Once Upon a Mail Order Bride - Linda Broday Page 0,82
wiped his forehead. A sound alerted him. He stilled. “Everyone stay where they are and listen.”
Nothing. Only the sound of the wind.
“What do you think you heard, Ridge?” Jack asked.
“A weak voice. I think I must’ve imagined it.”
“Let’s yell their names, then be quiet and see if we get a reply,” Clay suggested.
They did, and a moment later, they heard it—a weak cry for help. Someone was there! Ridge raced over the boulders and sharp rocks, following the voice. They paused several times to call out, and the voice grew louder. The sound led to an open pit, a rock wall rising all around. He judged the hole to be a good fifteen feet deep.
A small child stood at the bottom, waving her arms. “Down here!” Someone else laid curled up at her feet.
Ridge breathed a sigh of relief. “Jenny? That you?”
“Yes. Ely’s hurt. Hurry.”
“Okay, honey. We’re coming,” Clay answered.
“We’ll have to drop down and hoist them up.” Ridge removed his coil of rope and tied one end to Cob’s pommel.
“I’m coming too.” Jack got his rope and did likewise to his mount. “That way we can bring them both up at once. Clay and Henry can work with the horses to keep the lines taut.”
Fifteen-year-old Henry, oldest of ten brothers, grinned, anxious to prove himself to his heroes. “Sure, Mr. Bowdre. I’ll keep inching your horse back a little at a time. I won’t let you slip or nothing.”
Jack winked. “You’re a good man, Henry.”
Ridge watched the exchange, seeing in them the boy he used to be with his father. His eyes burned. Kids needed to feel important.
At last, the rope secure about his waist, Ridge eased over the side and down the slick wall. Jenny threw her arms around him, sobbing. “It’s all right now, honey. We found you.”
“I was so scared, and Ely wouldn’t stay awake.”
Her feet were bare. Deep bruises discolored her dirty face, and a tattered dress hung from her small form. But all that and Ely’s injuries aside, however serious those might be, they were alive. The kids were lucky.
“Okay. I’m going to get you out of here, then see about your brother.” Ridge tied the rope around Jenny’s small waist and hollered to Clay to back the horse and pull her up.
Once she’d begun the ascent, he hurried to Ely and squatted next to Jack. Blood still oozed from a deep gash on Ely’s forehead where something must’ve struck him, and one leg was bent wrong and looked broken. Jack removed a canteen he’d slung around his neck and placed it to the boy’s mouth. Ely groaned and opened his eyes.
He took a small sip and yelled. “It hurts! I want my papa.”
“I’m sorry. Try to hold on. We’re going to get back to town to the doctor.” Ridge laid a gentle hand on Ely’s shoulder. “Your mama and papa will be mighty glad to see you both.”
“I thought we were dead.”
“That was a bad storm.” Ridge looked at Jack. “How are we going to do this? I don’t know if he’s in any shape to go up alone.”
“I doubt it.” Jack pinched the bridge of his nose in thought. “He’ll have to go up with one of us holding him.”
“Probably work best.” The kid was slight and couldn’t weigh much over fifty pounds. “I’ll take him up with me.”
Jack got the rope on them and called to Henry to back the horse. Slowly, Ridge and Ely inched toward the top where Clay hauled them over the lip. He carefully laid Ely down and spoke the question that had to be in Ridge’s eyes. “How will we get him home?”
After Jack made it to the top, they agreed the boy would ride in Ridge’s lap with his leg padded by a blanket Jack had thrown in that morning. Jenny rode in front of Clay. Purple twilight fell over them by the time they arrived at the hotel. Travis and Rebel sat on the wide porch, Rafe in Travis’s arms.
Rebel screamed when she saw them and raced down the steps. “My babies!”
A crowd began to gather. It seemed as though the whole town had been holding vigil, and now they all ran to see the miracle.
Rebel clutched Jenny to her. Travis handed Rafe to Addie, then gently lifted Ely down and carried him toward Dr. Mary’s small hospital.
Addie hurried to Ridge’s side as he dismounted. “Thank God you found them. I knew if anyone could, it would be you.”