Best Man in Wyoming

by Margot Dalton

  Remembering, he started to feel aroused again.

  If he didn’t get out of there right away, he was going to be all over her.

  Hastily he grabbed his jacket and boots, opened the tent flap and crawled outside, then did the flap up carefully behind him.

  Sitting on the ground sheet in front of Lindsay’s tent, he laced his boots, zipped his jacket and stood up to look around.

  The rain had stopped sometime during the night, although the sky brooded with heavy clouds. It was still very early, with the first pale light of dawn beginning to wash over the mountain peaks.

  All the boys were deeply asleep in their rough pine shelters as Rex walked among them. The Bernstein twins lay huddled close together for warmth. Lonnie and Allan were back-to-back in their bedrolls, and little Danny snuggled in the shelter next to Clint, still clutching his teddy bear. Danny seemed comfortable and must be having happy dreams, because he smiled in his sleep.

  For a moment Rex gazed tenderly at the little boy, whom he was rapidly growing to love as much as Lindsay did. He bent to toss a few more logs on the fire, then looked around.

  The camp all seemed to be in order, and he wasn’t sure why he had such an uneasy feeling. Maybe he was just bothered by Lindsay’s inexplicable moment of sadness the night before.

  Or it could have something to do with Clint’s confession about that bonehead trick with the leading horses.

  Rex’s face hardened with anger. He’d tried not to show Lindsay how upset the boy had made him, or his worry about their situation.

  It was true that they had a well-marked trail to follow back down to the base of the mountains. But if they somehow lost the trail or it was washed away in heavy rain, they could be in real trouble. This was rough country and they were a long way from anything familiar, thanks to Clint’s cruel prank.

  He went across the campsite and into the trees to check on the string of horses. They had been carefully roped and tethered in a small meadow about a hundred yards from the camp.

  But as Rex drew nearer there were no welcoming nickers, no sound of stamping hooves. His heart lurched with fear. Before he stepped into the clearing, he knew what he was going to see.

  All their horses were gone.

  * * *

  LINDSAY STOOD at the edge of the clearing with the little group of boys, gazing blankly at the shredded ropes, the empty hobble stakes and trampled, muddy ground.

  “But...what happened?” she asked Rex.

  He squatted near the trees, studying the ground intently. Tim Bernstein was beside him, a camping handbook open in his hand.

  “Black bear,” Tim said briefly, coming back to Lindsay and pointing at one of the tracks on the page. “A great big one, maybe even two of them. Their pawprints are all over the place.”

  “Did the bears eat our horses?” Danny asked. He stood at Lindsay’s side, clutching her hand. His eyes were wide with terror. “Did the bears eat Daisy?”

  He began to cry, and Lindsay knelt to hug him. “No, no, sweetheart,” she said. “Daisy is fine. None of our horses were hurt.”

  “How do you know?” Danny asked, gulping.

  “Because there’s no blood around,” Tim told the younger boy. “The bears just scared our horses so they broke the corral and ran off. Horses are really terrified of bears. They can’t even stand the scent.”

  Rex came back across the clearing, his face drawn with worry in the pale light of dawn. “It happened sometime during the night,” he told her. “I blame myself, Lin. I should have been out here keeping watch.”

  She knew what he was thinking. The horses had been frightened away while they were inside the tent, lost in their lovemaking.

  Lindsay met his eyes steadily. “Don’t feel that way, Rex. You can’t stay awake twenty-four hours a day. Everybody has to rest sometime.”

  Clint stood silently at the edge of the group, looking chastened, even fearful. None of the other boys spoke to him.

  “I checked farther up the trail,” Clint said at last, clearing his throat. “And Larkin went back the way we came. There are lots of tracks in both directions, but no horses.”

  Rex nodded. “So the Wolf River horses are still heading home through the mountains, and ours are going back toward the Bighorn.”

  Fear made Lindsay’s anger flare, almost choking her. “I honestly don’t know how you could do such a terrible thing, Clint!” she burst out. “Of all the cruel, childish—”

  Rex put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Getting mad at Clint isn’t going to help anything now,” he said. “We have to keep a clear head and decide what we’re going to do. Any suggestions, men?”

  “Can we catch up with the horses?” Jason asked. “Only four of them are still heading west. The other ten are going back to the foot of the mountains, right? So maybe we can track them down, and then we’d still have a riding horse for each of us, plus a couple of pack animals.”

  “That’s good thinking,” Rex said, “except I doubt if we can catch up with them on foot. Remember, they’re traveling downhill without saddles or packs, and they’ll be anxious to get home. Besides, they’re at least four or five hours ahead of us.”

  Lonnie’s plump face registered sudden alarm. “If we’ve got no pack horses,” he said, “how are we going to carry the food?”

  “Or the bedrolls?” Tim asked.

  Rex shook his head and led the way back to their camp. He settled by the fire and gestured for the others to sit. “Let’s have a big breakfast,” he said, “and while we’re eating we’ll have a powwow.”

  The boys obeyed, their faces pale with the seriousness of their plight.

  “Now, we’re not sure how high we’ve come,” Rex began as they ate, “but we’re safe on a well-marked trail. It’s going to take us at least three long days to walk back out, and that’s assuming we can all keep up a good steady pace. We might have to take turns carrying Danny for part of the time.”

  “I’ll carry him the whole way if I have to,” Clint said gruffly.

  This was Clint’s first sign of apology or contrition. Rex and Lindsay exchanged a quick glance, then Rex went on talking.

  “We’ll have to leave most of our supplies up here and come in later to get them. Each boy will put together his own pack with just the bare essentials, something light enough that he can carry it on his back.”

  “But we’ll still need our bedrolls, right?” Jason said.

  “Yes, and some extra clothes and socks because it’s getting colder every night. That should leave you enough room to pack a canteen of water and some freeze-dried food, but not much. I’m afraid we’ll all be pretty hungry by the time we get back.”

  “Maybe somebody will come and rescue us,” Lonnie said, looking glum at the prospect of these severely diminished rations.

  “I doubt it.” Rex glanced at Clint again, then looked away. “Even if some of our horses begin to straggle into the base ranch in the next day or two, they’re not going to come looking for us way up here. Sam will expect us to be farther north, on the lower slopes of the mountain.”

  Clint looked down and kicked his toe unhappily in the ashes of the fire.

  “Well,” Lindsay said at last with forced brightness, “I guess we all know the plan. Danny and Lonnie, help me clean up the breakfast stuff and then we’ll decide what we can take. Rex and Clint are the biggest, so they’ll carry extra supplies of food. The rest of you start getting your own packs ready.”

  She moved around the camp, trying to energize the frightened boys with cheerful conversation. Once when she passed Rex, he caught her arm and looked into her eyes with a questioning expression.

  “Are you all right, darling?” he murmured.

  “Of course I am. This is a real adventure, Rex. In years to come it’ll be a great story for
these boys to tell.”

  “I love you so much, Lin.” He watched her closely for a moment, then dropped her arm.

  Lindsay turned away, feeling sad. Both of them knew there would be no more nights of secret lovemaking. A tent was a luxury too heavy to carry when they had six young boys who needed food and other supplies.

  And after they reached the safety of the base camp, Lindsay intended to resume their easy, casual friendship. It would be as if that night of sweet passion had never happened.

  Tears burned in her eyes, blurring the trees and the campfire in a haze of color. She bit her lip and set grimly to work, trying to concentrate on sorting and packing their food supplies.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  AN HOUR LATER the camp was fully dismantled, and painful decisions had been made about what to take and what to leave behind. The boys hoisted the extra supplies into more of the bear-proof slings overhead, hoping Sam would be coming up soon with fresh horses to recover their gear.

  Lindsay helped to outfit each boy with a pack and bedroll. Then Rex loaded a massive bundle on his own back and another on Clint’s that contained extra food supplies and one of the first-aid kits.

  Over Rex’s objections, Lindsay also carried a larger pack than the boys, but much of its bulk consisted of additional dry clothes for the rest of the group.

  Even Danny had a small pack containing a change of clothes and some dried food. He set out bravely on the trail, his small legs pumping as he marched along behind Lindsay.

  To add to their misery, a chilly rain began to fall a few hours after they began their homeward trek. They were able to stay reasonably dry in their slickers and plastic-covered hats, but the rocky trail grew increasingly slick and treacherous.

  Lindsay remained in front, picking her way carefully, trying not to think about the miles and the cold wet days and nights ahead of them before they reached any kind of safety.

  As she walked, her mind kept filling with images of Rex, who was now far behind on the trail, bringing up the rear of their long file of hikers.

  The night in his arms had been so wondrous, so sweet and utterly fulfilling. Lindsay knew by now that she’d been in love with him all these years and never allowed herself to realize it, because she’d disapproved of his life-style and the choices he was making.

  But who was she to disapprove of anybody, or make any kind of moral judgments?

  At a point where an old rockfall nearly covered the path, she pushed her miserable thoughts aside and stopped walking.

  “Let’s take a break, guys,” she called to the straggling file of boys behind her, trying to keep her voice cheerful. “Everybody find a rock and sit down for ten minutes.”

  Gratefully they slumped onto the boulders, stretching their legs and leaning back against the rock face beside the path.

  Lindsay looked in concern at the row of pinched young faces, then at Rex, who sat down next to Clint.

  “How are you managing with those heavy packs?” she asked. “It must be so hard for both of you.”

  Clint grunted something, avoiding her eyes. Rex gave her a jaunty smile. “It’s a piece of cake,” he told her. “These packs are nothing for a couple of tough mountain men like us. Right, Clint?”

  The boy glanced up, clearly startled at Rex’s friendly tone, and seemed on the verge of speech. But he nodded and looked down again, shifting his feet awkwardly.

  Lindsay smiled back at Rex, feeling weak with love and sorrow. “I had no idea you lawyers were such marvelous physical specimens.”

  “You didn’t?” He gave her a glance of warm significance over the heads of the tired boys. “Then it was about time you found out, right?”

  She met his eyes for a long moment, feeling her cheeks turn hot.

  “Danny,” she said automatically, turning away, “be careful, darling. Don’t go too close to that bank, it’s really steep.”

  Danny was near the edge of the trail, peering down into the misty gorge below. “I saw something moving around down there,” he said. “It was big and brown. Maybe it’s one of our horses.”

  “Or one of the bears that scared them off,” Jason suggested dryly, blowing on his chilled fingers.

  “I think it’s...” Danny moved closer to the edge of the precipice. “Now it’s gone,” he reported, pointing. “But it was right down there, in the trees by that...”

  Lindsay leaped to her feet and grabbed for him, but she was too late.

  In one horrifying instant Danny’s boots slipped on the rocky ledge, he uttered a startled cry and vanished over the edge of the trail, his small body sliding and tumbling into the void below.

  All the boys shouted and began to crowd toward the place on the trail where Lindsay stood, trembling with shock as she stared down into the mist that had swallowed Danny.

  “Oh, Rex!” She clutched at his arm. “What are we going to do? I can’t even see where he is!”

  Rex was already shrugging out of his pack. He gave her a brief, reassuring hug, then moved to the edge. “I’ll go down and get him,” he said. “You wait here. Danny and I will be right back.”

  “But...” Lindsay stared at him, her heart pounding with terror. “Rex, we can’t even see where he landed! It’s so steep. How will you...”

  In front of all the frightened boys, Rex gave her a kiss and another smile. “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he murmured. “Just stay here with the boys. I’ll take care of Danny.”

  Before she could protest further, he allowed himself to slide feetfirst down the rocky slope, vanishing almost instantly into the mist below. Lindsay stood waiting, her teeth clenched with fear, her throat tight. The Bernstein twins waited silently on either side of her. Tim clutched her hand, while Jason held her other arm.

  After what felt like an eternity, she heard a distant shout that seemed to echo up from miles beneath them.

  “What was that?” she asked the boys frantically. “Did anybody hear? I can’t make out what he’s saying!”

  Clint made a curt gesture and knelt to listen, his dark face taut with concentration as he stared into the misty void.

  The muffled shouts came again.

  “I think Danny’s hurt or something,” Clint told Lindsay at last. “Rex says he can’t bring him up the cliff face, so we have to go down there.”

  She stared at the boy. “But...Clint, it’s so steep. We’ll never be able to climb back up that slope.”

  “Probably not,” he agreed. “I’ll have to take Rex’s pack down with me, just in case.”

  “You can’t carry that huge pack,” Lindsay protested. “You’re already overloaded.”

  “But what if we can’t get back up here? We’re going to need our supplies,” Clint argued. “And most of the food is in Rex’s pack. I don’t want to leave any more of our stuff behind.”

  After a brief, tense discussion, they decided to double up Allan Larkin’s load, giving him Lonnie’s burden, as well. Lonnie, who was the next biggest among the boys, shouldered Rex’s heavy pack, his plump frame quivering with effort.

  He gave Lindsay a brave smile that tore at her heart. “I don’t mind,” he told her. “I like carrying all the food.”

  “Okay, everybody line up.” Clint stood at the edge of the trail and looked them over.

  In Rex’s absence he’d automatically assumed command. Lindsay was so distressed and worried over Danny that she was grateful to the taciturn boy for making decisions.

  “If you guys are ready,” Clint said, “we’ll go one at a time. Tim, you start off, then Jason. Lindsay and I will come last.”

  Tim peered down reluctantly. “It’s so steep,” he muttered. “And I can’t even see the bottom. What if I just keep falling forever?”

  “Rex didn’t keep falling,” Clint told the boy, giving his shoulder a casual, com
forting punch. “And neither did Danny. There must be some kind of ledge down there. Just start out feetfirst like Rex did, go completely limp and let yourself slide.”

  Tim turned to the rest of the group with a gloomy expression, then lowered himself carefully over the edge and vanished into the swirling mist, his shouts growing fainter and finally vanishing altogether.

  One by one the other boys followed, until only Lindsay and Clint stood on the trail’s edge.

  “Go on. I’ll be right behind you,” he told her with a shy, encouraging smile that briefly lighted his hard young face.

  She glanced at him, startled, wondering if she’d ever seen Clint smile before. Then she shifted her pack into a more comfortable position, took a deep breath and let herself begin to hurtle downward through the shale and wet tufts of grass.

  The journey seemed endless, a blind plunge into billowing mist. She slid for a long time, her body jarred and buffeted by uneven terrain and jutting rocks. At last she landed with a thump just a few feet away from a looming boulder.

  Lindsay sat up, rubbed her legs and felt for her pack, which seemed miraculously intact. She looked around, realizing she’d slid through the mist into an alpine meadow bordered by stunted trees and rich with wildflowers. She almost sobbed with relief when she saw the little knot of boys nearby, and Rex running toward her.

  He knelt beside Lindsay, touching her anxiously. “Are you all right?”

  She struggled to her feet. “I think so. Did everybody make it down?”

  “The boys are all here now. Everybody’s okay except Danny.”

  Lindsay hurried to the group of boys and knelt by Danny who lay on the grass, his freckled face white with pain and one leg twisted at an unnatural angle.

  “His leg’s broken,” Rex muttered at her side. “But it looks like a simple fracture. We’ll have to splint it, then rig up some kind of stretcher to carry him on. I don’t think he has any internal injuries.”

  “Oh, God,” Lindsay whispered. She touched Danny’s face and smoothed his hair. “You’ll be all right, sweetheart,” she told him, trying to smile. “Don’t worry, we’re going to look after you.”