Angela said, “I guess there’s no point in talking about it anymore.”

Bull said, “Nope. Sorry, sweetie. We’ve got to go get this young man’s boy.”

She said to her dad, “This has nothing to do with his boy. This has to do with you acting like one.”

Bull clapped his hand over his breast, and said, “Straight to the heart.”

* * *

Cody was outside the door of the Crystal Bar when Angela chased him down and grabbed his shoulder.

Her face was set. She said, “If my dad gets hurt on this trip, I’ll be your worst nightmare.”

Cody said, “I understand.”

“I don’t think you do,” she said. “I think you’re just focused on your son. But if my dad gets hurt or doesn’t come back-it’s on you. And if you think getting suspended from the sheriff’s department is a big deal, just wait to find out what it’s like to find me on the other side of the table.”

Cody said, fingering her card, which read ANGELA MITCHELL, ATTORNEY AT LAW, “I was kind of hoping we could be friends. But I’ve never gotten along real well with lawyers.”

“I’m shocked,” she said, her eyes flashing. She said, “I’m going to open a case file this afternoon with a tab that reads ‘Cody Hoyt.’ By the time I see you next I’ll know everything there is to know about you. And I have the feeling it’ll be a real thick file.”

He nodded. “You’re probably right.”

She said, “The only way you’re going to skate is if you bring him back better than he left and you do it within a week. Otherwise, I’m calling your sheriff and every cop I can find to come after you.”

“Got it,” he said, sliding the card in his pocket.

“Good,” she said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go help my dad get ready.”

He watched her storm back into the bar. He thought she looked pretty good doing that. He tried to imagine what her face would look like when she started researching his record.

“Another reason to get the hell out of here,” he said aloud to himself.

14

After Jed the outfitter peeled off the trail into the trees and called out “Welcome to Camp One, folks!” the long line of horses followed his lead, glad to be done working for the day. It was almost comical, Gracie thought, the way the animals just turned off the trail and at the same time they broke the psychic connection with their riders. They knew their shifts were done. Jed and Dakota led the mounts one by one to a makeshift corral designated by a single strand of white electric fence wire Jed had strung through the trees.

“Hey Jed,” D’Amato called out. “What-are these union horses?”

Which made most of the riders smile or laugh.

Gracie waited her turn to dismount behind Danielle, who was squirming in her saddle.

Gracie said, “What’s the problem?”

Danielle turned to Gracie. In an urgent whisper, said, “I have to pee. Where do I do that? In the woods like an animal?”

Gracie shrugged. That’s what she’d done earlier when nobody was looking.

It was late afternoon and to the east the sun shimmered across the surface of the southeast arm of Yellowstone Lake. Small lazy waves lapped against pink football-sized rocks on the shoreline, making background music like a cool jazz soundtrack. Far across the lake, dark timbered mountains plunged sharply into the water. The sultry warm afternoon was being penetrated by slight currents of colder air washing down through the trees from the mountains to the west.

Gracie was tired, sore, hungry, and mentally overwhelmed with the sights, sounds, and smells of the trip so far. She’d not only fallen in love with Strawberry, she was falling in love with the park itself. They’d seen a bull and a cow moose in the willows, five bison grazing on a treeless sagebrush hillside, and a bald eagle feeding on a fish. The national symbol stood on the bank of the river, tearing bloodred fillets off the sides of the trout and eying the riders as they passed. When they rode over the ridge, the Yellowstone River valley sprawled out before them. The vista was made up of endless mountains, lakes, clouds, and trees as far as she could see. All of it was lit in golden afternoon sunlight. The vastness and altitude made her slightly out of breath, and exhausted her.

It was another world and she’d willingly given herself up to it, holding back little.

“How’s it going?” Jed asked Gracie gruffly, taking the reins from her and guiding her horse toward the others.

“I’m blown away,” she whispered. “Dad told me it would be beautiful, but this is amazing.”

He smiled in a perfunctory way-his eyes were elsewhere as Danielle walked past after dismounting-and said, “It’ll get better tomorrow.”

“Better than blown away?” she said, realizing he hadn’t heard a word she’d said.

* * *