Chapter Thirteen
What…where am I?
There was movement beside her so she forced her face muscles to pry her eyelids open, even just a sliver to give her some idea of what was going on.
Her pupils didn’t have trouble adjusting because it was dark outside, almost black.
She could see the trees hovering above her, towering hundreds of feet.
The ground was moist as Morgan positioned her hands beneath her chest, careful not to increase the pain she was already feeling.
“Oh Pepper, no!” Her poor horse lay on his side just a few feet away.
A surge of energy pumped through her at the sight of her loving and constant companion, causing her body to launch from the ground only to realize she wouldn’t be going anywhere when pain surged like electric sparks all through her body. She fell back down, her face smashing into the dirt.
“Ahh!” Her screams of agony echoed around her in the dense forest as she maneuvered to look at her broken left leg. Tears crested her eyelashes and a bundle of stress invaded her chest.
“What am I going to do now?” She looked toward Pepper, who unfortunately was no help, then back to her leg. I need to do something. We can’t sit here all night or we’ll both die.
Positioning her hands back under her chest again, she pushed on wobbly arms and propped herself up. If she could turn over, the surroundings would be a bit more visible.
“Oh my god that hurts!” She screamed into the night sky as she carefully rolled to her right hip. Grabbing a stick and biting it between her teeth, she reached for the bloody material covering the protruding bone and lifted as she rolled over to her backside, lying flat on the ground again.
If she weren’t in such a sticky situation, the view she had might be enjoyable because what she could see of the starry night through the trees was beautiful. Slowly sitting herself up, every move nowhere near tolerable, she tried to assess her break.
In her line of work, she’d seen this very thing many times and while it was never an easy situation, putting herself in the position of needing rescued, everything was different.
Panic smoldered at the recesses of her brain and her blood pressure spiked a notch.
She knew right where her two-way radio was and it wouldn’t do her a damn bit of good on the table at the cabin.
Another glance at Pepper told her she’d been in such a hurry to escape, she didn’t grab the saddle bags either.
She wouldn’t be able to call for help without those radios and stupidly she hadn’t let anyone know she was leaving the cabin so her Uncle Bill wouldn’t be expecting her.
Seems her only other hope was Luke. Did he really care like he said?
If so, would he have come after her when she stormed out?
At this point she sure hoped so. However, on the off chance he wouldn’t, she needed to find a way to help herself and Pepper too.
Scooting on her butt trying to use only her arms, she inched closer to Pepper hoping things didn’t look worse for him.
The fact he hadn’t gotten off the ground yet was troubling.
Positioning herself right at the nose on her horse’s head, she felt for the bridle which was a little twisted and off-center because the reigns somehow had gotten caught on a branch from a downed log.
She couldn’t shake them loose and working to pull himself free had exhausted her horse.
At least she hoped that was all. Acquiring a stronghold on the leather straps, she pulled with as much strength as she could muster.
The twig holding the lines gave way throwing her backward, but effectively releasing Pepper at the same time.
Free of restraint, Pepper wasted no time catapulting himself up off the ground.
“Yay Pepper, good boy.” He stood normally as far as she could tell in the darkness; relief flooded through her body. Now she needed to gather some strong sticks and get herself cleaned up and set her leg. Would do her no good to lose much more blood.
“Don’t you laugh Pepper.” As if horses could but knowing mine, I wouldn’t put it past him.
“This will definitely be an interesting challenge.” Sliding cautiously but painfully across the wet ground, she gathered three or four solid branches and tossed them into one spot.
“Now what do I use to tie them together with?”
* * * *
“Ty are you sure you know where we’re going?”
“Seriously? You have to ask me that? Em and I grew up here Luke, you know that. She has definitely made the trip up this mountain hundreds more times than me but still, my horse could travel alone just as well as hers. Now can you quit yapping like a girl and keep your ears open for any sounds of my sister?”
Luke knew better than to ask such a stupid question but he couldn’t help it, he was trying really hard not to lose it.
Things were getting a bit more real now that they were actually out on a search and rescue for Morgan.
And he definitely blamed himself. If he hadn’t been such an ass to her, she might not have left the cabin so mad.
“I know, I know. I’m kicking myself right now. It’s my fault she took off in such a hurry. If it hadn’t been for your little girlfriend, I mighta been able to catch up to her quicker. What the hell do you see in her anyway?”
Tyler pulled on the reigns, stopping so Luke could come up closer to him on the narrow pathway.
“She is not my girlfriend alright? There isn’t anything between us as far as I’m concerned and anyway, I didn’t really invite her up to the cabin.
She called me and insisted we, as in her and me head up there because she’d heard my sister was in town and she couldn’t wait to see her.
Heck I didn’t even know she was friends with Morgan anymore. ”
“I have no clue what’s going on between those two. Last I knew, which was six years ago, they were best friends but Morgan sure wasn’t happy to see her walk in to the cabin today. She was pissed at me too, I think, but I didn’t do anything.” That I know of anyway.
Tyler shook his head and nudged his horse forward.
“Who knows, with the way women think these days...we may never figure it out. I basically told Margie to do whatever because I had to work and knowing her, she read all kinds of innuendos into that. Enough about her anyway, let’s just focus on finding Morgan alright? ”
“Definitely game for that. I’m starting to get a little worried.” Where the hell that came from Luke had no idea. He found himself worrying a lot more about her since she got back to town, almost like she’d never left.
“Well do you at least remember what she was wearing when she left? Did she have her backpack with her? We could always try her on the two-way.”
“Nope, no use trying those. I told you, she was in such a hurry, she stormed out the door and left her saddle bags sitting in the bedroom and the radio was on the table by the couch.” He tried hard to remember what she’d been wearing when they were sitting on the bed together.
“Hell I just don’t remember her clothes.
” His brain always went haywire when she was that close to him.
He could tell you in a heartbeat what she smelled like or how she tasted and he sure as hell remembered the curves that fit so well with his but what clothes she had on, nope that wasn’t on the top of the list.
“Doesn’t really matter anyway, it’s too dark to distinguish colors. I think maybe we should go to the cabin then set out on the direction she headed. She could have left some signs.”
Ty spurred his horse once they got to the Christmas pines. “We’re almost there now.”
“So Tyler, I saw your truck out at Fin and Kaleb’s farm a while back. I heard Harper’s sister was in town. Did you get to meet her?”
Tyler jerked his head around toward Luke. “Why would you ask me that?”
Luke was surprised. “Just making conversation is all. I just wondered if she was there and if you got to meet her. Last time I was in the post office, Harper told me she’d been visiting and with your truck there, I just assumed. Am I wrong?”
“Oh. No, you’re right. I did get to meet her. She was nice.” He faced forward again.
Nice? That’s it? “So she was just nice, that’s all? You just about bit my head off for asking and all you have to say is she’s nice?”
“Yes that’s all I have to say. Okay, we’re here.” They’d made it to the trees at the edge of the clearing where the cabin became visible.
“Hey wait. Margie’s probably still in there. I don’t want her to know we’re here. Can we just go down the trail Morgan took and not stop at the cabin?” She’d already caused Luke enough trouble tonight. He didn’t need more.
“Oh crap. Yep, I don’t want to see her either. You lead the way, which path did my sister take?”