Love on the Horizon (A Northern Woods Novel) Read Online Free Page A

his
sandwich, Nick pushed his chair from the table and stood. “Thanks for the
sandwich, Kim, and for all of your help with Mariah. The men helping with the
search also appreciate the food ready for them when needed.” He grabbed his
Stetson from the shelf by the door.
    “I wish you luck,” she said. “I
hope you’ll be back with good news soon.”
    He only nodded, stepped out the
door and headed for the stable. Garrett would have a fresh horse ready and
waiting.
    * * *
    The girls had been hiking through
the woods for about an hour when they finally decided to stop and rest. Angie,
Patti and Sherri sat down on a log that blocked the pathway.
    “This tree trunk looks as though
it fell recently,” Angie said. “It must have come down in last week’s storm. I
heard that it hit pretty hard here in Pinewood Hills.”
    They each grabbed a bottle of
water from their backpacks, along with the box of cheese crackers Patti pulled
from hers. The sun had begun to warm the early morning chill, as it slowly
worked its way through the tree branches.
    “Isn’t this beautiful,” Sherri
said, and took a deep breath of fresh air. “I’m glad we decided to take this
trail. A creek runs near here. Should we see if we’re able to find it? I heard
Maggie talking about it to a customer last week.” Maggie is Sherri’s sister,
who now owns the Pinewood Hills Country Market & Cafe, located along the
county road, one mile south of Pinewood Hills.
    “Okay, after we’ve finished our
snack. Starting our hike at six a.m. may be beautiful, but I’m hungry,” Patti
said, and shoved a few cheese crackers into her mouth with a grin.
    Patti suddenly looked at Angie.
With a frightened expression on her face, she whispered, “Did you hear that?”
    “What?” she asked, and placed
some loose hair behind her ear.
    “Shhh, listen.”
    They all heard a soft,
low-pitched growl off to the east, through the pine trees located along the
edge of the trail.
    “Oh my God,” Patti said quietly.
“I hope it’s not a bear. Maybe it caught the scent of our crackers, or perhaps
us. I told you we shouldn’t have come into the woods this early in the
morning.”
    Angie stood and crept slowly
toward the pine trees.
    “Angie, don’t go over there,”
Patti whispered, “it might attack you.”
    Angie pulled her flashlight from
her jacket pocket, and swept a ray of light in the direction the noise came
from. She noticed a slight movement and directed the beam to what appeared to
be a wagon filled with hay. She heard another low growl, and then she saw a
little boy, as he pushed himself to a sitting position and rubbed his eyes. He
glanced directly into the bright glow of the flashlight and sat with his thumb
in his mouth, while tears flowed down his cheeks. He looked very frightened,
and his dog remained in front of him protectively.

Chapter
Six
     
    “Hi sweetheart,” Angie said
softly, “are you lost?” Lucky protectively backed up closer to Nicky. “I won’t
hurt you, honey. What’s your name?”
    He removed his thumb from his
mouth and answered, “Nicky Colburn.”
    “Oh, your father owns the Colburn
Stables Ranch. How did you get this far from home?”
    “I wanted to find my daddy so I
could help him be a cowboy,” he said, and more teardrops ran down his cheeks.
    Patti and Sherri quietly walked
up behind Angie and overheard him.
    “Oh my God Angie, I heard about
this on the news last night. We have to call the police. Around five o’clock
yesterday afternoon was when they realized he was missing,” Sherri said.
    “Honey could you let your dog
know that we’re nice people? We won’t hurt you.” She turned around and pointed
at Sherri. “Sherri will call the police department on her cell phone. She’ll
tell them where we are, and they’ll find us and bring you and your buddy back
home.”
    Nicky gave Lucky a hug, whispered
in his ear, and the dog looked at them with the wag of his tail. Patti then
brought water and crackers