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Finally, the whimpering started again. Now there was no doubt where it was coming from. I glanced down the path one more time in the direction George had gone, as if he might’ve decided to have some sympathy on me and come back down. No such luck. If I headed toward the whimpering instead of George, there was a good chance that damn llama might be lost for good.
Didn’t matter—if there was a kid around, I was going to find him, or her.
I started off to the left, weaving through the thick knots of trees, stepping carefully not to slip on the snow. I gripped the trunks of the birches around me, focusing on each step. Halbrook Trail was lovely, but once you were off the safety of the path, it was more than a little treacherous. Last thing I wanted was a broken ankle.
“You there, kid?” I called out as I stepped. “Hey, I know you’re scared, but I’m here to help, OK? No one should be out here in the middle of a blizzard, especially on Thanksgiving.”
I had no idea if I was helping or hurting. I didn’t have kids of my own, and I was an only child, talking to little ones didn’t exactly come naturally to me. All the same, I figured some little kid out lost in the middle of nowhere was a hell of a lot more important than any of my animals.
I broke through the trees and stepped out onto the edge of the ravine.
That’s when I spotted him. The boy was laying among the rocks in the dry creek. From where I stood, about a hundred feet away from him, I could see that he was dressed in dark pants and a big puffy coat, his hair dark and matted with sweat and snow. A small smear of blood was on his forehead, giving me a start.
Finally, he opened his little mouth and called out.
“Help!”
Chapter 2
Aubrey
The sight of the little man in pain was heart-wrenching. I broke out into a run, hopping down into the ravine and made my way toward him, carefully moving down the stony slope.
“Hey, kid!” I called out, my voice carrying along the dip of the dry creek bed. “Stay right there, alright?”
The boy turned toward me. There was fear in his eyes, eyes that I could tell were a gorgeous hazel even from a distance. His hair was semi-long, the ends curling at his collar. Between his hair and the outfit of jeans, boots, and a tiny flannel, he looked like an adorable little rancher. His clothes were a bit dirty from his fall, but other than that, he appeared well-groomed. That meant he was almost certainly well taken care of.
Most importantly his forehead was smeared with blood. Although I’d never been all that much of a kid person, the sight of a hurt little boy activated a protective feeling in me like none other.
He didn’t reply. So, I called out to him once more.
“Are you alright?” I asked, my voice projecting down the ravine. “Say something, will you?”
He didn’t, and I was beginning to get the sense that he was more worried about the strange lady flying toward him than he was his injury. I closed the distance, dropping to my knees once I got to him.
“Let me get a look at that, OK?” I asked.
The kid regarded me with a wide-eyed expression, his mouth formed into a flat line. The boy was totally adorable, the kind of kid you could already tell was going to grow up into a very handsome man.
I reached for his forehead, and he responded by turning his body away from me.
Think, Aubrey.This little guy’s far away from home, and now some crazy woman is looming over him trying to look at his wound.
I paused, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. After that I smiled and placed my hand on my chest.
“Hey, there. My name’s Aubrey Downing. What’s yours?”
He said nothing but turned back toward me.
I pointed off in the direction of Downing Farm. “You know that little place that’s just over there? That’s my farm, Downing Farm, just like my last name.” I swept my hand toward the land around us. “This is all my property. I saw you here, and I wanted to make sure you were OK. That make sense to you?”
That got a little nod out of him.
“So, how about you start with telling me your name?”
He pursed his lips, and for a moment I was worried that he was about to clam up again.
But he didn’t. Instead, he put his tiny hand on his chest, like I had, and spoke.
