“Mister Prescott!” the shout and the sound of
galloping hoofbeats shattered the hot afternoon silence and made me look up
from the broken fence I was examining. “Mister Prescott!” The rider yelled
again as he skidded to a stop in front of me. “The little Weave girl has gone
missin’! Have ya seen her?” I recognized the rider as one of Sheriff Tate’s
deputies.
“No, I haven’t. When did she go
missing?” I asked with sympathy.
“This morning. Her parents are
goin’ mad! She’s only five, ya know.” Andi Prescott, my new wife, stepped out
of the ranch house and walked toward us.
“What’s the matter Deputy
Moor?” Andi enquired.
“Anna Weave went missing early
this morning. I was just wonderin’ if maybe you or Riley had seen her?” Moor
recapped.
“Well, no. I haven’t…” Andi
responded, throwing a concerned look in my direction.
“Well, I’d best be goin’ back
to town, to help Sheriff organize a search party. I’ve asked at all the ranches
about her, but haven’t heard anything about her.” Deputy Moor turned his horse,
and with a “So long,” galloped away.
Andi sighed as she tucked her
hair behind her ears. I mopped my brow with my sleeve.
“I think I had better go help
find her.”
Andi nodded. “I think so too.”
“I’ll just finish checking out
this fence and then I’ll go.”
I went back to examining the fence
that I had discovered broken this morning. I figured that a horse had bumped
into it, damaging it. My eyes fell upon a light blue, torn piece of fabric
caught in the broken fence rail.
I pulled it off of the
splintery wood, and handed it to Andi. She scanned it and put it in her dress
pocket, shrugging, and then remarked “It probably came from one of the hands’
shirts.”
I nodded in reply, and then called
over a ranch hand and asked him to start fixing the fence as soon as possible. I
then headed for the barn, and once inside, saddled my horse, Dakota. Leading
Dakota out to where Andi still stood, I gave her a parting kiss, and then swung
into the saddle. The hot afternoon sun beat down on my back as I galloped
towards town.
****
When I got to the Sheriff’s
office, a group of men had gathered. The Sheriff was telling them what they
were to do.
“I’ll split ya’ll into four
groups and have each group go with a leader. Deputy Ormerod, Deputy Moor, Mr
Carter and myself will lead you all in different directions.” Glancing over the
group of assembled men, I saw Chad Carter standing next to Sheriff Tate. Chad
looked back at me and we exchanged friendly nods of recognition.
Once the men were split into
four groups, everyone set out. My group thoroughly searched our assigned area,
but found nothing. After a couple hours, we all met back at the Sheriff’s
office. No one had had any luck. Disappointment and worry hung over the men. It
was too dark to keep looking now, but what would happen to Anna? The Sheriff
organized for everyone to meet again the next morning, and then we all set of
home.
I rode home, all the while
fearfully wondering where little Anna could be. Once I reached the ranch, I
unsaddled Dakota and bedded her down in her stall. I trudged up the porch steps
and opened the door of the house. Andi sat at the kitchen table, reading. She
stood up quickly and asked “Did you find her?”
I shook my head. “Nope. We
searched high and low, but found no trace of her.”
Andi sighed. “Poor girl… and
her poor parents.”
“Yeah… we’re going to look again in the
morning. So we’d best be going to bed now. It’s getting late….” I said.
“Good idea.” Andi agreed.
****
The next morning, Andi told me
that she had stayed awake late last night thinking. “I was wondering if maybe
the cloth that you found on the fence yesterday has something to do with Anna.
I would’ve told you last night, but I didn’t want to wake you. It’s probably
nothing.”
I thought about it for a moment
and then exclaimed: “Maybe you are right!
The Weave Family live right on the edge of Fresno closest to us!”
I beckoned for Andi to follow
me outside into the ranch yard. “She could’ve walked here yesterday and is
somewhere on the ranch hiding!”
I called together the ranch
hands and we checked the barn, the hayloft, the ranch yard, the paddock and
even the house. But again, like the search party the day before, there was no
luck. Andi suggested that I go to check
the field beyond the paddock. “I guess there’s no harm in trying.” I said. But
as I walked and searched, I saw no blue threads hanging on the fence. No signs
that Anna had come that way. Unless…
a thought came to my mind. What if Anna
had climbed over the paddock fence but thought it was too hard and went between
the rails on the second? That is, if she even came to our ranch… I added to
my thoughts.
But sure enough there was a
faint trail on the other side of the fence leading up the field, marking that
someone had been there recently. I followed it until the trail stopped at a
blue bundle. “Anna?” I softly questioned. I gently brushed some grass off the bundle to
reveal a peaceful face, rosy with sleep. It was Anna. She breathed deep and steady,
and I hated to move her because she might wake up. I have to, though. I
thought. Gently picking her up, I carefully made my way back down the field and
brought her into the ranch house.
At the sight of the sleeping
girl in my arms, Andi gasped and then gently said “I’ll take care of her in the
house and you can hitch up the buggy.” I gave her to Andi, and then hitched up the
buggy and brought it right up to the porch. Andi, with Anna in arms, climbed in
the buggy and we set of.
Suddenly Anna awoke, and with a
crumpled face, started to cry. “I want my Mama!” She wailed.
“It’s alright, Anna.” My wife crooned gently.
“We’re going to see your Mama. Real soon.” Soon satisfied, Anna lay back
against Andi and looked around. Then Andi and I told her what had happened whilst
she had been missing. We arrived in the outskirts of town, and drove to the
Weave’s house. Anna and her parents were finally reunited. Sarah Weave cried
with joy while Daniel Weave clapped me on the back and thanked me over and over
again.
“Thank Andi! It was her idea
that Anna might be in our field.” I replied. Andi blushingly accepted the Weaves’
profuse thanks.
When we got back in the buggy,
I announced quietly “I’m sure glad that this is all over.”
Andi smiled at me and agreed “Me
too.”
great story !
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