Decker all but growled. “If Cheryl’s got a real sprain, I’ll buy everyone a round on Friday night.”
“My bet is she’ll be dancing by then.”
Decker looked up at the sky again. “Damn.”
“Tom and Maureen pulled in an hour ago. I would have expected them last.”
Decker sighed. “Isn’t map reading a basic skill we could expect adults to have? Even city ones?” He fought the spark of worry that was niggling at him. Where the hell were they? The map was scary-easy to follow, even easier since they’d changed the whole scavenger hunt after their moose sighting south of the ranch yesterday. Christ, a Girl Scout troop could follow that map. Kyla and her friends should never have gotten more than a couple of miles northeast of the stables.
A low growl of thunder forced his eyes back to the sky. Reading Decker’s mind, Jimmy emerged from the barn with Chance and Cole’s horse, Scooby, all saddled up. Decker packed the med kit into one of Chance’s saddlebags, praying he wouldn’t need it. “Cole, get the radios. Jimmy, run up to the house and tell Ma we’re heading north. You and Pete take the southeast quadrant first, then southwest. I can’t imagine they could be that turned around, but we’d better cover all the bases.”
As they rode out of the paddock, Decker spotted Cheryl and Theresa on their cabin porch, sipping lemonade. Cheryl had her ankle swaddled in ice and resting on the swing, cigarette poised in her blood-red fingertips. He pressed the Talk button on his radio. “Jimmy, Cheryl needs a no-smoking reminder.” Seriously, who smoked that close to a barn full of hay? Was she completely dense?
Thunder rumbled again, and Decker scowled when he realized that while he and Cole had been treating Cheryl’s probably-fake sprain, Kyla and her friends had apparently managed to get themselves good and lost, with a big-ass storm brewing.
He and Cole should never have let Ma talk them into this stupid orienteering exercise. It was a recipe for disaster, especially with city folks. He thought of Kyla the first time he’d seen her, with her navy suit and high heels and silky blouse. He thought he’d had her pegged at the get-go, but since then, she’d looked completely natural in soft jeans and T-shirts, with her hair in a ponytail.
She was completely annihilating his city-girl stereotype, and that made him more uncomfortable than he really wanted to admit. Christ, last night she’d even shown Ma how to make chocolate chip cookies over the campfire. He pictured the chocolate melting onto her chin as she’d tried the first one. With a sweet grin, she’d pronounced it exquisite.
“What are you smiling about?” Cole’s voice broke into his thoughts.
Decker frowned. “I wasn’t smiling. Let me see the map.” If she knew how to bake cookies over a campfire, maybe there was a chance she knew how to seek shelter in a storm. He sure hoped so.
Twenty minutes later, Cole and Decker reined in the horses near the cave entrance where they’d left the ranch logo T-shirts earlier. “Okay, here’s number six.” Cole dismounted and checked the bag hanging in the entrance. “Shit. Looks like they never got past the fifth drop spot.”
Decker looked back as Cole mounted. “All right. Let’s head back to that spot and see if we can figure out where they went. Time to put all those Boy Scout merit badges to work.” He looked up as a sliver of lightning slashed the sky in the distance. “I’d sure feel better if we weren’t dealing with city girls here. I just hope they know enough to find shelter. They’ve never seen the kind of storm that brews up in these mountains.”
Chapter 12
“Was that thunder?” Hayley shuddered.
“No, definitely not. Big jet.” Kyla looked up at the sky.
Jess looked up. “I don’t know if we should keep walking. If there’s lightning with that thunder, we’re going to be three perfect targets.”
Hayley peered around the pine forest. “Won’t it hit the trees first?”
“Have you ever been standing near a tree that got hit?” Jess tipped her head.
“The only trees in my neighborhood are in pots, Jess.” Hayley shook her head as she looked up at the sky, then back toward where they’d seen the bear an hour ago. “So do you suppose it’s better to be struck by lightning, or eaten by a bear?”
Kyla snorted. “I’m going to go with lightning. Quick and painless.”
Jess nodded. “I have to agree with you, darlin’. A bear mauling is a spectacularly awful way to die.”
“I hate you guys,” Hayley growled. “Are we sure the bear went the other way?”
“Nope,” Kyla answered, “but we were downwind. I don’t think it ever knew we were there.”
“Maybe because for once you didn’t giggle?” Hayley elbowed Kyla playfully. Kyla put her fingers to her temples, realizing that the prickly feeling had gone away. That was the second time since she’d been here that the first signs of a panic attack hadn’t gone any further. She knew better than to harbor delusions that she was getting better after only two nonattacks, especially given the previous day’s scene, but it gave her a tiny glimmer of hope.
“Oh, no,” Jess looked up again. Big drops of rain started pelting down on them, and lightning cracked somewhere way too close for comfort. “We’d better find shelter.”
“Where does one go to find shelter from a thunderstorm in a forest?” Hayley grimaced.
Jess cocked her head. “I think I hear a stream over to the left. If there’s a stream bed, we can crouch down in it. That’d be safer than hanging out among these tall trees.”
“How do you know these things?”
Jess shrugged. “I don’t know. Random bits of knowledge I’ve collected over the years. Plus I’m the tallest. If we get hit, I’m going down first.” She took off toward the sound of water at a quick jog, backpack bouncing. Kyla and Hayley followed close behind. When they came to the stream, it was about five feet wide, but looked to be no more than knee-deep in most places.
Jess pointed toward the middle of the stream. “Let’s head for those flat rocks. We can spread out and stay low.”
Hayley clambered out into the stream, splashing as she went. The rain was falling hard now, plinking into the stream at a steady pace. A low roll of thunder gained traction as it got closer, and within a few seconds, the ground under them vibrated as it passed by. It was followed quickly by a flash of lightning that had all three of them ducking. A sudden warm wind whipped Kyla’s hair into her eyes, stinging.
“Backpacks off! They’re metal,” Jess yelled as she dropped hers on the ground. “Spread out!” Hayley scrambled to get hers off, then tossed it to Jess. Kyla threw hers on top of the other two and jumped into the shallow water to wade to a rock fifty feet upstream from Hayley’s. Jess scrambled downstream until she was almost out of sight, and they all crouched with their heads bent over their knees.
“I don’t know about you guys,” Hayley yelled, “but I’m not feeling quite so concerned about bears right now.” Her words ended in a terrified scream as a crack of lightning made the very air around them buzz. The lightning was followed by a horrible, shattering, creaking sound as a humongous pine beside the brook split in two.
Kyla looked up at the tree, then at Jess and Hayley, whose eyes were as wide as Ping-Pong balls as they looked upward. All three of them scrambled in separate directions as it came crashing down, slicing off branches from nearby pines. The tree landed with a huge thud across the stream, making the earth bounce under Kyla’s feet. Holy mother of God, it was huge. Even on its side, the branches stretched up at least twenty feet.
She looked back up at the sky. This tree had to have been growing here for close to a hundred years, and in one split second, crack! It was done for. She shivered at the thought. She started to stand up to make sure Jess and Hayley were all right, but another tremendous crack of lightning sizzled the air around her. She ducked down, arms hugging her knees. Oh, Lord. She’d never seen a storm like this.
Kyla peered through the branches of the fallen tree, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of Jess or Hayley, bu
t the needles were too thick, and the air around them was otherworldly dark. They were nowhere in sight. Surely they’d gotten clear of the tree, right? Her stomach clutched as she realized one or both of them might be hurt.
Raindrops dripped down her neck as she crawled back down the stream bank on her hands and knees, staying as low as she could. “Jess! Hayley!” Another bolt of lightning dropped her to her stomach. She heard another tree fall with a nightmarish cracking. “Jess! Hayley! Where are you guys?!” Kyla fought the panic taking hold of her throat. Why weren’t they answering?
She crawled along the stream bed like a boot-camp recruit, finally reaching the fallen tree. She hadn’t realized how far away she’d managed to scramble as it was falling. Her hair blew across her face, and she swiped angrily at it.
Then, as quickly as it had started, the wind stilled and Kyla could see blue patches of sky between the angry clouds. She stood up gingerly, thighs trembling, looking left to right. She had to figure out how to get around the huge tree and get to Hayley and Jess.
“Kyla! Omigod! Kyla! Where are you?” Hayley’s and Jess’s screeches filled the air and Kyla yelled back. Oh, thank God they were all right. She floundered her way out of the stream bed, up the muddy bank, and around the tree, finding Jess and Hayley near the seared trunk.
“Holy—” Kyla’s mouth fell open as she viewed the splintered, blackened remains of the tree trunk.
Jess reached out gingerly. “It’s still hot.”
“I’ve never, ever seen anything like that.”
Hayley tried to brush pine needles out of her hair. “I never want to again, either. Can we please go home now? Where are our backpacks?” She disappeared over the stream bank, heading for where they’d tossed them. Jess and Kyla slid down the bank with her, but under the tree, their backpacks were now a muddy, flattened pile of cloth. They tried to tug them free, but they were stuck fast.
Suddenly, Jess lost her balance and slipped in the muck. Instinctively, she reached for the others, but neither Hayley nor Kyla had time to brace themselves. Down all three of them went into the ooze, spluttering and cursing as mud sloshed everywhere.
Kyla was the first to recover her footing. She found purchase on a rock, then reached down to help Jess and Hayley stand up. As she grabbed hold of each of their hands, she concocted a benign smile. “Do you guys remember how you promised me a spa getaway after the trial? Have I mentioned today how much I’m enjoying this vacation you tricked me into instead?”
“Yes,” they answered in unison as she pulled them halfway up.
“I’m not sure you realize exactly how much I’m enjoying it.” Kyla shook her hands free and let both of them plop back into the mud, where they sat with shocked expressions.
But only for a moment. Hayley growled, “You’re going to regret that,” as she reached behind her. Kyla was giggling so hard at the sight of them sitting in the mud that she barely managed to duck the first fistful of slime that came flying at her head.
Unfortunately for her, the second one found its target, dead-on.
* * *
Cole cocked his head, reining in Scooby. “Do you hear that?”
Decker grinned, the rope of anxiety in his stomach loosening for the first time all afternoon. “Sounds like god-awful singing to me.”
“The worst,” Cole nodded. “I didn’t think they could sound any worse than they did on their way out, but somehow they’re managing.” He turned his head toward the sound, grimacing. “I gotta say, though, it’s a relief to hear!”
“Guess they survived the storm.” Squelching through the muddy meadow, Decker headed his horse toward the sound of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.”
“Thank God we won’t have to call Mountain Rescue. I’ll radio Ma and let her know we have a confirmed, uh, hearing?”
Decker shook his head. “Let’s wait ’til we have a visual.” He urged Chance forward. “Wow. That has to be the most horrible version of Elton I’ve ever heard.”
“But also the best?” Cole waggled his eyebrows.
Decker paused for a moment before answering. “Maybe.”
“Should we go play knights in shining armor?” Cole roped Scooby to the left to head down the hill toward the voices.
“Well, they’re practically already back.”
“But if they get all the way back, they won’t know we were out looking for them.”
Decker raised his eyebrows. “What are you saying? That we’ll get more mileage out of riding to their rescue?” He smiled and shook his head as he urged Chance to follow Cole.
Five minutes later, Cole roped Scooby to a dead halt, forcing Decker to dodge Chance around them. As soon as he saw what had made Cole stop, he pulled sharply on the reins. “Oh, my God. Oh, my friggin’ God.”
Cole was doing his best not to laugh out loud, but the sight of the three bedraggled, muddy women careening down the hill to their right was beyond anything Decker had seen all summer. “We’re gonna need to break out the hose, Decker. What the hell happened to them? Mudslide?”
“Damned if I know.” Decker nudged Chance with his heels. “But we’d better go find out. It’s a good thing they’re singing, or I’d have to assume the worst right now.” He and Cole broke through the trees into the field where the girls were slogging toward the ranch. As they pulled up close, Decker had to literally bite his cheek so he didn’t laugh. All three women had mud all over their clothes, in their hair, and on their faces. They stopped singing when they spotted Decker and Cole, and had adopted defensive poses by the time the men dismounted.
Cole spoke first. “Are you ladies, um, all right?”
Hayley raised her eyebrows. “I’m not sure, Cole. Do we look all right?” She posed like a cover model, and Jess and Kyla followed suit.
Kyla changed to a bodybuilder pose. “Actually, we were practicing for the Friday night mud-wrestling tournament in town. I’m totally going to win.” All three dissolved in giggles as Decker and Cole shook their heads.
Decker tried really hard not to stare at Kyla, sculpted to perfection in water and mud, leaving almost nothing to the imagination. Not that his imagination needed any assistance. “Looks like they’re in shock, Cole. We’d better get them back and hose them down.”
“No hose!” Hayley begged. “Warm, hot showers. We want warm, hot showers.”
Oh, they were killing him here. Decker tried exceptionally hard not to think of Kyla in that warm, hot shower, or what it might be like to help her wash the mud off her gorgeous, taut little body, but it wasn’t working. He shook his head and planted his eyes on her shoes. “So, ladies. What happened?”
Kyla crossed her arms. “We’re going with the bad-map theory.”
Decker’s eyes met hers. In them was a steely glint. “I see. It wasn’t bad map reading. It was just a bad map.”
“Yup.”
“That’s funny, because everyone else seemed to get back okay.” Well, Tom and Maureen had, at least. The other two had obviously had a little assistance. “Maybe your compasses weren’t working?” He tried to give her an out.
“I know how to read a compass. We followed the map. We just didn’t end up where we were supposed to be.”
Jess put an arm on Kyla’s shoulder. “You’ll have to excuse her. It’s been a bit of a traumatic afternoon. First, the bear, then the lightning and the tree, and then our smushed backpacks, and then …”
“… the mud.” Hayley finished. “I’d like to suggest in the future, perhaps the weather forecast might be taken into account before sending guests out on seven-mile hikes.”
“Seven miles?” Cole gawked. “You went seven miles? How do you know how far you went?”
Hayley pointed to her pedometer, miraculously still hooked to her waist. She unclipped it to look. “Wait. Actually, now we’ve been eight-point three.”
Decker glanced at Cole. Good God, how in the world had they gotten so far off course? “Do you still have the map?”
Kyla pulled it out of her pock
et and unfolded it. “It’s a little wet, but still readable. We were fine until the fifth spot, but we never found the sixth.”
Decker looked at the map, frown growing by the second. “Cole, take a look at this.” He handed it to Cole, who narrowed his eyes as soon as he saw it.
“That’s not the map.”
“What do you mean, that’s not the map? That’s the map we picked up at the first drop spot, just like your instructions said.” Kyla crossed her arms belligerently. “We found the first five things.”
Cole traced his finger along the coordinates. “Jesus Christ, this thing sent you all over kingdom come.”
“Really.”
“I swear, ladies, this isn’t the map we left you. I think someone might have been messing around with you three.”
Decker scowled as he pictured Cheryl and Theresa sipping lemonade on their cabin porch. “Two guesses as to who it was.”
Hayley practically growled. “Let me guess. Are they currently having a cold drink on their porch?”
“Did one of them fake an injury so you could rescue them?” Jess chimed in.
Decker and Cole exchanged a look. Females had scary intuition about their own kind. Decker looked at the three mud-covered women. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise. I’m not going to accuse anyone without proof, but Cheryl and Theresa did leave before you guys. And Cheryl did manage to sprain her ankle … she says. And they are, as you guessed, currently having a drink on their porch.”
Kyla raised her eyebrows. “Shocking.”
Chapter 13
“Kyla, honey, could you give me a hand in the kitchen?” Ma leaned through the swinging doors and motioned to Kyla, who was sitting on the big leather couch by the fireplace with Hayley and Jess. They were enjoying a much-needed cup of cocoa after long, hot showers had taken care of their coats of mud.
“Sure, Ma.” Kyla put down her mug on the side table and went to join her in the kitchen. As she pushed through the swinging doors, Theresa and Cheryl came into the dining room from outside on the porch. Cheryl had a good hobble going, and Kyla fought an insane urge to trip her.
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