Knox, their friend, said, “Me, too.” He seemed alone and uncomfortable without his buddies to bounce his comments off.
Jed shot a glance over at Donna. She looked back with no reaction at all even though he’d not mentioned her husband.
Jed said, “I’m thinking it’s possible they might have ridden past my red bandana back there and not gotten on the right trail. That’s the only place I think they could have gotten confused, even though these horses leave sign like we’re an army on the march or something.”
He let the implications of that settle in, before he said, “So I’m thinkin’ I might ride back there and find those guys before they get too far down the wrong trail.”
He could tell by the dark looks on three faces in particular-Ted Sullivan, Rachel Mina, and Walt Franck-they didn’t like his idea at all. He didn’t even look over at Dakota because he could feel her eyes burning twin holes in his neck.
Walt said, “You’re gonna
“Just for an hour or so,” Jed said, keeping it light. “I’ll ride hard down where we were, find those guys, and ride hard to get back. We should meet back up with you about the time you folks get close to Camp Two.”
He nodded toward Dakota and said, “Dakota knows our camps as good as I do or better. You don’t need to worry about her guiding you at all.”
Dakota’s voice was tight. “What about your mules?”
“I’ll leave them with you,” Jed said, looking over at her and showing his teeth. She glared at him but said nothing back. He knew she’d hold her fire until later, when the clients couldn’t hear her. Which is why he’d set up the whole scene to take place in the open.
Ted Sullivan cleared his throat. He said, “I’m not worried about Dakota leading us to the next camp, not at all. But I’m kind of wondering if it’s the best idea for you to go back for them and leave the group.”
Jed laughed drily. “Hell,” he said, “I always leave the group when I need to on any given trip. It ain’t unusual. Sometimes I need to go back for something-like a camera-that somebody left in camp, or sometimes I have to ride ahead and check trail conditions. Luckily,” he said, again tipping his hat toward Dakota, “we have this fine hand here to take over the outfit when that happens.”
Sullivan nodded conspicuously, as if to convince Jed and the others he had no further objection.
But Rachel Mina had fire in her eyes. She said, “We started this trip with fourteen people. Then last night we lost two. Today we lost two more. And now
Jed said, “Think of it as more food at dinnertime for everybody else.”
Walt chuckled, but that was it.
“Sorry,” Jed said. “I shouldn’t joke. But really, wouldn’t you rather get two and possibly three of the group back before dinner? That may not happen unless I go after them.”
“Still,” she said, “what if something happens to you? What if you get injured? This is
Walt nodded as she talked.
Donna Glode put her arms up, palms out, as if to quiet the crowd. Everyone turned toward her. She said, “Given what’s happened, I would suggest we abort the trip. There’s no reason to continue on as far as I’m concerned. I suggest tomorrow we go back to the vehicles and consider this trip the disaster it’s turned out to be.”
Silence. Gracie looked from face to face to see if anyone agreed.
Jed kicked at the dirt with obvious anger, but said softly, “I’ve never quit a trip before. But it’s up to everyone else. Any takers on Donna’s idea?”
No one spoke. Knox finally said, “I’m not in favor of going back until my friends find us or we know what happened to them.”
Walt jumped in, “Mrs. Glode, some of us don’t have the, uh, emotional investment you have in quitting. We paid good money for this. I’m not in support of going back yet.”
No one else spoke until Jed said, “Okay, it’s settled. We’ll find our strays and revisit this topic if necessary. But please keep in mind if you decide to quit you’ll be missing out on some great scenery and experiences. And now that we’ve agreed, I’m going to go find those missing boys.”
“I’m going with you,” Knox said. “They’re my friends.”
“Not a good idea,” Jed said flatly. “I’m going to ride all out to go get them. I’m talking balls-to-the-wall, if you ladies will excuse my French. Unless you can guarantee me you can keep up, it’s not a good idea.”
Knox flushed and said, “You know I can’t. This is my second day on a horse.”
“Then with all due respect, fall in behind Dakota and I’ll deliver your buddies to you.
“See you at Camp Two or before!” he said, climbing up and spurring his mount. He loved the feeling of his horse digging in and taking off, the hundreds of pounds of bunched muscle between his legs. Of being untethered from this slow gaggle of city-bred dudes who looked on at him with dumb eyes and stupid faces.
