Page 57 of Longest Ride

Part Two

Chapter Twelve

Monday, September 30th.

Coulter-Ross Ranch. La Grange.

Me and Virge both got to sleep in our own rooms at Annie’s ranch. Her ranch house was as big as a castle and the sheets on our beds were soft and smelled nice.

We were up at our regular time and went to the barn with Lucy and Jackson and Davey and helped them with their chores.

They had a lot more horses to feed and muck out than we did. We had three horses in total, and Mom had about two dozen beautiful Appaloosas.

Virge was in love with the horses, and I could hardly get him away from the foals in the big square stall at the end of the aisle. My brother really needed his own horse, and I was saving up to get him one so we could ride together on our ranch.

After breakfast, Annie wanted to talk to me and Virge in her office about finding Tammy.

“How are we gonna find her, Mom?” asked Virge. “I’ve been thinking on it, and I can’t see how.”

“Two things are against us already,” said Annie. “Tammy has a head start and we don’t know which direction she went. But in our favor is this, and it’s a big one.”

“What’s gonna help us?” I asked. “I can’t think of anything.”

“Law enforcement is going to help us,” said Annie. “Now that Tammy is a kidnapper and she’s added a couple of felony assaults, she’s considered armed and dangerous and all of law enforcement will be watching for her.”

“Never thought of that,” said Virge. “When we’re looking for somebody in Northern Montana, ain’t nobody helping us.”

“A coast-to-coast warrant has been issued for Tammy’s arrest and we can be fairly certain some cop will spot the truck and call it in.”

“Do you think she’ll try to go back to Canada?” asked Virge.

“No telling what her plans are. Tammy isn’t using her head right now. She shot two people and took Bobby Prescott out of a hospital against his will. This isn’t just another foolish mistake. This is a criminal act, and this time Tammy will be going to jail when we find her.”

“Unless she’s gone completely off her nut,” said Virge.

“Uh huh. Then she’ll go to a prison facility for the criminally insane. There’s one near the ranch. Ten minutes down the road.”

“Do we just sit around and wait until we hear something?” I asked.

“Nothing else we can do, honey. It’s pointless to drive around looking for her.”

“She might text me,” I said. “She used to text me all the time…before she lost it.”

“Aw…” Annie said, “I can tell how sad and upset y’all are about your sister. We’ll find her.”

Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.

Filling in for the boys, Billy handled the barn chores on his own. He rushed into the house when he finished and washed up for breakfast.

Walking into the kitchen he complained to Travis, “The house is too quiet without the boys. I don’t like the feel of it.”

Travis stood at the stove hovering over a pan of sizzling bacon and eggs. Trying to make light of the emptiness both of them were feeling, he said, “Think of all the money we’ll save on groceries.”

Billy laughed. “Yeah, there’s that. Those boys can eat.” He poured himself a coffee and sat down at the table.

Travis put plates of food in front of them and a stack of toast in the middle and sat down on the other side of the table.

Billy asked a question that had been on his mind since the boys left. “Can I ask why you sent the boys to Texas?”

---