Thunder Creek Ranch

by Sonya Bates

  “Stop running!” called Jake. “It thinks you’re playing.”

  One of the cows turned and trotted toward Jake. It lowered its head as if it might charge. Jake froze. It must be the calf ’s mother, he thought. He stood still, and the cow lumbered past. Another cow followed, and then another, until the whole herd had started moving. Jake watched helplessly as they streamed past him and disappeared over the rise after Tommy.

  Chapter Five

  CORY TO THE RESCUE

  Jake raced to the top of the hill and looked down. Below him, Tommy had reached Thunder Creek. There wasn’t much water running. Only a small stream trickled through the wide creek bed. Tommy leapt off a rock, jumped across the stream and continued on into the woods. Most of the herd stopped at the stream for a drink, but the calf leapt neatly across, its mother following.

  Jake groaned. How would he ever catch them? Tommy would get lost in the woods. He had never been past Thunder Creek before. Jake had to find him.

  Jake took off at a jog down the hill, trying to remember the exact spot where Tommy had entered the woods. Tommy would stop when he got tired. If Jake could follow his trail, he would find him eventually.

  I am a police tracker, he thought. A boy has been kidnapped and taken into the woods. He must be found.

  Just then Jake heard the roar of a motor behind him. He turned. Cory came over the rise on the quad bike.

  “I can’t believe you took the quad again!” said Jake when Cory reached him. “Mrs. McNash will kill you.”

  Cory threw the spare helmet at Jake. “You mean she’ll kill us. It’s the fastest way to find your brother. He could be halfway to Vancouver by now.”

  Jake glanced toward the woods. The herd was milling about the stream. He couldn’t see any sign of Tommy or the two cows that had been following him. Looking up, he noticed dark clouds gathering overhead. It looked like it was going to rain.

  Cory was right. The quad bike would be much faster than walking. They had to find Tommy. Jake jammed the helmet on his head.

  “All right,” he said, climbing on behind Cory. “But take it easy.”

  “Aye-aye, Captain,” said Cory.

  Cory took off fast, but Jake was expecting it this time. He held on tight.

  “This is Thunder Creek?” asked Cory when they reached the stream. “Why is it called that? It looks more like Dry Creek to me.”

  “I don’t know,” said Jake. “Maybe it used to be big. Who cares? We have to find Tommy.”

  Cory eased the quad bike over the bank of the creek, splashed through the water and then sped up on the other side.

  Jake could see trampled grass and broken branches where Tommy and the cows had entered the woods.

  I see signs of the kidnapper, he thought. I follow his trail through the forest. He will not escape.

  It was dark in the woods, the light blocked by the leafy canopy above them. Jake had only been in there once before. Grandpa had brought him out to choose a Christmas tree the previous year. It had looked very different then. Everything was covered with snow, and except for the evergreens, the trees were brown and bare of leaves. Now spring flowers popped up all around them, and the trees were covered in fresh, green growth. It smelled damp and earthy, like the school field after a rain.

  “Tommy!” he called. “Tommy!”

  There was no answer.

  “That way, I think,” said Jake, spotting some more broken branches.

  Cory steered the quad bike through the trees, following the trail of trampled grass. Jake scanned the forest. He called out every couple of minutes and listened for an answering call. There was no sign of Tommy.

  Chapter Six

  STORM

  “He’s got to be here somewhere,” said Cory.

  They had lost the trail. But in a small clearing they found the cow and her calf grazing on the fresh, green grass. The calf startled at the sight of the quad bike, and the two animals trotted back the way they had come. Tommy was nowhere in sight.

  Jake hopped off the quad.

  “Tommy!” he called for what seemed like the thousandth time. “Tommy!”

  He couldn’t tell which way Tommy had run. The grass had been trampled by the cows and then flattened even more by the quad.

  Overhead, the sky had filled with roiling clouds. Jake heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. A storm was coming.

  “Tommy’s probably hiding,” said Jake. “He hates thunderstorms.”

  “What a baby,” said Cory.

  “He’s not a baby,” said Jake. “He’s the same age as you.”

  “I’m almost nine,” said Cory. “And I’m not a scaredy-cat like him.”

  “He’s not a scaredy-cat,” said Jake.

  “He’s scared of cows and thunderstorms,” said Cory. “He’s even scared of my gram. Is there anything he’s not scared of?”

  “Yeah, plenty,” said Jake, getting angry. “He outran a cougar last Christmas.”

  “Little baby Tommy?” said Cory. “I doubt it.”

  “He did too!” said Jake. “Ask anyone.”

  “I will,” said Cory.

  The two boys glared at each other. Jake wanted to say more, but he felt a bit guilty. He had called Tommy a baby once too. And a wuss. The truth was, Tommy was a bit of a scaredy-cat. But Jake wasn’t going to let Cory McNash call him that.

  Lightning flashed overhead, and a clap of thunder boomed all around them. The boys jumped.

  “Take cover,” said Jake. He darted for a clump of low bushes. Cory revved the quad bike and accelerated into the trees. Rain started falling in big heavy drops.

  “Get off the quad!” yelled Jake. “Lightning is attracted to metal.”

  “Aahhh!” Cory jumped off the quad as if it had already been struck by lightning. He dashed over to a big tree and crouched below it.

  “Stay away from tall trees too!” said Jake.

  Cory leapt up again and ran to a different tree. He looked up to see how tall it was, changed his mind and darted toward a third tree. At the last minute, he changed direction and raced to Jake’s side. “I—I’ll just stick with you, okay?”

  Jake smiled. He took off his helmet and tossed it over by the quad. He didn’t know what it was made of, but he wasn’t going to take a chance. Cory did the same.

  They crouched under the bushes as the storm raged around them. Rain poured down and the wind tore at the tops of the trees. Lightning streaked across the sky. Thunder rumbled so loud, the ground seemed to shake.

  Jake wished he knew where Tommy was. He knew Tommy would be scared. He was a bit scared himself. The storm was so loud and fierce. Had Tommy found a safe place to shelter? Or was he out in the open somewhere, exposed to the lightning?

  At last the rain slowed and the rumble of thunder grew faint. Jake waited a few more minutes before he and Cory crawled out from the bushes. Cory’s hair was plastered to his head, and his face was pale.

  “That was some storm,” he said with an uneasy laugh. He stamped his feet, his teeth chattering.

  Jake thought of saying something about scaredy–cats, but he was too worried about Tommy. He shrugged. “We get them all the time around here,” he said. “Mostly in summer though.” That’s why his grandpa had taught them what to do in a thunderstorm. He hoped Tommy remembered what he had learned. “Tommy!” he called. “Tommy! Where are you?”

  “Jake!” Tommy’s voice was so faint, Jake wasn’t sure he had heard him. “Jake!”

  It was definitely Tommy. Jake took off toward the voice.

  Chapter Seven

  ROARING MEG

  They found Tommy cowering under the roots of a fallen pine tree.

  “Is—is it over?” he said. His hands and knees were covered in mud. Under the smear of dirt, his face was pale.

  “Yeah, it’s gone,” said Jake.

  Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. “I found a hiding spot and made myself as small as I could,” he said. “Just like Grandpa told us.”

  “That’
s good,” said Jake. He put a hand on Tommy’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. He was feeling relieved himself.

  “Let’s get out of here,” said Cory. “I’m freezing.”

  Jake was cold too. He was soaked to the skin, and the wind felt like ice. Even his socks were squelching in his sneakers. He led the way back to where they had left the quad. There wasn’t room for three of them on the seat, so he tossed the spare helmet to Tommy.

  “You can ride with Cory, if you want,” he said. He glared at Cory with a look that said, Go slow or else.

  Tommy’s face lit up. “Really?”

  “Sure. Hop on,” said Cory.

  “All right!” said Tommy. He jumped on behind Cory and clung to Cory’s sides, his legs dangling.

  Jake walked in front of the quad to make sure Cory didn’t do anything stupid. He followed the trail of flattened grass. It wound around trees and rocks and seemed to be going in circles. He was sure there was a quicker way back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, but he didn’t know exactly in which direction the house was. He didn’t want to get lost.

  I have found the lost boy, he thought. I lead the team back to home base. Our search has been successful. The boy has been saved.

  At last they approached Thunder Creek. The first thing he noticed was that the cows were gone. He groaned. They would have no hope of finding them now. They would have to tell Grandpa that they had let them out.

  Then, as they got closer, he noticed something else. Thunder Creek was no longer a trickle. The storm had made the water rise. It wasn’t a tiny little stream anymore. A stream of water as wide as the lane leading to Grandpa’s farm rushed down the creek bed. It lapped at the rocky edges and frothed and swirled and bubbled like the sea in a storm. Water sprayed in a fine mist onto Jake’s face. He could hear rocks tumbling below the surface.

  Jake remembered his grandmother saying something about “Roaring Meg” coming to Thunder Creek with the spring storms. He hadn’t known what she meant at the time. The storm had changed the creek from a quiet trickle to a roaring monster as quick as a flash. It really was Thunder Creek.

  “Oh no!” said Tommy. “How are we going to get across?”

  It was exactly what Jake was thinking. There was no way they could take the quad across. The water was too deep. The creek was too wide to jump over, and they couldn’t wade through it either. They would be swept away. The water was running too fast.

  “What are we gonna do, Jake?” said Tommy, hopping off the bike.

  “Don’t worry,” said Jake. “We’ll figure something out.”

  Cory turned the quad off. “Gram’s gonna kill me,” he muttered.

  “Why don’t we get some stuff from the woods and make a bridge?” said Tommy.

  Jake glanced back at the trees. “I don’t know. We could try.” He remembered doing something like that at school camp. But they’d had wood of just the right size—and ropes.

  “That’ll never work,” said Cory. “What a stupid idea.”

  Tommy looked crushed.

  “It’s not a stupid idea,” said Jake. “Have you got a better one?”

  Cory looked away sullenly.

  “I didn’t think so. Let’s go get some branches then,” said Jake.

  Chapter Eight

  THE BIG JUMP

  They searched for half an hour, dragging branches to the creek and heaving them into position.

  I am a pioneer, thought Jake. We are searching for good farmland. We will not survive in the forest. We must reach the other side of the river.

  Most of the branches were too short and got swept away by the raging water. Only two were long enough. The first branch was thick and sturdy, but it was too heavy to lift into position. It tumbled into the creek, almost taking Tommy in with it. The second was long and spindly and cracked as soon as Jake put his weight on it.

  “This isn’t going to work,” said Jake, scrambling back from the edge.

  “I told you it was a dumb idea,” said Cory.

  “It wasn’t,” said Tommy. “It would have worked if the creek wasn’t so wide.”

  “If the creek wasn’t so wide, we wouldn’t need a bridge, stupid,” said Cory. “We’d just jump across.”

  Tommy’s face crumpled. He looked like he might cry.

  Jake glared at Cory. It wasn’t Tommy’s fault that they were stuck on the wrong side of the creek. He didn’t ask the calf to chase him. And he hadn’t made the storm come. It wasn’t Tommy’s fault the creek was so wide and the water so fast. Then Jake had an idea. “Hold on a sec,” he said. “You might be on to something.”

  “What?” asked Cory.

  Tommy looked up expectantly.

  “If the creek wasn’t so wide, we could jump across,” said Jake.

  “Yeah, so?” said Cory. “You got some magic that’s gonna shrink it?”

  “Don’t be stupid,” said Jake. “Up near the top field, there’s a gully the creek runs through. It’s not very wide. I bet we could jump that. It’s worth a try.”

  “What about the quad?” asked Cory.

  Jake shook his head. “We’ll have to leave the quad here. It’s too steep and rocky up there. We’d never get it across, not even when the creek goes down.”

  Cory scowled, but he followed them upstream toward the top field. It was rough going. The creek led them into the woods where the bushes grew close to the bank. The ground grew steep, strewn with rocks and boulders. At last they scrambled up a knoll and onto a rock platform at the edge of a small gully. The creek raced through the narrow gap, splashing and foaming an arm’s length or more below them. Jake looked across to the other side. It wasn’t as close as he remembered. It had to be at least as wide as a picnic table, maybe wider. Could they jump across?

  “I think I could jump that,” said Tommy, looking down at the swiftly moving water. “Remember when I won the long-jump competition at Sports Day?”

  Tommy was a good jumper. And Jake was pretty sure he could make it. But in long jump, there wasn’t a raging creek below them, waiting to swallow them up if they missed.

  “I think I could make it too,” Jake said. “What about you, Cory?”

  Cory was standing well away from the edge. “Yeah, sure,” he said. “No sweat.” He didn’t look so sure though.

  “Do you want to try a couple of practice jumps first?” asked Jake.

  Cory frowned at him. “What for? If you two can do it, I can.”

  “Okay,” said Jake. He glanced at Tommy. “I’ll go first.”

  Tommy nodded.

  Jake scuffed at the edge of the rock. It dropped steeply into the gully. The rain had made it wet and slippery. He would have to be careful. He moved away from the edge to give himself a good run-up.

  I am an Olympic long-jump champion, he thought. I am going out for a practice jump. I’ve done it hundreds of times before.

  He focused on a spot on the other side. That was where he would land. He took a deep breath and then sprinted for the edge. Three strides, four, five. His foot hit the edge and he took a mighty leap. From the corner of his eye he saw the foaming white water flash by below. He landed with a thump on the rock and tumbled to the ground. He was so relieved, he almost laughed out loud.

  “Okay, your turn, Tommy,” he said, scrambling to his feet.

  Tommy looked worried, but he backed up to where Jake had started.

  “Is it slippery?” he asked.

  “It’s not too bad,” said Jake. “Just don’t look down.”

  “What if I don’t make it?” said Tommy.

  “You will,” said Jake. “You can jump farther than me, and I made it.”

  “You’re right,” said Tommy. “I can do it.” He frowned in concentration. “I can do it.”

  Jake was almost afraid to look as Tommy started running toward the edge. Closer and closer he ran.

  “Come on, Tommy,” Jake muttered.

  Tommy took off from the edge. His arms windmilled as he flew across the gap. He landed perfectly,
a good foot beyond where Jake had landed.

  “I did it!” cried Tommy.

  “You did it!” said Jake. He slapped Tommy on the back, grinning like a baboon.

  They both turned back to look at Cory.

  “All right, Cory,” said Jake. “Your turn.”

  Chapter Nine

  A CLOSE CALL

  Cory looked scared. He shuffled closer to the edge of the gully and looked down.

  “You don’t have to jump if you don’t want to,” said Jake. “We could go and get Grandpa.”

  Cory stepped back and glared at Jake. “Don’t you think I can do it?”

  “That’s not what I meant,” said Jake. “I meant if you don’t want to…if you’re a bit nervous or something—”

  “Are you calling me chicken?” asked Cory.

  Jake shrugged. “I didn’t say that.”

  “’Cause I’m not,” said Cory. “I can jump that easy.”

  “Bet you can’t,” said Tommy.

  “Can too,” said Cory.

  “So prove it,” said Tommy. “Go ahead, jump.”

  “All right, I will,” said Cory. He stomped back to where Jake and Tommy had started their runs.

  Jake watched nervously. Cory’s mouth was a grim line. He clenched his fists and unclenched them. He seemed to be waiting for the right moment, as if a change in the wind might help him.

  “Go on. What are you waiting for?” asked Tommy.

  Jake shushed him. He wasn’t sure Cory could make the jump. He didn’t look very athletic, and he had been breathing hard as they climbed the hill to the gully. Maybe he didn’t do anything besides riding trail bikes. Maybe he had never tried a long jump before.

  Cory started running. He looked angry, and he charged toward the edge as if he were a bull. Three steps, four. Jake held his breath as Cory took off. Cory’s foot slipped as he pushed off, and he threw his arms in the air. His legs moved back and forth like he was still running. Jake gasped. He wasn’t going to make it.