Ride the Thunder

by Janet Dailey

  "You don't understand. " A frown gathered on his face. He seemed about to argue with her; then he pressed his lips tightly together and turned to take aim on the tree where Brig had been.

  Jordanna fired and the bullet kicked up a patch of snow in front of him, whining into space. A handful of rocks tumbled down the slope from the rocky crags above, dislodged by the reverberating percussion of the rifle shot. "Don't make me do this. " The rifle barrel wavered when she brought it to bear on him again. Despite her outward show of calm, she was crying inside. This man had once been the object of her hero-worship.

  "Jordanna, he's been shot. " Her father's voice was on a reasoning note. "I have to finish him, put him out of his misery. Don't you see the forgiveness in his eyes?"

  "No!" She nearly screamed the word.

  There was a crunching sound and Jordanna thought it was her world being stepped on. Behind her, Kit shouted, "Dad, look out!!"

  Her first thought was Brig, and her gaze flew to the tree that hid him. She had a glimpse of him looking up before Kit roughly pushed her aside to run toward her father. As Jordanna stumbled backwards, she saw the huge boulders rolling silently over the snow. As they picked up speed, the earth began to rumble.

  Brig heard Jordanna's scream as she realized her father was in the path of the boulders. He stepped from behind the tree and cupped his hands to this mouth to shout above the roaring avalanche of rock.

  "This way, Fletcher!"

  The gray-haired man was staring at the rocks rushing toward him. He didn't hear Brig call, but he saw Kit running toward him. Instead of running toward the trees, where he had a chance of escaping the slide, he started toward his son. The smaller rocks were already under his feet. The first boulder clipped his shoulder, knocking him to the ground. The rest crashed and rolled over him, dragging and rolling his limp body along with them.

  It was a short, violent slide. When it subsided, Brig limped across the wide path, strewn and scraped with rocks. Kit was scrambling down the slope to where the body was wedged between two boulders. Jordanna had dropped the rifle and buried her face in her hands. When Brig reached her, she had just begun to realize it was over. She uncovered her eyes to stare down the slope.

  "Daddy?" she cried brokenly and took a step toward the body Kit was uncovering.

  Brig hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her back. "No. It's better if you don't look. "

  She lifted her tear-streaked face to stare at him. "He's... dead. "

  "Be glad the mountain took him, Jordanna. No one has to know what happened or why. Your father is dead. There isn't any reason for you, your brother, or your mother to suffer through a lot of dirty publicity. Do you understand?" he asked gently.

  "Yes. " She began sobbing and wrapped her arms around his neck to cling to him.

  "We'll get through this. " Tenderness surged through him. "We'll make it together. " He held her close, absorbing her tremors.

  A horse and rider crested the ridge and paused. The horse tossed its mane and chewed at the bit. Jocko took in the scene at a glance and rode down to the young man bent over the still form.