Slade's Folly

Week Two

Chapter 18

It was another early start for Ted Roberts. For several days he had been riding his horse Clementine in the region north of Slade's Folly. He'd been going off trail and keeping his eyes open for any sign of Kasey, all while attempting to shrug off the cold and the snow. It was about 8:30 when he awoke and cleared his small campsite, before mounting up to start another day of searching. Each day he went a little further trying to snake his way back and forth through the terrain all while moving closer and closer to the border. His supplies were dwindling and he would have to soon turn back. Clementine was strong and young, only eight years old, but she was getting tired from trudging through a foot of snowfall from the preceding days. He would need to make a beeline for home the day after tomorrow.

Still, he had pushed himself and his horse to find little Kasey. He could only imagine how awful she must've felt being out here, if she was still alive. He told his wife, Martha, that he felt he needed to help however he could. He was pushing sixty, already retired, and bored out of his mind. Martha let him go without any fuss and even helped him plan his trip. Together they ran a family owned business to take tourists on horseback through the wilderness. They had moved to Slade's Folly about 10 years ago after having made a few successful business deals and found themselves enjoying the good life in a quiet town.

Even now, as he continued along, he was thinking of getting back home to his wife. She promised to cook him a nice steak and serve it to him with a glass of whisky while he sat in front of the fire in his leather armchair. That was the one thought he kept in his mind while he was out here. And it kept him warm.

About an hour into his ride, he took out a laminated map of the county. He had marked off every major mountain and other points of note on the map until he had a snaking line of x marks shadowing the path he had taken. The Canadian border was maybe 30 miles away from his position. He'd come far and he would go just a bit further before he decided it was time to turn around. The next point on his map was Hozomeen Mountain. The weather had died down in the night and allowed for greater visibility. He could spot the jagged crest of the mountain off in the distance, it's edge like a knife of stone as it sliced into the clouds.

"Let's get going Clementine," he said.

She seemed to nod in agreement, huffed out, and proceeded forward. He loved Clementine. When she was younger, she was stubborn as hell. More than once, he'd been tossed around like a ragdoll trying to get her to follow his orders. It was about the fourth or fifth time when he'd been knocked off that he said "To hell with this" and stomped off thinking the horse was deliberately doing it. Martha had to calm him down and told Ted that he needed to respect her more. Ted gave himself an hour to cool down before coming back out and approached her from the side in a gentle swagger. He came up beside her and stroked her nose. At first she snorted at him and then let him continue.

"You know something," he said, "You're a literal pain in the ass. I kinda like that."

He walked her out around the property and talked with her for hours. The next day, he saddled up and rode without so much as a hitch from Clementine. Since then, her stubbornness proved to be more useful than aggravating. She fought the elements of their current situation and powered through all obstacles. She was fearless and sassy and Ted loved her for it.

It took another hour to reach the mountain and Ted jumped down to give both himself and Clementine a break. He pulled out some binoculars and did a survey of the area around the base. The trees, even without leaves, were thick and numerous. The contrast of the snow made them look black and he tried searching for a hint of any other color. Little girls liked pink and purple and those bright neon colors that gave him a headache. He hadn't personally known the Mullins family, but that didn't detract from the sympathy he had for them or for Kasey.