Once Upon a Mail Order Bride - Linda Broday Page 0,81
a while to look in all the caves.”
“Ely’s a smart kid. If they were dropped there, he’d look for shelter.” A measure of hope flitted across Travis’s eyes before it faded. “That is, if he and Jenny are still together—and alive.”
Jack laid a hand on Travis’s back. “Don’t go there. You have to hold fast to hope. It’s the only way you and Rebel are going to get through this.”
Travis lifted his chin. “You’re right. We’re going to find my kids.” He called the men over and gave them their search assignments. Brother Paul was ready to ride with them, as was Todd Denver, the schoolmaster, and some of the older kids.
Tiny and Pickens showed a keen interest in their doings from the strap iron jail sitting in the square. They’d gotten a good drenching from the rain and hail yesterday, but they’d needed a bath anyway.
Brother Paul stood on the hotel steps and delivered a prayer, after which the men scattered to search.
Ridge galloped toward the unforgiving hardness of Devil Back Range, a bleak landscape that stretched for miles. If the kids had dropped anywhere in there, finding them would be like looking for a single kernel of corn in a hundred bushels of grain. Still, he’d do his best. But chances were high that if they did find the kids, they’d find them dead. The same thoughts had been in Travis’s eyes that morning.
Ridge methodically scoured the caves and ravines, yelling their names every few yards. The sun bore down with a vengeance, and he had to stop and drink often from his canteen.
He thought of his Bible teachings and the comfort he’d often given parishioners when they were going through difficult times but found no comfort for himself now. Ridge dismounted and gazed at the sky that went on forever. Rage burned inside him.
“Why in the hell did you send that tornado? Why hurt two innocent little kids? You’re supposed to be a loving God!” Shaking, Ridge kicked a clump of sage. “I see nothing but vengeance. You took Jenny and Ely. You took everything from me. You brought Addie so much misery. Bodie too. What more do you want? When will you be satisfied? Figured there would be no answer.” Ridge snorted, calling himself a lunatic for arguing with someone who’d marked him off the list.
He finally got back in the saddle and had neared the middle of Devil Back when Clay joined him, having finished his designated section.
“I take it you found nothing.” Ridge rested his arm on the pommel and took in his friend’s worried eyes.
“Not exactly.” Clay pulled a shoe from inside his shirt. It was the right size and style for a little girl.
Ridge swallowed hard. He wasn’t surprised. “We don’t know if it’s Jenny’s, but who else’s could it be?”
“I agree. This will kill Travis and Rebel.”
“Hey, I’m not ready to give up. They could still be alive.” Maybe it was his former profession as a man of faith, or maybe it was plain old stubbornness, but something urged Ridge to keep looking. “Now that you’re here, we can cover twice as much ground. I figure we have six more hours of daylight.” He glanced up at the sun midway of the sky, and the spit dried in his mouth. A large flock of vultures were circling. “See that?”
Clay’s face froze. “Yeah. We’d best go find out what died.”
They worked their way toward the site, but navigating over the rocks took some time. Dread lodged in Ridge’s chest. They needed to find the kids, but he prayed that this wasn’t them. Not like this. Not dead.
At last they rounded some mesquite and juniper, and Ridge took his first full breath since seeing the vultures. One of the huge black birds perched on a dead antelope.
“Thank God.” Clay reached for the tobacco and papers in his pocket.
The big man did have a sense of humor, Ridge would give him that.
“I sure didn’t want to have to go back and tell Travis and Rebel.” Ridge turned his horse around.
Jack and the oldest Truman boy joined them about an hour later, and Clay showed them the shoe. “This seems the most promising spot,” Jack said.
For the next several hours, the men searched every cave and rocky ravine. The sun would go down soon and stop their search for the night. Dammit! How long could the kids survive out here alone? How much longer could Travis and Rebel cling to hope?