2
“But that was hours ago.”
“I know.” I shudder goes up my spine. “We need to get moving to find her. But thank you, Rachel, that’s the biggest clue we have as to where she might be.”
“Yes, perhaps she sprained her ankle and can’t walk back or something.”
“That would be a good outcome to this situation.” I pull in a deep breath. “I should go,” I say, “we will organize a search party.”
“Would you like me and Tr-Argan to come over?”
“Perhaps later, if we still have no luck finding her.”
“Let us know and when you find her give her a hug from me.”
“I will. When we find her.”
Why did the word ‘when’ want to swap to the word ‘if’ in my brain?
I finish the call with a horrible dense feeling of dread landing on me.
“We have to go looking for her.” I nod at the window. The swaying crops are a vast maze and in the distance the mountains instead of looking pretty suddenly look ominous and impenetrable.
“They are big crop fields, we should split up,” Ar-Hagan says.
“Good idea.” I grab a hat and slap it on then reach for my hirion hide walking boots.
“We will take the east, toward Lake Tanya,” Ar-Hagan says. “And you take the section toward the Mural Mountains.”
“That should cover all the routes she could have taken to the barn.” El-Frankin nods. “Good idea.”
Ar-Hagan reaches for my hand.
“What if we don’t find her by nightfall?” I ask, those damn tears threatening again.
“We will keep looking. Don’t forget, our night vision is more acute than yours, it will not hinder us when it becomes dark.”
I nod.
“In-Sar is excellent at drone-control,” El-Frankin says. “He will use that.”
I pause. So he is going straight to In-Sar in his time of need. What is it between them?
And will In-Sar even want to find Tammy if he wants El-Frankin to himself?
I shake my head, trying to rid conspiratorial thoughts from my mind. It’s all hands on deck. Everyone wants her home.
“Should we let King Athos know?” I ask as we step through the door into the evening heat. “He could help. He has military.”
“No!” Ar-Hagan says.
“Definitely not!” El-Frankin adds.
I am surprised by their enthused answers. “Why not?”
“The penalty for losing an Earth female would be severe,” Ar-Hagan says. “At the very least exile from the Civilized Tundra to the Uncivilized Tundra where the Jakarty are.”
“And perhaps even the death penalty.” El-Frankin presses his lips together. “Earth women are precious. Losing one isn’t wise.”
I remember the conversation at the palace about the Jakarty, a scary-sounding rebel force who live in a lawless land. A new tsunami of fear grips me. “The Jakarty! What if she is there? What if they have her?”
“I’ve heard the pass the Jakarty use has almost collapsed, barely passable except for the most nimble of small animals. I don’t think that’s a possibility,” Ar-Hagan says.
“Do not think of that for now. Rachel was right, she’s probably hurt herself, an ankle or her knee and is unable to walk.”
He reaches for my hand and kisses my knuckles.
“We will find her, soon she will be resting up and telling us what happened.”
“I hope you’re right.” My mouth is dry and my pulse thudding in my ears. “Come on, let’s get looking.”