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When they were alone Wade turned his attention to Anna. She kept her eyes fixed firmly on the ground. Any second now he was going to realize his mistake in marrying her. She was a far cry from what a countess should be. However, before he could say anything the entrance to the shop swung open and Prescott hurried toward them.
“I just saw Bob O’Connor,” he told Wade. “He said he was on his way to our ranch to let us know that he spotted four good sized pregnant heifers in the Sattler Canyon.”
Wade frowned and dropped Anna’s arm. “If it rains, the river along the bed of the canyon will be sure to rise.”
Prescott nodded. “He tried to lure the one animal out, but the banks have already started to get far too muddy.”
He nodded and turned back to the shopkeeper as he made his appearance. “Package those items up quickly and add them to my account.”
Then turning back to his brother, he said, “We best ride back to the ranch as soon as possible and round up as many of the hands before we lose daylight.”
The shopkeeper had finished wrapping the items and handed them to Anna. She returned his smile before Wade led her out of the shop. “I can drop both the wagon and Anna off and saddle up Sty. He’s familiar with the terrain.”
Anna felt an unexpected jolt of uneasiness. She had no idea of its origin, or the reason for the growing and paralyzing fear that gripped her heart the entire trip back to the ranch.
What she did know by the time she dismounted at the Circle H, was if she did not go with Wade, he would not return.
Chapter 22
“I want to go.” Anna told him matter-of-fact and tried to think up plenty of reasons why while she waited for him to tell her no.
So was surprised than when he replied, “Saddle up one of the horses.”
“I want to take Lucy.”
“No way.” He didn’t even look at her as he moved quickly saddling Sty.
“Why not?”
“Because she’s not fully trained,” he said. “There’s a storm on the horizon. It won’t take much to spook an inexperienced horse like her.”
“But she’s strong.” Anna fought hard for the animal.
“And green.” Wade’s voice was flat and she knew he considered the topic closed. She sighed and went over to a nearby stall to begin saddling up one of his many horses. “Anna.”
Turning, she found him watching her closely. “Stay close to me out there. I don’t intend to lose you.”
Her breath caught in her throat until she realized he was speaking factually. “I won’t get lost. After all, I grew up in this area.”
He smiled and went back to work. Ten minutes later, six of them headed east. Joe and Prescott rode alongside Wade while Anna, Neil, and Frank rode behind. It was only mid-afternoon, but the sky had gotten so dark it looked like evening was nearly upon them. Anna didn’t like the look of the dark and angry clouds. She hoped they reached their destination quickly and had no problems pulling the first-time heifers out of the canyon. The sooner they returned safely back to the ranch, the sooner she could breathe easier. There was something about this trip that made her feel uneasy.
Wade led them east through thick brush and rocky ravines. Anna had been truthful when she told Wade she was familiar with the area. Many times as children, her and Edmund would go exploring and would often find themselves in this particular part of the mountain range because of its breathtaking gorges.
They crossed over Shadow River, aptly named because of the huge pine trees looming over its banks, which cast long and dark shadows across the river. Not more than several miles downstream, it emptied out into the Centralia River in a three hundred foot waterfall. It simply was nature at its best. Beautiful, breathtaking, and deadly all wrapped up in one.
When they finally reached their destination, Anna sat back in her horse’s saddle and watched the men with a sigh of relief. So far the trip was uneventful, and hopefully would remain so. In the distance a small rumble was heard. Anna turned to look out toward the small clearing surrounded by towering pine trees toward the eastern sky. It was far too dense, however, and she was unable to see anything. Turning back toward the men she fixed her gaze on Wade, and silently hurried him along.
Suddenly an ear-splitting thunderbolt resounded overhead. Anna literally leaped from her saddle. All the men paused, exchanged concerned looks, then worked thus much faster. With her heart still beating hard, she tilted her chin all the way up and stared straight up at the sky. The meanest looking black cloud hovered directly overhead. She brought her chin down and looked anxiously at Wade. He, however, was more intent on getting the four heifers out.
It took two horses each to drag out one single beast. So far as she could tell, they were having no difficulty dragging them out of the deep gorge. However, for Anna it was taking far too long.
They had just brought up the last heifer when the sky opened up and showered the earth. She reached for her slick then turned her horse around to follow Wade and the wranglers up the now wet slope. Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly as slippery as it would be shortly, and so they were able to get the heifers to higher ground with no incident.
“Let’s get out of here.” Wade raised his arm and indicated for everyone to follow after the animals were safely moved.
Anna was silently grateful, but still felt edgy. They rode back in the same direction they came, however were now pounded by rain coming out of the sky in huge sheets. Upon reaching Shadow River, Wade came to a halt and as Anna came up alongside him she discovered why. The river which had been fairly calm earlier, was now moving quickly downstream. She shot an anxious look to Wade, but he was already starting to make his way down the riverbank.
Anna tried not to allow her apprehension to get the best of her, as it was apparent Wade did not feel there was any danger in crossing the turbulent river. Prescott and Joe followed him with Anna trailing after them. Neil and Frank brought up the rear. The river came up as high as her horse's forearms, but with the rampant current she could feel the choppy water reaching as high as her calves. She kept her gaze transfixed straight ahead on Wade’s back. He reached the other side and proceeded to lead Sty up the bank and Anna felt a surge of appeasement.
