Rancher to the Rescue

by Patricia Forsythe

  Brady smiled down at them. “Glad you’re here. Your grandpa tells me you’re a big help in the summer.”

  “Yes, we are,” Emma answered in a matter-of-fact tone that made Brady chuckle.

  He glanced at Zannah, and they shared a moment of amusement before she realized he had known her nieces all of one minute and he was already charming them the way he had charmed her father and probably everyone else he’d met at Eaglecrest.

  She frowned, and he gave her a curious look before he turned toward his room to get ready for the evening’s activities.

  The girls immediately asked, “Is that your new boss?”

  “Of course not.” Zannah shot a glance after him, sure she could see his shoulders shaking with laughter. “He’s my unplanned partner,” she added, raising her voice.

  “Come on,” she said, looking back at her nieces. “Let’s go get you two settled into your room. You’ve got the one right next to mine again.”

  “We know. Sharlene told us,” Emma said, looking up at her aunt with a sweet smile. “Can’t we have our own rooms now, Aunt Zee? Mom and Dad finally let us have our own rooms. We don’t have to share at home anymore.”

  “Yeah,” Joelle added. “I like having my own room.”

  “Sorry, my loves, but we don’t have any extra rooms for you. You’ll have to share.”

  “Oh, okay,” they said together, but reluctance dragged at their voices.

  “If we have to,” Joelle added.

  Zannah chuckled at their aggrieved looks, and glanced around. “Where’s your dad?”

  “He’s in the office with Grandpa. They’re looking at some dirty old papers and maps.”

  “Of course they are.”

  * * *

  AFTER SHE HELPED her nieces settle in, Zannah headed toward the ranch office, only to be caught up short by the suddenly darkening sky and the sight of Robert and Greta Bardle running toward her.

  “Have you seen Liam?” Greta called out frantically as she approached.

  “No. What’s wrong?”

  “He’s upset because this is our last day here,” Robert answered. “We think he’s run off to hide.”

  Greta cast a frantic look at the sky. “We’ve got to find him. It’s going to rain. He’ll be lost, cold and scared.”

  Zannah knew that the billowing clouds and gusting wind promised much more than rain. A full-on storm was coming.

  “Do you have any idea which way he went? Did he say anything that might help us find him?”

  They shook their heads. Robert answered, “He was upset when Chet said goodbye. Liam was crying and holding on to Chet’s legs, but Chet had to go, said he had business to take care of in town. We peeled Liam off him, and Chet rode away. Maybe heading back to the barn? But Liam was with us then.”

  “We went inside to pack,” Greta added. “It wasn’t until fifteen minutes later that we missed Liam.”

  “Now, since you don’t know the area very well, I’ll contact Chet and see if he’s seen Liam, then get the staff to begin searching,” Zannah said. “We know the area very well. You stay in your cabin in case he comes back and we’ll be in touch as soon as we find him. I promise.”

  The worried parents exchanged looks, but Zannah called on her years of social work training and experience to calm their fears. “We’ve mounted successful searches before, and since he’s a small boy, he can’t have gone far in fifteen minutes. Besides following Chet to the barn, are there any other places that he really liked? Places where he might go to hide?”

  “Any place Chet was,” Robert answered.

  Zannah smiled. “A true case of hero worship. Chet is an experienced tracker, and so is Phoebe. We’ll get them to help find Liam. And we’ll call the sheriff’s office. They will send a deputy and will call in a professional search team if necessary, but we’ll do everything we can on our own while we wait for them.”

  Her reassuring tone, as well as a solid plan of action, seemed to calm them. It was a skill she had learned when dealing with emotional situations as a social worker. After she got a few more details from them, the Bardles went back to their cabin to wait for news.

  Zannah headed for the office at a run, trying to outpace the storm that was swooping in, and startling her father and brother, who were examining Henry Stackhouse’s old papers.

  “Dad, Casey. I need your help.” Quickly, she told them what was happening.

  Casey headed for the door. “I’ll get the staff together to help out. Let’s meet in the dining room in ten minutes.”

  “Okay,” Zannah agreed, grateful that her brother, the scientist, still knew exactly what to do in an emergency on the ranch.

  She turned to her father. “After we get the staff together, it would be best if you stayed here to keep track of everyone’s whereabouts and to coordinate the search.”

  To her grateful surprise, he didn’t argue, but began gathering up the walkie-talkies that had been sitting on their chargers on a shelf by the window.

  “Let’s go,” he said. “It’ll be dark in two hours. We don’t have time to waste.”

  Word had spread quickly about the little boy’s disappearance, so almost every employee and guest was gathered in the dining room, awaiting news and instructions. Joelle and Emma were there with Sharlene, bright-eyed with excitement.

  Brady, Phoebe and Casey were standing together, talking quietly as they waited. As soon as Zannah and her father walked in, Gus called for quiet.

  “Thank you, everyone, for coming in, but at this point, we need only experienced staff to help find Liam. We’d like all the guests to return to their cabins to wait for news. We can’t take a chance on having someone else get lost.” He glanced at Zannah, who nodded her agreement.

  “Zannah?” came a hesitant voice from the crowd. Lauren, the newest member of the housekeeping staff, was nearby, holding the hand of her small red-haired daughter, Rebecca.

  “Yes?”

  “Will you need me?” She glanced around uncertainly. “I wouldn’t know where to look, and with this storm, Becky will be scared.”

  “Oh, no. We have plenty of help. Go on to your cabin. We’ll know where to find you if we need you.”

  Lauren gave her a grateful smile, scooped up her daughter and hurried out.

  Zannah looked after her for a second. There had been something in her demeanor that went deeper than concern for the missing boy or the coming storm. Something much more fearful.

  She was brought back to the present crisis by a sharp crack of lightning, followed by a roll of thunder.

  The remaining guests left quickly for their own cabins.

  The staff gathered around, waiting for their assignments. Zannah directed them to different areas of the ranch while Gus handed out the walkie-talkies. When she asked about Chet, she was told that no one had seen him, and attempts to phone him had been unsuccessful.

  “He’ll be in touch, Zannah,” Gus assured her. “He always checks in around seven, but with this storm coming, his phone may not be working. I’ll coordinate from here,” he said, indicating his walkie-talkie.

  “Okay, Dad.”

  Casey warned his daughters to stay inside with Sharlene before heading off with his partner.

  Zannah was right behind him when Brady caught up to her. “I’m coming with you,” he said.

  “I can travel faster and farther on my own.”

  “I’m sure you can, but two pairs of eyes are better than one.”

  “I don’t—”

  “Want to waste time arguing,” he finished for her. “Me, either. Let’s go.”

  She knew he was right, so she pelted out the door, Brady at her heels as they started for the barn. Fat drops of rain began hammering them as they went.

  Inside the barn, they began a systematic search of each stall and every nook or cranny big enou
gh to hide a little boy. They climbed into the loft, sifted through piles of loose hay and double-checked the sliding bolt on the double doors through which the hay was loaded in. The bolt was secure, too high and heavy for a small boy to open.

  “Nothing,” Zannah said when they met once again at the front door of the barn. The brief rain shower had stopped, but rolling black clouds overhead told them another was on its way.

  Brady used the walkie-talkie to contact Gus, who said no one else had found Liam, but they were expanding the search area. A deputy had arrived and was talking to the Bardles, and the search team had been alerted. Gus reported that he had still been unable to reach Chet.

  After signing off, Brady glanced across the yard to a small building half-hidden behind some trees.

  “What’s that?” he asked, pointing.

  “It was a pump house for the water system at one time, but we don’t use it anymore. All the equipment’s been removed. After Chet’s parents died, Dad let him store their things in there. Chet’s been going through it slowly.” She paused as a memory clicked in.

  “What?”

  “He’s still settling their estate. That’s probably why he went to town.”

  “Do you think he went in that building today?” Brady asked, starting across the muddy ground. “Maybe Liam followed.”

  “Maybe, but Chet keeps it locked, and he’s got the only key.”

  “Still worth a look.”

  Zannah followed as he hurried to the door. As expected, it was locked. They walked the perimeter, looking for another way in, and ended up back at the door.

  “There’s a window up there,” he pointed out, pulling a small but powerful flashlight from his pocket and shining the beam upward.

  “It’s so dirty, you wouldn’t be able to see anything.” Zannah glanced at the sky. “The rain is coming again, and it’s getting dark fast.”

  “Then we’d better not waste any time.”

  She frowned as she looked up. “Okay. There’s a ladder in the barn. Come on.”

  They returned to the barn at a run, but the ladder wasn’t propped along the back wall as it should have been, or anywhere else they could see.

  “Now what?” Zannah asked on their way back to the pump house.

  “I have a plan.” Brady studied the muddy ground, then looked up at the window again. “The door is seven feet tall,” he murmured to himself. “The space between it and the window is about a foot. The window looks like it opens from the bottom and swings upward. Might be locked from the inside, but we’ll chance it.” He tilted his head from side to side and rolled his shoulders like a prizefighter preparing to enter the ring. “Yeah, this will work.”

  “How are you going to climb up there?” Zannah asked.

  “I’m not.” He turned to her. “You are.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” She looked at him in alarm, then visually measured the distance to the window. “I’m too heavy.”

  “I’ll bet you don’t weigh more than a buck forty.”

  “I weigh one hundred and twenty-five pounds, thank you very much,” she said testily.

  He waved a hand. “I can bench-press that much any day of the week.”

  She had a mental image of herself held aloft like a set of barbells.

  “Or I could throw you up there.” He flexed his shoulders and tilted his head from side to side once again.

  “No.”

  “Oh, come on,” Brady said, his face tightening in exasperation. “Do you really want to stand here arguing? Liam might be inside, in distress, scared and hungry, crying for his mom and dad, afraid he’ll never see them again.”

  She quickly shook her head. “No, no, of course not, and you don’t have to lay it on so thick, Brady. How are we going to do this?”

  He held his hands out, fingers interlaced. “I’ll boost you up and you can look in the window. Use my flashlight.”

  “Okay.”

  She took the flashlight, tucked it into her pocket, then placed her hands on Brady’s shoulders and her right foot into his hands, murmuring an apology for the muddy state of her boots.

  “Don’t worry about it. We’re both going to be a lot wetter and muddier by the time this is over.”

  He lifted her easily, then stood with his back to the door so she could peer inside.

  “See anything?”

  Zannah tried to shine the flashlight through the window. “No. As I thought, this window’s too dirty.”

  “Can you get it open?”

  “Only if you can boost me up a little higher.”

  He managed to heave her up a little bit more.

  She scrambled for a hold on the window ledge, but there wasn’t enough area to grasp.

  “Um,” he said, sounding winded. “I may have overestimated my ability to hold you up like this.”

  “What do you suggest we do?”

  “You’ll have to stand on my shoulders.”

  “In my boots? How much punishment can you take?”

  “On second thought, maybe you’d better get down and take them off.”

  Before she could answer, he lowered her to the ground and stood, rubbing his lower back, then his shoulders as she leaned against the side of the pump house and pulled off her boots and socks.

  She dropped them and said, “Okay, but you’re going to get covered with mud.”

  “I’m already covered with mud. Come on. Quit worrying about—”

  “Unimportant things.” She flapped a hand at him. “I know. I know.” Looking up, she said, “I wish my family had been in the circus instead of the cattle business.”

  The walkie-talkie crackled with reports from the staff members—no sign of Liam. This gave added urgency to the situation, so Zannah once again placed her foot in Brady’s hands, then twisted to swing a leg around his neck and sit on his shoulders. He steadied himself against the door.

  “Don’t move,” Zannah cautioned as she carefully tilted to one side and lifted her foot to place it on his shoulder.

  “I don’t plan to. I’ve got a buck forty–pound woman on my shoulders.”

  “One twenty-five!”

  Annoyed, she placed a hand on his head, digging her fingers into his thick hair.

  “Ow! What are you doing?”

  “Getting a grip,” she answered sweetly. “Now, stand still.”

  She got her other foot in position, then steadied herself against the wall. To her surprise, she was able to stand up easily and reach the window.

  “I still can’t see anything, and you’re right, the window is latched from the inside.” Frustrated, she rattled the window in its frame.

  “I’ll have to break it, but that might send glass flying over a frightened little boy.”

  “Do you have an alternative plan?” he asked in a dry tone.

  “No. Okay, here goes,” she said. “I’ll use your flashlight. Keep your head down in case glass falls on you.”

  “Not only is my head down, but the rest of me will be pounded in like a railroad spike if you don’t hurry up.”

  “All right, all right.”

  She held the flashlight with the metal handle pointing toward the glass and lifted her arm over her head. “Here goes,” she said.

  “What are you guys doing?” asked a small voice from roughly the level of Brady’s thigh.

  Brady jerked in surprise. Zannah, who was already off balance, pitched to the side. The flashlight flew from her hand and she scrambled for a hold on the wall, but her hand slid down the rough surface and she snatched it away, full of splinters. Her feet slipped and she had a moment of panic as her arms flailed. By sheer luck, she slid down onto Brady’s shoulders.

  “Watch out,” he yelled, though she wasn’t sure who he was talking to. He took a few awkward steps as he tried to
keep from going down, and finally thumped up against the side of the pump house. Zannah’s elbow hit the wall, picking up even more splinters.

  “Ow,” she said, grasping Brady’s head with her uninjured hand, then muttered, “Sorry,” when he yelped in pain.

  Both of them were breathing heavily as they looked down to see Liam Bardle staring up at them.

  “That was funny,” he said, grinning a gap-toothed little-boy grin. “You guys are funny.”

  “Liam, where have you been?” Brady asked as he helped Zannah to the ground.

  “Everyone’s been looking for you,” Zannah added. Grateful to be on solid ground again, she wiped her feet the best she could, then quickly donned her socks and boots. She knelt before the boy. “Are you okay? Where were you?”

  He looked away. “Hidin’. I’m good at it. I was hidin’ ’cause I don’t wanna go.”

  “So you followed Chet?”

  “Yeah.” Liam pointed to the pump house. “In there, but I hid, then he left, but I wanted to stay.” He pulled a granola bar from his pocket. “I’m gonna camp out.”

  Brady looked at the padlocked door. “How did you get out just now?”

  “I heard bumping and people talking, so I came out.”

  “I mean, how did you get out of there?”

  “In the wall.” He pointed toward the back of the building.

  “Show us, Liam,” Brady instructed him.

  They followed him around to the back while Brady radioed Gus to report the boy had been found safe and well. When they reached the back of the building, Liam pointed to a loose board they hadn’t noticed in their search of the perimeter.

  Bending down, Zannah swung it aside and saw that the wide plank’s opening would have given her plenty of room to wiggle through. Shaking her head, she stood up.

  Giving him a stern look, she said, “Liam, I’m glad you were safe, but you gave everyone a bad scare.”

  He hung his head. “Yeah, I’m gonna be in time-out till I’m old.” He glanced up at her and Brady. “Like you.”

  Zannah laughed, and Brady rolled his eyes at her.

  “Let’s get you back to your family,” he said.