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“I guess so.” She swallowed down her fear. “Do the traps kill things fast?”
He hesitated. But he wasn’t used to lying. “Not usually.”
“Damn,” she said under her breath.
“When he’s here, he checks them periodically all day long,” he continued. “He finishes off whatever he finds fairly quickly.”
“Fur.” She glanced at him. “I don’t own a single piece of fur. Well, except for what’s on Snow,” she added with a forced smile.
“Watch where you walk.” He handed her a stick. “Just in case. If the stick trips a trap, it won’t bite you.”
She nodded. “Thanks.”
They walked through the long patch of wood, but there were, thankfully, no animals in the traps. There was also no Snow.
It had been two of the longest hours of Meadow’s whole life. She knew Dal and his men were searching, that the bloodhound was on the trail, but what if Snow was . . . She swallowed down her fear. Harry was right. She had to believe her dog would be all right.
As she processed the thought, Harry’s phone rang.
“Did they find her?” Meadow asked in anguish.
Harry glanced at her, grimaced, spoke into the phone. “I’ll tell her. We’ll be right there.”
“Is she alive?” she asked quickly. Better to know at once.
“She is,” he replied. “Caught herself in a barbed wire fence and couldn’t fight free, with all that fur. I know where it is.”
He led the way. Snow was alive. Snow would be all right. She felt tears pouring down her cold cheeks, and she didn’t even try to check them. Thank God, she thought, for everyday miracles.
* * *
When they got to the fence, Dal was on one knee with a pair of wire cutters, getting the last of the wire away from Snow’s thick fur while she licked his hand. It was evident that she loved the tall rancher, even though her mistress avoided him like the plague.
Meadow’s legs were so numb that she almost fell getting off the horse. She stumbled to the fence.
“Oh, Snow,” she whispered, choking as she went down on both knees in the snow to hug her dog. There were traces of blood on her fur. “Snow!”
The big dog’s blue eyes laughed at her, as if to say,Silly human, of course I’m all right, my other master saved me!
“Your hands must be frozen,” Dal commented as he handed the wire cutters to another cowboy. “Don’t you have gloves?”
“I have two pair, actually. They’re in my house.” She was too busy hugging Snow and getting licked to care about the criticism.
“And your jeans are soaked,” he continued. “Let’s get you both home.”
“Snow needs to see the vet,” she said.
“My vet makes house calls. He’s on his way to your house.” He didn’t add that the vet was on retainer, or that Dana had been irritated that Dal left her to go hunt for Meadow’s dog. That had irritated him. He loved animals. Dana didn’t.
A young man with red hair joined them. “Hi,” he said. “I’m Jerry Haynes.” He introduced himself. “And this is Redhide.” There was a huge bloodhound beside him, panting even in the cold.
“Hi, big guy,” she said softly and extended a hand for him to smell. “Thank you for saving my baby.”
Jerry chuckled. “He’s a marshmallow,” he commented when the big dog climbed on her bent legs and licked her face. “He loves women.”
“He’s wonderful.”
Jerry grinned.
