Page 41 of A Dangerous Heart
“Boys! Time to get up.” Clare straightened the blankets on her cot, then moved to the fireplace and stirred the coals, placing a split log on the embers.
The floor in the loft creaked, and Eli climbed down the ladder, yawning and sleepy-eyed.
“Where’s Ben?” Her gaze lifted to the loft, waiting for the boy to appear.
“Dunno.”
“He’s not in bed up there?”
Eli stilled, his eyes widening, the sleepiness draining from his face when he saw her worry. “No.”
Clare’s stomach turned, dread knotting tight. Something was wrong. Where was Ben? “Let’s look around. He can’t have gone far.”
They checked the lean-to, the area all around the cabin and along the river. Their calls for Ben echoed over the water, but no answer returned.
Clare was back on the front stoop, preparing to widen her search, when she spotted a familiar figure on horseback. Isaac. The choking panic loosened slightly. No matter what was between them, Isaac would help find Ben.
“Ben is missing!” she called out. By the time she’d scrambled off the stoop, he’d already swung out of the saddle.
He moved in closer, his eyebrows drawing together as he studied her face.
“When I woke up this morning, he was gone. Eli and I checked everywhere—the lean-to and down by the river. We can’t find him.”
Her nervous rambling was stopped by the tightness in her chest that choked off her breath. Why had Ben run off?
Why wouldn’t he? She made for a horrible parent.
The cabin door banged. Eli jumped off the stoop, his boots sliding on the gravel. He looked as worried as she felt.
“Do you know where he went?” Isaac directed his question to Eli.
“He knocked into me in the middle of the night. Said he was cold and was gonna sleep by the fire. I didn’t hear him go out. I woulda stopped him.” Eli’s chin wobbled a bit before he jerked his head aside and hardened his jaw, hiding his emotion from Isaac. He turned back, blasting Isaac with a glare, arms crossed. “He didn’t wanna leave.”
Clare saw the words hit their mark, causing a minute tightening around Isaac’s eyes. She knew Ben had been upset last night after she’d told them they would need to pack up their stuff in the morning.
Isaac’s eyes met hers briefly, and for a fraction of a second, the hard edge in his expression softened. “He can’t have gone far in the dark. We’ll find him.”
The quiet strength in his voice and his use ofwewere her undoing. The tears she’d been holding at bay all morning broke free. Embarrassed, she bowed her head. Isaac’s hand closed over her elbow. The comforting touch only lasted a moment, but it bolstered her.
He turned to Eli. “Can you find your way to the main homestead?”
“I think so.”
“I know you can. You love your brother, and he needs your help. Find Drew or Nick. Tell them to head up here and help us search. Clare and I will search to the north.”
Eli ran off on foot, while Isaac led Clare up the small rise near the river.
“How far up this way did you search?” Isaac asked. He was setting a fast pace, and she panted as she tried to keep up with him. Clare scanned the brush and rocky hills. The sun was up now, but the day was gray. Dark, angry clouds were moving in from the west.
“Ben!” she called out.
Isaac pointed out a partial boot print. Expression determined, he pushed them onward. The tree line began to thin and gave way to rocky terrain as they headed upland through a deep ravine.
Clare’s boots skidded on some loose gravel, and a few pebbles rolled down the ravine. Her mind wound round and round like the trail Isaac was trekking up the rocky face.
The silence between them became unbearable.
“I couldn’t sleep last night,” she blurted.
