The Challenge(18)

Juliet was hoping her father wasn’t worried. She closed her eyes and thought about it, and felt Peter’s hand gently take hers, then he whispered in her ear so the others wouldn’t hear. “Don’t be scared,” he said ever so softly. She nodded, smiled at him, and held his hand tight until she fell asleep. She had her shift to keep watch later. For now, all she wanted to do was sleep, and forget how thirsty she was.





Chapter 5


Pitt and Anne were working on their accounts that night and stayed late at the office. They had been at an auction, sold three breeding mares and bought two very expensive stallions. They were still talking about them, and Pitt’s plans for them, when they got home and found the house dark, which Anne thought was strange.

“They must have gone to the diner for dinner. They probably came home wet and tired and hungry from the flash storms today,” Pitt said. Anne always worried more than he did, and he put an arm around her and kissed her. “Maybe they went out for a pizza.” He always thought of the simple solutions first.

“Peter would have texted if they went out for dinner,” she said, visibly worried.

“Maybe they went to Bill and Pattie’s, with no food service here.” He smiled at her. “You feed them too well. They eat here more often than I do. They’ll be back soon. I’m sure they didn’t stick around the waterfall for long once it started raining.” It was nine o’clock at night by then. They hadn’t had dinner themselves and went to make sandwiches in the kitchen while they waited for the boys. Pitt had calmed her fears.

At ten o’clock, Pattie Brown called.

“What time do you want me to pick up my monsters? You must be sick to death of my family by now. But I appreciate it. I stayed at the Wylies’ with Marlene ’til eight o’clock and made dinner for her. Bob is quietly slipping away. I don’t think it will go on much longer.”

“I thought the boys were with you,” Anne said, frowning. “We got home an hour ago, and they weren’t here. Pitt thought they were at your place or that they went to town for dinner.” She hadn’t thought to look for their bikes at the barn, since she assumed they’d taken their bikes with them.

“He’s probably right,” Pattie said calmly. “Benjie is going to be hell on wheels tomorrow if they have him up this late. I hope he’s asleep in a booth at the diner, or somewhere. If he’s still awake, he’ll be a mess tomorrow. They’ll probably be home in a few minutes. I’ll let you know if they show up here first. They can camp out here if they want to.”

Anne was about to text Peter and Pitt told her to relax. Tom Marshall called a few minutes later and apologized to Pitt for the late hour when he answered. “I’m sorry, my daughter seems to have joined the group of musketeers. She was going to call me but I guess she’s having too much fun at your place. When do you want me to come and get her? I can be there in a few minutes if she’s ready.” She couldn’t sleep over with a bunch of boys, so she’d have to come home. The boys could stay at the Pollocks’.

“We think they’re out to dinner. They’ll probably be home any minute,” Pitt said. He hated to treat them like babies and wanted to give them time to show up.

“She’s not with you?” Tom sounded surprised, then worried.

“Actually, no. We just got home a little while ago ourselves. We were at an auction all day, buying breeding stock. I’ll call around and see where they are. I’ll call you back in a few minutes.” Pitt looked at Anne when he hung up. “Where the hell are they? They’re not at the Browns’, or here, and Tom wants to know when to pick Juliet up.”

“They’re not at the Wylies’. Pattie was there with Bob, and they wouldn’t go there now with Bob so sick. And I’m sure they’re not at Tim’s. They never go there. Tim comes to us. June works late and they all hate her cooking.” She looked embarrassed when she said it, and Pitt laughed.

“I’ll call the guys in the barn and see what time they brought the horses in. They’re too young to go to a bar,” he said with a grin, “so they have to be at someone’s house.”

The head stable hand answered the phone in the barn, and Pitt was startled by his response.

“The horses never came back tonight. I figured they took them over to the Browns’, and were staying there, and would bring them back in the morning. The trails have been pretty slippery tonight. I thought maybe they were afraid to lame one of the horses. And their bikes are still here.”

“Thanks, Jack,” Pitt said, then hung up on him and turned to look at Anne. “The horses never came back in. Maybe one of them slipped and got lamed in the storm, or one of the kids fell and got injured. Their bikes are at the stables.” He went to put on his rough work boots and a heavy rubber raincoat he wore when he rode in bad weather.

“Where are you going?” Anne asked with a look of panic.

“I’ll take some of the guys with me and have a look at the trails and see what we find. They’re out there somewhere, and something must have happened, or the horses would be back in the barn, since they’re not at Pattie and Bill’s.” He called the Browns and asked Bill if he wanted to come with him.

“Give me five minutes. I’ll meet you on the trail. I’ll bring a couple of my guys too.” Pitt called the barn again then to ask Jack to bring one of the other stable hands, and Pitt told him which of his workhorses he wanted saddled. He took a solid horse he knew he could rely on. He debated about calling Tom Marshall, but he didn’t want to frighten him and tell him that the kids were missing and so were the horses. The trails were bordered by steep ravines, and even some of the most experienced riders had fatal accidents on Granite Peak every year. He wanted to have a look around first before he called him.