That tension that had been ramping up between Emily and me for days now—hell, maybe for weeks, even if I hadn’t acknowledged it at the time—was thrumming between us. The few hours in the car, our thighs touching, Emily’s head on my shoulder as we rocked down the road hadn’t helped matters.

“It seems like there are more people walking today,” Emily said.

“Or maybe it’s just the area,” I answered, though I’d had the same thought. And I suspected the people we’d told the Pritchards to look out for—who would be streaming out of the cities and towns once things got desperate or dangerous or both—had started to multiply.

There was some snow on the ground here and the sun glittered off it, the landscape somehow both stark and rich, and we stopped for a moment to drink it in.

“Should we look for somewhere to camp?” Emily asked, our eyes meeting briefly before we both looked away.

“There are some ranches way out there.” I pointed into the distance. “We could see if anyone is willing to put us up for a night, although I’d expect a no at this point. People will be rightly hoarding, not sharing.”

“There’s at least some shelter out that way among the rocks. How far do you think that is?”

“A few miles. Come on, if we start walking now, we can make it there before dark.”

We set off, walking about a quarter of a mile, when we heard a sound behind us, and turned to see a horse trotting straight toward us.

“Are you kidding?” Emily said. “I was just wishing we had another ride.”

As the palomino got closer, I saw she was wearing a bridle but no saddle. She didn’t seem wary of people, ready to walk right by us when I took hold of her reins. She shook her head back and forth for a moment but then stopped and stood waiting for me to take the lead.

“Are you here by providence?” Emily asked as she pet her cheek. “Poor girl,” Emily said, running a hand down her nose. “There’s not much grass on the ground here, is there? Are you hungry? Who would have let you go?”

“She’s probably just lost,” I said, but I had to figure something bad had happened to her owners if their animal was wandering alone.

“Well,” Emily sighed. “There’s no way to find her home so I guess she’s a free horse now. Should we remove her bridle?”

“Yeah, but I think we should bring her out there,” I said, squinting in the direction we had been headed, toward the ranch far beyond. “There have to be other horses, and maybe that’s even where she came from before getting loose. Are you up for a ride?”