She could remind him what Riley had just asked of them, but Dragoon had heard him just as well as they had. He would do what he felt he must. And part of her agreed that his thinking seemed right. A man on horseback with one animal tethered behind would be able to move quickly. Far faster than they’d been traveling as they searched for tracks.
Dragoon gave them one more look. “You’ll be safe enough here waiting for the others. Tell them where I’ve gone. Once I have Bessie, I’ll wait for you.”
Then he nudged his horse into a brisk walk as he searched the land in front of him.
The sun was already heating the day, so she and Lorelei sat near a cluster of aspen trees to wait. The horses enjoyed the opportunity to graze, but she couldn’t help the restlessness that made it hard to sit still.
The pup lounged in Lorelei’s lap for a while, then stood and stretched. It turned to her, and if a coyote pup could grin, that animal surely was. Its tail wagged just like a dog.
“You want to go for a walk?” Lorelei spoke in a singsong voice.
Juniper reached for the lead. “I’ll take him if you hold the horses. I need to move around.”
They traded ropes, Lorelei taking both of their riding horses as well as Riley’s pack mule. Juniper stood and tugged the pup away from the bigger animals. “Come on, little fellow. Let’s enjoy the sunshine.” They strolled toward some low boulders half buried in the ground to form a low platform.
When she stepped up on the stone, memories swept in of the area where she and Rosie used to picnic on the ranch when they were younger. The place was a couple hours’ ride from the house, so they didn’t go there often, but its unique surface and the trees that grew up from the rock provided a host of opportunities to play. Sometimes the stone floor would be a stage from which to sing or dance. Other times they would ride their horses over the surface, hooves clopping loud as they pretended the animals were trained fortricks. They even played cat-and-mouse sometimes among the low shrubs.
No such growth rose up from this stone floor, though its curved surface formed a number of cracks and crannies. Boots lowered his nose and sniffed as he walked. She followed him, letting him lead in a meandering path. After pausing overlong to sniff a dirt-filled crevice, the pup raised his head and whined.
“What is it, boy?”
He began to tremble, something she’d not seen him do since those first days after Lorelei found him.
She crouched beside him. “What’s wrong?”
He made another high-pitched whine.
As she stroked his back, a sound slipped into her awareness, like rough sand being poured into a tin cup.
She glanced up to find its source, and her heart stuttered into her throat.
A snake lay coiled a dozen strides away.
The creature was thicker than her fist and a brownish color, not much darker than the rocks but with a pattern of lighter stripes down its back. Its head rose only a little from the stone, but its tail waved higher as that awful sound came again.
A shiver slid through her, and her body pushed into action. She gripped the pup and lifted it to her chest as she forced herself to move slowly as she stood and backed away. Her heart pounded in her ears, but the last thing she wanted to do was frighten the creature into striking.
Could snakes leap far enough to cover the distance between them? This was no small animal—longer than a man lying down, probably.
As it released another of those heart-stopping rattles, she reached the edge of the rock and stepped down.
Only then did she dare take her eyes from the creature long enough to glance around for any others. She’d heard of rattlesnakes but had never seen one in person. Did they gather in groups?
She could see no others, which meant she should be able to safely turn and run now. As she did, she called out to her sister, “Lorelei, mount up. We need to get out of here.”
Her sister stood as she approached, concern marking her expression. But the urgency tightening Juniper’s chest kept her moving.
She grabbed her mare’s reins and the mule’s tether rope from Lorelei, then pressed the coyote pup into her arms. “There’s a huge rattlesnake on that rock. We have to get out of here.”
They mounted, and she didn’t take the time to fasten the tether strap to her saddle, just gripped it tight and turned her horse. She’d promised Riley they wouldn’t go ahead without him, so it looked like they’d be heading downriver. At least far enough until her heart stopped pounding and they saw no sign of venom-filled creatures.
The moment Riley spotted Juniper and Lorelei downriver from the place he’d left them, his heart began to pound. What had happened to make them retrace their steps, and where was Dragoon? Had he left them and they’d grown afraid?
Riley should’ve known better than to think Dragoon would have stayed. Despite the fact he was generally a decentfellow, no one could be counted on to follow through with their responsibilities when something else seemed more important. Or when that responsibility proved too hard. His parents had taught him that truth long ago, so why had he lost sight of it now, when Dragoon’s actions might have put Juniper and Rosemary in danger?
He spurred his gelding into a canter until he reached them. “What’s wrong?”
Juniper had been frowning until he spoke, then her expression smoothed out. “Nothing’s wrong now, at least not with us. We saw a rattlesnake where we were waiting, so we decided to move away from it.”
