“I’m just about to eat lunch, Al. Where’s the fire?”
Shane pressed another piece of bread on top of his sandwich, then smashed the two pieces together to keep the contents from falling out.
“Well, ah . . . we’ve got a visitor.”
Shane rolled his eyes. He carried his plate to the kitchen table. Today was the first day all week that he had a couple of hours to himself, and he was being interrupted because of something trivial?
“Make him feel welcome and find out what he wants.”
Probably someone wanting a tour of the ranch. Shane shook his head. Al wouldn’t call him about that. He’d take care of it himself. Shane’s stomach growled. He eyed his sandwich.
“Well, the problem is, Shane, this visitor probably can’t tell us where he’s from or what he wants.”
“Cut to the chase, Al,” Shane growled. If this was a practical joke, he wasn’t in the mood for it.
“A horse showed up a few minutes ago. Came charging past the fields and toward the barns. Some of the boys rounded him up, and we’re holding him in the yearling barn right now.”
Shane cursed. “One of the pastured horses got out?”
“I ain’t never seen this horse before. No one else recognizes him, either. Big chestnut. Looks like a two-year-old, and he can run like the wind.”
Shane nearly tripped over his chair in an effort to get to the wide glass doors that led to the backyard and gave a nice overview of the barns in the distance. Not that he’d be able to see anything from this far away. There was only one big chestnut colt that came to mind, and the odds of him showing up at the Taggart Ranch were rather slim. Or were they?
“I’ll be right there.” Shane eyed his sandwich as he rushed past the table and out the door. A million scenarios rushed through his mind, one more unlikely than the next. The landline rang at that moment, but he ignored it.
“Whoa. Where are you going?”
Raine avoided a collision with him by a fraction of an inch. Shane reached for his coat hanging on a peg in the hallway. The wind this morning had been rather cold.
“The barns,” he said, just as he heard his name on the answering machine. The voice sounded familiar. Henry Cramer. His heart began to pound harder. Something had definitely happened at the Cramer Farm. Dread filled him. Was Alley all right?
Shane changed course from heading out the front door to rushing back into the kitchen to grab the phone.
“Henry, I was just about to call you,” he said.
“We’ve got a problem, Shane.” Henry’s voice was filled with concern. “One of the colts got out, and he ran off into the hills.”
“I figured. I think he missed me so much, he came here for a visit.”
“What?”
Shane laughed. “I was just informed that a big chestnut mystery horse showed up at the ranch.”
“Is Alley there, too?”
“Alley?” Shane’s heart leapt at the sound of her name. He frowned. “No one said anything about her.”
“She went after Red. Got on her horse and took off after him. I’m worried about her. She hasn’t come back.” There was a slight pause, then Henry continued, “I should have called you right away, but I didn’t want to bother you. I thought maybe she could get him back on her own. It’s been a couple of hours.”
Shane cursed under his breath. Why didn’t Alley call him, instead of chasing after a horse by herself? There was no telling what kind of trouble she could get into. She still didn’t trust him enough.
“Stay at your house, Henry. I’ll find her.”
Shane slammed the phone on the counter. He cursed again. Alley might be okay to go for a leisurely ride in the country, but chasing after a runaway horse was quite a different matter. Raine entered the kitchen.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, yet,” he mumbled, making a mental list of things he would need for a possible ride into the backcountry. “I have to go see Al at the stables. Can you put together a first aid kit, some water, trail food, and a blanket?”
Ignoring Raine’s wide-eyed stare, he rushed out of the house. Hopefully his sister would do as he asked, or it would mean more delays. He glanced at the sky. There were clouds, but it didn’t look like rain was on the way. The wind was the only problem. Usually, it died down later in the day. In any case, he needed to be prepared for possibly spending several hours riding through the mountains looking for Alley. What if she was hurt? What if –?
He shook his head. No. He’d endured enough tragedy in his life, and people he cared about getting hurt. It was not going to happen again.
Shane rushed to the yearling barn. Several grooms stood around in the barn aisle, talking excitedly. Their voices hushed when he headed toward them. Al came out of one of the stalls.
“We cooled him off. He’s got a couple of cuts on him, but it doesn’t look like he’s injured.” Al stepped aside to let Shane enter the colt’s stall.
“Hey, Red. What have you been up to?” Shane patted the colt’s neck. The young horse trembled slightly and breathed heavily, but it was more due to excitement and his unfamiliar surroundings than being winded.
“You know who this horse belongs to?” Al’s eyes widened.
“Henry Cramer.” Shane left the stall. The colt looked fine. He faced the grooms. “I need a saddle horse right now. One of you, make sure this colt is taken care of for the night.”
Both grooms nodded, and one of them rushed out of the barn, while Raine walked in, carrying an armful of things.
“Care to explain what’s going on, Shane?” She glared at him.
“One of Cramer’s horses got loose. Somehow it found its way here. Alley rode off after the horse, and Henry hasn’t heard from her.” Shane’s answers were fast and clipped. He met his sister’s inquisitive stare. It was as if time ticked by in slow motion while he waited for the groom to come back with a horse for him to ride. “Any other questions?”
“You’re going after her?”
Shane almost laughed at her silly question. “Of course. She could be out there somewhere, in trouble.”
“On horseback?”
Shane clenched his jaw. “I don’t think she would have kept to accessible roads if she was following a runaway horse, Raine. The only way to get through those hills is on horseback.”
He moved around his sister at the sound of a horse’s hooves on cement approaching. The groom led a saddled bay horse toward him. Shane took the items Raine still carried in her arms. He stuffed the first aid kit into one of the saddlebags, then a couple of water bottles, and various snack foods she’d gathered. She’d even packed his sandwich. Last, he rolled up the blanket and tied it to the back of the saddle.
He reached in his pocket for his cell phone and dialed Henry Cramer’s number.
“No, she’s still not back. It’s getting late.” Henry’s voice sounded strained.
“I’m heading out to look for her. Call my sister, Raine, if she shows up. Raine will call you when she hears word from me.”
Shane disconnected the call. Raine stepped in front of him.
“How about we call Del Macklin? He can form a search party.”
Shane shook his head. “By the time you call the sheriff and he gets out here, we’ve wasted another hour. You can call him, but I’m heading out.”
He reached for the reins and stepped into the stirrup. Raine’s hand on his arm stopped him. Concern clouded her eyes. No doubt she was thinking the same thing that had been on his mind – she didn’t want to see another family member get hurt. Alley wasn’t a family member, but the way she’d tormented Shane’s mind for weeks, she might as well be.
“Be careful, Shane. Don’t go charging into the hills, playing cowboy to impress the one girl who’s finally caught your attention.”
Shane stared at his sister. How the hell had she known? He frowned, but didn’t offer any kind of reply to her comment.
“If I’m not back by tomorrow morning, s
end out a search party.”
He mounted his horse, and pointed the gelding in the direction of the nearby foothills.
Chapter 11
Shane kept his horse to a comfortable lope while he rode over even terrain. He followed what seemed to be the most logical route the colt would have taken from the Cramer Farm to the Taggart Ranch. The only problem was, would Alley use the same logic? If she had seen which way the colt had gone, she would have reached the ranch by now, too, but there was no sign of her anywhere.
Should he ride all the way to Henry’s place, or comb the hills further to the east? The lower foothills marked the boundaries of the ranch. Farther beyond that, the terrain became more rugged, as the foothills turned into mountains and forest.
Shane pulled the gelding to a stop after he crested a low rise where he had a clear view in all directions. The vast, open land was reminiscent of what his ancestors would have seen. The Taggart Ranch had been established in Montana in 1893, when his great-great-great grandfather had bought the land for his grandson, Lance Taggart, and brought horses from Kentucky to Montana. His relatives still held and managed the Taggart Racing and Breeding Stables in Lexington.
“Where are you, Alley?” he whispered into the wind that swept over the tall grasses, making them sway like waves on the ocean.
He pulled his hat down on his forehead to shield it from the sun that slowly dipped lower into the western horizon. It had taken over two hours to get to this point. He only had another three hours or so of good sunlight left before dusk would set in. Looking for one lone rider out here was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Shane patted the gelding’s neck. He’d allowed the horse to lower its head to graze while his eyes roamed the vast countryside. He gave the reins a slight tug to make the horse bring his head up again.
“Time to move on, Gus.”
He was about to nudge the gelding with his heels when his cellphone buzzed. Shane reached into his pocket. A quick glance at the display revealed that it was Henry. Adrenaline gave his heart a little jump-start. Alley must have returned to the Cramer Farm. He’d been worried for nothing. He touched the display pad to answer the call and held the phone to his ear.
“Shane?”
Henry’s voice on the other end of the line didn’t sound reassuring. Shane stiffened.
“Is Alley back at your place?”
“Her horse . . . without . . . broken.”
Shane leaned forward. The call was breaking up. He was far enough away from anywhere that the signal was weak, at best.
“I didn’t hear that, Henry,” he shouted into the phone. What was broken?
“Alley is . . . missing. Her horse came back without . . . One of the reins . . . broken.”
Shane cursed under his breath. His heart sank to his belly. A new sense of urgency rushed through him. He stared at his surroundings. Alley was out there somewhere, alone, and possibly hurt. She’d been thrown from her horse. He clenched his jaw and shook his head. He couldn’t lose someone else that mattered to him. He simply couldn’t. His phone beeped. The connection had gone dead.
His hand trembled as he shoved his phone back in his pocket, then picked up the reins. Urging the horse into a lope, he rode west, toward the Cramer Farm without a clear idea of where to begin his search. Spotting a horse and rider was slightly easier than someone on foot, or worse, lying on the ground somewhere.
Shane shook his head, trying to get rid of the images the thought conjured. Off in the distance, the tall grasses appeared to have been disturbed recently. His heart ignited as he pointed the gelding in their direction.
He rode past the fencepost that marked the boundary of Taggart Ranch property. His horse took a slight misstep, sending Shane forward in the saddle. He sat straighter, patting the hard-working horse’s neck.
When he met up with the trampled line of grass, he slowed the gelding to a walk. Fresh hoofprints had torn up the dirt in places. No doubt a horse had made this trail, but whether it was Alley or Red wasn’t clear. Shane leaned forward over the saddle. It had to have been Alley. The trail led from the hills back toward the Cramer Farm. Shane pointed his horse toward the hills.
The hooves on the animal that made these tracks were much larger and wider than the smaller hooves of the two-year-old. He must have ridden for at least another hour when he spotted something on the ground. Shane brought Gus to a halt and he leapt from the saddle.
“Damn,” he muttered. It was a broken piece of leather. Clearly, it had come from a bridle. “At least I know we’re on the right track.” He mounted up, and urged his horse forward again.
The trail led further into the hills, getting steeper all the time, and he was forced to slow down.
“Alley,” he called, his voice echoing off the mountains. A bird soaring high above him answered his call with a screech.
The terrain became more wooded. The trees made visibility in all directions nearly impossible. Shane called Alley’s name repeatedly, and each time, he was met with a silent answer. The tall fir trees drowned out much of the remaining sunlight.
Gus took another bad step, his head bobbing forward and down, nearly unseating Shane again. With each step, the horse’s limp became more pronounced. Shane pulled him to a stop.
“What’s going on with you?”
Shane dismounted. The gelding favored his right front foot, pointing the toe forward without placing weight on the heel.
What else could go wrong today? Shane shook his head. Best not to ponder that question too long.
Picking up the gelding’s foot, the problem immediately became evident. Somewhere, the horse had stepped on a nail. The foreign object would have become more painful as time went on, which explained the sudden lameness.
“I can’t fix you completely out here, but I think I can at least make you feel more comfortable.”
The nail had to come out. Rummaging through his saddlebags, he found the multi-tool Raine had packed with the first aid kit. Years of packing horses into the backcountry with their dad while they were growing up had taught them to always have this tool with them. Shane pulled the nail out, then mixed a splash of water with some dirt and packed it into the hoof.
Leading the horse, he pushed on. He could have left the gelding behind, but then he wouldn’t have access to any of the things in the saddlebags.
“Sorry, Gus. You’ll have to grin and bear it,” Shane told the animal.
The horse continued to limp as Shane led him, rather than get back on his back. With the injury, the horse was unrideable.
The terrain continued to head up. A creek trickled in a ravine about fifty yards below. Due to the trees, it would have been easy to overlook the drop-off here if he hadn’t paid attention. He continued to call Alley’s name. If she was hurt somewhere, maybe she could at least hear him.
The ground seemed to even out after a while, but a creek gurgled somewhere beyond his line of vision at the bottom of the steep ravine.
“Alley,” he called again.
“Shane?”
Shane stopped to listen. He’d heard it. Alley’s faint voice, and it had come from somewhere below him. He called her name again.
“Where are you, Alley?”
“I’m down here by the creek,” she answered.
Shane expelled a loud breath of relief. She was alive, but how’d she end up down there? She had to be hurt if she’d fallen down this nearly vertical incline.
Shane dropped the reins and glanced down the steep hill between some trees. About fifty yards below him, Alley stared up at him. She stood by the water.
“Are you hurt?” he called. His pulse increased from the instant relief that rushed through him that he’d finally found her.
“I’m not sure. I think I may have sprained my ankle. I fell from Harley a little ways up ahead when he spooked at something, and I slid down the ravine. It hurts when I put weight on it.”
Shane glanced at his horse. There was no way the animal could make the
climb down the sharp angle of the hill.
“Hang on, I’m coming.”
Without another thought, he picked his steps carefully, moving sideways down the steep incline. Loose gravel rolled all around him. He slid several times, but managed to keep his balance. Reaching the safety of the bottom, Shane rushed to her and pulled her into his arms.
“I’m here,” he murmured. “I’ve got you now.”
Relief swept through him that she appeared to be all right and not seriously injured. The last several hours had been torture, thinking of all the scenarios of what could have happened to her.
A sudden, indefinable emotion grabbed hold of him. Alley was safe, and he was going to be the one to make sure she always would be. The thought of growing close to someone was terrifying, but losing her would be even worse.
Alley braced her hands against his shoulders, her breath coming in quick gasps. Her eyes lifted to his, wide and slightly panicked.
“You’re safe now,” he murmured.
Shane forced his eyes away from her trembling lips, and tugged her closer. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her against his heaving chest. Her body stiffened for a second, then relaxed as her arms came around his back and she clung to him.
“Thank you for finding me,” she whispered against his chest. “I hate to admit it, but I think I got lost.”
Shane chuckled as relief washed over him.
“You can’t be the best at everything, Alley.”
He ran his hand down the back of her head, holding her close, reluctant to let her go. Instead of tightening his hold on her, he eased away.
“Now we need to get back up there.” Shane nudged his chin up the incline to force his attention elsewhere. “It’s gonna be dark soon. Do you think you can climb out of here?”
Alley stared at him, her eyes wide with a mix of confusion and a hint of something that sent his heart racing again. Holding her had sure felt good. More than good, and it was obvious she’d felt it, too. Right now, however, he had to get them both out of here.
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