26. Cara
Chapter twenty-six
Cara
My stomach dropped. “He’s not here?”
Tiffany shrugged. “Oh, he was here and asked to see Parker, but Parker is staying with his father this weekend, so he left.”
“When did he leave here?” I asked, alarmed.
“Phew… over an hour ago, at least.”
“Did he tell you where he was going?”
“I didn’t ask. I assumed he would just go back home.” Tiffany looked at me with furrowed brows. “Cara, is everything alright?”
“I… No, it’s fine. I think I know where he might be.”
Tiffany looked concerned. “Did you two have a fight?”
“Something like that, yes,” I said, feeling uncomfortable. I liked Tiffany, but we were not the kind of friends that shared deep emotional issues with each other.
“Give me a call if you need anything, okay? You know my ex-husband works for the police department.”
Ellis cleared his throat. “I’m sure that won’t be necessary. Come on, let’s get back into the car.”
Tiffany’s worried eyes followed us until we were back in Ellis’s car.
“Where to next? The ranch, I reckon?” he asked.
I nodded. “He must have gone there. It makes sense. The ranch is his happy place. We should’ve looked there first.”
Ellis started the car. As he drove back onto the main street, he reached over and took my hand in his.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find him.”
“He’s there. I’m sure.” I said, trying to calm down myself as much as him.
When we arrived at Cedar Creek Ranch, I immediately spotted Riley’s bike, carelessly discarded next to the gravel path leading to the stables, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Ellis smiled at me and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Come on. Let’s get our son.”
Our son. The words sounded nice. I was no longer on my own. I had Ellis to share the journey of parenting with now. Everything was still fresh and fragile, and we would all have to get used to the new situation, especially me. Since I’d cared for Riley alone for thirteen years, letting someone else into the exclusive club that used to be my family wouldn’t be easy, but with Ellis, I could see a future.
We walked up to the ranch house, hand in hand, and I rang the doorbell.
Moments later, Annette opened the door, looking at me, confused.
“We’re here to pick up Riley,” I said.
“Riley? He’s not here. At least, not here in the house.”
“But his bike is outside. Right over there.”
Annette frowned. “Maybe he’s gone straight to the stables. Is everything alright, Cara?”
“We had a fight,” I admitted. “Riley ran off.”
A wave of worry washed over her face. “Let me get my jacket real quick. I’ll come to the stables with you.”
We made our way through ankle-high snow, hurrying toward the stables.
With growing fear in my stomach, I immediately headed for Atticus’s stall and found it empty.
“Damn it,” I cursed.
Ellis was by my side within seconds, and he understood the situation right away. “He took the horse?”
Our voices alerted Wyatt and Terry, who were working nearby.
“What’s the matter?” Terry asked. “Hey, where’s Atticus?”
I clenched my fists, trying not to lose control of my emotions. I needed to keep a clear head. “I think Riley took him.”
“Without telling anyone?” Wyatt asked. “That’s very unlike Riley.”
“We had a fight. He ran away. He was very angry. You didn’t see him, by any chance?”
Wyatt shook his head. “Dad and I were busy with the yearlings. We’ve been in this stable for maybe fifteen minutes. Let me go check something really quick.”
Wyatt ran out of the stable and returned a minute later with a frown on his face. “There are tracks in the snow. Looks like he went toward the mountains.”
Annette briefly clapped one hand over her mouth. “All alone?”
Terry looked worried too. “That snowfall out there is supposed to turn into a full-blown storm later today. This is not good.”
All attempts at keeping a clear head failed as cold fear gripped me. My pulse was thundering in my ears so loudly that I could barely hear what the others were discussing.
Why were they standing around, just talking? My son was out there. My twelve-year-old son was all alone, on an inexperienced horse, in cold weather that was about to get a lot worse.
Without hesitation, I turned around and ran toward the tack room, grabbing Marigold’s saddle and bridle. I was halfway to her stall when the others caught up with me.
Terry blocked my way. “What do you think you are doing?” he asked sternly.
I pushed past him and unlocked Marigold’s stall door. She blew out some air when she noticed me and greeted me with a gentle nudge on my shoulder.
“You can’t go after him,” Terry said. “Remember what happened last time you went for a ride in unstable weather? You got lucky you were near the cabin. And the storm that’s coming is going to be a lot worse.”
Ellis gently laid his hand on my arm. In the other hand, he held his phone. “Let’s call the police. They are better equipped to handle the situation.”
“No!” I yelled, shaking off his hand. “Riley is out there, so I’m going after him. Look at the snowfall. It will cover up his tracks soon, and then we’ll have no way to follow him. I’m not going to waste time waiting around for the police.”
So much for no longer doing this alone . Of course, no one cared about Riley as much as I. I should’ve known Ellis would back out when push came to shove.
With a mix of anger and panic, I heaved the saddle onto Marigold’s back. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the men exchanging glances, and Marigold let out a nervous neigh as though picking up on my panic.
Ellis spoke first. “Terry, can I borrow Jupiter again?” I heard his words, but I was too distracted with frantically securing the saddle on my horse’s back to really compute what he was saying.
Terry groaned. “I don’t like that idea at all.”
“We’re not going to stop her, and it’s safer if it’s two of us out there.”
I stopped what I was doing and looked at Ellis. “You want to come with me?”
“Of course. Did you really think I would let you ride out alone?”
I shook my head and returned my attention to my horse. “No, too dangerous. Stay here. There’s no point in you coming with me.”
Ellis stepped closer and put a hand on my shoulder. “I know you’re used to handling emergencies alone, but now you have me. We will face this crisis together, and every crisis afterwards.”
I grabbed the leather strap in my hand tighter, trying to choke back a sob that was creeping up in my throat.
“Okay,” I whispered. “Let’s do this together.”
Wyatt shook his head. “You don’t know the terrain like I do. I’m taking Maverick and coming with you.”
“Then I’m coming too,” Terry said.
Annette grabbed her husband’s arm, her eyes wide with panic, her face drained of color. “But Terry, the snowfall,” she whispered, her voice quivering.
Terry’s jaw tensed. “We can hold our own, but Riley is just a little boy. He needs us. Cara is right. We don’t have time to wait for the police.”
Annette hesitantly let go of his arm and took a step back before she slowly nodded. “Bring him home safe.”
Terry kissed the top of her head. “We will find him, but call the police anyway. We need all the help we can get. You stay here. Wait in the house in case he returns before us.”
The men saddled their horses in no time, and mere minutes later, we were heading out into the snow. I rode ahead on Marigold, followed by Ellis on Jupiter. Wyatt, on his palomino stallion, Maverick, was close behind, while Terry, on his white mare, Alaska, was the rear guard.
I was eager to move fast, but we had to be careful not to lose the tracks Atticus had left because without them, we had no idea where to look for Riley. In front of us were hundreds of acres of barely tamed wilderness with endless possibilities for a boy to get lost.
The hoofprints in the snow led us along the creek, and I had to fight back terrible images of Atticus slipping on the ice-covered riverbank and Riley falling into the creek, drowning in the white water.
The wind was icy, and the snowfall was getting more severe with every passing minute. My face and hands were quickly going numb, but I ignored the biting cold. It was my fault Riley had run off, and I would not get off Marigold’s back until I’d found Riley and brought him home safe.
The wind was howling, and the snow was so dense that we soon had trouble following the tracks as the hoofprints got covered by fresh snow.
Eventually, we lost them all together.
I tried to push forward, squinting, my gaze fixed on the ground, trying against all odds to find the tracks again, then I heard Wyatt’s voice behind me.
“Cara, halt.”
Reluctantly, I slowed down and turned Marigold around, riding toward Ellis, Terry, and Wyatt, who had already stopped and gathered.
“Why are you stopping? We need to keep going!”
Terry frowned. “We lost his tracks, Cara. We have no idea where to look for him.”
“I don’t care. We need to keep looking anyway.”
Wyatt leaned forward in his saddle. “Do you have any idea where he might have gone? Any places he might have aimed for?”
I racked my brain, trying to think. Did Riley have a goal in mind when he took Atticus? Or was he just trying to get as far as possible away from me and Ellis? How did he react when the snow started? He was smart, so he surely would have looked for shelter. But where?
“The old cabin?” I suggested. “I told him that was where Ellis and I stayed when the snowfall caught up with us during our ride.”
“Does he even know where that cabin is?” Ellis asked.
“I’m not sure. He’s never been there himself.” I took a deep breath, trying to focus. “Maybe he went for the waterfall. He loves that place.”
Ellis nodded along. “He told me there’s a cave near the waterfall. He might have sought refuge there.”
Terry rubbed his chin. Snowflakes clung to his short, gray beard. “Both possible.”
“We should split up,” Wyatt suggested, “to cover more ground.”
Terry pressed his lips together. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I don’t want to leave Cara and Ellis on their own. They’re not as experienced riders as we are, Wyatt.”
“Then you and I head for the cabin,” Wyatt said. “It’s the more difficult trail. Cara and Ellis, go straight to the waterfall.”
Terry leaned toward me. “Can you even locate it in this weather, Cara? The last thing we need is more people getting lost.”
“Of course. I’ve been there often. Wyatt is right. Let’s do it that way. We have our phones if we get lost.”
“I doubt they work out there and in this weather. You need to be very careful out there. Ellis, what about you?”
I looked at Ellis. He was the least experienced rider among us, and he was a stranger to the terrain. I appreciated the gesture of coming with me, but maybe it would be better if I continued alone from there on out.
I reached over to touch his hand. “You can go back,” I said. “Go back and wait at the ranch. I got this.”
Ellis shook his head. “I’m coming with you.”
“Ellis, really. I don’t want to endanger you.”
“Cara, he’s my son too. I’m coming with you whether you like it or not.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Terry and Wyatt exchange surprised glances, but it wasn’t the time for an extended explanation.
My attention was on Ellis. I looked into his eyes, and my gaze was met with fierce determination.
“Let me help,” Ellis said quietly, for only me to hear. And I finally believed him. Ellis was in. I could count on him. He would have my back, no matter what, and the realization lifted a ton of weight off my shoulders.
I inhaled the icy air. “Alright,” I said. “Ellis and I go to the waterfalls, and Terry and Wyatt head for the cabin.”
Before they could all murmur their approval, I’d already turned Marigold around and spurred her on. Terry and Wyatt were going off in the other direction, and when I looked over my shoulder, Ellis was there, hurrying to catch up with me.
Since we no longer had to slow down to follow the tracks in the snow, I drove Marigold fast, and Ellis was doing his best to keep up.
As we rode, the snowfall turned into an outright blizzard. Snow piled up under our horses’ hooves, and I could barely see farther than Marigold’s ears.
“Cara, we need to slow down!” Ellis yelled behind me. I could barely hear him through the storm.
“We can’t! Riley is out there!”
I didn’t wait for his response. I just drove Marigold to an even faster pace, but I noticed Ellis was still behind me. Struggling to keep up, he was still there.
“We need to go toward these mountains.” I pointed at the familiar mountain formation.
“How much longer?”
“Hard to tell. Usually, it’s a short ride, but in this weather… We need to hurry. It’s freezing cold, and Riley was only in his sweater when he left.”
The closer we got to the mountains, the steeper the terrain got. Marigold slipped twice on the fresh snow but caught herself.
“Cara, if you keep this pace, Marigold is going to break a leg, and you’re going to break your neck.”
“I don’t—” Before I could even finish my angry reply, Marigold slipped again, and that time, she lost her balance. Time slowed down to a crawl as I felt her slipping and falling to the side, the snow-covered ground fast approaching.
The impact knocked the wind from my lungs. Instinctively, I rolled away, and just a split second later, a hoof landed right next to my head. I covered my head, but through my arms, I saw a shivering Marigold heaving herself back on her legs and bolting off.
“No!” I yelled after her. “Come back here!”
I tried to get up to run after her. On foot, getting to the waterfall would take ages, but as soon as I put weight on my left leg, my ankle gave out. I fell back into the snow with a scream. A sharp pain radiated from my foot all the way up to my knee, so intense that tears welled up in my eyes.
“Marigold!” I cried out through a curtain of tears. “Come back! I need you.”
The next moment, Ellis was behind me, his hand on my shoulder.
“Cara! Cara, are you alright? Are you hurt?”
He quickly checked me for more injuries, but I brushed his hand away and wiped the tears off my face. “I’m fine.”
“Are you, though? Try to stand up.”
I tried but couldn’t.
With a groan of frustration, I sank back to the ground. Tears ran down my face, feeling unbearably hot on my ice-cold skin. I choked back a sob. “How are we ever going to get to Riley now?”