Becky was almost as upset as Maryann. “You know, Ali was out in the wilderness too, but I didn’t know anything about it. I was in the hospital. Had I been up and around, I would have been nuts. I’m going to talk to Mom. I want to come up and help. It’s only 7:30 pm now. If I can talk Mom into bringing me up, can I stay with you and go out on the search with you guys tomorrow?”
“Yeah! That would be great. Talk to your mom and let me know. I’ll let my mom know.”
Fifteen minutes later, Becky called Maryann back. “We’re coming. We’ll see you in a couple of hours. If mom doesn’t want to drive back home tonight, can she stay in your guest room? I was also thinking, would it help at all if we had mounted riders out there looking for Cutter? If so, I’ll bring Ali. Maybe we can get some other riders to help. What do you think?”
“I hadn’t thought of that, but maybe. Yes, your mom can stay if she doesn’t want to drive home tonight. I’ll call Melissa, Kathy, Heidi, and Suzy and see if they want to ride out with you tomorrow. Maybe they can find John and Rhonda’s tracks and follow them. The more I think about it, that’s a capital idea. The more feet we have on the ground out there, the better our chances are of finding Cutter!”
While Becky and her mom were hauling Ali to Hartley Ranch, Maryann got on the phone with Brody. She filled him in on Becky’s suggestion. “Can we make this work?” she asked.
“Let me talk to Aunt Ginny and Uncle Mike,” he suggested. “They’d have to be involved. We’ll need the big horse trailer and something to haul extra water for the animals. Based on what we saw out there today, I’d say that might work. Have you talked to the other girls yet? Will their parents let them do this?”
Brody rushed off to talk to Ginny and Mike while Maryann began calling the other girls. When Brody presented Maryann and Becky’s suggestion, Mike and Ginny were hesitant at first. “That’s a big desert out there with lots of hazards for the girls,” Mike said.
“Uncle Mike, those girls are all national champion riders. They know what their horses will do. They will be covering ground that’s used every weekend by kids on dirt bikes. If they can handle the terrain on a dirt bike, those horses certainly can. And, as Maryann said, the more feet we put on the ground, the better our chances are of finding Cutter in time.”
Ginny sat with her head spinning. The logistics of getting
enough horses and supplies out into the desert early tomorrow morning would be complicated. She sat down and started making a list of things that would be needed. It wasn’t just a sack lunch of sandwiches for four people anymore. They would need the large trailer which held a hundred gallons of water in the tank, plus extra feed for horses, plus a lot more food for a lot more people. She checked her watch. It was only 8:15 pm. She picked up the phone and called Rose Wilcox, Maryann’s mother. She briefed her on the new situation. She needed to go to the market in town for supplies for the people who would be searching, and she needed help putting it all together.
“Let me go to the store for you,” Rose suggested. “I can do that on my way over there. I’ll bring my Aunt Adele with me, and I’ll call Maryann’s grandmother. Between the four of us, we should be able to get the food ready tonight. Give me your list. I’ll see you in about 45 minutes.”
For an evening when things should have been calming down for the day, the pace picked up. Ginny finished putting her list of things needed other than the food for humans and went over it with Mike to be sure she didn’t forget anything necessary. He added a halter and lead rope for Cutter. “We’re going to need that when we find him!” he told her emphatically. They discussed which vehicles to take. “Charles’ Jeep, of course, and our big truck and trailer need to go so we can haul the horses. We should have one or two other 4-wheel drive vehicles, and we’ll need every handheld radio on the ranch.”
“Can we find all ten of them?” Ginny asked. Mike nodded. “Then let’s make sure they are all charged up tonight! You and I can round them up and get them on the chargers while I wait for Rose, Adele, and Celeste to get here.” They dashed out the back door looking for radio units. Mike hooked them up on the charging station in Ginny’s office. Mike checked the gas gauge on his big truck and drove it into town for a full load of gas. Brody checked off things on Ginny’s list and stacked items in the barn aisle.
Rose, Adele, and Celeste arrived with bags of groceries. With Ginny’s help, they turned the kitchen into a flurry of activity, making sandwiches, snack bags of cookies and crackers, washing fresh fruit and putting food in small baggies the searchers could take with them in saddlebags or backpacks.
By the time the food was prepared and stored in the refrigerator, Becky and Caroline Howard arrived with Prince Ali. Becky unloaded him and put him in a stall in the barn before coming to the house.
Brody came up from the barn with her. He’d found the last item on Ginny’s list and added it to the pile.
By the time they got back to the patio, Ginny, Adele, Celeste, Rose, and Caroline were sitting down out there. Ginny popped back up and said, “How about a small glass of wine? I think that would be a wonderful idea.” When they agreed, she went back into the house and came out with glasses on a tray with a bottle of uncorked wine, filled the glasses, and offered a toast. Here’s to finding Cutter tomorrow!” While the ladies enjoyed their drinks on the patio, Mike came and got Caroline’s keys. He parked and unhooked her horse trailer and parked her truck in the driveway beside Rose’s and Celeste’s Jeeps.
He sat with the women and said, “We need to figure out which other vehicles are coming with us in the morning. We should only take 4-wheel drive vehicles according to Charles. We’re bringing my truck for hauling the horses. Charles said there is a campsite they used today where we can park that but they are moving their base camp out farther and he doesn’t think a vehicle other than a 4-wheel drive can get there. Any suggestions?”
“Adele, Celeste and I all have 4-wheel drive Jeeps,” Rose said. “I don’t think Adele and Celeste ought to be out there in the desert all day in this heat. I can bring mine if that would help.”
“Okay, that’ll help. Maybe one of the other parents can spend the day with us. We can talk to them when they drop the girls off in the morning,” he said. “It could be a long day. I think we should all hit the sack now and get some rest.”
“Uncle Mike, I found Cutter’s old halter and lead rope in your tack room. It’s in the pile of stuff ready to go in the main barn,” Brody said as he walked toward the back door. “Let’s hope we find him so we can use it again.”
CHAPTER | TWENTY-SEVEN
The detective in San Bernardino County got a call from a deputy in Yavapai County, Arizona around 8:00 a.m. on the third day after the four men left California with their horse and travel trailer. “I have some information for you,” he said. “We have them in sight. I’m in the Prescott, Arizona office. We have a big rodeo in town this weekend. Four guys from Texas showed up a couple of days early and got paid to help set things up for this weekend. We found two trucks and two trailers that match the description on your bulletin. We haven’t picked them up yet though. We have spotters on the rodeo grounds watching them. We’d like to take them all in one sweep, but we haven’t been able to catch them all together in one place yet. Don’t worry; they won’t get out of here. If those guys are trying to hide, they picked the absolute wrong place to do it.”
“Really?” the detective asked. “Why is that?”
“Put your coffee cup down first; I don’t want you snorting coffee out your nose. I’m calling you from the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Rodeo! The grounds are crawling with deputies, both on and off duty. Your clowns haven’t seen the irony in that yet. But, I’m sure they will!”
“Oh, my goodness! I didn’t see that coming!” the detective roared with laughter. “We have a big rodeo we sponsor here too, so I know what you mean about the deputies being everywhere. I think this case is in really good hands. Just so you know, if you hadn’t heard, those four creeps stole
a beautiful and very valuable AQHA stallion named Cut It Out. When they didn’t get their ransom demand, they abandoned him without food, water or shelter in the middle of the desert out here. Just drove off and left him. We’re scrambling to find him if we can. The owners and friends are also out in the desert looking for him.”
“Oh, no!” the Arizona deputy said. “I know that horse. I’ve seen him in action, and so have several of my buddies. I’m going to let them know right away. Wish we were closer, we’d help you find him. But you don’t have to worry about your four guys. They are never going to get away with this!”
“We’re also working on a burner cell phone. Those four guys may have left it at the campsite where they kept their two hostages and the horse. If the battery on the phone holds out, we may be able to get a GPS location for it, so we know where to look. Hopefully, we’ll get something back on that this morning. You keep an eye on our guys for us. We want ‘em back in California as soon as we can get ‘em here.”
“You got it! Good luck on that cell phone thing. We got your back here in Arizona.”
CHAPTER | TWENTY-EIGHT
At 4:15 a.m. the next morning, Hartley Ranch was a hive of activity. Mike had the 10-horse trailer hooked up earlier and drove it down to the main barn for loading. He’d asked two of his assistant trainers to come along on the search to help the girls out so they would be loading seven horses in the trailer. One of his assistants was in the process of filling the 100-gallon water tank in the trailer, and the other was loading the extra feed and equipment in the bed of the pick-up.
Mike waited with the gathering crowd on the back patio. Once everyone was there, he asked if there was another parent with a 4-wheel drive vehicle that could come with them for the day. He got one taker, Suzie’s dad, Ryan. “Let me call my wife and let her know,” was all he had to say.
Mike began dividing the group up into different vehicles. “I’m going to take Esteban and my two assistant trainers with me in the truck. Charles, you can take Brody, Maryann, and John. Rose can take Heidi, Melissa, and Kathy. Ginny will take Stevie, and the drone, the computer, and the radio equipment. Ryan, can you bring your daughter Suzy, and Rhonda. Before we head out, Charles was out there with John and the kids yesterday. They found a campsite that will work for me with the horse trailer and the horses. After we get that all offloaded, he will guide the other vehicles to a new campsite several miles closer to where they searched yesterday. The horses will have to walk to that. I’d like to divide the riders up into two separate groups. Skip will take Heidi and Suzy with him. Chet will take Melissa and Kathy with him. Becky, I would like you to split your time between the two groups. That way we can cover more ground. We’re going to hand out radios to Maryann for the computer, Brody for the drone, me so I can keep in touch with all of you, Chet and Skip for the riders and leave one with Ginny and Becky. We’ll give out others if needed. Rose put sets of ribbons together for the riders. You can mark your trail every quarter mile or so with ribbon so you can find your way back to camp. We’re giving red ribbons to Chet and his group and green ribbons to Skip and his group. We don’t need anyone else lost out there. Is everyone ready to go?”
The horses loaded in the trailer quickly. People stowed all backpacks and food items and other gear in vehicles. Those going climbed in for the drive. Charles led them because he knew where the first campsite was. They hit the road by 5:10 a.m. They reached the first turnoff at 6:20 a.m. and found the campsite for the horse trailer a few minutes later.
Everyone worked quickly and efficiently. The riders tacked the horses up and shouldered the backpacks and strapped helmets on. Brody led the horses on foot to the second campsite while the other vehicles followed Charles to it.
Once Charles’ Jeep was parked, Maryann got out the laptop and turned it on. Brody took the drone out of its box and put the spare batteries in his backpack with his extra water bottles. He set the drone on the hood of Charles’ Jeep and turned it on. One of the horses spooked at the sight but quickly calmed down until Brody used the controller and lifted it off the hood and got it flying. The horse spooked again a little, then settled down again. John found another set of footprints he and Rhonda left during their escape and pointed them out to the riders.
“This is what we are looking for on the ground. If you see these footprints, you are following our trail backward, and that will lead us to the mobile home and Cutter. If you guys on horseback find them, please give us a holler on the radio so we can get the drone to follow the trail. If you riders spread out and watch for those tracks on the ground, we’ll probably get there sooner.”
John radioed back to Mike that they were leaving and the search was beginning. Mike let Esteban hear the announcement. Tears formed in Esteban’s eyes again. “I can’t believe all these people are willing to give up their time to search for my boy. I can’t thank them enough.”
The mounted riders began at the point where John showed them the tracks they were looking for then spread out and slowly moved forward looking for more of them. Brody launched the drone and began moving it in a wide arc in front of the riders, looking for evidence of the trailer, corral, or any sign of habitation. Riders found tracks and followed them, then lost them again but continued moving forward. Brody saw nothing for hours.
****
Cutter nearly drained the water barrel on his second day of abandonment. There was not much left but sand in the bottom by 10 a.m. the third morning. Cutter licked it trying to absorb every ounce of water he could get out of it. His flanks were sunken, his tail hung on one end of his body, and his head hung on the other. His food ran out the first day. He was hungry. But the lack of water in the heat was more critical for him. He hadn’t eaten well since the four men stole him from the Hacienda Rancho, but aside from losing some weight, he hadn’t been in bad shape at all until the men drove off and left him there. He’d not seen anything but a few rabbits and a pack of coyotes since. He missed the companionship of his people. He was hungry. He was thirsty, and he was heartsick.
****
The day started out sunny and warm, but clouds began forming off to the west as a storm front moved in from the coast. They were scattered clouds at first. By 9:30 a.m. they began to billow up white and puffy on the top with grey bottoms. Winds blew them eastward across the desert. By 11:00 a.m., the clouds blocked the sun and turned dark as the wind increased in velocity. From a gentle breeze came a stiff wind about 10 to 15 miles per hour. It blew dust in front of it and wiped out most of the footprints John and Rhonda left in the desert soil during their escape.
Mike studied the clouds in the sky and began to worry. He’d not listened to the weather forecast for the day before leaving the ranch with this group of searchers. He fired up the engine in his big Dodge and turned on the radio, hoping to catch the weather forecast for the High Desert. He switched channels on the radio until he finally tuned in on a Los Angeles station with a weak signal. He could hear every other word, but even those were static-infused. He did hear a couple of words that gave him great concern. It sounded like they were predicting heavy rain in the Eastern desert area before nightfall. He wasn’t sure or didn’t hear exactly where they were predicting this rain.
Mike lived in the desert long enough to know about the monsoon rains that came up from Baja California or the southern Arizona desert during the summertime. The rain didn’t last long, but it was heavy in spurts and caused flash flooding that could cause damage to property, roads, and other structures in its path. He had experienced storms that dropped over an inch of rain in 20 minutes time. Shallow washes became instant rivers with water flowing so fast it could push cars off roads, roll large rocks for hundreds of feet, and suck under any creature that happened to be in its path.
Mike continued studying the sky above him hoping there would be no sign of rain while the searchers were out here looking for Cutter. Clouds often formed, the wind blew, and the promise of rain never came to fruition. That was what created deserts in the firs
t place. He decided to put everyone on notice anyway, just in case these clouds decided to dump on them. He called on the radio and suggested everyone stick to high ground as much as possible, especially if it did decide to rain.
The ones on horseback split up with Chet riding Duke, Melissa on Mighty Max and Kathy on Cricket heading out of the western side of the group. That left the eastern side to Skip riding Redd, Suzy on Dreamer, and Heidi on Schultzy. Becky and Prince Ali tried to keep in the middle as much as possible. The terrain was hilly in sections with steep washes from years of previous monsoon rains. She heard the call from Mike, as did Chet and Skip. Part of the trouble was the terrain. Chet could keep his eye on Melissa and Kathy better than Skip could. The western side of the search area had lower hills because the mountains created alluvial fans below their peaks. The lowest part of these alluvial fans was on the western side for many miles in the High Desert where they searched. Skip lost sight of Suzy and Heidi sometimes because they were climbing near the foot of the mountains and had deeper run-off areas carved out by millennia of monsoon storms. He, too, kept a watch on the sky above them. He was concerned about the weather. He knew nobody in the group was going to get hurt by a little rain. He knew about the raging torrents that could be the result of it though.
Suzy and Heidi, like Kathy and Melissa, were excited to take their horses out for a ride in a new area. They thought this would be a fun day for everyone. They certainly knew the consequences if they were unable to find Cutter but that was not their first motivation for going. They were normal teenaged kids. They thought they could do something good at the same time they were having some fun. They didn’t expect what was about to happen.
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