Page 26 of Bryson's Treasure

“Do you mind taking Azadeh over to Brighter Days for a little while?” Bryson took a bite of his bacon before continuing. “I heard Hannah will be working with the horses today.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Matilda said. “I made a painting for Hannah the other day and need to give it to her.”

Matilda was an amazing landscape artist. She had opened a store online, and her pictures sold as quickly as she put them up. Two weeks ago, she’d made one of Azadeh sitting in the barn, cradling her kitten to her chest. Bryson put the picture up in the room where he was staying.

The main reason he wanted them to stop by Brighter Days was for Hannah to talk with Azadeh for a little while. He knew he should find her a counselor in Bozeman, and he planned to in the near future. First, he had to make sure nobody was after her.

He checked the links online. Her uncle had sent out a reward, but Bryson didn’t think her uncle would try anything on US soil.

“What are your plans for the day?” Noah asked.

Bryson grabbed another pancake. “It’s supposed to be in the upper fifties. The weather’s been crazy this winter. It doesn’t feel like Christmas is only two weeks away. I figured we would take the horses out and go for a nice picnic and later drive into Bozeman to catch a movie.”

“I can’t wait to ride Midnight.”

“I’m not sure he’s ready. Why don’t we take the other two?”

Lynn narrowed her eyes at him. “Midnight will do just fine.” She got up from the table and took her plate to the sink. “I’m going to go talk with him right now.”

Noah coughed to cover up his laugh. “Let me know if he talks back.”

“He will.” She smiled before heading out the door.

“Lynn can talk to horses?”

“No, Azadeh.” Bryson let out a groan. “She was joking.”

The young girl frowned. “But she told me the other day the horse likes carrots.”

“All horses like carrots.” Bryson got up from the table and took his and Azadeh’s plates to the sink. “Let’s go out to the barn and help her get ready.”

Azadeh jumped up to grab her jacket. “I’m going to go check on Ghost!” she yelled before running out the door.

Noah crossed his arms. “She is going to be a handful.”

“I know.” Bryson slipped on his light jacket. “But I wouldn’t change what happened. Well, it would’ve been nice not to have been stuck in a cell for days.”

“Have you heard anything about Ricky?”

“They’re still looking for him. They’ve found no sign he left the Middle East,” Bryson told his brother. He had communicated back and forth with his commander. Carson had worked to find as much information as he could on Ricky. With what Bryson had given him, they’d taken down a small drug ring.

“Something doesn’t feel right.” Noah ran his hand through his hair. “With the intel you gave, they took down his operation? I’m surprised he hasn’t come after you.”

“Lynn helped me create a program that’s running all the scanned passports coming into the US. She also programmed an alert into the system. We can’t spend our days hiding, thinking he might attack.”

“You’re right.”

Matilda walked over and handed him a bag. When he looked inside, it had a couple of sandwiches and a bag of chips.

“I figured you guys might get hungry on the ride. It’s so nice out that you can sit and have a meal up by the cave.”

He nodded. “Thank you. If Azadeh needs me for anything today, please call.”

“Don’t worry about it. Noah and I can handle a little girl. It will be fun to take her to the mall. Noah’s always in such a hurry to leave. Now Azadeh and I can look at all the pretty things.”

“Thank you.” Bryson walked outside, carrying the bag of food. Azadeh was sitting on the ground in front of the barn with her black kitten in her arms. Lynn led two horses out of the barn, Midnight and Whiskey. Midnight pranced next to her and threw his head up a few times. Whiskey walked along without a care in the world.

“Are you sure I can’t talk you into riding Whiskey?”

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