A Special Kind of Love (17 page)

They
were going on foot. It was less than a mile to his homestead overland and if
they went via the road it was over five miles. With the shape they were all in
overland would be faster. They reached the ranch in less than ten minutes, and
Tanner went straight to the barn. The horses startled as he and his men clomped
into the barn, their equipment was bulky and in their haste, they weren’t
exactly being quiet.

Tanner
immediately noticed the stall door open on the left. Missy was gone. Damn. He
was too late. Aaron had already been here, and now they were one horse short
for the search. “One of you guys is going to have to hoof it. Who wants to ride
and who wants to walk?”

“Scott’s
the better rider, boss. I’ll go out on foot. What direction do you want me to take?”

“Go
west, southwest. I’ll have Scott go northwest and I’ll go straight west. Make
sure your radios are on channel
three,
we don’t want
to clog up the airwaves. Check in every ten minutes, no matter what you find or
don’t find. I want to know where you are at all times. Don’t take any chances,
men. He started out on horseback, so even if he leaves Missy to go on foot, she
should be easy to spot.” He clasped arms with Kyle, hand to wrist. “Be safe,
man, and let’s find my boy.”

Tanner
pulled Phantom and Tara out of the stalls while they talked and was already in
the process of saddling them up. As Tanner turned back to the horses, Kyle gave
a quick salute and took off at a run.

I’ll find him. He’ll be okay. He’s
a smart kid
.
The litany ran through Tanner’s mind as he finished saddling the horses. Aaron
had to be all right, there was no other option. How the hell had the kid made
it to the ranch and out to the fire without anyone seeing him? They had just
crossed through the area where Aaron should have been and hadn’t seen hide
nor
hair of him or Missy. Was he that far ahead of them? How
long had he been gone before
Kamani
became aware of
it?

He
needed to stop with all the questions and just concentrate on finding Aaron.

“Mount
up, Scott. Check in
in
ten minutes.” Tanner mounted
Phantom and took off at a gallop. The first ten minutes passed in the blink of
an eye. Check
ins
were negative, nobody had seen a
thing. Tanner’s heart beat double time in his chest. He had reached the edge of
the burn zone, he could feel the heat from the blaze, but he could still
breathe without oxygen.
Please God, let
Aaron have stopped before he got into the heavy smoke.

The
grass ahead was burned and black. Bushes were leafless skeletons that still
smoked, but at least there were no longer any flames. Tanner scanned the
landscape. There. Off to the right it looked like the ground had been disturbed
since the burn. Patches of brown and red dirt showed through the black ash on
the ground. Tanner dismounted and ground tied Phantom. He walked over to
inspect the ground. Yes! Those were hoof prints. Tanner pulled out his GPS and
radio, he broadcasted over channel three. “I have hoof prints at my location.”
He then gave the longitude and latitude coordinates. Sharon’s voice came over the
radio.

“Oh,
thank God! Is the trail clear? Will you be able to follow him?”

“It’s
clear for now, baby. I’ll follow as long as I can. It’s our first break, but I’m
close. I’ll find him. I’m not
gonna
wait for Scott
and Kyle to get here, you guys just follow me in. I’ll check in at six-forty”

“Hurry,
it’s getting dark soon. Be careful,” Sharon said.

“West
out,” was his only reply.

He
mounted Phantom again and picked his way slowly through the burned out
landscape, praying the trail remained visible. His next check in passed with no
change. He was still able to follow the trail, but he hadn’t seen any other
signs of Aaron. Scott and Kyle were hot on his heels. Time seemed to pass at a
snail’s pace, every minute he couldn’t find the boy felt like an hour, and his
anxiety continued to mount. He had to find something soon.

He
had entered the tree line just before the last check in. Thankfully they had
subdued the blaze in this area several hours ago and it appeared the wind had
shifted. It was now blowing toward the east and away from town and him. Please
don’t shift again, he prayed. He’d done more praying in the last hour than he had
in the last several years. He sure hoped God was listening.

Just
then, as if in answer to his prayer, he heard a rustling to his left, and then
a
nicker
. He spotted Missy’s russet coat through the
trees. Elation and fear battled in his chest. He was closer, he was going the
right direction, but Aaron was now on foot and that increased his danger. He
wouldn’t be able to move as fast if he needed to get out of the area.

He
dismounted and went to retrieve Missy. After walking her over to where he had
left Phantom he removed both of their bridles. He didn’t want to ground tie
them, they were both too well trained and he feared they would remain in the
area, even if danger approached. He placed the bridles in the saddle bag and
turned the horses loose.

The
trail was getting harder to follow. Most of the brush had been burned down to
cinders in this area and the ground had been pounded with water, so the ash
wasn’t visible. He started calling aloud for Aaron. Hopefully he was close
enough to hear.

Two
more check
ins
passed. The men were closing in behind
him, following his markings on the path. They were closer to the blaze
now,
Tanner could see the flames ahead. Breathing was
becoming more difficult, but he wasn’t going to put on his respirator yet. He
needed to conserve his oxygen for as long as possible, because he wasn’t
leaving until he found Aaron.

Scott
and Kyle caught up to him before the next check in and they continued on
together. At least with three of them, finding the trail seemed to be easier.
Fifteen more minutes passed and the smoke was now so thick they could barely
see ten feet in front of them. Kyle started coughing.

“Time
to put on the respirators,” Tanner said. His chest ached at the statement.
Aaron didn’t have a respirator.
Where the
hell is that damn boy?

The
eerie sound of their breathing echoed in Tanners ears as he strained to hear or
see any signs of Aaron. They were at the edge of the fire now. Flames engulfed
small bushes dotting the land. The three men had no fire suppression equipment
with them. They were purely search and rescue, so they skirted around the
flames and continued their pursuit.

Tanner
continued to call for Aaron, his throat growing hoarse from the constant
yelling.

And
then it happened. Tanner heard something over the crackling of the fire…a
voice. He held up a hand to halt the movements of the men and strained to hear.

“Listen,
is that a voice?”

All
three men stood still as statues and listened.

Tanner
called again, “Aaron, Aaron is that you? Answer me!”

The
voice came again, a little stronger this time, followed by a bought of
coughing. Tanner took off at a run. “Keep calling, Aaron. We’re right here. We
need your voice to find you.”

“I’m
here, Tanner, but I’m stuck. A tree branch fell on me. I can’t move.”

This
time Tanner heard him clearly and then he spotted it. An orange scarf waved in
the distance only a few yards ahead. Tanner ran to Aaron’s side and assessed
the situation. Aaron’s leg was pinned by a large tree branch, but other than
that, he appeared unharmed. His face was covered in soot, and he held the
orange scarf over his mouth.

Tanner
took a moment to pull Aaron in for an awkward hug.

“Damn,
you had us scared, boy! If I wasn’t so happy to see you alive I’d tan your
hide.”

Aaron
dropped his head and removed the scarf from his face, “I’m sorry, Tanner. I
just wanted to help.” Coughing racked him again.

“I
know, buddy, and believe me, we will talk about this later. For right now let’s
get you out of here.”

The
heavy tree limb was no match for three strong men, and they had Aaron
extricated in no time. Aaron screamed as the limb was removed and Tanner’s
stomach clenched at the sight it revealed. The leg was broken. The bone protruded
through the skin. No time for first aid, they had to get Aaron out of this
smoke,
now
!

“I’m
gonna
have to carry you out, buddy, and I won’t lie
to you, it’s
gonna
hurt.”

“It’s
okay. I’m a big boy. I can take it,” Aaron boasted.

Tanner
lifted him into his arms. It would be harder to carry him this way, but he
couldn’t bring himself to put the boy in a fireman’s carry. He needed the
comfort of him in his arms, and this way he could keep the leg from moving.

“Call
it in, Kyle, and have an ambulance standing by to pick him up. Check the GPS
and see where the closest pick up sight will be.”

Kyle
checked the GPS and did some mental calculations. “I think the shortest route
is back to base camp. It looks like it’s just over two miles southwest.”

“Okay,
radio in that we’re on our way.”

Aaron
paled and broke out in a cold sweat when Tanner rose to his feet. The boy’s
head lolled back and he slipped into unconsciousness. Tanner was concerned
about all the smoke that Aaron had been exposed to. He wanted to ignore his
training and put his respirator on the boy, but he didn’t. The sooner they got
out of the smoke the better. Aaron needed to be on oxygen. He listened
carefully to the boy’s breathing. It was labored, but he was hanging on.

Dear God, let him be okay.
He loved this boy, and he couldn’t lose
him.

Chapter Eight

A
cheer went up all over base when the radio announcement came in. Aaron was found.
He had a broken leg, but he was with Tanner. Sharon collapsed onto a chair and
started to cry. She had managed to hold it together while they searched, but
knowing her son was on his way here opened the floodgates. Her relief poured
out with her tears.

Jasmine
sat beside her, held her hands and let her cry. The quiet tears quickly turned
to sobs and Jasmine knelt down in front of her, enfolding her in her arms.
“That’s it, honey. Cry it out. Everything is okay now. Tanner and Aaron will be
here soon.”

Sharon’s
sobs soon abated and in a hitching voice she said, “I’m okay.
Just so relieved.
It’s so stupid to be crying now. I’m
sorry.”

“Don’t
be sorry,” Jasmine said, rubbing her back in little circles. “You needed the
release. Your men will be here any minute and you don’t want Aaron to see you
crying.”

Sharon
raised her head and swiped her cheeks with her hands. She took a few hiccupping
breaths and regained her composure. Jasmine was right. Her men were coming and
she still needed to be strong for them.

“There
they are!” someone shouted.

Sharon
scanned the horizon to the north and her heart stopped. Tanner strode toward
them, Aaron a limp bundle in his arms.
No,
he can’t be…they said he was all right!
She ran toward them, hope and fear
waging war in her mind. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she could
barely breathe. Tanner turned to the side as Sharon collided with his body. She
tried to snatch her son from his arms and he grabbed her around the waist with
his free arm. He pulled her close and pressed his face against her cheek. “
Shh
, baby. He’s alive.” She threw her arms
around him and hugged him tight and then she stepped back and cupped Aaron’s
face. He was filthy, pale and sweating. The perspiration had left trails along
the black soot covering his face, but he was alive and so dear to her. She
kissed his dirty forehead, his cheeks, everywhere she could reach on his face.

Aaron
took a deep shuddering breath and blinked his eyes open, rallying now that he
was in his mother’s care.

“Knock
it off, Mom. You’re embarrassing me,” Aaron wheezed.

“Too
bad, little man.
You’re just going to have to put up with a little embarrassment because I love
you and I’m so glad you’re all right.”

“He
needs oxygen and he’s in a lot of pain, babe. Let’s get him to the ambulance,”
Tanner said.