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Now, the thought made her smile. Raising three kids with so little input from her husband must have been difficult. Maybe she was even as lonely as Meadow was now.
The pickles she’d added to the sandwich, just like her mother made it, meant Meadow enjoyed the day more. She polished off her food and crumpled the wrappers to stuff in the saddlebag for the trip home.
At that moment, she heard a sound coming from behind her. The noise sent ripples up and down her arms.
The fierce howl of a coyote.
The animals weren’t out much during the day, but over the years, she and the ranch hands had spotted them more and more in broad daylight. They seemed to be growing bolder when it came to humans, and she’d heard Zach talking to her father about how the neighboring ranch owned by some city slickers thought it was fun to feed them, which only made them less afraid of humans.
Shooting a glance at her horse grazing a few yards off, she saw the mare standing with her legs stiff, her head up, scenting the wind.
As slowly as possible, Meadow pushed to her feet and stepped toward her mount. Another shrill howl pierced the air, coupled by the drum of hooves.
In a blink, the scene played out in front of Meadow. The heifer that had wandered too far from the herd thundered past her with the coyote darting right behind.
Meadow gripped the pommel on her saddle and swung upward. Spurring her mount, she shot after the beast bearing down on what some people saw as a burger or steak, and her father saw as three thousand dollars the ranch needed.
In Meadow’s eyes, it wasn’t food or money—it was a living thing to protect.
“Yah!” She dug her heels into her mare’s sides, sending it thundering forward even faster. They gave chase around the crest of the hill until they reached the other side. Still, the coyote didn’t give up and run off. It must be really hungry and desperate to be out in broad daylight and continue even under pursuit.
She let out a holler to scare it, which sent it zigzagging in an erratic pattern. Just as she thought it would slink off into the woods, it shot straight for the cow’s legs.
Just then, the first drops of rain struck Meadow in the face. Two, then three. Suddenly, the fat plops gave way to a torrential downpour.
The coyote took off for the trees.
But the heifer was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter Nine
Soaked to the skin, Meadow was overtaken by violent shivers. The rain continued to slant sideways as she scoured the area for the heifer.
No way it could have run down the slope without her seeing it, which left only one answer—it was in the thick trees with the hungry coyote…or it made it out the other side to the swamp.
Of course Meadow wasn’t dressed for rain, a ten-degree temperature drop or the storm slamming into her and her horse. She always carried a blanket in her saddlebag, but she didn’t want to take the time to stop and retrieve it either.
She had to find that heifer. If she was one of the pregnant ones, she was worth so much more to the ranch. Determination had her gripping the reins and searching for long hours.
Picking her way through the trees was slow, wet going. The spindly trunks couldn’t support heavy canopies with thick leaves to offer sufficient shelter from the drenching rain. She spoke softly to her horse between listening hard for the howl of the coyote, but the animal seemed to have run off.
Her shirt clung to her. Her nipples were hard pebbles from the chill, and goose bumps coated her arms and back. Still, she pushed on, driven to do some good after all the stupid mistakes she’d made over the years.
After what felt like another hour passed, she exited the patch of woods and swept her gaze over the land.
This was the only portion of the ranch that went unutilized. With so many natural springs popping up, it was too wet to be used for pasture or even hay. Few people ever came up here without good reason. Meadow had very good reason.
And she was smart to persevere in her search—the heifer was standing not ten feet away, sunk ankle-deep in the mud.
With a soft cry, Meadow started forward before realizing her mare would get just as bogged down if Meadow led her in there. She had to think fast. A glance at the sky showed her it was dark with another impending wave of the storm.
Now that she was close to the heifer, she saw the sizable bulge of its abdomen, proof that it was pregnant and likely losing stamina fast between the weather and her fear.
Did it even have any energy to get out of the mud if Meadow helped it along?
She got off her horse and unbuckled her saddlebag. She got out the blanket and slung it around her shoulders to stave off her shivers while she rooted in the depths for a length of rope.
Gripping the blanket beneath her chin, she hunched her shoulders as another gust of wind smacked her straight in the face. Her soaked hat stuck to her head. Even her eyelashes were wet, causing her to blink several times to focus on the scene before her.
