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And then we entered the flood waters.
I glanced down as Roanie bravely slid down a small embankment, the water going from a few inches over her hooves to well above her knees.
Holy fuck.
This is going to get deep.
“Cheyenne!” I needed to put eyes on her before I went any deeper, halting Roanie in the water.
“Wade,” she called out, her voice weaker than ever before.
My head whipped to the left, and my heartdropped.At the edge of the tree line, I finally spotted her meager five-feet-four-inch petite frame, cradling Takoda...
And halfway up a damn tree.
How am I going to get her?
I urged Roanie forward, seeing as Cheyenne was a solid seventy feet in front of us. I had to see how close I could get—without getting swept away. I could tell that the waters weredeep,more than likely over my head, seeing that Cheyenne was a good ways up in the tree. My hand fell to my lariat, knowing I only had sixty feet of rope to create a guideline while leaving enough to tie off to.
“We need ten more feet, girl,” I murmured to Roanie as she carefully waded into the deeper waters.
“It’s too deep,” Cheyenne cried out to me from the tree. “We need more help.”
“Cheyenne, this water is rising,” I said back to her, knowing that it would for a good amount of hours. “I need to get the two of you out of therenow.”
She went silent, and I was unable to make out the expression on her face. Ihadto focus on the task at hand, knowing that we would all be suffering if I didn’t do this just right. I pulled my rope from where it was hanging on my saddle, readying it. There was nothing toropeper se, but if I could get it to Cheyenne, there was a chance that she could get it around the tree—though she wouldn’t be able to do a true loop around it.
I’d have to trust that Cheyenne could tie a strong enough knot to hold us while Roanie kept the tension.
“I’m going to throw this rope to you,” I instructed, standing up in my stirrups. “And I need you to tie me off to the tree.”
“I only have one hand.” Her voice shook.
“You’ll have to get Takoda situated under your arm and do the best you can,” I called back. “Otherwise, you’ll have to try and throw the end back to me to go around the tree like a lasso.”
She was silent for a few long moments.
“Chey, come on, we have to do this.”
Roanie’s back tensed as she braced across the current, which appeared to be strengthening in the moment.
“Okay,” Cheyenne finally agreed. “I can tie a good knot.”
“Okay.” I swung the rope over my head and threw it with all my strength, hoping to make the sixty foot space.
And I missed. The rope landed a good five feet away from Cheyenne and was swept away within seconds.
Fuck.
Quickly, I brought it back in, frustration building in my chest at my failure to make the distance.
You have to do this, Wade.
I couldn’t let Roanie go any deeper into the water, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to support us if she was using every bit of her strength to support herself. I readied my rope, taking even breaths as I went through the motions again, this time leaning into the throw in hopes of making the last of the distance. Rarely did I ever throw a rope from this far, and it was proving much more difficult than I had expected...
“Got it!” Cheyenne cried out, having just swept it up in some miraculous fashion. “This might take me a second.”
“Take the time it takes to get the best knot. It won’t be long and we might have some help,” I added, turning to look behind me. I knew Blake would be rallying up help, though I had forgotten to tell him that I had found her...
