Mountain Moonlight - By Jane Toombs Page 0,24

one they turned to look at the horses. All four were still tethered. Davis hadn't taken any of them.

"He's lost!" Vala cried. "He's lost up here with poisonous snakes and lizards all around. He could have fallen off a cliff or..."

"Calm down." Bram told her. "Where we are now there are no cliffs he could fall off. And he knows about poisonous reptiles. My guess is he went exploring while he was waiting for us to get up."

"But you sleep outside. You must have seen him."

"I slept later than usual."

"Do something, can't you?" she demanded. "My son's lost on this cactus-infested mountain and you stand there telling me to calm down." She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Davis!"

An echo was the only reply.

"We've got to find him before it's too late," she said. "I'll go this way and you go that." She started off.

His hand gripped her arm, stopping her. "I run this outfit." His voice was flat and hard. "I give the orders. We don't split up. I repeat, we do not split up. First thing you know there'd be two lost people instead of one. And I don't mean me."

Panic rose in Vala. Wasn't he going to do anything? "He's only nine," she reminded him.

"Davis has been to summer camps. And he's listened to my reminders of what to do if you get lost. It may take a little time, but we'll find him."

"Your reminders!" She flung the words at him. "I can barely recall whatever advice you gave. If I was lost and scared I wouldn't remember a word."

"Davis isn't you. I have faith in the kid." He knelt, eased something from a pack and slid it into his pocket. "Okay, follow me and we'll do a widening circle search. He can't be far off."

"Then why didn't he answer me when I called him?" she demanded as she trotted after him, trying to keep up with his long strides.

"Sounds carry differently in the mountains." He shouted Davis's name. Again, nothing.

"It's all your fault," she said, beside herself with worried apprehension. What if Davis was lying somewhere hurt?

"It's no one's fault. Davis got an early start, maybe on purpose, while I wasn't awake to see him take off from camp."

"What do you mean on purpose?"

"That early, neither of us was around to stop him and so he probably figured it was an ideal time to go look for the bear. Kids always think they can find their way back. For him it'll be a lesson learned the hard way."

"He must be scared to death. And maybe hurt."

"Don't borrow trouble."

Easy for him to say, she thought resentfully as they started another, wider circling. Davis wasn't his son. She called Davis's name again, the uncaring echo sending a shiver down her spine. She pictured him rushing this way and that and getting more and more lost as he moved farther and farther away from the camp.

As if reading her mind, Bram took care of that scenario by saying, "He won't be far away. Once he realizes he's lost, he'll stop and stay in one spot."

Vala remembered that not moving was one of the things Bram had emphasized. But how could he expect a scared kid to dredge that up?

"Davis!" Bram bellowed.

Mixed in with the echo, Vala thought she heard something else. "Listen!" she cried.

"I hear him." Bram stopped and turned his head in one direction, then the other. "That way," he said, pointing. They found Davis with tear-stained cheeks, huddled against a rock. But when Vala rushed to hug him, he backed away, warning, "Don't touch me. I'm full of stickers."

She held, belatedly noticing the cactus spines sticking through his clothes. "Oh, my poor b--" She caught herself before "baby" slipped past and humiliated him. "Poor Davis," she said.

"I did what you said," Davis told Bram. "I stayed put." He sniffed and wiped his face with a grimy hand. "I should've stopped where I was sooner but I got scared about being lost and that's how come I stumbled into the cactus."

"You're a brave kid," Bram said. "Not everyone would have calmed down and remembered to stay in one place. Especially after getting stabbed with all those spines." He pulled a pair of pliers from his pocket. "Brought these along, just in case."

Most of the spines were on the backs of Davis's legs and in his behind so Vala was able to let him lean against her while Bram went to work.

"They all have to come out