“I’ll be getting out of here before the dog washing starts,” Connie said. And about five minutes later there was the sound of barking. “Here she comes, then.”

    “Better run for your life,” Sully said. “Gonna be messy.”

    “I’m not going anywhere till I see her,” he said. “Bet she looks like a drowned rat. I know it’s an easy laugh, but come on.”

    Then Beau appeared looking like he’d been through combat, mud up to his ears, hair slicked down and soaked. He pranced in front of the porch, barking and Sully stood up from his chair. “Where is she, Beau?” he asked. And Beau answered by barking and prancing. “Holy Jesus,” he muttered, going into the store quickly.

    Connie followed him, watched as he gathered up bottled water, the first aid kit, rain slicker, some energy bars and dog biscuits as incentive.

    “What are you doing?”

    “Going to get her,” he said.

    “No, Sully,” Connie said. “I’m going. Will Beau take me?”

    “I don’t know. I suppose he might—he’s back and he’s riled and he’s soaked to the bone. I don’t think he woulda left her. Unless he had to.”

    “I’m going, Sully.”

    “Why? Why you?”

    “I’m a paramedic, for God’s sake. If she’s hurt, you think you can carry her? I have a better first aid kit in the truck. I have walkie-talkies. You should stay here in case she comes back and you can radio me. I’ll try to get Beau to take me to her.”

    “He ain’t trained in that, you know. But I have sent him off to get Molly when she wanders a little far and he could manage that.”

    Connie made tracks to his truck. He loaded up his backpack, changed his shoes for boots, put a rappelling rope over one shoulder, put on a harness and grabbed an extra in case. He wasn’t sure he’d have to lower himself down a hill or cliff but if he did have to he wasn’t going to come back for that stuff. He checked his GPS unit—charged.

    Sully was on the porch. “Want me to call the search group?”

    “Let’s see what Beau gives me first,” he said. “I have a feeling he knows what he’s talking about.” He handed Sully a walkie-talkie. Then he looked at the dog, gave him a pet and said, “Take me to her, Beau.”

           Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

    —Eleanor Roosevelt

    Chapter 7

    SIERRA SHIVERED AND checked her watch every two minutes. She had been sitting for over a half hour and it was cold back in the woods. Beau had abandoned her and was probably chasing a deer or rolling around in bear poop somewhere. Her teeth chattered. Molly shivered and Sierra held her close against her thigh, arm around her, trying to lend heat.

    At forty minutes since Beau took off she wondered if she should start to hobble or crawl or scoot on her butt. She checked her ankle almost as often as her watch. It was looking more repulsive by the minute—growing red and purple and fat. She took a drink of her water and then held Molly’s chin up and squirted some in her mouth. Molly looked up at her with very sad, sympathetic eyes. “I’m sorry,” she told her new best friend. “I put you in a terrible, scary situation. I should have been paying closer attention to the ground.” Molly just licked her.

    “You are the nicest friend I’ve ever had,” she told Molly. Soaking wet, all her fluff matted down with rain, she didn’t seem to be very big. “Imagine, I could be out here alone, but I feel like I’ll never be alone again now that I found you.”

    “You’re not alone now, either,” a voice said. She jumped in sudden fear and looked up to see Connie and Beau standing on the trail not too far away. She grabbed her chest, tried to slow her lurching heart. “What’s up, Sierra?”

    She sat on a rock and lifted her foot toward him. “I fell. I messed up my ankle, I guess. I tried walking on it and I can, but... I looked around for a strong stick or branch I could use like a cane, but no luck.”

    Connie came forward and shed his backpack, rope and extra harness. He knelt in front of her and lifted her foot, pulling down the sock to look at her ankle. He gently turned it back and forth and she winced. “Crap,” he said. “What an ugly mess.”

    He dug around in his backpack and brought out an Ace bandage.

    “Were you going climbing?” she asked, noting the ropes and harness.

    “Nope, I was coming after you.”

    “What’s the rope and everything for?”

    He met her eyes and once again she was startled by the beautiful robin’s egg blue. “I didn’t know where I’d find you, Sierra. You could’ve been at the bottom of a ravine or something.” He pulled a walkie-talkie off his belt. “I got her, Sully. She hurt her ankle. I’ll bring her back.”

    “You need transport?” Sully’s raspy voice asked into the radio.

    “No, I’ll transport her.”

    “How are you going to do that?” Sierra asked. “Are you going to cut down tree branches and build a litter and drag me home?”

    “No, I’m going to piggyback you,” he said. “The preferred method is the fireman’s carry, over the shoulder, but a half hour of that would just about ruin you.” He unlaced her hiking boot. “I’m going to wrap this ankle to help get the swelling under control but I’m not taking the boot off—you might not get it back on and it’ll be easier to carry while it’s on your foot. When we get back to Sully’s we’ll elevate it, put ice on it and I’ll wrap it properly. We might have to go get an X-ray.”