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The floor disappeared under Selina’s feet, dropping her through it hard and fast.
Her legs buckled when they hit a pile of broken boards below, and her head slammed against the iron bed frame.
Then everything went black.
Dragging from exhaustion, Michael lugged his body up the darkened steps to his house. No lights shone through the windows and no food aromas greeted him. “That’s strange.” His words floated into the black pitch of night. The only sounds he heard were the squeaks of the screen door and front door as he stepped inside.
No food waited on the stove or the table. No lit lanterns. And no Selina in sight. “Selina!” he hollered.
Silence.
“Now where could she be?” He searched the house, checking each room, including the pantry and cellar, calling her name as he did. By the time he reached the last room, he was starting to panic.
His attention trailed to where her rifle usually rested, but it wasn’t there. He quickly lit a lantern and flew outside, yelling her name and listening for a response.
Coyotes yapped in the distance.
Crickets chirped.
He rounded the house, searching for her. When he couldn’t find her, he hurried to his brother’s house and knocked on the door. He hated to bother Haydon, having a new baby and all, but Jesse and his family were having dinner with some of the neighbors.
The door swung open. “Michael? What’s the matter?” Haydon asked as Rainee walked over.
“I can’t find Selina.” Michael stepped inside. “Did she come by and see you today, Rainee?”
“Yes, she did. But that was hours ago.” Wrinkles lined her forehead.
“She’s not home and I can’t find her anywhere. Did she say where she was going after she left here?”
“She said it was such a lovely day that she wanted to go for a walk and explore the ranch. You think she got lost?” Rainee turned fearful eyes on him and then up at Haydon.
Haydon slipped his arm around Rainee and pulled her to his side. “I’m sure she’s fine, darling.” He smiled, but even Michael could tell it was forced.
“I’m going looking for her.” Michael whirled around.
“Wait. I’ll go with you.” Haydon looked behind him at their maid, Esther. “Esther, will you throw together some food and water in case we’re gone all night?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll go saddle up the horses. Will you run and get Smokey?” Michael asked. “If anyone can find her, he can.”
“That’s right. He found Rainee.” Haydon lovingly looked down at Rainee and gave her a quick kiss.
He sure had. Their family would be lost without the man who was more like a father to them than a long time friend and employee.
“Meet you at the barn,” Michael said.
“Be careful,” he heard Rainee say to Haydon, and his gut twisted.
“I will.” Haydon sprinted toward Smokey’s small cabin, and Michael ran to the barn, the lantern swinging in front of him.
Worry had now escalated into panic.
In the short six weeks Selina had been there, he realized only now how much she had come to mean to him. He admired her free spirit. How she took the time to enjoy the little things in life. How she helped anyone who had need and asked for nothing in return. He admired her spunk and her love for animals. Well, except when she brought them into the house. So far, he’d come home to a cat, a wolf and a pig, and during wheat harvest, a raccoon, a bird and a squirrel, which he immediately shooed out despite Selina’s protests.
He stepped inside the barn. His shadow danced against the wall as he lit another lantern and hung them on the hooks on the wall.
Michael finished saddling the last horse, then tied a couple of rolled blankets onto each one. Smokey stepped inside the barn with his bloodhound, Skeeter, a gift from Haydon. Haydon had brought Skeeter back from his trip to Rainee’s place in Little Rock, Arkansas. Said it was the perfect gift for the man who eleven years ago had used his tracking skills to help find Rainee when she’d fled into the woods to escape her evil brother’s plans to sell her to a murderer.
“Thanks for coming, Smokey.”
Gray completely covered his head and more wrinkles lined his tanned, leathery face, but the man could just about outdo all of them when it came to working. “Anytime, boss.”
“How many times have we told you to stop calling us boss? You’re family, remember?”
“No, he doesn’t,” Haydon said, stepping into the barn. He had three canteens in one hand and an overstuffed sack of food in the other. Michael’s brother handed each of them a canteen, then tied the bag of food onto his horse’s saddle. Haydon’s horse, Rebel, danced, ready to go. So was Michael.
