Chapter Thirteen
“What do you mean, gone?”
“He’s run away. We had a terrible fight this morning.” She pushed away from him and continued her pacing. “He accused me of hating him because I took him away from . . .” She looked up, misery plain on her face. “From you.”
“Go on.”
“I’m afraid I was a little hard on him. I told him you weren’t his father, and he better get used to the idea of not having you every minute of his day. Then he grabbed his schoolbooks and stomped out of the house. I went to work, certainly not feeling good about the way we parted.”
She wiped her nose on the hem of her apron. “Then this afternoon he never came home from school. I went to the schoolhouse, and Mrs. Davies said he hadn’t been to school all day.”
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I thought for sure he was headed here, that I would find him with you.”
“No, honey. I haven’t seen him.” He put his arm around her shoulders and led her to the kitchen. “Here, sit down and catch your breath. We’ll put our heads together and I know we’ll find him.”
“If he’s not here, then where is he? He’s only a little boy, he could be lost, or kidnapped. It’s all my fault.”
“Honey, you’re getting yourself worked up for no reason. I’m sure he’s fine, and we’ll find him.”
“But it’s getting dark.”
“How well did you search along the way here? Did you come by horse, buggy, what?”
She accepted the handkerchief he handed her and wiped her nose. “I was so sure he was with you that I probably didn’t look too well on the way here. I borrowed a horse from the livery.”
“All right then, this is what we’re going to do. I’ll grab a couple of coats for us and a blanket for Will. It’s getting chilly outside. I’ll have Amelia come down here to the kitchen in case Will shows up while we’re searching. She’ll take good care of him until we get back.”
Rachel looked wide-eyed at him, hanging on his every word. She appeared lost and scared to death. He didn’t feel that confident himself, but he needed to be strong for her. Too many things could happen to a child all alone between town and the ranch.
“Go to the stable and have one of the men tack up Blazes for me. I’ll meet you there as soon as I talk to Amelia and get the things we’ll need.” When she didn’t move, he pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her, pressing her cheek to his chest. “We’ll find him, darlin’, I swear to you it will be all right. Trust me.”
Trust me.
The words echoed in his head as he took the stairs two at a time and gathered the coats and a blanket from his bedroom. He asked Rachel to trust him with finding the most important person in her life. Yet he’d proven his lack of trust in her when he hurled the accusations that had driven her away.
If he loved her, he had to trust her. It was that simple. Why he hadn’t seen it before now surprised him. There was absolutely no reason to distrust Rachel, because he loved her. It was part of the package.
Despite the anxiety of knowing Will was out there somewhere all alone, he felt as though a weight had been lifted from his heart. He loved Rachel and she loved him. And as soon as her son was safe and sound at home, he would sit her down and explain it all to her. This time she would listen because he knew the right words to say.
After giving instructions to Amelia he raced to the stable, grateful for the little bit of moonlight that would help in the search. The dim light emphasized Rachel shivering as she stood alongside Lefty working on Blazes. Rusty walked up to her and draped the coat over her shoulders, helping her into it. She nodded her thanks, her eyes still wrought with fear.
He tugged her close against his side. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. “Thank you for helping me.”
“I will always help you, sweetheart. That you can count on.”
As soon as the horses were ready they rode to the end of the path from the ranch. Rusty put up his hand to stop Rachel. “We won’t split up. I don’t want you riding around alone in the dark. Plus two sets of eyes see more than one. We’ll go slowly and cover every inch between here and town.”
“How are we ever going to see him in the dark?”
“We ha
ve some moonlight, and as I said, we’ll go slowly and call him. He could be hiding, waiting for it to get light again.”
What he didn’t want to add was the boy could have been hurt in any number of ways and might not be able to walk. That thought was best left unsaid.
They spent the next hour keeping the horses at a slow pace, calling for Will, watching for any movement, listening for any sound. Rusty’s muscles screamed for relief from holding himself tightly, straining to hear and see anything to indicate Will was in the area.
Once in a while Rachel would whimper, a reminder that the strain was far worse on her. The next hour proved to be just as unsuccessful as the first one. Full darkness had arrived, but the scant moonlight continued to help. They called for Will, then would stop and listen for a response.