Saddle Up: a Cedar Ridge Ranch novella

CH 8: "The Storm"

Blinded by the snow whipping in his eyes, Heff ducked his face deeper into the scarf. He couldn't tell which way they were going, or where the house and barn were now. Heff let the hound lead them and prayed it would take them to Garland. Alone, he would never find him... or find his way back home.

He didn't know how much time had passed—not much, he was sure—before his legs grew numb from the arctic wind. Heff's boots weren't made for such severe weather and already he was losing feeling in his feet and toes as the forceful gales drove snow down around his ankles and inside the inadequate footwear. If it took too long to find Garland... would Heff be in any condition to help him? Physically or mentally?

Lost out in the storm, not knowing which way was home, Heff's phobia kicked in full force, stirring up his panic as he clung to the saddle horn, the powerful gales trying to rip him from the saddle. The terrified boy in him cried out that they needed to go back, get inside the house where it was safe. But for the first time in his life, Heff defied the frightened child within and kept moving forward. Garland was all he had left in this world. It didn't matter that Garland no longer wanted him—Heff still needed the man to be alive... to stay in this world with him. If Garland left him, too... maybe Heff didn't want to be here anymore, either.

The hound tugged hard at the thin rope and Heff urged the gelding forward to keep up with the dog. An ache spread through his cheekbones and across his nose as the bitter wind beat against his face.

Please, God, let us find him soon.

As terrified as he was to be out here in the storm, the bulk of Heff's fear was for Garland. In his mind, he kept seeing the riderless horse galloping up to the porch, reins whipping in the wind. Garland was an excellent rider; he wouldn't have just fallen off the gelding—even if the animal had bucked or reared. He knew how to stay in the saddle. Something else happened that separated him from his mount. Had he found the other horses and dismounted to check on them... and the gelding spooked and took off? Could it be that simple?

Garland wouldn't take that chance. He was accustomed to this weather; he understood the dangers. He wouldn't have risked losing his horse.

He got hurt... somehow.

Heff closed his eyes against the driving snow—and the frightening thoughts running rampant through his head.

He had to find Garland soon. Otherwise, not only would Garland be in serious trouble, but so would Heff.

"Garland, where are you?" Heff whispered into the scarf.

....................................

The cold numbed him to the bone. He felt nothing—not even the ground beneath him as if he were floating in a vacuum. Was he dead? Was this what it felt like—nothingness? In the far reaches of his mind, he heard voices... Frank... Mandy... slowing growing louder. Mandy was... screaming.

No... not screaming.

Squealing.

• • •

A high-pitched squeal came from the bathroom. Garland's brow crinkled in a puzzled frown, and he left his room, walking down the hall. He tapped his knuckles on the bathroom door. "You all right in there, sis?"

The door flung open, startling Garland, bringing him face to face with his ecstatic sister-in-law. "Yes!" She flung her arms around Garland's waist and hugged him fiercely. "Yes! Yes!"

He chuckled. "What's all the excitement for?"

Mandy rushed back into the bathroom and snatched the white plastic stick from the edge of the sink. "This!" she squealed again, waving the stick. "I'm pregnant!"