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ChapterOne
Cheyenne
No, no, no...
My heart sunk in my chest as the smoke poured out from under the hood of my old 70s Volkswagen van. The dark gray hue matched the storm clouds rolling in from the southwest, and it only made me feel that much worse about being stuck on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, Texas.
Takoda perked his ears up at me as I killed the engine, and the little black and white border collie mix stretched in the passenger seat. He was probably thinking he was going to get a chance to run around, but there was no way that was happening on the side of the highway.
“Hopefully, the radiator just needs more coolant.” I gave his head a soft pat, before pulling the hair tie off my wrist and pulling my coal black hair out of my face. I’d never been to Texas, and the humidity that slammed into me as I pushed the door open and popped the hood was nearly suffocating.
Broken down in hell.
I walked around to the back of the van and opened the back faded mint doors. I let out a sigh, seeing that I was low on coolant. “Stupid leaky radiator.” A rumble of thunder in the background startled me. I turned toward the storm just as a heavy breeze roared around me.
What kind of storm is this?
We had nasty thunderstorms in South Dakota, but the sound––something like a train––caught me off guard. I squinted off toward the darkening horizon. It didn’t look like there was anything more than maybe a wall cloud. Anxiety made my hands shake a little, but I ignored it.
I just needed to keep heading toward Arizona.
Carrying what little I had left of the coolant, I headed back around to the front of the van. I set the jug on the ground, pushing the hood to the air. The smoke was worse than the humidity, and I let out a violent cough, trying to clear the air with a wave of my hand. Thunder cracked in the distance, and I shuddered at the sound.
I need to hurry.
But the longer I stared at the engine in front of me, the more dread filled my chest. It wasn’t smoking in the usual place. In fact, it was coming from somewhere totally foreign to me. I ran my hands over my face, frustration and defeat replacing every single bit of anxiety in my chest.
“What the hell am I supposed to do?” I groaned, my shoulders dropping. I had consulted the only mechanic I knew on the reservation before I headed out, and he had assured me that as long as I kept coolant on hand, I would make it just fine...
But here I was with some unidentifiable problem.
Stranded.
Chewing on the inside of my cheek, my gaze shifted back to the storm, which was getting closer and closer. My heart began to thud in my chest as the train-like roar returned. I slammed the hood shut, my eyes catching sight of Takoda, who was now nervously panting in the front seat.
I guess we’ll just have to ride it out here.
I headed back to the door, my jeans already sticky with sweat. As I reached for the door handle, the wail of a siren poured through the atmosphere, its volume only challenged by the thunder now rumbling around me. I might not be from tornado alley...
But I knew that siren when I heard it.
Whipping my head around, I was met with the sight of a nearly black funnel, ripping up the trees around it as it barreled forward…
Right towards me.
Pure panic ripped through my body, and I whipped my head around, looking foranywherefor us to go off the side of the road. I didn’t have long before it would be right on top of us, and I knew my van didn’t stand a chance.
And then I heard it.
A horn blared behind me, and I spun around to see a massive red one-ton ranch truck pulling in behind me. I froze, unsure how to react to the sight, or if they were even there to help at all. The truck’s door swung open, and my mouth went dry as a handsome, six-foot cowboy stepped out.
“Can that thing run?” he called out to me, pointing to the van.
I shook my head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with it.”
“Then get in,” he said, gesturing back to his truck.
“Uh...” my voice trailed off, all the red flags about strangers going off in my head. “I don’t know.”
