Chapter 6 #2
Andrew couldn’t sleep. For a long time, he tossed and turned.
Eventually, as dawn broke, he got up and packed a bag.
He packed water, some food, and some of Julie’s bandages and salves.
Then he woke the other two. They didn’t protest and silently got up and ate a meager meal of leftover beans and rice, washed down with tepid coffee.
“We’d better take the horses,” Andrew said, speaking softly so as not to wake the others. “We’ll be able to cover more ground.”
“The mud might not be good for them,” Michael cautioned, rubbing his eyes as though they felt gritty. “If one of them gets stuck … then we’re in a whole new world of trouble.”
“Okay, no horses then,” Andrew said. “But we need to hurry up and start looking. She could be badly hurt.”
“Just wait a darn minute,” Kyle said. A somber man, he propped himself up on his elbow, watching them from his sleeping spot.
“You know she’s most likely dead, so why the rush?
The sun is barely up, and there’s no saying what will happen.
If we lose all three of you, then this mine isn’t going to be viable either. ”
Andrew would have stepped forward and slugged the man if Jeff hadn’t held him back.
“Alive or dead,” he snapped, “we’re not just going to abandon her.
We’re going to find her and bring her home.
This is her home now. I’m the reason she came out west. I’m the reason she was caught in this godforsaken storm.
And I’ll be hanged before I abandon her to the wilderness just because you think some mine is more important than a human life! ”
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t go,” Kyle protested. “I’m just saying … maybe wait a day or two for the sun to dry out the banks. You could get sucked into the mud as easily as the horses. That’s all.”
“And I suppose that if it was you or your wife this happened to, then you would be fine with us waiting a day or two before searching for her?”
Kyle held up his hands. “Go on then! Gee, I was just trying to inject some logic into this little endeavor.”
“Well, don’t,” Jeff snapped. “We’re going to search for Julie, and you’re going to fix up this camp so that it’s a decent place for a lady when we get back. A living lady who deserves a crumb of civilization like a clean tent and a soft, warm bed. Understand?”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “Sure. I’ll get right on it.” He lay back down and rolled over.
Kyle was a good enough man, but he could never see beyond his own thoughts and feelings. If it didn’t affect him directly, then he couldn’t see why it was urgent or important to anyone else.
Andrew shook his head. “Let’s go.”
They set off. The sky was clear and blue. It would be a beautiful day under other circumstances. Andrew wished that he wasn’t out looking for Julie, but rather that they were taking that stroll he had planned for them. This was not how things were supposed to be.
He prayed fervently as they walked.
The creek was a mess. There were furrows and mini waterfalls where rainwater that must have been stuck in puddles was now finding its way to the creek.
There were a few dead animals, although all the flies seemed to have survived.
They buzzed around the men, who swatted at them until they realized the futility and gritted their teeth and bore the irritation.
At the split in the creek, Andrew took the middle, Michael the left, and Jeff the right. They agreed to walk for an hour and then turn around and come back to where the creek branched off.
The landscape was dotted by copses of trees and clumps of bushes, and although Andrew could see his friend and brother for a while as he walked along, he soon lost sight of them.
He had to find Julie—he simply had to. He loved her laugh and her smile. Not seeing them for two days had left him heartsick. He could feel himself already falling in love with his new wife, and he prayed again for her safe return to his arms.
Something stood on the other side of the creek. It was a coyote. It took a couple of limping steps along the bank and stopped. Turning its head, it watched him.
Andrew got the uncanny feeling that he was supposed to follow it. But that was absurd. Then again, maybe it wasn’t. God worked in mysterious ways. And there was no sight of Julie anywhere, so he might as well follow this strange gut instinct.
The coyote waited. Andrew took a few steps. The coyote took a few limping ones. And so it went until Andrew reached a clump of black willow trees. The bank around them was largely untouched by the floodwaters.
The coyote stood on the opposite bank and watched him with a look on its face that was almost expectant. Andrew wasn’t sure what to do.
“Well?” he asked the animal. “Now what?”
The coyote turned and limped away from the creek.
“Great,” he said. “Julie? Are you here?” He asked the question, not expecting a reply.
“Andrew?”
The voice was small and soft, but he definitely heard it.
“Andrew?”
Andrew ran in the direction of the voice. He slid down into the creek bed and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her. Propped up against the trunk of a tree, battered and bruised but still alive, was his wife.
“Thank God!” he cried.
Andrew rushed forward, gathered her into his arms, and held her for a long, long time.