Page 30 of Wilde Flame

After getting back to the main barn, Ensley and I took care of our horses, removing their tack, brushing them down, and providing fresh water before getting them settled into their stalls.

“There you are!” Emeline said, running toward us. Her voice was laced with fear.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, as I shut the door to Draco’s stall, leaving him warm and happy with his fresh oats.

“Lilibeth is missing.”

“What?” Ensley and I said at the same time.

“What do you mean by missing?” I asked.

“We were both out and she was riding on Lyra, and Lyra came back to the barn ten minutes ago—without Lilibeth.”

“Why were you out riding with a storm coming in?” I barked, walking quickly down the aisle of the barn and stopping at Orion’s stall. “Marshall, grab my saddle for me.”

Marshall had been walking toward us, but he quickly spun and ran to the tack room.

“We weren’t out on a joy ride! Whiskey got out of the paddock and took off. I saddled up to go get him, and so did Lilibeth.”

“Why would you let her go with you, Emeline?” Ensley asked.

“She insisted on helping. I called her when I found Whiskey and said I was heading back to the barn. She said she was, too. But she hasn’t come back yet, and she’s not answering her phone.”

Marshall handed me the saddle, and I quickly got to work.

“I’ll saddle up as well,” Marshall said.

I gave him a quick nod, then looked at Emeline. “Which way did she go?”

“North, since that was the direction Whiskey had gone. Lilibeth went on the northwest trail, and I took the northeast. I found him pretty quickly. We left not even an hour ago, so I can’t imagine she would have gotten that far. Let me saddle up—”

“No,” I said. “The storm’s almost on us, and I want you here. I’m sure Lilibeth stayed on the trail. She may have just gotten turned around and is heading away from the barn.”

Emeline worried her lower lip.

I reached for my sister’s hand and squeezed it. “I’ll find her, don’t worry.”

Turning to Marshall, I said, “You take the northeast trail, just in case. I’ll check the trail Lilibeth took.”

He nodded, and we both got on our horses and made our way toward the trails.

By now, the wind was whipping and the temperature had plummeted. It had also started snowing. And not a soft flurry, but a step down from a full-on blizzard. Hopefully Lilibeth was wearing warm clothing.

I rode up the trail, calling out her name. I wasn’t even sure she would be able to hear anything over the howling wind. The farther I got away from the barn, the more worried I got. Surely she would know to stay on the trail…but what if she’d wandered off it, thanks to the snowfall and near white-out conditions?

I started looking to the left and right. About another fifty yards along, I noticed faint footsteps on the trail, coming from the direction of the open pasture to the right. She had gotten off the trail a bit, but had obviously managed to find her way back. The only problem was that she was going the wrong way.

“Lilibeth!” I shouted as loud as I could. My voice was beginning to get hoarse from calling out her name.

Just when I didn’t think it could get any worse, it started snowing even harder, rapidly covering up her footprints.

“Fuck,” I mumbled, as I urged Orion to pick up the pace.

I pulled out my phone, took off my glove and hit Marshall’s number. He answered right away.

“Nothing yet.”

“I found footprints. But the snow is starting to cover them. She’s on this trail, that much I know. You head back to the barn and get out of this mess. I’ll let everyone know when I’ve found her. She can’t be that far ahead of me.”