Riding for Redemption

by Bonnie R. Paulson

  Michael looked over Johnny’s shoulder, the skin around his eyes tightened. “He died about a year and a half ago. Stroke. It’s just me at the ranch with Rosie and her sister. You’ll meet Rosie when we’re finished. She’ll have my head, if I don’t find that sister of hers.”

  “Oh man, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” Significant loss filled Johnny. How he’d missed out on that bit of information, he had no idea. Mr. Rourke had been a stalwart fixture in Clearwater County. His passing would’ve made front page news.

  “Well, you know, life happens.” Michael patted Johnny’s shoulder and pointed toward the milling crowd. “I’m going to get this started. We don’t have much light left with this storm comin’.”

  While evenings were longer in the summer, dark clouds had rolled in late in the afternoon and the sun had disappeared. Johnny had had to choose between sunglasses on for dirt and wind while riding or none because of visibility. He’d gone with the aviator-style but had to squint most of the drive there to see in the near-dark.

  Michael climbed onto the downed tailgate of a nearby Ford pickup. He whistled, piercing the murmuring and shuffling of the men. “Thank you all for coming. The girl we’re looking for is Sara Beth. Most of you know her from town. She’s blonde and petite. She’s been gone a while. The horse came from that direction. We’ll form a line and head out that way until we hit the river. Once there, we’ll spread out and search the banks. It’d be best not to worry, but just in case anything has happened to her, I have radios that you’re to take with you. Call for help and we’ll get to you as soon as possible.” He cleared his throat, looking down at riding gloves he pulled on. “Thank you, gentlemen.”

  Most of the men mounted their own rides, moving to wait where Michael had indicated.

  Michael jumped down from the truck bed. “We’re going to head out. Grab a horse and follow, Johnny. I’d appreciate any extra eyes we can get.” He picked up a handheld distance radio and thrust it into Johnny’s hand. “Everyone’s on channel six. Thirty mile radius. Just holler, if you find her.” He patted Johnny’s back once more before striding for his own large gelding tied off at the porch posts just past Johnny’s motorcycle.

  Inside the meticulously kept barn, Johnny scraped his fingers through his hair. He didn’t have long to groom and prepare an unfamiliar horse. He clipped the radio to his belt and headed toward the tack room.

  If he found the girl, chances were Michael would add gratitude to the “long-time friends” bit and listen as Johnny explained why no one else in the state of Montana would hire him. Maybe Michael would give him a job. Gratitude traveled far in the Montana mountains. And Johnny wasn’t above exploiting it when he needed to.

  JOHNNY SADDLED A SORREL mare and was ready to go in short time. He grabbed a slicker from the closet inside the tack room and an extra black Stetson hanging from a hook in the same closet.

  Leading the horse from the barn, Johnny stopped beside the ring and swung himself up into the saddle. Standing in the stirrups, he adjusted his jeans and slicker. Neither would be his first choice to head out into a burgeoning storm on horseback, but given the circumstances, he’d deal with it.

  Sugar watched him from inside the training ring as if she recognized him. Knew he was there and where he’d come from. And maybe even what he was hoping to accomplish.

  “I know your secrets, too, old girl.” He whispered, his warning captured by the wind and whipped around with the droplets of rain just beginning to make themselves known.

  She’d been a runner. Had run all over when she could escape her stall. The damn horse never stayed where she was supposed to. In fact, Johnny had no doubt that she had come from the direction they said. The problem was, she’d probably skirted the entire acreage, looking for a way out.

  But the river enclosed most of Clearwater County. Sugar had arrived from the east. Because Michael and his searchers had only gone to the forest line, Johnny had to go further in. West became his destination.

  He prodded the borrowed horse toward a well-traveled path along the fence. The clouds watched him, studied him, waiting for the right moment to dump their treasures down upon him.

  If he didn’t find that girl, it was going to be a long night.

  RAIN PICKED UP, DOUSING him and the horse with sheets that coated them from top to bottom and sometimes bottom to top with each new gust of wind. Johnny ducked his head, the hat doing little to keep water from his face. Hell, when rain fell upward, nothing was staying dry.

  They reached the tree line and Johnny pushed the animal under the protection of the thick canopy of needles and leaves. At least the wind abated, becoming a stiff breeze, leaving the rain to fall straight down. The change in the rain from thrusting, needle-like streams to a soft, massage-like drizzle was welcome.

  Shaking off his slicker, Johnny wiped his face and eyes. He wouldn’t have seen anything out on the prairie with the deluge of water obstructing his vision so completely. He’d have to count on Michael’s assertions that they hadn’t seen her and they’d reached the tree line.

  He refused to climb down from his seat and abandon the last dry thing around for miles. The saddle offered warmth as well, holding the body heat radiating from the horse in its thick leather build.

  Nudging the mare’s flank with his heel, Johnny watched for any sign that maybe the girl, Sara Beth, had taken the poorly developed trail his horse followed without guidance. Trees blocked out the worst of the wind while clouds covered the night sky, preventing light into the forest.

  Johnny withdrew the Mag Lite flashlight from under the slicker and pointed its beam around him, into the forest and ahead up the trail. Dark shadows crept across the path.

  Minutes passed. The rush of falling water cascading onto the varied forest surfaces turned into white noise. The mare pushed further forward, ears folded back.

  A flash from Johnny’s right caught his eye. He trained the light under a bush with thick leaves and a ground clearance of about a foot. Reflective hat band embellishments shined innocently in the moss.

  The first real sign he just might be on the right path.

  He dismounted from the horse, bending and claiming the abandoned hat from the mud. Flashing the light around him and down through the trail, Johnny yelled. “Sara Beth! Sara Beth! You out here?”

  He waited, the patter of rain his only reply.

  If nothing else, he’d follow the path until he either saw something or the river forced him back.

  Hopefully he found her. He wouldn’t wish this rain and cold on anyone.

  Especially alone in the forest.

  Sara Beth, where are you?

  Sara Beth

  Chapter 3

  When had she rolled off the log?

  Sara Beth blinked at the rivulets of water running up her face. She hung at a precarious angle – half-on and half-off the root base of the fallen tree. Rough bark scraped her soaked skin, tearing into her shoulder blades and elbows.

  Night had fallen and rain had been coming down long enough to soak through her leather chaps and make the ground a muddy mess.

  “Psht.” She spit at the water slipping over her lips toward her nose. Chilled, she shivered. If she didn’t get down from her position soon, she might pass out. Constant pressure in her head added an ache she couldn’t identify while it warred with the rest of her pain from the fall.

  Get down, Sara Beth. Ignore the rest of it. Just get down. Figure out what to do when you’re lying flat on your back – or something! Move, girl! Getting her feet under her might be the only way to warm up. If she could walk home, she wouldn’t freeze to death. Well, it wasn’t that cold, but she’d heard stories about hypothermia. A common killer in the northern states.

  At least her legs didn’t hurt.

  Oh man, but her shoulders burned.

  She dragged in a deep breath, stretching out her arms to reach for thick roots protruding from the ground. Hopefully they’d be solid handholds.

  Her fingertips just
barely grazed the curve of the closest root before she slumped back to her spot. If she could just stretch enough to... yes! She finally clutched a knobby root enough to heave herself from where she’d been lodged.

  Tugging, she tightened her stomach, and her body slid to the ground with a thud.

  Holding on to the root, she adjusted to the cold, hard ground.

  Pain shot from her back to the rear of her neck. “Oh, crap.” She sobbed, turning her head to the side just enough to tuck under the overhang of the log. She’d take it as long as the rain wasn’t pummeling her face anymore.

  She couldn’t feel her legs.

  They didn’t hurt – but that wasn’t the problem. The cold and wet that had plagued her from head to toe while she’d lain on the log had disappeared at least from the waist down. She lifted her head and looked down the length of her body.

  Her toes pointed in a V-shape.

  Blowing water off her lips, she blinked to see through the spikes of her lashes. She had to just be cold. So cold her legs and feet had grown numb. She willed them to move, even reached down with pruning fingers and jiggled her upper thighs to help.

  Nothing budged.

  Sara Beth covered her mouth and nose, inhaling long and slow. Hyperventilating had become a very real possibility. Keep it together, girl. Sara Beth closed her eyes. She had to be too cold – nothing else.

  It’s not like anything could be permanently wrong, right? Not for real.

  Rain roared around her. There was no difference between the cold mud under her and the chill of her skin.

  For a split second, she could have sworn the thunder called her name.

  If she couldn’t get up and walk, how was she going to get back to the ranch? A more violent shiver struck her and her lips trembled. Hands crammed to her mouth, Sara Beth huffed air on her fingers. But it was like aiming an A/C unit on ice – little to no effect.

  The hopelessness of her situation compounded the knot in her stomach. Her willfulness and obstinance in doing whatever she wanted had finally gotten her nothing but pain. Being punished for stealing a dang horse, her sister’s boyfriend’s horse didn’t seem fair. Well, okay, yeah she deserved to be punished but not that bad.

  Her life hadn’t been filled with the best kind of fair.

  “Stop it. Stop it.” She yelled at the rain. The downpour didn’t answer. “Why are you even worrying about the past? Get up! Figure something out!” But the cold wouldn’t listen and her pity party had grown lonely. No one was around to listen.

  “Get home.” She whispered. Why hadn’t she taken that cellphone Rosie kept pushing on her to use?

  “Sara Beth?” A man hollered from just up the trail. The hoarseness suggested he’d been yelling a while.

  No way was that thunder.

  She angled her head from under the protection of the log, blinking at the onslaught of more rain. Twisting the hem of her shirt in her hands, she held her breath to hear better.

  Had she imagined it? Someone might be looking for her! “Help!” Weak, her voice only carried a few feet in front of her before drowning under the storm.

  Again! Keep trying. “Help. Please... Help...” She ended on a whimper, her tears mingling with the chilly rain. Rocks dug into her back. Sobs shook her shoulders and chest. “Please, help.”

  Fear became her driving force and she wrangled deep inside for strength she didn’t think she had. Reaching out to pull herself more onto the trail, she dug her fingers under pebbles and clumps of soaked moss. “Help!”

  A light bobbed in and out of the dark shadows.

  Sara Beth rubbed at her eyes, gritty mud scratching her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.

  Yes! Someone was there with a flashlight.

  Thrusting her hands behind her, she pushed or tried pushing herself to a seated position, but when she moved her back, a tight pinch sent a spasm to her waist. She bit back a cry.

  Flopping back to the ground, she closed her eyes and yelled with all her might. “I’m here! Please.” The spasm spread and the pinch twisted into an overwhelming burning sensation. Shortness of breath followed the chest pain. A heart attack?

  Oh, no, was she going to die?

  “Sara Beth?” The light moved closer, sweeping back and forth in a steady pattern. Flashing in Sara Beth’s eyes on the down swing, the light moved on and then returned to train on her. “Hey! Sara Beth, I’m coming.”

  Boot falls thudded dully through the trodden, soggy grass. He moved the light from her face and knelt beside her. Fingers probed her neck and head. “I’m going to put the light back on you – it might blind you a bit – I need to check you over, alright?”

  Sara Beth closed her eyes, the light shining on her face. Her lips trembled. The light shifted to just below her chin. She opened her eyes to make sure he hadn’t left or – her luck – keeled over next to her because he’d been struck down by lightning.

  “You can do this. Just a minute. I’m going to radio for some help.” The man’s silhouette lifted a radio and pushed the buttons. “Hey, Rourke Ranch. Johnny Mayfair here. I found the girl west of the ranch along the forest trails. I’ll put out a flare. We need medics in here – immediately. Looks like a bad fall. Might be spinal damage.” He lowered the handheld and moved around, rustling as he did so.

  She couldn’t stop shaking. The rain’s persistent downpour sucked the energy from her and she wanted to sleep, even if it meant she had to snuggle into the sucking mud. “I’m...” Teeth chattering. “So. Cold.”

  “I know. Just a second. I’m working on it.” He removed his slicker and lay beside her, shifting closer until he could drape the slicker over them both. A moment later, warmth covered her where his body touched hers. He wrapped his arms around her upper body and threw his leg over hers. “Is that better? I’m sorry we’re still in the mud, but I don’t know how bad you’re hurt.”

  Sara Beth wanted to sleep. His heat felt so dang good. The rain had disappeared from her face along with the chilly breeze which had whipped around them. He’d created a tent-like atmosphere. Although the ground was slick and wet – and of course freezing – at least they didn’t have the barrage of elements attacking them from above.

  He asked if something was better. But she couldn’t focus on exact words.

  She shook her head, whispering from under the safety of the modest protection he’d provided. “I’m warmer on top, but I can’t feel my legs, so you might be wasting that energy.” She opened her eyes and tried making out his features in the dark. “Why do you suspect a spine injury?” She hadn’t said anything to him about her fall or anything. Was he going to claim to be one of those clairvoyants who saved kidnapped dogs and knew where the buried bodies were of young girls?

  Johnny tightened his hold over her chest and abdomen. “I doubt you’d be lying in the mud during a rain storm by choice. I figure the only thing that could keep you down is injury, right? Well, nothing looks broken or badly mauled. That only leaves your spine.”

  He squeezed her upper arm where his fingers clenched her. “I’m sorry you can’t feel your legs. Let’s get out of here first and then we can worry about the details, okay?” He gently pushed her head onto his arm. “I don’t know as much as I should about first aid, but I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to move your neck or back.” He paused and then continued. “I’m Johnny Mayfair, by the way. Since we’re so close, I figure it can’t hurt, knowing who’s holding you.” He chuckled, the movement of his chest against her oddly comforting.

  The whole situation had become surreal.

  Sara Beth almost tried to pull away from him. But she couldn’t. Even if she really, really wanted to, he was too dang warm. She stared into the dark beneath his chin. “I’m Sara Beth Scott.” She fell silent and reveled in his warm touch.

  “Nice to meet you, Sara Beth. What are you doing out here on a night like tonight?” Soft and velvety, his voice could pass for a late night radio host’s.

  She pressed her lips together. How much d
id she tell him? How much would he understand? “I’m determined to...” But what was she determined to do? She couldn’t remember.

  A moment passed and then another. Sara Beth drifted in and out of sleep, ignoring the pain in her back growing with each heartbeat.

  She jerked awake, once, twice, and then a third time.

  Johnny cupped her cheek in his hand. “Hey, shhh. It’s okay. Just go to sleep. I won’t let anything happen to you. Shhh.”

  Sara Beth smirked into the dark. She’d never fall asleep out there...

  Johnny

  Chapter 4

  Mud streaked her face, half-covering the right side. Her hair color had disappeared under the wet deluge, slicking back behind her. What visible skin there was had a pale, almost translucent look to it. Her lips shook when she spoke.

  Yet, Johnny didn’t know if he’d ever seen anyone so beautiful.

  The slight weight of her head on his arm worried him. He shouldn’t have moved her neck, but she’d seemed fine. He hadn’t been trained in First Aid except the standard CPR and Heimlich maneuvers. The rest of it, his dad hadn’t thought was warranted.

  Cold from the ground seeped into his flesh, making his bones ache. How she’d fallen asleep so easily astounded him. Her pain level must have been higher than she’d let on.

  “Come on, guys. Get here.” Johnny couldn’t see in the dark under the slicker, but with the pitter-pat of rain on the makeshift cover, he wasn’t tempted to stick his head out and check. With his free arm, he lifted the radio to his lips and murmured, “This is Johnny Mayfair. Can I get an ETA on your arrival? She’s pretty bad.”

  He released the button. Waiting for help and loaning her his body heat was taking a toll. His fingers didn’t want to bend and he clenched his teeth together.