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Back The Lighthouse Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. PART ONE
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. PART TWO
  13. 12
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 18
  18. 19
  19. 21
  20. 22
  21. 23
  22. 24
  23. 25
  24. 26
  25. 27
  26. 28
  27. 30
  28. 31
  29. 32
  30. 33
  31. 34
  32. 35
  33. 36
  34. 37
  35. 38
  36. 39
  37. 40
  38. 41
  39. 42
  40. 43
  41. PART THREE
  42. 44
  43. 45
  44. 46
  45. 47
  46. 49
  47. 50
  48. 51
  49. 52
  50. EPILOGUE

Ryan was about to agree with Amy when he realized that he had seen a storm like this. Only two nights ago, in fact, the one that had caused Little Dipper to bolt from the ranch. Come to think of it, this one felt eerily similar. The rain was intensifying by the minute and the wind gusts were so fierce that Ryan could feel the lifeguard tower creaking and buckling under the pressure. He only hoped his horses back home were calm and that the barn was holding up okay. But then Ryan cast his mind back a few hours to when they had left the ranch, and suddenly he remembered that the horses weren’t in the barn at all. They were outside. Still in the field.

“Oh no . . .”

Amy looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

He slapped a hand over his mouth. “I can’t have. . . . How could I . . .”

“What is it?”

“It’s the horses. I’ve forgotten about the horses!”

“What’s wrong with them? What’s happened?”

“I let them out for a graze, remember? But I was supposed to bring them in. When I got back from bringing you into town, I was going to bring them in!” Ryan couldn’t believe he’d been so forgetful and careless. It made him feel sick. To think he had repeated his mistake and left Little Dipper stuck outside again, in this!

“I have to leave,” he said. “Right now.”

“Of course. They’ll be okay, though, won’t they? They’re safe, right?”

“No. Not Little Dipper. Not her. She can’t be outside in this weather. She could spook and run off again, just like she did before. I have to get back to the ranch.”

Amy didn’t think twice. She grabbed him by the hand and squeezed tight.

“Then I’m coming with you.”

26

26

The town square was deserted. Ryan’s truck was still parked outside the hotel, its windshield plastered with food wrappers, fluo­rescent streamers, and other soggy remnants of a festival hastily abandoned. They cleared away the debris, jumped inside, then took to the road.

Conditions were treacherous, visibility next to nothing. Even Amy, who wasn’t behind the wheel, kept her eyes fixed ahead to help Ryan steer through the maze of potholes, fallen trees, and other obstacles littering the road. Once back at the ranch, Ryan brought the truck to a skidding stop outside the field gate and turned his headlights to full.

Horses!

He could see them huddled by the gate, but by his count there were only six.

“Little Dipper’s not there. She’s gone!” He turned off the engine and grabbed a flashlight from the glove box. “Wait here for me.”

“Where are you going?”

“To the field! I have to find her.”

“I’ll come too.”

“No, it’s not safe. She’ll be frightened and unpredictable. It’s too dangerous.”