Beyond the New Horizon

by Christine Conaway

  “I know, that’s why I’m going to eat this oatmeal before the girls get up.”

  “There’s some milk…” Lucas was shaking his head as he helped himself to a liberal helping of oats.

  “I don’t need milk. It makes them slimy, and they don’t taste as good.”

  As soon as the girls were up and everyone had eaten, they led the horses to the creek and let them drink their fill, while Gina filled two of the water buckets. As much as she didn’t want to feed the animals from their supplies, she thought she had to. They couldn’t take the chance of turning them loose and having someone steal them.

  “Can we go see my Dad?”

  Gina had been waiting for one of the kids to ask and had her answer prepared, “Ben went up there this morning first thing. As soon as he and your uncle get here, we’ll see about all of us going up to your camp.”

  “Did Lucy go with him?”

  Gina should have known that Abby would bring up the fact that Lucy wasn’t in camp. She wasn’t going to start the day out by lying to Abby and told the truth, or as much of it as she thought they needed.

  “We’re not sure where Lucy is right now. That’s why your Dad went up to the cabin. He wanted to see if she went up to help Journey.”

  “So, did she go away in the dark? I heard you calling for her before it was morning,” Lucas asked.

  Gina was saved from answering when Lucas leaped to his feet. “Here they come now.”

  Gina frowned because she didn’t hear anything. Before she could stop them, Lucas ran out to the road, followed by the girls.

  Lucas was right. Someone was coming down the road, and she now heard the crunching of feet on gravel and soft voices. It was Ben and Sam. Sam wore a backpack as he was planning on an extended visit. For an instant, Gina wondered if he had known ahead of time.

  As soon as they were close, Ben’s eyes met Gina’s. With a frown, he shook his head just enough for her to understand, that Lucy had not gone to the cabin, nor had they seen or heard anything.

  Without waiting for Ben or Sam to vocalize anything, Gina ran to the beginning of the pathway to their latrine area. As soon as she was on it, her eyes scanned the area on both sides and up the middle of the path. She hadn’t gone twenty feet when she dropped to her knees.

  “Here!” She called out. In the mud of the path, she found boot prints that didn’t belong to any of them. She, Journey and Lucy all wore smooth soled riding boots, Ben wore military boots, and Abby wore a child's version of Ben’s boots, and these tracks were too big to belong to her.

  She crawled on her hands and knees, carefully brushing leaves away from the prints. She found where the person had spent some time behind a tree not far from the latrine. The tracks were crisscrossed as if the man had stood there for a while waiting for someone to come out to use the latrine.

  Gina sank back on her heels. What if it had been Abby who had been out to use it? The thought made Gina’s insides tighten with anguish. She wondered if he would have taken her, or had he been specifically waiting for one of the women.

  A few feet from the latrine, Gina could see where fresh dirt had been thrown on it, and she scanned the area around a small clearing their feet had made.

  “Is there any kind of a trail going off?”

  “It looks like whoever it was spent some time by that tree,” she pointed to a large pine big enough to conceal a person, and watched as Sam went to it.

  “And then we have this,” Ben pointed at the rock. The only rock that had been too big for them to move away. He was on one knee. He wet his finger with spit, rubbed them on a dark spot and peered at them. “We have dried blood here. I don’t think it’s old because my saliva diluted it.”

  “We have a trail to follow,” Sam said. He came back to them, “I’ll take Gina and Lucas with me. Ben, you need to move your animals and the kids up to the cabin for safety.”

  “The hell with that! I’m going with you.”

  “No, you’re not. I need you to be with my family at the cabin. We can’t all go running off and leave them unprotected. One of us needs to stay here. I know how to track, as does Lucas. I’m only taking Gina because Lucy knows her, and we may need her.”

  Ben stood with his mouth open as if trying to form words to convince Sam that he needed to go. “But…what if you need to fight to get her back? Gina can hardly be counted on for that. She’s never had to shoot at someone before.”

  “And I hope this won’t be a start for her. I can’t go off looking for Lucy and leave my family defenseless either. So you go back, or I have to.”

  “Ben, just go. Take the food and whatever you can put on the horses. Sam is right. Having everyone in one place is a good idea, and we can’t afford to lose anything.”

  “This isn’t a good idea. I have the training and she has none…”

  “That’s exactly why I need you to go back to the cabin. Lucas and I were their last line of defense. If we go look for your friend, you need to look after my family. Our horses are in the roped off pasture through the trees behind the last cabin. Your’s will be safe there too. Mary can show you where.”

  Sam looked at Gina, “Are you prepared to do this?”

  “Yes…I think so, and Ben is wrong. I would do what is necessary to help my friends. Just because I’ve never shot anyone, doesn’t mean I can’t or won’t.”

  “Pack a bag. Enough for a couple of days and find something warmer to wear.”

  Chapter fifteen…………The rescue

  When they left the camp, Gina was wearing Ben’s outer jacket over her own. She had layered her clothing under it and other than her feet not being warm, she was okay.

  In Abby’s smaller backpack, Ben had helped her put several packs of dehydrated meals, her sleeping bag as well as the half shelter and anything else he thought she would need.

  “Gina, put this on,” he said, as he pulled a paddle holster from his waistband. “I put a box of ammo for it in the outside pocket.” He gave her a quick overview on the Glock and slipped it back into the holster.

  Gina stared at the hand holding the bigger gun out to her. Somehow, him giving her his gun made the situation real. He believed she would have need of it. He thought she might have to shoot someone. She only hoped she could if placed in a situation where she had to.

  Sam had seen the hesitation on her face, “If you don’t think you are up to this, you stay and I’ll take Ben, and leave Lucas behind with you.”

  She shook her head in denial, “No,” Gina took the gun and slipped it into her waistband. “I can and will do this.” She slipped Abby’s pack on, and Ben adjusted the straps to fit her.

  Sam took Abby and Sherry off to the side. Kneeling in front of them, he talked to them quietly and then rose. He hugged his niece and then Abby, shook Ben’s hand and nodded at her and Lucas.

  “Let’s go.”

  Gina ran and gave both young girls a hug…. and then Ben. He was surprised but hugged her back.

  “Bring Lucy home,” he whispered into her ear.

  She turned and jogged off after Sam and Lucas, who were quickly disappearing in the bush. Gina didn’t know how Sam or Lucas could walk so quietly nor follow a trail she couldn’t even see, but they worked their way through the brush and trees as if they walked on a well-carpeted floor, following a dotted line.

  When Gina thought she couldn’t go another step, Sam stopped. He said something to Lucas and then jogged off. Gina was prepared to follow when Lucas stopped her.

  “He’s going to scope out the trail and then come back. He told me that for a city girl, you do pretty good in the bush.” He grinned at her, “and he doesn’t ever say anything good about city people, especially women.”

  Gina sank to the trunk of a fallen tree and sighed. It felt good to sit if even for just a few minutes. She had scratches on her hands and face from fending off branches. While she sat and caught her breath, she studied Lucas. He didn’t appear to be winded or tired, and neither had Sam.

&nb
sp; “It seems like we’ve been going for hours at least.” She looked at her watch. “Damn…I forgot to wind it, and now I have no idea what time it is. She sighed again, “I can’t remember when I wound it last.”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Of course it matters. Don’t you want to know the time?”

  He looked at her, and Gina saw a very wise person looking back at her through his eyes. “How old are you anyway?”

  Lucas frowned, “Fourteen. Does it matter?”

  Gina raised her eyebrows in surprise. She thought he was maybe nine or ten. He wasn’t as tall as she thought a fourteen-year-old should be and wondered if he was pulling her leg. “Fourteen?” she asked in disbelief.

  “What, because I’m not big, I can’t be fourteen? Uncle Sam told me he didn’t grow until he was older than me. My Dad isn’t as tall as Uncle Sam, but almost.”

  Gina felt thoroughly chastised, “Sorry. I guess I really don’t know as much about kids as I thought. You do well on the trail, much better than I do. Maybe when we have some time, you can teach me how to be quiet.”

  Lucas seemed satisfied by her answer. “You’ll learn. It took me a long time before Uncle Sam stopped yelling at me for making noise. Now, I’m almost as quiet as he is.”

  She looked at the bow he had slung over his shoulder, “Can you shoot that thing?”

  His face flushed as if he was embarrassed, “Yes, we all can. Uncle Sam says the bow is the weapon of the future.”

  Gina laughed, “I think it may have been the weapon of the past, but the future? Why would he say that?”

  “Bullets will run out, and it’s quiet and just as deadly as a gun.”

  Gina thought for a minute and silently agreed. She knew they only had a limited supply and wondered how hard it would be to learn to use one. She saw where it would not draw the attention of others hiding in the woods if there were other people up there, but who would bring a bow and arrow to a gunfight?

  Gina looked at Lucas, who had settled on the ground leaning against the log she was sitting on. His eyes were closed, and she wondered if she should rest while she could, as well. She stood and started to undo the buckles on the backpack.

  “You should leave it on. When Uncle Sam gets back, we’ll be leaving right away.”

  She looked at him, and his eyes were still closed. He looked uncomfortable leaning on his pack, but she didn’t think he had opened his eyes to see what she was doing.

  “I heard you,” he answered before she could ask, “Uncle Sam says everything has its own noise. Your clothing, the buckles, your shoes. Everything. You just have to listen.”

  Slowly, Gina sat on the ground and listened. As time passed, she realized Lucas was right. Her boots squeaked when she so much as flexed her ankles, and she heard the rustle of her jeans sliding against her skin, the swish of air as her jacket moved with her, the thump as her pack settled against the log. “Dang,” she breathed out, “I’m never going to get this.”

  “Sure you will. You only heard the sounds because you were listening. Most people wouldn’t have noticed, but now you will. You might want to put that knife thing hanging off your belt loop in your pocket.”

  Gina looked at Lucas, his eyes were still closed. She wiggled her Leatherman tool as if to prove a point while she watched him for a reaction.

  His eyes remained closed, but the corners of his mouth lifted up as if he knew she was testing him.

  “Brat!” she said under her breath, “fourteen-year-old-mini-man.”

  “Sticks and stones,” he muttered with a full-fledged grin.

  Gina followed his example and closed her eyes and listened. As before, at first, she heard nothing and then slowly the sounds began to rush in. She heard the wind in the trees, the rustle as leaves fell to the forest floor, and the lonesome cry of an eagle of some kind. From a distance, she thought she heard the sound of moving water, and something was moving under the matted leaves somewhere close by.

  Gina must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew, Sam was standing in front of her.

  “Okay, you two, they aren’t that far in front of us, maybe two or three miles. There are two of them and Lucy. They’ll be making camp sometime before dark, and that’s when we go in.”

  “Why would they come all this way just to take one person? It doesn’t make any sense if you think about it. How would they even know we’re up here.”

  “They didn’t just get here. I think whoever it is, has been behind you guys all this time. I checked out the tracks on the road coming down and definitely found boot marks that don’t belong to any of you.”

  “You sound like some kind of Grizzly Adams right now.”

  “Never underestimate the talents of a mountain man.”

  “Oh my God, did you just make a joke?”

  Sam chuckled, and it sounded strange coming from this man. He grinned at Gina briefly, and squatted in front of her and Lucas. He brushed the dead leaves and needles away until rich brown soil showed through. In the dirt, he drew a picture of the terrain in front of them.

  “How do you know this? Aren’t we headed toward the freeway?”

  “We are, but it is still miles from here. I think they are planning on using it to escape on. Right now they have no idea we’re following them, or I would never have gotten as close as I did. In their eyes, you guys are just some city girls pretending to be outdoor people. In their eyes, they are some kind of great white hunters who have just scored, and they are too dumb to realize Sherry could follow them without much trouble. They haven’t tried to cover their tracks or anything, and they sound like a herd of elephants. I will admit that Lucy is pretty smart.”

  “How so?”

  “She’s dragging her feet whenever she can and leaving behind broken branches. It’s obvious, she thinks someone will be coming for her.”

  “She knows we would not let anyone take her, at least not without putting up a fight.”

  Sam nodded. He showed them on his diagram where he thought the guys would stop and make their camp.

  “We’ll stop here,” he pointed out a spot and continued, “Lucas, I want you to go around to the other side of them. Find a place to tuck in until you see a signal. You’ll know what to do when it happens.”

  “Wait, you’re going to let Lucas go off on his own? Sam, he’s only a boy. You can’t expect him to do a man’s job alone.”

  “I can do it. This is what we were talking about after we got to the cabin. We have to protect our own, no matter what it takes, just like Uncle Sam says. Besides,” he looked his uncle in the eyes, “I am man enough.”

  Sam nodded one time, and it conveyed to Lucas that he thought so too.

  Gina deflated, her throat tightened at the thought of something bad happening to Lucas. She blinked several times to clear her eyes. “It doesn’t seem right.”

  “No, it doesn’t, but this is the way it is now. We look after our own or we may as well give up without a fight.”

  “I’m not giving up, but it still doesn’t seem right to ask so much of Lucas. Maybe I should go instead.”

  Gina heard a snort and realized it had come from Sam, Gina glared at him, “It wasn’t that funny.”

  Lucas snickered softly, “It was.”

  Her voice petulant, “It doesn’t seem right, is all I’m saying.”

  “Does those men stealing your friend, kidnapping her right out of your camp, seem right to you? Times are changing real fast, and we have to change with them. We can’t call the cops, or search and rescue. If we don’t do whatever is needed to get her back, no one else will. We can’t leave people like those men to do this again to someone else. Maybe next time it will be a young girl or someone who doesn’t have someone else watching out for them.”

  Lucas nodded, “I can do it. I’m not afraid.”

  Gina was still staring at Lucas. “I’m afraid. We all should be. This whole thing makes me ill.”

  “This was going to happen sooner or later. I didn’t co
unt on it being a bunch of solar flares, nor it happening so soon. I figured for sure it would have been some kind of revolt against our government with all the crap that’s going on. I said a year ago, I didn’t see our president leaving office under any condition. I believe he had some kind of plan put together to declare martial law and start a war with someone.”

  “Journey said exactly the same thing. She believed our newly elected president would never get to take the oath of office. That the sitting president or the other candidate would have him assassinated. We laughed about it at first, but the way our country has deteriorated the past year, it didn’t seem so unlikely anymore. They cut the budget for the Veterans Administration, so the wounded soldiers could no longer come to us for help. Do you know how long some of those guys had to wait for medical care? It was despicable. Our morgue was full with the bodies of vets who died waiting for care.” Gina had to fight back her tears by the time she was done speaking.

  “I was one,” Sam said. “I saw what they went through. That’s one of the reason’s I came back to the ranch. John and I had started a program to bring some of them here, a few at a time, and try to help them. Even if they didn’t have bodily injuries, the emotional trauma was real. Some of them could barely function in normal society. These were the guys we reached out to.”

  “Thank you for that. I know there are other programs doing the same thing, but there are so many men who need the help.”

  “Are we going to go or sit here all day?” Lucas was dancing from foot to foot. “We’re burning daylight!”

  Sam looked up at the sky. The clouds had returned turning the sky dark. He blew air out from his pursed lips, “And if that’s anything to go by, we’re going to have snow tonight. So, I’ll tell you when to separate from us and go around them.”

  “Yes sir!” Lucas seemed excited about the prospect of acting on his own.

  “Remember what I taught you. You don’t point that bow or gun at anything unless you intend on using it. Killing another human being is different than a deer or wild animal. So unless something goes wrong, don’t. Am I clear?”