He smiled at the Oh shit, no fucking way, you’ve got to be kidding me…

  The payoff was huge. At eleven-thousand-five-hundred feet and change, they stopped on a narrow ridge, barely three feet wide, and viewed the world below them. The Wind River Range off to the west shimmered with a new mantle of snow, jagged and threatening. To the south, the rolling buttes and gulches fingered and radiated in no discernible pattern. To the north, a steady march of ridges lined up all the way into Montana and Idaho. To the east, buttes and desert eased softly into the rolling landscape of the Black Hills in North Dakota. The top of the world. Cameras whirred and clicked, as the ladies oh’ed and ah’ed.

  While delighted that he’d been able to provide the experience of a lifetime, he did have some concerns about the next task. What went up, must come down—this was potentially the most dangerous part of the trip. He nudged Annie onto a narrow trail that corkscrewed down an impossible slope.

  He called over his shoulder, warning the ladies, “Don’t let the horses eat. Keep their heads up.”

  The B-Girls gave up the ghost first, dismounting and leading their horses down. Not smart but he knew it was too late. They’d never get back on board on that steep a grade. He nodded his approval as Willy and Georgie leaned back on their Mustangs’ butts, sliding down on hocks and rumps. Only Susan found the sweet spot on Shit-face and glided down-slope like a champion skier.

  God, she’s magnificent.

  No one spoke, not that there was much air to breathe, let alone talk, at that altitude. Even after a year acclimating, he still had trouble when he got above the treeline. Annie, on the other hand, trucked along like she’d lived on the moon all her life.

  At the base, Manny hung a right and circled the ridge, heading into the hundred acre meadow that would be base of operations for the next couple days. He helped the women pitch the tents in the copse of pine trees near a meandering stream and set up a tie-line for the horses. He sent Georgie to get a fire started while Susan prepared the cured elk steaks and baked potatoes. She asked, “Does anybody want veggies?” and received a ‘noooo’. That was fine with him.

  They huddled close to the fire, whipped by the chill and the altitude. Susan continued giving him the cold shoulder, or so it seemed. Usually after that many rebuffs, he’d have given up, but there was an undercurrent of shyness and fear that begged for him to make more of an effort to breach those formidable defenses.

  She’s a lot like me. She’s been hurt, too. She’s just a scared filly who needs to learn to trust.

  Of course that was easier said than done. Give him a nervous, fractious colt and he was golden. With her, staring like a lovelorn teen seemed to be all he could manage. He fervently wished for some form of ESP to give her a clue. He couldn’t exactly ask her to go for a stroll in the woods without including the rest of them. While he suspected the other women were privy to his interest in Susan, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t do the female pack thing and circumvent his chances to get close to her.

  As he let the conversation float over his head, he heard the B-Girls say something about needing a little private time. Sensing an undercurrent—some special mystery form of communication unique to women—he could feel the shift in air pressure as the Cupids aligned themselves in his favor, moving away from Susan. He detected an opening, but Susan dashed his hopes once more as she jumped up to join Georgie and Willy. Disgusted, he watched her walk away.

  With no other options, he decided to free the horses and mules to graze on the lush pasture. It was perfectly safe as there was nowhere else for them to go, but he kept Annie in camp so he had the means to round them up.

  He braced against a tree trunk, sank onto a carpet of fragrant pine needles and laid his head on his knees, feeling lost and alone.

  Chapter Ten: A Walk on the Wild Side

  Susan followed Georgie and Willy as they skirted the treeline. Willy had her camera, intent on tracking down some bird she’d heard. The older women chatted companionably, trying to include her in the conversation but she didn’t feel like talking. In fact she didn’t really want to be with them. What she wanted, more than anything, wasn’t going to fly. She knew better than to get carried away. The only safe place was out-of-sight. She just wished the out-of-mind part was as easy.

  “Susan, dear?” Georgie had taken her elbow. “Careful where you’re walking.”

  She mumbled ‘thank you’ and tried to pay attention. Damn him, why does he have to look at me like that … with those soft dark brown eyes. And those hands, what would it be like to have him touch me the way he strokes that mare’s neck, with such affection and respect, a slow hand, a gentling hand?

  “…mind, dear?”

  “Huh? I-I’m sorry, kind of lost in thought.” She had no idea what Willy wanted. She looked around, surprised to find they’d traveled a fair distance from their camp. Willy was pointing at a trail of sorts that led into the woods. A few aspen clumps interspersed with the dense pine muted the sound of the stream, gurgling somewhere off to the right. The meadow had narrowed considerably at this end of the bowl—she was sure there was a technical name for the geologic feature so ‘bowl’ had to suffice.

  “I think there are elk in there.” They all listened intently, excited at the prospect of seeing the huge creatures up close. Creaks and moans and rustling greeted their straining ears. “Humph, guess not.”

  Georgie said, “I think, if you heard anything, it’d be mule deer. Why would elk go into the woods?” Willy muttered, “Good point,” as she scanned the ridges surrounding them. The sun had set leaving the sky backlit with shades of peach and apricot. High clouds skudded in, moving fast, which seemed odd since not a breeze stirred at their level.

  A loud crack had them jumping out of their skins. Grinning, Georgie motioned for Willy to circle to the left, keeping to the outside of the treeline. She whispered, “Susan, follow the trail. I’ll go around toward those rocks,” she pointed to a jumble of granite boulders, “and we’ll see if we can catch them.”

  Willy quickly swapped lenses and moved off, bent at the waist in full out stalking mode. Susan wasn’t sure why that was necessary. Whatever was in the woods had to be aware of their presence as they hadn’t been exactly quiet. She was going to suggest they head back as darkness would descend soon and she didn’t like the looks of the clouds. In minutes they’d gone from high altitude mare’s tails to ominous dark grey streaks. None of them was exactly dressed for the plummeting temperatures either.

  “Willy? Georgie?”

  Nuts, they’re gone. Why’d I think this was a good idea? In fact, why’d I agree to this trip in the first place? I can’t get him out of my mind and now I’m stuck here in Wildlife Kingdom with a bunch of batty women and a hot guy whose eyeballs only come up to my chin.

  A passing thought of what his nimble tongue could do to her nipples, now straining tight against the thin fleece of her tank top, made her shiver. Tongue? Hell, let those fingers have a go first. She drew her flannel overshirt across her breast and buttoned it. Might as well go look. It’ll be warmer in the woods.

  She ducked under a branch and tip-toed down the path.

  ****

  “Suuuusaaan! SUZ!” Willy’s call echoed eerily around the rock face of the ridge.

  Georgie came off the path Susan had taken. “I’m not seeing her anywhere. Damn it, Willy. You and your bright ideas.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Come on, it’s getting dark. Let’s get back to camp. I’ll bet she just turned around and left when we headed out.” Willy looked like she wanted to believe that but knew in her heart she might be wrong.

  Georgie gave a quick glance to the purpling sky. “I don’t like the look of those clouds. Weather’s coming in. You’re right. She’s a smart girl.”

  “I hope she’s smart enough not to get lost.” Willy couldn’t keep the worry out of her voice.

  Georgie said, “I doubt she’s lost. Look around. Where can she go? There’s only one way in and out. And there’s only a few acres of woods. Besides, she’d hear us with you screeching like a banshee.”

  “Okay, let’s get back and check. If she isn’t there…” They both knew what that meant.

  Willy took off at run, leaving the older woman to follow as best she could.

  ****

  “Manny! Manny, is Susan back?”

  “Susan? No. Where’d you guys get to? We’ve got weather moving in. We need to get the stock back to camp and secured before it hits.” He looked around but Susan was nowhere to be found. He’d already checked tents, needing to round up his flock and get them organized for what he feared might be a late spring snowfall.

  Willy and Georgie exchanged worried frowns. He had a bad feeling. “Tell me.” He spat it out, harsher than he’d wanted, knowing in his gut that she was in trouble.

  Willy tersely explained where they’d gone, how they’d tried tracking what they thought were elk but were probably deer, then coming back to the original spot and not finding Susan. She concluded with, “I figured we better check with you before we did anything foolish.”

  He was about ready to lay into the frightened woman that they’d already done ‘something foolish’ but there was nothing to be gained from that. It was already dark enough that he had trouble seeing. Being open, the meadow had residual ambient light, enough to see by if they hurried. The small herd of horses and mules were ambling toward the stream about a hundred yards away. They’d be easy to round up before they scattered for the evening feeding.

  “Can any of you ride bareback?” They all raised a hand. “Okay, I want one of you to hop on Annie, take a coupla lead lines. Go on out and grab whoever you can and lead them back. The mules will be your best bet. The horses follow them everywhere. Get them on the high tie and make sure they’re secure in case it blows. They’ve been chowing down for hours on grass so a little of the hay stretcher will be fine.”

  Bobby said, “I’ll go,” and raced off , calling over her shoulder to Beth, “You do grain.”

  Georgie pointed to Willy, “Get the collapsible buckets,” then to him, “and we’ll get water from the stream and see to the tents.”

  He nodded, “And make sure they’re tied down.” To her retreating back she shouted, “Cover the tack with the tarp or bring it in…” She waved that she understood.

  He stood for a moment, thinking hard. He’d forgotten to ask where they’d last seen her. Willy touched his elbow and pulled him away from the trees.

  “Down that way, maybe a hundred yards or so, there’s a deer path that bears off to the left. There’s a stand of aspen and a big pine. You have to duck under the boughs but once you do it’s open. I followed it until it got too dark to see much.”

  He ducked into his tent and fumbled with his gear bag, drawing out the shotgun and the Remington aught-six. He shrugged into his sheepskin lined denim jacket and stuffed shells into the pocket. Feeling around in a zippered pocket he found small glow sticks and safety matches. His sister had thrown in a head-mounted miner’s lamp with three bright LEDs, one of them a red light for seeing in the dark.

  Willy poked her head in and asked, “You want this, my CamelBack?”

  “Yeah, let me have that. Thanks.” She helped him adjust the pack to his smaller size and threaded the siphon over his shoulder.

  “It’s filled with fresh water. What else can I get for you?”

  “I might need that insulated blanket and some power bars. They’re over…” She was already gone. The temps were dropping like a rock. He tried to remember what she was wearing. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be enough to keep her warm and there was only so much he could carry. The emergency blanket would have to do.

  Beth and Georgie waited outside his tent for instructions. He asked, “Anybody know how to use this?” He held up the rifle as both women nodded yes, eyes wide.

  Georgie asked, “That wasn’t a deer we heard, was it?”

  “I don’t know but I don’t want to risk leaving you without protection.” He took Beth aside and told her to make sure they all moved their stuff into the bigger tent. “Stay together, it’s the best way to keep warm.” To the group now huddled in front of him, “I can hear the horses coming in. See to them. Then you stick together. No way are any of you coming after me. Do you understand?” It was clear they had other ideas so he pressed on, “I want you to promise me you’ll stay in camp, at least until it’s light and the weather breaks. If I’m not back…”

  Willy said, “We know, nobody goes out alone. Don’t worry about us. We can handle ourselves. Go find Susan, Manny. Bring her back to us.”

  Shouldering the shotgun he set off along the trees. The first flakes drifted down in lazy arcs, soft as feathers.

  ****

  Susan huddled against the trunk, wondering how long was I out? Dammit, I’m such a klutz. Why can’t I watch where I’m going?

  She’d followed the trail until it petered out at a rock fall, or whatever they called a mountain-sized pile of boulders. The going had been slick with moss and pine needles, deep enough to mask the downed limbs just waiting to snag her around the ankles. She’d gone down in a heap, whacking her head good on something. It hadn’t been sharp as there was no blood. At least she couldn’t feel any.

  The woods hadn’t yet fallen into the black-as-pitch scenario she feared. She wasn’t clear on which direction to head. After regaining consciousness, she’d staggered around, disoriented. It was fairly level here so she couldn’t pick up-or-down slope as viable directions. And every tree was looking like every other in the dim light.

  Dampness had seeped through her flannel shirt and skimpy tank top, and just as she thought ‘it can’t get worse’ the first flakes filtered through the trees.

  That does it, I have to get out of here or I’ll freeze to death. They’re probably searching for me. I’ll meet ’em half way. She staggered to her feet only to gag as nausea and dizziness threatened to overwhelm her. Must have hit my head harder than I thought. Maybe I’ll just rest here and wait for them to find me. I’m so tired. Manny will find me. He’ll come. I’ll wait here for him. For Manny.

  ****

  Manny listened carefully before heading down the trail that Willy had described. Though the woods were shallow, ringing the meadow and climbing partway up the steep slopes cradling the fragile ecosystem, there were a dozen ways an unwary greenhorn could get into trouble. Not the least of which was running into the one critter that posed lethal danger if stumbled upon.

  In all the years he and Saul had been coming to this place they’d only seen bear sign a couple of times. Though lush with grass, the berry bushes were barely in fruit this time of year. He’d expect to see a brown bear in high summer, not at the tail end of spring. But brown bears weren’t what he worried about. It was the occasional grizzly passing through that gave him his worst case vibe. That and the damn weather.

  He wished he had Saul along. The man had been born and raised a tracker. Even in the dark he could ferret out overturned stones and indentations in moss like the most canny of mountain men.

  Switching on the red LED he ducked under the pine and headed down the barely visible trail. He couldn’t tell how hard it was snowing as the overhead canopy filtered and trapped the flakes in the upper reaches. He actually hoped for it to reach the ground as it would settle in the trail’s indentations, making it more visible and easier to follow. He adjusted the shotgun strap and prayed he wouldn’t need it.

  His footfalls muted under the thick layer of needles and leaves, he ghosted along the path, seldom having to duck. Being height challenged had a few benefits. He just wished Susan would get past that and see what he had to offer. Don’t be stupid. She doesn’t care if you’re short. There’s something else going on. Whenever she looked at him he could swear he saw the flash of interest, then the flicker of … something. Once more he thought, fear? Maybe. Whatever it was, he knew he could tame her out of it if she’d only give him half a chance.

  Pushing through a knot of dense growth, he knocked loose a cushion of snow. It filtered down the back of his neck, leaving him shaking and worried. It was well below freezing and the wind had picked up—he could hear the shushing and whine from the branches swaying high up in the forest canopy. They were in for a good storm, probably only a hit and miss, but bad enough that if he didn’t find her soon she’d be in real trouble from hypothermia.

  Guessing he’d been looking for over an hour, he realized he was getting nowhere fast. He’d assumed she’d stayed on the trail but what he was looking at now was a sheer rock face and nowhere to go. He was sure he hadn’t seen any side trails but he didn’t want to bet the ranch on that. He decided to double back and make sure he hadn’t missed something obvious. His gut was in full flight panic mode as time slipped away.

  “Susan! Are you there? Susan! Answer me!” The pine boughs muted his calls as he rushed headlong down the narrow trail. His lungs screamed for oxygen in the thin air and his legs felt like lead. Just putting one foot in front of another took every bit of concentration he could muster. He fought to keep his eyes peeled for any indication that she might have passed that way but the woods kept their own counsel.

  A crack off to his right stopped him in his tracks. “Susan?” He angled past a group of young aspen, straining to hear. Another crack, louder this time. “Susan!”

  “M-M-Manny? I’m here.”

  “Susan, I’m coming. Keep talking,” he almost said ‘sweetheart’ but caught himself in time, “and I’ll follow your voice.” He adjusted his position as her voice grew louder. Emerging into a mini-clearing he rotated his head, sweeping the area with the headlamp until he spied a small mound of pine boughs, oscillating unnaturally, followed by a ‘fuck, ow’ that made him smile with relief. He’d found her.

  “Hold on. Let me move this off you.” He lifted the pile away from her as gently as possible as the needles were sharp and would rake her skin if he wasn’t careful. Apparently the cracks he’d heard were from her breaking the small boughs and creating a sort of nest under which she could shelter from the snow, now coming down heavy even through the canopy. He wondered about the women at camp. It was already three-to-four inches deep in the woods. It would be much worse out in the open.