"Which direction?"
I stand, following the bent grass with my eyes. "South. Toward Hollow Creek."
Something shifts in his expression. Not quite approval. But acknowledgment.
He doesn't thank me. Just turns his horse and follows the trail I found.
But he doesn't question me either.
We regroup with Addie and Chace an hour later at the split oak where the property line angles west. The clouds that looked threatening earlier have shifted north.
Addie and Chace ride up from the east ridge, their horses breathing hard.
"Nothing," Addie reports, frustration clear in her voice. "Not a damn thing."
"Shocking," Chace says. "Almost like the cattle didn't consult a map before wandering off."
Addie shoots him a look that could strip paint. "Do you ever shut up?"
"Not if I can help it." Chace grins, unrepentant. "Silence makes you twitchy."
"You make me twitchy."
"See? I'm consistent."
Despite everything, I almost smile.
"Hazel found tracks," Eli says, cutting through their banter. "Heading south toward Hollow Creek."
Addie straightens in her saddle. "How old?"
"Six to eight hours," I say. "Maybe more."
Chace whistles low. "That's a lot of ground they could've covered."
"Then we keep moving," Eli says. He checks the sky, calculating. "We've got maybe two more hours of good light."
We ride south together now, all four of us in a loose line, eyes scanning the horizon. The sun drops lower, painting everything in shades of amber and shadow.
The trail I found peters out near the rocky ground above Hollow Creek. We split up again, covering more ground, checking every draw where cattle might shelter.
The light fades from gold to gray.
Eli rides back toward me as the sun finally drops behind the ridge.
"We need to set camp," he says. "Can't track in the dark."
I want to argue. Want to keep searching. But he's right.
"Alright," I say quietly.
His eyes flick to mine for just a second, then away.
Dusk settles in slow and blue as Eli picks a rise of ground just above the tree line. High enough to keep us visible. Close enough to shelter the horses from the wind.
We make camp without much talk.
Chace gets the fire going while Addie stakes the tents. I unsaddle Blaze and lead him to where Eli has already tied the other horses, close enough to the trees for shelter.
