I and not we, or the fact that he was standing there alone. Fighting to get his vision used to the dark again, Asadi moved ahead and scanned the length of the ridge above. “Where’s Savanah?”
From behind Duke answered, “She was too weak, so I had to go on.”
Asadi spun around and marched up to Duke. “You just left her?”
“Don’t see her, do you?”
“You’re not serious.” Asadi turned to the ridge, then back to Duke. “She’ll die out there.”
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Duke hissed. “She’s fine. Just couldn’t keep walking, that’s all. So, I told her I’d go find somebody.” He looked a bit smug. “Which as you can see, I did.”
Asadi was tempted to be angry, but he supposed what Duke had done wasn’t that different from his own decision to look for help. The difference was that he would have never left Savanah alone. But rather than dwell on that, he tried to focus on the good news, which was the fact that they were reunited. All they had to do was go back for her now.
Asadi pointed at the ridge from where Duke had come. “Okay, you ready?”
“Ready for what?”
“Lacey will be back to get us soon. So, we need to go get Savanah. Between the two of us, we can help her over the sandhills. But we need to hurry.”
Duke shook his head. “I don’t even know where I came from. For a while I was just going in circles, I think. Couldn’t find where I left her if I tried.”
Asadi couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Are you crazy? We have to go now.”
“Told you already. Don’t know where she is. We’ll have to get a team out here or something to go searching. No sense in us going out there and getting lost again.”
As Duke turned and started marching in the direction of the fire, Asadi took off after him. “Come back! Where are you going?”
“Freezing to death, dammit! Gotta get warmed up.”
Asadi grabbed Duke by the shoulder and spun him around. “I can’t find her on my own.”
Duke shoved Asadi to the ground. “Well, you’re going to have to! Because I—don’t—know—where—she—is. Understand?”
By the time Asadi fumbled to his feet and was back in pursuit, Duke was already halfway up the hill. “Come back here! You have to help me!”
Duke didn’t bother answering this time, just kept on trudging upward until he was a shadow at the top. He crossed without looking back and kept right on going until he disappeared. It left Asadi fearful and hopeless, even more so than before. But he could only imagine how Savanah was feeling—injured and freezing—out there alone in the dark.
Asadi panned his beam as far out as it would go to find an unfortunate sight. What tracks he could find were in fact going in circles, with no straight path to follow. Worse yet, on the horizon, the moon and stars were nearly blacked out by the clouds. The blizzard was rolling in.