by M Elle Kelso
He didn’t, asking, “Is there something different about anything that happened today, something that would make the horse worry?”
“No, not really.” C.J. replied. “The only thing different today was that he and David didn’t get their usual ride. But that’s happened before. And I’m the one who put him in, instead of David. But Hooch, this horse used to belong to me. He knows me.”
“Well, let’s go take a look at him. See if there’s anything we can do for him.”
C.J. took time to forward the house phone again. This time her cell phone was in her shirt pocket. She quickly led the way to the barn, moving at a speed that surprised Hooch. He glanced at Jared, lifting his eyebrows in a silent question.
Jared just shrugged. He had no idea what was happening; either to C.J. or the horse.
After C.J. removed the blankets the horse wore, Hooch was stunned to see the state the stallion had worked himself into. He’d seen horses that had been terrified by fire who hadn’t looked as bad as Mirage did. He did a quick physical check and found nothing wrong. The only symptom he could find was the horse’s total state of agitation.
As C.J. watched the horse, her concern grew.
“Hooch, is it possible that if something had happened to David, this horse would know and would be acting up?”
“Sure, it’s possible. There are all sorts of stories about animals that sense their owner’s state of mind. Usually, it’s dogs that are like that. It’s not often you get a horse with that much mental telepathy, or whatever you want to call it.”
“When I went out to bring him in tonight, he was standing at the door, facing east.” She was walking down the alleyway, throwing hay into the other stalls as she spoke. “That’s the way David went this morning when he flew over here. And David hasn’t come home. I haven’t heard from him. Seems like nobody has since noon.” Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke. “Is it possible? Does he know that David’s in trouble?” She was whispering; praying that someone would tell her ‘no’.
Hooch didn’t have a chance to reply before another set of headlights pulled into the yard making everyone turn. It was Blake, with Kaycee. Patrick was right behind him in his own car. A third car pulling into the yard proved to carry Will and Mac. Seemed like the only ones missing were David and Paul.
“Heard anything, C.J.?” Blake asked, as she moved to meet them.
She burst into tears, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. In a voice muffled by her fingers, they all heard her.
“Not a word. Not one, damn word.”
Kaycee was the first one to move, then Blake. They encircled C.J. with their arms, standing locked in a hug while she wept.
“Sssshh, sweetie, it’ll be alright.”
Kaycee tried to console her.
“Blake checked around with some of the other ranchers and nobody has heard from David since just before noon. The airport says he hasn’t been in their airspace, or if he was he didn’t make radio contact. They’ve been trying to reach him on his radio and haven’t had any luck, either.”
“And C.J.,” Blake interrupted his wife, “there is an ELT device on the helicopter, so if anything happened and he’s gone down, it will activate. It doesn’t shut off, and it’s activated by the force of the landing. If he had a hard landing someplace, it would be beeping away to lead us to him. The biggest problem right now is that it’s dark, so nobody can see anything. They won’t send out search planes until morning. But as soon as it’s daylight, if David isn’t back or we haven’t heard from him, they’ll send up the search and rescue planes.”
The color drained from C.J.’s face as Blake spoke, leaving it white and terror-stricken.
“Oh, no, Blake...”
“It’s okay, honey. We’ll stay here with you until we know what’s happening.”
“Does anyone know where he was when he called this morning?”
“Not for sure, just that he had flown east of here, following that truck. Why?”
C.J. had turned and was looking toward the barn. The stallion was still kicking his stall, looking out the barn door.
“Blake, Jared, would you do something for me? I know it will sound crazy, but I want to try something. Please, go home, get your saddles, and come right back. I’ll have a couple of horses in the barn, ready for you. Then I want to take a ride. I’m going to let Mirage try to lead us to David.”
At that announcement, both men simply stared at her. Hooch, having heard most of it, decided he should help her.
“It might work, Blake. Stranger things have happened with animals and their humans.” He looked from C.J. to the horse. “It really might work.”
“Please, Blake.” C.J. had to convince him. “I know it’s asking a lot, but it’s David out there. I think I knew this morning that something bad was going to happen. I didn’t want him to leave. I even tried to talk him into staying home. But David takes his responsibilities very seriously and he felt he had no choice. My premonition, or woman’s intuition, or whatever it was, wasn’t enough to make him change his mind.”
They all stood silently, looking at her. Finally, Kaycee broke the quiet.
“Blake, let’s do it. Bring saddles for all of us. We can cover more ground if we all ride.”
“No, not all of us. Someone has to stay here in case he phones or comes home.”
C.J. looked at the men, thinking that at least one of them had to remain at the ranch.
“Okay, C.J., we’ll try it. We don’t have anything to lose. If we find him, then we can let the search team know where he is. If we don’t, at least we’ll be able to tell them where he isn’t.”
“Thank you, Blake. Thank you. I won’t forget this.”
She had convinced them, now they needed to get the horses ready. Blake and Kaycee left to pick up saddles.
Turning to Patrick, she told him, “you can use David’s saddle, you don’t have to go home for yours.”
“Thanks, C.J. I’m real sorry, honey, if something has happened. I feel like it’s my fault. I’m the one that asked him to go.”
“It’s not your fault. It was part of David’s job and he was doing it.”
Going back to the tack room, she was busy finding bridles for all the horses they would need. She picked out the horses she knew would have the greatest endurance; she picked Mirage for herself. He had dried enough for her to put a saddle on him after she brushed loose the dried sweat. She thought that might be the only way she could control him when they started looking for David.
Especially if they found him.
C.J. stopped what she was doing and folded her arms across her stomach. She felt a pain there that could only be ascribed to nerves. They had to find David tonight. And they had to find him alive. To think of anything else was impossible. He was alive, she was sure of it. He had to be alive. She couldn’t live without him.
Jared came to stand beside her, putting his arm around her shoulder.
“It’s okay, C.J., we’ll find him. David is a good pilot, so if he had trouble and had to set down, he’ll be fine. We’ll find him. We will.”
She looked up at him, wanting to believe. Needing to believe.
“I know, Jared, and I think that Mirage will help us find him.”
By the time Blake and Kaycee got back with the saddles, C.J. had bridles on five horses, two of them already saddled. Leaving Will, Mac and Hooch at the house with strict instructions to phone the minute they heard from David, five of them started out of the yard, heading toward the lane on the east side of the house. C.J. wanted to go south at least to the road before they headed east.
Mirage had other ideas. He fought her, trying to turn and head into the trees. She pulled up and told the others what was happening.
“I’m going to give him his head. He won’t take off on us because it’s too heavy-going in the trees. He wants to head east from here.” With something to do besides wait, C.J. was calmer. “Blake, do you have that compass I gave you somewhere handy? I think we’d
better do a lot of checking while we’re in the trees so there’s no chance of us getting lost, too.”
He nodded, busy taking a compass reading at the point where Mirage wanted to enter the trees.
“Go ahead, C.J. If I need to take a reading, I’ll let you know so we can all stop.”
C.J. turned her attention back to Mirage. Leaning up his neck, she whispered to him.
“All right, Mirage, I’m letting you lead here. I hope you know what you’re up to. I’ll give you your head, but if you start acting up, old man, you’ll be back on the bit in no time.”
So saying, C.J. dropped the reins across her saddle and used her heels to set Mirage onward.
He needed no encouragement.
As soon as she dropped the reins, he stepped out, maintaining a fast walk as he moved to avoid trees. Both ears were pricked, one moving occasionally at sounds from behind. He had been moving for nearly ten minutes before slowing. He dropped his nose to the ground and blew, as if searching for directions. He brought his head up and stood looking directly forwardt then let out a blast of noise. His belling call echoed through the trees and off the mountains. As if he had received some silent reply, he immediately moved forward, this time at a fast trot. They travelled another twenty minutes before anyone spoke.
“C.J., you need to stop.” Blake’s voice came from the rear.
She picked up the reins, sat back and brought the horse to a halt. The others waited patiently while Blake took his reading.
Jared rode up next to her, so she could hear him speak.
“I figure we’ve covered maybe two or three miles miles so far. Can he move faster, or is that the speed he’s picking?”
“Jared, when I gave him his head, I let him set the pace, too. If you want to move faster, I can use my heels, but without bit contact, I’m not sure if he’ll move out any faster.”
She turned to the others.
“Can the rest of you handle the trees if we move faster?”
They all nodded.
Fortunately, they had decent moonlight. In the trees, there wasn’t as much snow cover on the ground so it wasn’t as bright as it had been in the ranch yard. When Blake signaled that he was ready, C.J. turned Mirage once more, dropped her reins then asked him for more speed. He picked up a lope almost immediately, slowing to a trot if the trees got in his way. They had been traveling for about twenty minutes when the horse stopped. He lifted his head, snuffling and making small noises in his throat. The others watched in fascination as he talked to someone or something unseen. Once more, he belled his stallion’s call around the woods. Blake had time, while they were stopped, to take another compass reading. They were still heading due east.
Mirage started forward again at a trot.
From beside her, Blake spoke.
“I don’t know if he has a clue about what he’s doing, but he hasn’t moved off the heading he started out on. For all his travel around trees and over rocks, he is going in a perfectly straight line.”
“So where does that put us on a map?” C.J. asked.
“I’m trying to remember. Without looking at the map, I think it lines us up with the ranch owned by one of the ranchers who was at that meeting Mike witnessed. Next time we stop, I’ll check the map.”
Their conversation died as the horse again picked up a lope. It wasn’t fast, but it covered a lot more ground.
“There’s Simm’s Rock, over to the left. We’re moving further into the mountains, so if he had some kind of trouble along here, he might be down on the slope of one of them.”
Blake’s words caused C.J.’s heart to pound. He couldn’t be out here, he just couldn’t. Anytime now, they’d hear from the men back at the house.
C.J. checked her cell phone as she rode and found that while she had a signal, it wasn’t as strong as it had been. They must be moving too far away from Patrick’s repeater. She turned to find him.
“Patrick, where’s the next cell phone tower going east from your place? My signal is still there, but I’ve lost one bar of strength, and the second one is blinking on and off.”
“It’s about ten miles east of here, C.J.. You should notice your signal will improve again in a few minutes. It won’t ever disappear entirely, but there is about a mile through this area where the signal is weak.”
“Thanks, I just wondered. I was worrying that my phone wouldn’t work if they tried to call.”
“That won’t be a problem. You’ll never totally lose the signal and it will start getting stronger any time.”
Moments later, C.J. came as close to getting dumped off a horse as she ever had. Mirage stopped so fast she slid up his neck, only saving herself by grabbing a handful of mane.
The horse was quivering all over, but he wasn’t sweating. Something had his attention, but they couldn’t see anything. Once more, the horse started forward, picking up the lope without being asked. In fact, C.J. thought she might have to slow him down. The rocks on the ground were getting bigger and the trees were spaced further apart. If he picked up his speed too much, he might get tripped up by the rocks.
They moved eastward for another ten minutes then suddenly Mirage changed direction. He started climbing. C.J. brought his pace down to a walk. The ground around here wasn’t that safe, in her opinion, although it didn’t seem to be bothering the horse.
“C.J., hold up.”
Blake’s call made her stop. but the horse was fighting her.
“Hurry up, Blake, he’s real antsy. I can hardly hold him, he wants to go so bad. It’s like he knows where he’s going and who he’s going to see there. I could feel his enthusiasm growing with every mile we’ve traveled.”
“Okay, C.J., I just wanted to get a note of the changed direction. If we have to get ourselves home from out here, it helps to know what direction to take. Although, seeing what he’s done, I suspect we could turn any of these horses loose and they’d take us home.”
As he finished speaking, the stallion belled again, then again. Now he demanded movement. C.J. didn’t dare let him have his head in the matter of speed, but she let him pick the direction.
When the moon slid behind a large cloud, C.J. pulled the horse up. It wouldn’t help to break his leg on the rocks in the dark. Then they’d never find David.
While she was sitting there, it occurred to her that she should try David’s cell phone again. When Jared touched her arm and told her to listen, she dropped her arm, letting the phone continue to ring.
She nearly fell off the horse. From a great distance she could hear an answering ring.
David’s cell phone.
It didn’t take her long to turn Mirage in the direction of the ringing phone, the same direction he’d been traveling before she stopped him. Giving him his head, he pushed onward.
As they crested a small ridge, C.J. looked down the slope in front of her.
They had found the helicopter.
Spread out before them, at the bottom of the hill, lay the charred wreckage of the Bell JetRanger®. It was unrecognizable; its colors and registrations numbers were nothing more than pieces of broken, blackened metal.
She was scrambling to get off Mirage when Blake arrived to help her down.
“Take it easy, C.J. We’ll start a little rockslide if we go down here. When the moon came out last time, I saw a path, probably made by mountain sheep or goats, over that way.”
He was pointing to his left.
“But that’s going up the slope, we need to get down.”
“I know, but if they went up there, I’m willing to bet they came down on the other side. They’d take the easiest route if they had a choice.”
“Blake, I’ve been watching, and I don’t see any sign of movement. Maybe he’s not there. Maybe he started walking. Then what will we do?”
“I think he’s there, C.J.” Blake said encouragingly. “Mirage hasn’t taken his eyes off the wreckage and he hasn’t shut up. He just keeps going with that rumble, like he’s talking to David. And h
e’s not upset, so David isn’t dead, if he is there. Horses sense death and usually react very badly.”
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. If she lost it now, David would be in trouble.
“All right, Blake, lead us along this path. We have to get down there.” She scrambled back onto Mirage’s back, hurry making her clumsy.
“Before we do, one of us should phone the ranch. And phone the search and rescue guys. If we can give them the location of the wreck, Guardian Flight Wyoming can come in and pick him up even if it is dark.”
Jared volunteered to make the calls.
Just beyond the wreckage of the helicopter, the path took a turn downhill, taking them to within ten feet of the charred cockpit. It was obvious from the wreckage that David had tried to land on the rocks then tipped over. The struts had taken the brunt of the impact and were crumpled beneath the cockpit. The rest of the helicopter was a blackened pile of pieces. The main rotor was broken, probably from hitting the rocks when it tipped and it looked as though the broken rotor was responsible for some of the other damage. Some of the cuts were too clean to be caused by the breakup.
C.J. dismounted, threw her reins at Patrick then scrambled over the rocks ahead of the others, looking at the wreckage, trying to pick out David, or his jacket. Anything to tell her that he was here. When she finally did spot him, she stopped. She couldn’t move. All her strength seemed to drain away.
“Oh, no, oh, no, no, no....” Blake took her gently by the shoulders and held her.
David’s body was on the ground behind one of the larger rocks. It was obvious he’d had time enough to get out of the wreckage before the fire. There was blood on the side of his face, coming from above his hairline.
The smell of gas was still powerful. The fuel line had probably ruptured when he crashed. C.J. was shaking violently by this time, unable to stand on her own, held up by Kaycee and Blake. Kaycee was busy digging in her pocket for anything she had that might help. All she found was a Kleenex.
