Juliana held him while he cried. “Honey, he’s doing what he feels he has to do.”
“If you asked him to come back, I bet he would.”
“It isn’t that simple. There are things that we don’t agree on.”
“What things?”
“Trusting each other and confiding in each other.”
Josh began to sob and she took his hand, leading him to the rocker while she sat down and patted her lap. He sat on her lap, his long legs reminding her how fast he was grow- ing. His feet touched the floor, and it seemed not too long ago that she could hold him easily with his little legs dan- gling over hers.
“I don’t want him to go,” he said, sobbing.
She stroked curls back from Josh’s forehead. “Honey, he has to do what he thinks is best,” she repeated. “I’m sure you’ll see him again.”
“He promised to come back Sunday and watch us ride Midnight.”
“Well, Sunday will come soon.”
“Juliana!” came a cry from downstairs and she recog- nized Chris’s voice. “Juliana!”
“Something’s happened,” she said, suddenly terrified. She thought of Midnight and wondered if the horse had hurt Quin. She set Josh on his feet and started toward the door. He raced past her and she began to run at another desper- ate cry from Chris.
“Juliana, come quick!”
Chris bounded up the steps, his face white, his hands and clothes covered with mud. He was dripping wet, tracking muddy footprints behind him.
“Chris, calm down. What happened?”
“It’s Quin,” he gasped as they both raced down the stairs with Josh coming behind.
Twelve
“Quin wants to stop Cal from leaving. He took the boat to get to the bridge to try to stop Cal when he drives past, but the creek—”
“Oh, my Lord,” she cried, knowing the creek would be a raging torrent after the day’s downpour. “He’s already in the boat?”
“I tried to catch him, but I couldn’t. That water is going so fast, I couldn’t stand up.”
“Don’t go in the creek, Chris. Run get Stoddard.”
“He’s already out there. He said he’d walk down the creek bank and see if he can find Quin.”
Shaking with fear, she dashed to the phone. “Chris! Don’t let Josh leave your side.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Get all the rope you can find. Saddle Midnight. The horse might be able to go places along the creek bank that we can’t.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Chris answered. “You stay with me,” he said firmly to Josh, who nodded as they raced through the kitchen door.
She punched the numbers for Cal’s cellular phone. His deep voice washed through her with a comforting sureness. “Hello.”
“Cal, Quin has taken the boat and is trying to get to the bridge before you do. He wants to talk to you about com- ing back.”
“He’s out in the boat alone?”
“Yes. Please watch for him and stop him if you can. If he passes beneath the bridge, we might not be able to catch him before he goes into the river.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“No! You go to the bridge—” She heard the click and knew he had replaced the receiver. “Stubborn!” she mut- tered. She wanted him to watch from the bridge. No one from here would be able to catch up with Quin.
She went out just as Chris and Josh disappeared into some bushes. They rode Midnight and moved along the creek bank. Thank goodness Chris had learned how to ride, as well as picked up some fundamentals about taking care of himself when he was outside. Cal had seen to that. She looked down at her cutoffs and T-shirt. She should be in jeans to go through the bushes along the creek, but she didn’t have time to go back and change.
She hurried after Chris, reaching the creek, feeling her heart drop. Rushing and tumbling, black waters spilled over the banks, sending spray high into the air as the swollen creek raced toward the river. “No!” she whispered, unable to imagine Quin in the flat-bottomed boat in such a torrent.
“Juliana! Juliana!” Chris shouted.
She ran, bushes whipping against her as she pushed them out of the way. Her feet slid in the mud, but she maintained her balance, following his cry. “I’m coming!”
“Juliana, hurry!”
She pushed through more bushes and spotted Chris ahead. Stoddard was trying to toss a rope across the water while Chris and Josh watched. She looked at the creek, and her heart stood still.
“Juliana!” Quin cried. Across the creek, the flat- bottomed boat was wedged against a fallen tree. The up- rooted elm was half in water, the flat-bottomed boat caught in its branches and pressed against the trunk. Quin was clinging to the sides of the boat as water battered it and it bobbed wildly. She didn’t see any sign of oars and Quin was crying, sounding desperate.
She ran to Stoddard. “Can I help?”
“I don’t know, ma’am. I’m trying to toss this rope to him, to at least get it around his waist. If that boat washes away, we won’t get him.”
An engine roared and she whirled. The pickup bounced over the ground, smashing bushes and weeds until it slid to a stop. Cal jumped out.
“Stoddard has ropes, and Chris has Midnight,” Juliana said.
“I want the rope.” As he looked at the bobbing boat, Cal’s heart pounded with fear. Quin looked tiny and help- less and he was in a precarious position. At any moment, the boat could slip free from where it was jammed.
Stoddard handed him two coils of rope. Cal gave her the ends of both lengths of rope. “Tie these to the bumper of the pickup.” Cal looped and knotted the end of one length of rope around his waist. He stripped off his shirt and shoes and watch. He handed his watch to Josh. “Here, son, put this in your pocket.”
Cal took a rope from
