Unbridled Trails

by Bonnie R. Paulson

  Whipping her cell phone out, she dialed her boss’s number and turned to run back up the hill away from the parking lot.

  Guy had warned her. He’d promised to be waiting for her. She couldn’t go around the fire – even if she wanted to.

  She had to take her chances running from it.

  Puffing hard as she crawled up the side of the hill, she slowed while her phone rang. And rang.

  His voicemail came up. She gasped for air as she spoke, not taking the chance to stop. “Barry! Someone just. Started a fire. On purpose. I’m on the. Beaver. Ridge. Headed toward Jonesy’s. Acres. Ruined the truck.” Hanging up, she tried to regulate her breathing, but the adrenaline coursing through her messed with any semblance of control she wanted to pretend to have.

  Smoke curled up the mountainside, swirling between the brush and the ferns littering the forest floor. Sherri coughed, searching for a break in the trees twenty feet above her. She had to get through them and start her mad dash down the other side.

  Fingers clenched around the phone, she debated who to call. Best bet would be Kyle, but he didn’t have a cell. Cyan? She dialed her best friend’s number, stopping her scramble up for a second to press send. She then lunged forward, shoving her hands between the branches to get through the mass of thick trees.

  She didn’t want to need anyone. She had to save herself, but she needed help putting out the fire. She could admit that much.

  Glancing back, she held in a sob at the sight of the flames moving quickly through the dry underbrush and seeming to leap from tree top to tree top with the slight breeze cresting over the canopy.

  Cyan answered on the third ring.

  “Cyan!” Sherri screamed, her voice already hoarse from the smoke-tinged air. “Beaver ridge is on fire. Some guy chased me and started a forest fire. Get help. I don’t know who to call. We haven’t covered this in training yet.” She hadn’t covered much of anything except basic protocols. Being understaffed didn’t help anyone.

  “I’ll make some calls. Where are you? Are you okay?” Cyan’s breathlessness relieved Sherri.

  She wasn’t overreacting. Her friend took her seriously. Not that Sherri expected anything less, but with heat mounting behind her and a mad man potentially in front of her... Sherri didn’t know what part of her reality had changed and what hadn’t.

  “I’m okay. I’m trying to get ahead of the fire. It’s heading straight for Jonesy’s place. Warn them. I’ll be fine.” She knelt down for a moment, her legs cramping and she leaned against the trunk of a small pine, while she held onto the phone like her last link with the real world. “Thank you.” Her whisper barely reached above a sigh. Of course she’d be fine. She could get herself out of that. No big deal.

  “Sherri! Get out of there. I’ll see if I can send someone to get you.” Cyan barely restrained her panic, her voice dropping in desperation. “Seriously, get safe. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  Sherri didn’t answer as she hung up. She couldn’t. Her throat was swelling and just swallowing was painful.

  She could do it. She could save herself. It wasn’t far. She didn’t have far to go. All the uphill climbing was behind her.

  She tucked her phone into her back pocket. Where did she go? Could she go directly down to the ranch? Would she make it? She hadn’t been down that way. The last time she went down the hill to get to the ranch, she’d gone down at an angle.

  From her limited vantage point, thick smoke covered her view behind her, back the way she came.

  The way Guy had said he’d be waiting.

  Or wait, had he said something about waiting for her down the hill away from him?

  Vertigo sent her on a dizzying spin.

  Trees faded as more smoke filled the air around her. She covered her mouth and nose, coughing as she staggered down the hill, tripping and tumbling down the rocky face.

  Had she entered her own personal hell?

  Chapter 16

  Kyle

  Kyle recognized the truck that passed by the ranch mid-morning. He gritted his teeth as he finished rounding the barn from mounting his horse. He glared at Guy’s rig as it sped past.

  Nudging the horse with his knee, Kyle shook his head. He had to accept the fact that he wasn’t everyone’s hero. Since he’d started spending more time with Sherri, he hadn’t been able to follow Guy on his night time forays into bars. And after he’d promised the guy he’d be there, watching him.

  If he didn’t do something to keep Guy in line, he’d think he’d scared Kyle off the night he got up in Kyle’s face while Kyle was out with Sherri.

  Turning around the edge of the ranch, Kyle held the Arabian to a slow walk. He’d never named the horse, never cared enough to. She was a gorgeous animal, but Kyle didn’t allow himself to develop an attachment to her. She wasn’t his.

  Neither was Sherri, but he’d grown so attached to her over the last month or so, he didn’t think he could detach himself easily. Kyle would have to humble himself and own up to Jareth that Kyle finally understood how fast Jareth had fallen for Cyan – even though they were complete opposites.

  When a man knows, he knows. And even though Kyle didn’t want to commit to anything hasty or permanent just yet, he knew.

  Sherri was the girl he wanted in his life for as long as he could keep her there.

  Bugs and all.

  Would he lose everyone’s respect, if he fell for a vegan bug collector? Did he care? Sherri had so many great qualities. Kyle would be an idiot to let her out of his life.

  He was just smart enough to realize that. He couldn’t wait to see her again.

  The perimeter passed under the hooves of his ride smoothly. Nate had been so worried about the burn line, he’d had them double the width and raise the height of the fences with chicken wire to prevent large burning debris from floating or falling over the line.

  Nate had thought of everything. If the field caught fire, the flames would spread faster than fog on a window and it would destroy the ranch.

  The ranch he didn’t own.

  Kyle reached the far corner of the property, near the butterfly pond he’d taken Sherri to. Why couldn’t he get his mind off her?

  A whistle in the distance drew him from his thoughts and he adjusted his hat to see better.

  Nate rode toward him at a full on gallop. He drew up to Kyle, reining his horse in tight and then moving it in a circle to cool down. “Sherri’s in trouble.” Nate pointed over the hill at the edge of the fencing. “There’s a fire coming this way. I just reported it to the fire patrol and we’re getting some hoses out to get ready. I don’t know where she is, but it’s somewhere out there.” He nodded into the forest. Sweat already beaded on his forehead and neck.

  Panic welled in Kyle, but rather than spurn him into chaos, he calmed. “She’s out there? Can she get out?” He searched the trees for the impossible sign of her running toward him. “Is she on a horse?”

  “Cyan isn’t sure. But some guy chased after her and then started the fire. Sherri didn’t say who it was, but she said he’s waiting for her. So she’s not going back to her truck. If she’s smart, she’ll head this way. Then we can watch for her and get her to safety.” He pulled his horse a few feet away, wheeling around to face Kyle once more.

  Above the tree line, white smoke marred the otherwise flawless blue sky. Spreading across the blue expanse gave away the presence of a strong wind higher and higher up. The breeze around them suggested the wind was stronger at the higher altitudes.

  “I need to find her.” Kyle choked down the worry threatening to consume him. He didn’t have any other choice. His entire being ached to rescue her.

  “I can’t help you, Kyle. I’m sorry. I have too much to do to protect this place. Good luck.” Nate nodded again, tapping the horse’s flank with his boot. The large animal bolted, as if he sensed the urgency in the moment. Nate didn’t say it, but he needed help, but he’d never put Kyle in the position to choose and Kyle knew it.

  Pl
us, Nate would never put a person’s life after the well-being of material objects. He wanted Kyle to do what he had to do so Nate could focus on the ranch.

  If what Sherri had said about the fire danger in that area was correct, Kyle hoped she got out of there fast. The flames would move speedily with the breeze coming from the west.

  He looked back at the ranch. Did he help with the fire protection or did he go after Sherri? Of course he would find her and help her. Of course he couldn’t conceivably consider anything else. Not when his heart longed to have her in his arms again, safe and sound.

  He had a sinking feeling the man was Guy. Didn’t it add up? Kyle didn’t realize Sherri had gone up to the ridge that morning, but it made sense. Guy wasn’t a nature fan.

  Guy had followed her. Did Kyle go after him or did he rush to Sherri? Was she safe enough to reach the ranch soon?

  Of course, he’d go after Sherri, but Nate needed him, too. Guilt ate at him even as he spurred his horse through a break in the fencing and up a trail onto the mountainside.

  He’d make sure he got back to help with the ranch in time. He would.

  Because if he didn’t make it, then that meant he hadn’t found Sherri in time.

  ~

  Kyle adjusted the bandana he’d tied around his face. The smoke had grown thicker the higher he’d climbed. If he didn’t turn back, he’d endanger the horse. He climbed off the Arabian and smacked her rear-end with a “heeyah” to send her home. She trotted down the nearest trail toward the ranch. Kyle just hoped it was in time.

  He turned back to the wall of smoke that hid a crackling hot mess behind its veil of white. His eyes watered and his mouth filled with a metallic taste. He couldn’t go closer, the heat was too intense. He’d been all along the line of fire as it crawled closer toward the ranch.

  A helicopter passed overhead with a bucket hanging from its skids. It disappeared into the smoke cover, leaving Kyle to separate the sounds of the fire ravaging the woods and the blades chopping through the air.

  When did he admit defeat? When did he let his heart know there wasn’t any hope? Did he accept the loss?

  But he couldn’t give up yet. He had to find her. Maybe he’d missed her on one of his passes. She was probably sitting at the ranch right that moment, drinking ice cold water and reporting the incident to the police.

  A burning tree crashed through the forest and the loud whinny of a horse pulled Kyle that direction.

  He stepped over the logs and bushes teeming with escaping bugs and creatures. A doe shot across his field of view as he reached the fallen burning mass.

  The Arabian he’d sent away had gotten stuck between tightly growing brush and the flaming tree. Her eyes rolled, the whites larger than the pupils. She blew, her lips moving and reared from him, as if he was another threat she couldn’t escape from.

  Kyle climbed through the leaves and branches of the brush, stomping them down and pushing them to the sides and reaching out his hands to calm the horse. “Sh. Come on. Let’s get out of here. I bet she’s down at the ranch. Nate probably has her and they’re all fine.” His muttering calmed the horse enough he grabbed her free hanging reins. “Let’s go.” He tugged her through the small hole in the bushes, desperate to free her from the trap. “I didn’t think before sending you off, lady, I’m sorry.”

  Lady. He liked that. She’d be Lady. Maybe he could let himself get a little more attached to the people and things in his life. They had a great job there at the ranch and there was no reason why he wouldn’t get to stay on a little longer.

  He tugged harder, pulling Lady’s head down under branches and low bending snags. She didn’t protest as he pulled her further from the heat, down the mountain.

  With each step away from the fire, Kyle’s hopes crumbled a little more. Was he being stupid? Was he abandoning Sherri to the inferno raging across the forest?

  Was he ever going to find Sherri?

  Chapter 17

  Sherri

  Sherri didn’t remember falling. She lifted her head from the hot ground, fingers by her face were red with blood. Throbbing pain just above her eyebrow pulsed frantically. Her cheek rubbed intimately with dirty bark and heat tamped down all around her. She rolled to her back, desperate to get her bearings.

  The fire was closing in.

  Standing on wobbly legs, she coughed through a dry throat. Crackling and smoke surrounded her, overwhelming her senses.

  She could do it. She could do it.

  The ground beneath her feet slanted to the right. Down. She just had to get down. If she could just get down, she’d be able to get on the ranch land.

  She didn’t even care how she got down. She slid on loose needles on her butt most of the way, finally landing where she could run on flat land.

  Reaching the corner of the land furthest from the ranch, she stopped to look for a way through.

  The fire line ditch had been expanded further and the fencing ran even higher. She’d never get over the high wire or crawl under the low poles.

  She fell to her knees in the dry dirt, sobs ripping from her raw throat. Lacing her fingers over the loops of the fencing, she hung her head and closed her eyes. She had to get somewhere safe. But where?

  Maybe she wasn’t going to be able to do this on her own.

  Under her arm, she watched the fire reach the line about fifty feet from where she knelt, burning and trying to get over the dirt. She scrabbled to her feet, gasping for air that wasn’t the pure Montana air she took for granted.

  A tree with flames burning high into the sky fell across the dirt ditch and smashed through the fence.

  Fire grabbed hold of the wheat field and spread fast.

  Sherri stumbled backward. She didn’t have many options. She needed to find water. Whether she thought she could do it or not, if she wanted to live, she had to try. There wasn’t another soul around to help her, anyway.

  If was her... or the fire.

  A tick crept down her arm. Its legs maneuvered over the lines of her shirt. She brushed it off, sad it wouldn’t make it.

  How many bugs and wild animals were dead because of Guy? The butterfly retreat popped in her mind and she turned. She had nothing else to head towards. Not with the minimal energy she had. She’d never make it to the road.

  The trail seemed to stretch forever with the fire eating up the ground behind her, faster and faster.

  She picked up her feet, but really only succeeded in shuffling a little faster. Fine, she’d take it. She just wanted to get to the water. She needed to.

  Why hadn’t Cyan sent anyone to help her? The ranch was under attack from the flames and Sherri didn’t blame the ranch hands for working on saving the ranch. She understood.

  She just wanted to see Kyle one more time before she died.

  And she would die. She couldn’t save herself. She could see that now. Even the helicopters weren’t coming to that side of the fire. They appeared to be working on the fire closest to the road, probably to keep it from town and the reservation.

  No, no one was coming.

  She couldn’t do it. Sherri gripped her fingers into her palms. She pumped her arms harder, gasping and whimpering as she struggled toward the clearing.

  Sherri reached the pond. Her skin stung as the heat closed in around her.

  With little thought, Sherri fell into the chilly water. The difference in temperatures took her breath away and she came up gasping. Quickly she relowered her body under the water, tucking her knees to her chest. She pulled her outer shirt off to wrap around her face. The rest of her had to fit under the water, but she had to be able to breathe.

  She curled the shirt and placed it on her face, leaving a small hole for air to get through and then leaned back, submerging everything up to the edges of the shirt.

  Panic threatened to drown her. Holding it at bay, she focused. Or tried to focus. But focus on what? She didn’t know how long she had to be under there. She didn’t know the rate of evaporation or even the inte
nsity of the burn. She didn’t know anything. If she’d had more time...

  Could she still save herself?

  Eyes closed shut and encased in a watery prison that was surrounded by guards of inferno, Sherri could finally admit to herself that she really did need others. She needed Cyan and Rachiah. She needed her parents.

  She needed Kyle. He made her laugh and was jealous of her which flattered her because he felt deeply enough for that. He wasn’t controlling and didn’t have any problem laughing at himself when he made a mistake. They hadn’t known each other a long time, but she’d known him long enough to know that she wanted him in her life a lot longer – if not indefinitely.

  Dang it, that stung. Admitting that she needed anyone. But the realization didn’t sting half as much as realizing that she might die there... in that chilly water... alone.

  If she’d had more time, maybe she could’ve...

  No, not even then. Because of some random nut job, she hadn’t been able to warn anyone with enough time. She hadn’t had enough time to tell anyone she loved them. That stark reality cut deeper than any burn on her hands and face.

  But with the level of drought and stressed plant life, would there have been an adequate amount of time? How long would it have been? Was anyone even fighting the fire?

  Sherri hadn’t seen any signs of life. Even the butterflies of the clearing were absent as she’d clattered through their home.

  The water warmed around her.

  Sherri didn’t dare bring her face out of the water to check. She dipped lower to drench the shirt material more as it dried under intense heat.

  Under her legs, cool water moved across the backs of her jeans. Hadn’t Kyle said the pond was fed by an underground stream? Maybe it would be just enough to keep the water from getting too warm and keep it refilled enough to fight the evaporation rate.

  How long would she be there?

  Would anyone find her?

  Was anyone looking for her?

  Would she see Kyle or Cyan or Rachiah ever again?

  Too many doubts and uncertainities swelled inside her heart and she longed to scream. Instead she breathed scorching air through the small opening and hoped she didn’t pass out.