Page 24 of Rangers Mountain Rescue

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Buddy lets out a sharp bark and drags Dylan forward.

“He’s got something!” Dylan says.

I glance at the kid.

“You want to help us find him?”

Dylan nods so hard his hair flops.

“Yes.”

“Then you stay beside me the whole time, understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

Aspen hesitates.

Fear flashes in her eyes.

But she looks at the mountain.

Then at me.

“I’m coming too,” she says.

I shake my head immediately. “No.”

My chest tightens. “He’s my responsibility.”

“And it’s my search.”

Dylan’s voice breaks behind me. “Mom… he’s lost out there.”

That does it.

She stepped forward, her voice shaking—but firm.

“Dylan already lost his father,” she says. “I’m not letting him lose his grandpa too.”

Silence falls.

I studies her.

She doesn’t back down.

Because this isn’t about being brave.

It’s about being a mother.

“I’m going,” she repeats. “For him.”

Her eyes flash.

For a second I think we’re about to argue.

Then Buddy pulls again.

Harder.

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