Page 27 of Rangers Mountain Rescue
“He smells him!”
Aspen presses a hand to her mouth.
Hope.
Dangerous thing.
Buddy pulls again, dragging Dylan a few feet forward.
I steady the kid.
“Easy, Ranger.”
Dylan grins.
“You called him Ranger.”
I look down at the dog.
“That’s the name Saint gave him. We’ll stick with Buddy.”
Buddy wags like he knows what I just said.
We keep moving.
The trail gets steeper.
Rocks shift under our boots.
Branches scrape against jackets.
Aspen stumbles once.
I grab her arm automatically.
She freezes for a second.
Then whispers, “Thanks.”
Her hand is warm.
I don’t let go right away.
“Your husband,” I say quietly after a moment.
She stiffens.
“What about him?”
“He was a great rescuer.”
She chuckled.
“He told me once he could carry two guys at once during training.”
I almost laugh.
That’s exactly something Tank would do.
