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“I think... I think Wade might have let him out,” Hazel chimed in, her voice timid. “I don’t know what I was thinking—maybe he thought I would let him back in? I don’t know, but Chey, I think he might be outside.”
“We’ll search the house and then meet you outside,” Blake said, he and Hazel exchanging a concerned look.
My stomach knotted up as I rushed for the back door, barely getting my boots on my feet before ripping the side door open, and rushing out into the rain. “Takoda!” I shouted, the pouring rain drowning out my voice. The pavement was flooding, soaking through the leather on my boots. It instantly caused my feet to grow cold but didn’t stop me.
“Takoda!” I continued to call out, jogging to the barn as the cold rain pelted my bare arms. “Takoda, where are you?” I slid the barn door open, hoping I would find him back in one of the stalls, chewing on horse manure.
But every single stall had a horse...
And there were no signs of Takoda anywhere.
“You okay?” a voice called from behind me. I spun around to see one of the ranch hands, Ryder—the one who had picked us up in the woods––giving me a weird look. He tilted his head at me. “Is something wrong?”
“Uh, yeah—no,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I can’t find Takoda, my dog—you know, the little fuzzy black and white border collie mix.”
His brow furrowed as he appeared to be in thought. “I saw him in here earlier with Wade? He was sweeping and shit. The dog was in one of the stalls, but that was a long time ago—maybe even before lunch.”
“Yeah, this would’ve been more recent.”
“I’ve been in the barn all evening cleaning tack, and there hasn’t been a dog in here... Wait, not since Blake was in here. I think your dog might be with him.”
I shook my head. “No, I already talked to Blake. He’s inside and Takoda wasn’t with him. He said he was still in the barn when he left.”
“Well, he had to have run out afterward because I shut up the barn right after Blake left. I know he’s not in here and hasn’t been in a while. The horse pasture is flooding up real bad, though. I saw the water’s rising up over the back fence. I was planning on heading up to tell everyone at the house—”
“Okay, but Ihaveto find my dog,” I cut him off, ignoring the information.
“I get that, but I’m just saying you need to be careful because the waters are rising real fast and you don’t want—”
I didn’t stay to hear him out, rushing back out of the barn and sloshing through the thick mud as I continued to call for him, desperate to see or hear him. “Takoda!” Tears were welling up in my eyes as I made my way to the pasture gate, not seeing any of the water that Ryder had mentioned. “Takoda!” My voice cracked on the last syllable as the tears finally slipped from my eyes, mixing with the rain soaking me.
And then I heard it.
A bark.
I did my best to attune to the sound, listening as closely as I possibly could. The one bark didn’t tell me where he was—or if it was even him.
But then the bark resounded through the rain, hitting me square in the chest. There was no doubt in my mind that it was Takoda...
And that something was wrong.
One bark turned into a steady yipping. It was high-pitched and desperate, reminding me of when he had gotten stuck in the backyard fence. I squinted through the downpour, seeing the rising water in the same area the barks were coming from.
It’ll take me forever to walk or run all the way out there.
Heart pounding and panic rising faster than the flood waters, I spun on my heel, racing back around to the barn door. I ripped it open, and seeing that Ryder was nowhere in sight, I went straight to Freddy’s stall, pulling out the horse. Mindlessly, I tacked him up, my hands shaking violently as I tightened the cinches and placed the bridle in his mouth.
“We just have to go far enough to get Takoda, and then I promise you can come back and be all warm and dry in your stall,” I said to the horse, leading him out of the barn into the rain. I stuck my slick, soaked boot into the stirrup and pulled myself up on the horse using the mane and cantle of the saddle. Before securing my other foot, I urged him forward, heading straight for the flooded pasture.
I’m coming, Takoda.
ChapterTwenty
Wade
My eyes fluttered opened, the rain pummeling the French doors of the balcony. I rolled to my side, reaching for Cheyenne...
But she wasn’t there.
