One hoof slipped as the edge crumpled beneath it.
Gray knew immediately there was trouble. The jump was too low, the pony's body turned to the side.
They would never make the far side.
Rachel fought to keep her seat. As the mare leaped, she immediately felt the center of gravity shift under her. She clenched her legs to keep in her saddle. She pulled the reins close to her chest and leaned hard over the saddle's pommel.
Twisted askew, she stared straight down into the fiery heart of the wildfire. She wasn't going to make it. The pony was already dropping. Searing heat bathed her.
She heard cries of alarm.
Then they hit the ground. The front hooves struck solid turf, reaching the far bank, but the mare's hind end crashed into the smoldering edge of the river of fire.
The impact threw Rachel flat on her stomach atop the pony. With the wind knocked out of her, she lost the reins and her footing and slid backward toward the fire.
Beneath her, the poor mare screamed in agony and fought to kick herself free, which only stirred the flames higher.
As she slid, Rachel caught the edge of the saddle. Fire burned the soles of her boots. The bucking mare, frenzied by agony, threatened to throw her off. Worse, the mare began to roll.
"Hold on!" a voice screamed.
She glanced up. It was Seichan. The woman dove forward and grabbed the mare's lead. Gray came up on the other side and tried to get hold of the halter's crownpiece.
Together, they fought to keep the mare from rolling.
Seichan wrapped the lead in her arms, dropped to her backside, and dug in her heels. Gray lost hold of the halter as the mare thrashed its head and screamed. He made another lunge for it.
"Just get her!" Seichan yelled as she was dragged toward the river herself.
It took all of Rachel's strength to keep her grip. She felt her legs burning, pictured her pants on fire. Then fingers clamped on her wrist. Gray was suddenly there, sprawled across the mare's withers. He yanked her forward with one arm, his other braced on the saddle's pommel. He hauled her up to his chest, his face red and strained.
"Climb over me!" he ordered her, staring straight at her.
The iron resolve of those steel-blue eyes hardened through her.
Gasping, she reached up and clutched a fistful of his coat. She pulled herself atop him, reached to his belt with her other hand, and crawled over him. At last she cleared the river's edge and rolled off him to land on her hands and knees in the snow.
Gray scrambled back, dropped next to her, then scooped her under one arm and half-carried her up the bank. They collapsed together into the snow. She hugged him, suddenly sobbing.
Behind her, a gunshot blasted.
Jerking around, she saw Seichan standing below, her back to them. She held a smoking pistol. The screams of the mare ended as its body collapsed to the ground and slid farther into the fire.
Seichan sank to the snowy bank, cradling her pistol.
Great.
Still on the other side of the fiery river, Kowalski had watched Rachel's mare stumble. Her pony still burned at the river's edge. How was he going to make it across? His mount, a gelding, was not as tall as Gray's stallion and not half as fast as Rachel's mare. Plus his pony had no balls, which already made him edgy.
Kowalski held a hand to his stomach. He really should have gone on that diet Liz was pushing.
Gray called from the other side. "What are you waiting for?"
Kowalski lifted one of his fingers at Gray. He patted his pony's neck. "You can do this...right?"
His pony tossed its head and rolled a scared eyeball at him.
Right there with you, bud.
He backed his pony, going a little farther, giving himself more of a running start. Still, he hesitated. The pony did, too. It refused to set, dancing its hooves nervously. They both had as much to lose.
We just have to calm ourselves, take a moment to collect-
A pine exploded directly behind them. It went off like a Roman candle. Flaming debris blew high, pelted the back of his coat, and struck the pony's rump.
Given a fiery kick, the gelding took off with a surge of adrenaline-driven muscle. Kowalski came close to falling but quickly regained his balance, riding high in the stirrups. The pony thundered under him, hit the bank, and went airborne.
If Kowalski were braver, he would have whoop ed. Or if he had a cowboy hat, he might've waved it. Instead, he leaned down and clung tightly to his gelding with both arms.
Below, as if knowing the last of them were escaping, the entire creekbed collapsed into an inferno of fire. Flames shot upward around them.
Kowalski squeezed his eyes shut, bathed in searing heat.
Then they hit the far side with a crash of hooves on solid ground. The impact threw him over his pony's head. He went flying and landed in a snowbank. He lay on his back for a stunned breath and took inventory.
Still alive...
He pushed up to his elbows and gained his feet. He staggered over to his mount, both their legs still trembling. Once at the gelding's side, he threw his arms around its neck and hugged tightly.
"Freakin' love you, you ball-less wonder."
Twenty minutes later, the exhausted team climbed a rocky path out of the valley. Flames danced their shadows across the slope. Below, the entire valley smoldered and burned.
Seichan, aching and bone-tired, rode behind Kowalski. She stared over at Gray and Rachel. They rode together atop his stallion. Rachel had her arms around Gray's waist, her head on his shoulder. After the near-fatal fall, she had stayed close to Gray, drawing off his solidity and strength.
Seichan tried not to sneer at her vulnerability.
But she could not so easily dismiss another pang.
She took note of how quickly the two melded together, how easily they became one. While riding double with him earlier, she had also held Gray, smelled the musk of his sweat, felt the heat of his body. But she had felt nothing more from him. She might as well have been a saddlebag.
Yet even now, as she watched them, Gray rubbed a palm along Rachel's arm. It was a comforting gesture, done reflexively, as he continued to keep an eye on their rocky trail.
Seichan turned away, anger building. Not at Gray, but at her own foolishness. She remembered Kowalski's words to her before the forest exploded . Two schoolkids with the hots for each other. She had thought she'd kept her feelings hidden better than that. But what about the man's assessment of his partner? Could he be right about Gray?
She allowed herself a moment to believe it to be true. But only a moment. She stared over at him and recognized there could be no future between them. The gulf was too deep and too wide.
And it would only grow deeper and wider.
Especially with what must happen next.
Free of the woods, it was time she moved her plan to the next level.
2:07 A.M.
Gray called for a halt so they could rest and water the horses. They had reached an ice-blue tarn, one of many that dotted the region like droplets of quicksilver.
He also wanted to check on Rachel's burns. He had packed her lower legs with snow immediately after her mishap to draw off any residual heat. Her skin had been bright pink and a couple of spots might shallowly blister, but he wanted to double-check.
The group slipped off their ponies. They were all saddle-sore and burned crisp around the edges. Even after clearing the fiery river, it had been a close call.
If it hadn't been for Rufus leading us the rest of the way out...
Gray watched the professor fish out a piece of dried sausage and feed it to his terrier. Rufus deserved heaping platters of sausages. Still, the terrier was more than happy to get a good scratch for a job well done.
Wallace leaned down and scrubbed his fingers along the dog's side. "Good boy, you mangy mutt."