The air was heavy with the scent of wet pine and fresh earth. Storm clouds still lurked on the horizon, threatening another downpour. Her heart pounded in her chest, not from fear but from anticipation and worry. Tommy was out there somewhere, injured or worse, and she had to find him.
She rode with purpose and determination, so caught up with thoughts of finding her brother, she didn’t notice Uncle Devin following behind her.
Chapter Four
Bethany’s heart raced as she spun around, her eyes darting to the sky before quickly scanning the desolate landscape. The sun that had teased its way through the clouds was now hidden behind a menacing layer of darkening storm clouds. Fear crept up her spine as she realized Tommy hadn’t been out to check his traps. Panic set in as she frantically searched for any sign of him. Where could he be?
Sliding off her horse, she moved from the trail, hoping to find any sign Tommy had passed this way. Bethany’s heart sank as she reached the bridge which separated her family’s land from the Chapman’s. The creek was usually calm and shallow enough to cross, but now it was raging with muddy water, too dangerous even for the most experienced horseback rider. There was no way Tommy could have crossed it.
Feeling a knot form in her stomach, Bethany turned back towards the trail where she had been riding earlier. She scanned the area once more, hoping to spot any sign of her brother. There was nothing.
She mounted her horse again and rode towards the Kendrick ranch and the beaver pond where Tommy sometimes hunted. As she rode, she couldn’t shake off the feeling something terrible had happened to Tommy. Maybe he had fallen off his horse and gotten hurt or lost in the storm. Bethany’s mind raced with worst-case scenarios.
As she tapped Lucy’s flanks, she caught sight of something moving behind the trees. “Tommy?” she called. The shadowy figure didn’t respond.
She reached under the large buttons of her coat and pulled out a revolver strapped under her arm. Cocking the hammer, she lifted the gun towards the trees. “Show yourself.”
“Put that thing down before you hurt someone, girl,” a voice called.
“Uncle Devin?” Bethany released the hammer and returned the gun to the holster under her coat. “What are you doing here?” She wrinkled her nose. Her uncle was one of the best trackers in the county, and a silent one. He never left a trail when he was tracking someone. He had learned from the Pawnees before they were forced onto the reservations. “Pa sent you to follow me, didn’t he?”
Devin stepped forward from the shadows, grinning at his niece. “Your pa worries about you,” he said, taking off his worn tanned hide hat and running a hand through his graying hair.
Bethany huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I can look after myself.”
“I know you can, Bethy,” Devin replied. His tone was soft,almost comforting. “You also know how your pa is. He wouldn’t forgive himself if anything happened to you or Tommy. If he followed you, you’d know he was doing it.”
“I knew you were following me.”
“You only knew just now. That was because I let you.”
For a moment, Bethany just stared at her uncle, the wind whipping her dark hair around her face. Slowly, she nodded, understanding it wasn’t her own independence they were doubting, but their fear for the unknown dangers that lay ahead.
“Well, I nearly shot you.”
“You didn’t.” Devin looked at the sky between the canopy of trees. “We need to get back. It’s going to storm again. Looks like it is coming from over there.”
“That’s where the Kendrick ranch is. I’ve not checked the pond yet.”
“I doubt he’s there.”
“What makes you say that?” Bethany wrinkled her nose. She hated it when he was right, but she had her doubts Tommy made it to the pond as well.
“He’s not made it to any of the trapping spots so far.”
“You shouldn’t even know about those.” A trapper’s trap line was a sacred thing, and no one should know where they put their traps. If another trapper came across them, it was an unwritten rule to leave any set traps alone.
“How do you think Tommy found the trap line?” Devin moved forward and took Lucy’s lead line. “Let me hop up, and we’ll head home.”
“I’m going to head down towards the ranch, and then I’ll turn back.”
Devin shook his head. “You are stubborn. Just like your ma.”He handed the line back to Bethany. “Don’t go too fast. I’m still looking for signs along the trail.”
With a firm nod at her uncle, she turned and steered Lucy towards the ominous storm growing in the distance.
By the time they reached the end of the trail, where the creek fed into a culvert that ran along the edge of the ranch, it was raining again. She wished she had listened to her uncle and headed back home when he suggested it. Uncle Devin was right. She had a stubborn streak as wide as the culvert she was looking at.
Raindrops assaulted the surface like a thousand tiny hammers, and her lantern barely pierced the darkness. The once calm and familiar creek had transformed into a treacherous obstacle, filled with debris and dangerous currents which could swallow a person whole as it raced past her, dividing the Kendrick’s and Hartman’s properties.
