Page 73 of One Golden Ring
He nods to me and I give Nutmeg’s belly a squeeze.
She doesn’t need the encouragement. In a second she’s moving up the trail fast enough that I worry I’m going to have to pull her back so she doesn’t slip and hurt herself.
The beautiful trail that went by in a heartbeat this morning seems much longer tonight. It’s dark, and the snow puts a hush over the hillside so that it feels like Nutmeg and I are alone on the edge of the world.
I would be scared for my own safety, except that the mare is swift and sure-footed, and she certainly knows the way.
Which leaves me free to be scared for J.B. instead.
It was clear this morning that she’s an experienced rider. But she’s also very upset, and she’s a teenager, which means her judgment may not be the best.
She’ll be okay,I tell myself.She has to be.
But when I get up to the peak and she’s not there, my heart is in my throat.
“J.B.,”I yell out at the top of my lungs.“Judi-Bloom,are you here?”
I hear hoofbeats and look up hopefully.
But it’s only Derek on Frankincense, arriving on the peak from the other side of the trail. There’s a haunted expression on his face as he joins me in the swirling snow at the top of the mountain.
I’ve seen Derek Lockwood look victorious over a business triumph, and furious when an employee makes a costly error. I’ve seen him pensively gaze out the window, his mind on somber things. And since coming to Angel Mountain with him, I’ve seen his eyes go soft with compassion and his handsome face light up with humor.
But I’ve never seen him look like this—his jaw is set and his eyes flashing with a mixture of determination and terror.
“She didn’t come this way. I was wrong,” I tell him, a strange sense of calm settling over me in spite of the frantic emotions that boil just beneath the surface of my mind. “Let’s head back down and call the police. They’ll know what to do.”
I don’t say out loud that they’ll probably call in the park rangers. But if she took a horse down one of the trails into the state park she could be anywhere.
He nods once, and I urge Nutmeg down the trail once more.
There’s nothing but the thunder of hoofbeats and the silent prayers in my head.
Please let her be okay…
24
DEREK
Afamiliar darkness has me in its clutches by the time Darcy and I reach the barn again.
I remember the day I lost Addie. I couldn’t believe it was real. But over the coming weeks and months all that weight landed on me and the darkness would have swallowed me whole if not for Judi-Bloom.
Please,I pray silently.Please protect her.
Darcy leaps off her mare with the grace of a dancer and she’s reaching for Frankincense’s bridle when I hear something.
It’s a low sound, but a familiar one—a soft cry that’s had me running since the day she came into this world.
I let Darcy take the horses and hop off to follow it to the back of the barn. The carriage is kept back there, as well as a large stall lined with pallets for storing fresh hay. Grandpa Michael used to take me back there sometimes when he was cleaning and polishing the carriage. When I got tired of helping him I would lie on the hay and listen to him hum while he worked.
When I get there, my eyes have to adjust to the dim light of a single lantern and I almost weep myself, with relief.
Grandpa Michael is sitting on a hay bale, and J.B. is in his arms, crying like her heart is broken.
“Look who’s here,” Grandpa Michael says softly to her as Darcy catches up.
“I’m n-not speaking to them,” she sobs. “They l-lied to me.Helied, and he said heneverw-wants to lie to me.”
