Accidental Cowgirl (12 page)

Hayley checked the list. “Um, a map.”

Jess cocked her head as she adjusted her clips. “Not to be contrary, but wouldn’t it make better sense to
start
with a map?”

“Well, that’s why it’s the first thing on the list.”

Kyla tipped her compass back and forth in her hand. “Obviously these guys have a warped sense of humor.”

“Clearly.” Hayley laughed. “Did you hear the warning about the moose?”

“Oh, sweeties. I think they were just kidding about that.” Jess looked from Kyla to Hayley and back. “Weren’t they?”

“Um, no. I don’t think so. Kyla, did you think they were kidding?” Hayley pulled out her own compass, rocking it back and forth to mirror Kyla’s actions.

Kyla shoved her water bottle in its pocket. “Unfortunately, I think they were actually serious. We do
not
want to meet one. Isn’t that why they changed the whole scavenger hunt?” She shuddered. “I never thought I’d say this, but I’d rather be on horseback if we’re about to be attacked by a moose. At least there wasn’t any warning about bears. Must be we’re not in bear country after all.”

Dead silence.

“Are we?” Eyes wide, she looked quickly from Hayley to Jess.

Jess was the first to answer. “No, sweetie. Of course not. Definitely no bears.” Hayley nodded quickly in agreement.

Kyla narrowed her eyes at both of them. “Seriously, you guys. Are there bears around here?”

Hayley sighed. “Well, think about it, Kyla. We’re in freakin’ Montana. Fifty miles from the Crazies, which are apparently the Rockies. Did you know that, Jess?”

“No, I didn’t. Thanks for the geography lesson.”

“Anytime.”

“Guys!” Kyla growled.

“Yes, Kyla, there are bears here. But it’s not mating season and they should be perfectly well-fed on berries and rabbits and small children, so you won’t look like a tasty treat. Actually, I’ve heard that in bear country, you’re supposed to talk really loudly or sing so they hear you coming and run away before you can get close to them.” She winked conspiratorially. “I didn’t tell that trick to Cheryl and Theresa before they left, though.”

Kyla pulled the straps of her backpack one last time. “Seriously? I’m hating you guys more each day of this vacation, you know. Have I mentioned that yet? Because I’m definitely feeling it.”

Hayley slung an arm around Kyla’s shoulder and pointed with her compass toward a path in the woods. “We love you, too, honey. But just think. If you’re singing, you’re not moping.”

“If I’m running away from a bear, I won’t be moping, either, by your warped logic.”

“Ooh, no running.” Jess chimed in. “They can outrun you.”

“Oh, yeah. And no climbing trees. If they can’t climb it to get you, they’ll just shake you out of it.”

Kyla growled again. “I’m not amused. So what
are
you supposed to do? Play dead?”

Hayley grimaced. “Depends on the kind of bear. I don’t remember which you’re supposed to fight and which you’re supposed to play dead with. Do you remember, Jess?”

“Shut up, both of you, or I’m turning around right now.”

Jess put her arm around Kyla’s shoulder, right on top of Hayley’s. “Don’t worry, sweetie. We don’t have to outrun the bear. We just have to outrun Hayley.”

* * *

Two hours later, Hayley stopped near a big pine tree, uncapping her water bottle. “Um, do you guys still hear the creek?”

Kyla and Jess stopped short behind her. Kyla raised her eyebrows. “Nooo. Haven’t heard it in a while, actually. Why?” Kyla held out her hand for the map Hayley held. “What’s wrong?”

Hayley looked around, then at the map. She pointed to a spot near the middle. “Here’s where we picked up the water bottles.”

Kyla nodded. “Right. And then we did all of these jigs and jags, right?” She traced her finger along the crooked line. She looked around them, but the pines and meadow grass weren’t talking. “We should have found the next drop spot by now. I think we may have overshot it.”

Jess uncapped her water bottle. “Should we backtrack?”

Kyla studied the map, eyebrows furrowed. “Jess, how far out did they tell us we were going?”

“Cole said about two miles northeast, one mile south, and then back, but not necessarily in straight lines. Said we wouldn’t go more than five miles total.”

“Hayley, do you have your pedometer on?”

Hayley pulled it out of its clip on her waistband and pressed a button. “Shit.”

Kyla looked up. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

Hayley pressed buttons, shaking her head. “Well, either my calibrations are off, or we’re in better shape than we thought. This thing says we’ve gone six point two miles already.”

Kyla’s stomach tightened as she looked around. They were in a valley filled with pine trees and huge rocks. “In two hours? We are going to win the award for highest-maintenance guests ever. How did we screw up a map this simple?” Her temples started prickling as she realized they might really be lost.

“They should have sent us with GPS, not a lousy compass.” Hayley took a long swallow of her water.

Kyla did the same, then capped it quickly, realizing it might be smart to conserve it, depending on how lost they truly were. “Do we want to try to figure this out ourselves, or do we want to call the ranch?”

Jess frowned as she held out her cellphone. “No service.”

Kyla put her water bottle in her backpack pocket and took a deep breath, willing the prickles away. They could handle this, dammit. They were three intelligent women. “I guess that decides it, then. I’d say let’s try following these compass directions backward, but obviously we screwed up somewhere, so that might just get us more lost. We’ve got to be north of the ranch still, right?” She pointed south. “Let’s head up the valley on that side. Maybe when we get to the top we’ll be able to see something that’ll help us.”

Fifteen minutes later, they crested the top of the valley. To Kyla’s dismay, all she saw was more grass, more pine trees, and the mountains to their right.

Hayley shaded her eyes. “Okay, Kyla. We’re at the top of the hill. I still don’t see anything. Jess, how about you? You’re the tallest.”

“I’m only two inches taller than you, Hayls. Sorry, but I can’t see anything, either.”

Kyla consulted the map again. “Well, if it’s any comfort, as long as we don’t traverse the Crazies over there, we’ll still be on the same side of the mountains as the ranch.” She pointed at the peaks on the pencil-drawn map.

Hayley laughed. “Got it. No mountain climbing.”

Jess leaned over Kyla’s shoulder, pointing at the map. “If I were to take my best guess, I’d say we’re right about here.”

“Says the woman who got us lost the second night we were here.” Hayley peered over Kyla’s other shoulder. “So you’re thinking if we keep heading directly south, we should run into the ranch eventually?”

Kyla looked at Jess’s compass and again at the map. “It’s as good a guess as any at this point, right? Let’s head that way and see what happens. If we’re gone for too long, they’ll come looking for us, right?” As she looked toward the mountains, she shivered. What time of day were they most likely to see a moose? A coyote? Or, dammit, a bear?

Jess shouldered her backpack and grinned. “Should we sing so they can hear us if they do?”

“Again?” Kyla grimaced. “Haven’t we tortured the wildlife enough already? I’m not sure Decker was really serious when he suggested that.”

“C’mon, darlings. Brave faces. Let’s sing. It’ll make the time pass faster, if nothing else.”

Kyla had been practicing her brave face all vacation, but as much as she didn’t want to have to be rescued, she kind of hoped Cole and Decker were saddling up to come find them right now. She eyed the clouds gathering quickly south of them “Eek. Looks like we’d better move it, or we’re going to be sopping wet.”

Jess looked up, shading her eyes. “Those are not friendly-looking clouds.” She started quickly down the hill. “But it gives me a great idea for a song!” Hayley and Kyla groaned as Jess launched into the first verse of “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” then laughed and joined in. Just as they reached the first pine trees at the bottom of the hill, Jess halted quickly, grabbing Hayley’s and Kyla’s arms. Once they’d stopped, she pointed just ahead and to their right.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Hayley whispered.

Kyla started shaking, her breath coming in short little gulps. “That’s a bear, isn’t it?”

* * *

“I hate to say this, Deck, but the Boston gals aren’t back yet.” Cole leaned against the paddock fence while Decker put supplies back into the medical kit. The air had cooled considerably as a bank of clouds rolled over the mountains.

“I know.” Decker frowned, closing the bag. “They should have been back by now.”

Cole tipped his hat up, checking out the sky. “Not liking those clouds, either.”

Decker looked up at the darkening sky. Storms here came up too fast for his comfort. One minute it was sunny and seventy, and the next minute you could be in a raging downpour. The mountains did crazy things to the weather. “Dammit. I can’t believe we got so sidetracked with Cheryl and Theresa.”

“I told you they’d find a way to need a rescue.”

Decker all but growled. “If Cheryl’s got a real sprain, I’ll buy everyone a round on Friday night.”

“My bet is she’ll be dancing by then.”

Decker looked up at the sky again. “Damn.”

“Tom and Maureen pulled in an hour ago. I would have expected them last.”

Decker sighed. “Isn’t map reading a basic skill we could expect adults to have? Even city ones?” He fought the spark of worry that was niggling at him. Where the hell were they? The map was scary-easy to follow, even easier since they’d changed the whole scavenger hunt after their moose sighting south of the ranch yesterday. Christ, a Girl Scout troop could follow that map. Kyla and her friends should never have gotten more than a couple of miles northeast of the stables.

A low growl of thunder forced his eyes back to the sky. Reading Decker’s mind, Jimmy emerged from the barn with Chance and Cole’s horse, Scooby, all saddled up. Decker packed the med kit into one of Chance’s saddlebags, praying he wouldn’t need it. “Cole, get the radios. Jimmy, run up to the house and tell Ma we’re heading north. You and Pete take the southeast quadrant first, then southwest. I can’t imagine they could be that turned around, but we’d better cover all the bases.”

As they rode out of the paddock, Decker spotted Cheryl and Theresa on their cabin porch, sipping lemonade. Cheryl had her ankle swaddled in ice and resting on the swing, cigarette poised in her blood-red fingertips. He pressed the Talk button on his radio. “Jimmy, Cheryl needs a no-smoking reminder.” Seriously, who smoked that close to a barn full of hay? Was she completely dense?

Thunder rumbled again, and Decker scowled when he realized that while he and Cole had been treating Cheryl’s probably-fake sprain, Kyla and her friends had apparently managed to get themselves good and lost, with a big-ass storm brewing.

He and Cole should never have let Ma talk them into this stupid orienteering exercise. It was a recipe for disaster, especially with city folks. He thought of Kyla the first time he’d seen her, with her navy suit and high heels and silky blouse. He thought he’d had her pegged at the get-go, but since then, she’d looked completely natural in soft jeans and Tshirts, with her hair in a ponytail.

She was completely annihilating his city-girl stereotype, and that made him more uncomfortable than he really wanted to admit. Christ, last night she’d even shown Ma how to make chocolate chip cookies over the campfire. He pictured the chocolate melting onto her chin as she’d tried the first one. With a sweet grin, she’d pronounced it
exquisite
.

“What are you smiling about?” Cole’s voice broke into his thoughts.

Decker frowned. “I wasn’t smiling. Let me see the map.” If she knew how to bake cookies over a campfire, maybe there was a chance she knew how to seek shelter in a storm. He sure hoped so.

Twenty minutes later, Cole and Decker reined in the horses near the cave entrance where they’d left the ranch logo Tshirts earlier. “Okay, here’s number six.” Cole dismounted and checked the bag hanging in the entrance. “Shit. Looks like they never got past the fifth drop spot.”

Decker looked back as Cole mounted. “All right. Let’s head back to that spot and see if we can figure out where they went. Time to put all those Boy Scout merit badges to work.” He looked up as a sliver of lightning slashed the sky in the distance. “I’d sure feel better if we weren’t dealing with city girls here. I just hope they know enough to find shelter. They’ve never seen the kind of storm that brews up in these mountains.”

“Was that thunder?” Hayley shuddered.

“No, definitely not. Big jet.” Kyla looked up at the sky.

Jess looked up. “I don’t know if we should keep walking. If there’s lightning with that thunder, we’re going to be three perfect targets.”

Hayley peered around the pine forest. “Won’t it hit the trees first?”

“Have you ever been standing near a tree that got hit?” Jess tipped her head.

“The only trees in my neighborhood are in pots, Jess.” Hayley shook her head as she looked up at the sky, then back toward where they’d seen the bear an hour ago. “So do you suppose it’s better to be struck by lightning, or eaten by a bear?”

Kyla snorted. “I’m going to go with lightning. Quick and painless.”

Jess nodded. “I have to agree with you, darlin’. A bear mauling is a spectacularly awful way to die.”

“I hate you guys,” Hayley growled. “Are we sure the bear went the other way?”

“Nope,” Kyla answered, “but we were downwind. I don’t think it ever knew we were there.”

“Maybe because for once you didn’t giggle?” Hayley elbowed Kyla playfully. Kyla put her fingers to her temples, realizing that the prickly feeling had gone away. That was the second time since she’d been here that the first signs of a panic attack hadn’t gone any further. She knew better than to harbor delusions that she was getting better after only two nonattacks, especially given the previous day’s scene, but it gave her a tiny glimmer of hope.