Sourdough Creek (33 page)

Another flash of light, and then a reverberating crack rent the air again and rumbled on for several long seconds. Cassie must be awake. If not from the rain, surely from that last round of thunder and lightning. Sam wondered if she was frightened.

Water seeped in on two sides now and it wouldn’t be long until everything inside his tent would be soaked. As Sam attempted to dam off a small rivulet, trying to come straight through his bedding, something made him pause. He stopped. Held his breath.

The storm had changed. The sky literally opened up and the downpour was deafening. His tent buckled and he reached up to catch it. His heart lurched as he heard Arvid’s horse, tethered to the tree for the night, scream with fright. A mystifying rumbling, low and long, rolled menacingly down from the heart of the mountains.

Chapter Fifty-Four

S
am yanked on his boots and ran out into the rain unprotected. He crossed the few yards to Cassie’s tent and pulled back the flap, diving inside. She was sitting with her blankets wrapped around her shoulders, her eyes wide with fear.

“Get your boots!” Sam yelled over the pounding deluge.

“What?”

Sam grabbed her boots and pushed them at her. Cassie struggled to pull them on as Sam yanked her up and dragged her from the tent. He reached inside and snatched up her blanket, stuffing it into her arms. They ran through camp hand in hand. He stopped only once to grab his saddle by the horn and to holler toward Arvid’s tent. “Arvid! Wake up! Get your boots on. I’ll be back to help you.”

“We can’t leave him!” Cassie screamed.

Sam didn’t waste time arguing. “I’ll come back for him. As soon as you’re safe.”

“Safe?”

“Flash flood coming.”

She pulled on his arm and dug her heels into the mud, slipping and sliding. He’d anticipated her refusal to leave her uncle behind and tightened his grip on her wrist, dragging her into a run. “Don’t fight me, Cassie! It won’t be long before this whole hillside will be swept clean.”

Sam scrambled up the side of the mountain, pulling Cassie with one arm and balancing his saddle on his shoulder with the other. He forged ahead even though he heard Cassie gasp for air. He stumbled in the mud as rain, bushes, and brambles battered his face and body.

A good ways up, Sam stopped and looked around. They were halfway up the hill, and probably safe, but Sam felt reluctant to leave.

“Please, go get Uncle Arvid!” Cassie cried.

“I will.” But still he hesitated, uncertain this terrain was out of harm’s way. Then, suddenly, he picked Cassie up and boosted her onto the lowest branch of a nearby tree. “Climb up!”

Another rumble sounded through the canyon. “Sam, the horses?”

“Climb up!”

He blinked though the rain, looking up into her eyes. “Now would be a good time for a prayer.” He wedged his saddle between two strong branches over his head. Turning, he heard Cassie gasp. “What is it?” he asked.

“My Bible. It’s in my pack.”

“I’ll try to get it.”

“No, don’t! It’s too dangerous. It’s not worth risking your life.”

Sam tossed Cassie’s blanket up to her, then turned and began sliding back down the mud-slicked trail.

It took several minutes for Sam to get back into camp. The river was much higher and rising quickly. A torrent of water could come from the mountains at any second, moving so fast he wouldn’t have a chance to get away.

He ran to Arvid’s tent and jerked back the flap. Stunned, he stared for a moment at the empty bedroll. Cupping his hands around his mouth, Sam shouted several times through the storm, calling at the top of his lungs. He stopped and listened, but the violent river was all he could hear.

With the back of his hand, Sam swiped the water from his face and ran back to where Cassie’s tent was now collapsed and floating in mud. He yanked up the canvas and tossed it to the side. In the dark he felt around for her pack.

A deep rumble sounded from up-river. The earth shook. In the next split second he saw the pack, snatched it up and bolted to free Arvid’s horse from the tree. The chestnut gelding was gone. Shocked, he stood staring. How did the animal get free? Instantly, realization dawned on him. Arvid had ridden out.

A terrifying sound, louder than anything Cassie had ever heard in her life, came from the river. She whimpered and hugged the tree, not knowing what to expect. Rain beat down on her head. As if called up from the devil himself, a flash of lightning lit the area, illuminating a wall of water so horrifying she cried out as if in pain. The water crashed down and exploded over the river’s bank, sweeping up into the horses’ meadow. Small trees were ripped up and tossed around. The sight was so horrific she wanted to close her eyes but couldn’t, so desperate was she to catch some sign of Sam.

“Oh, God,” she gasped. She’d climbed a few feet higher, clutching the trunk. Prickly patches of bark pressed into her cheek painfully and she felt she might fall at any moment. Tears burned as they mixed with rain. “Save Sam! Please, God, save him!”

Cassie wanted to let go of the tree trunk and touch the spot above her heart, even though she knew full well her angel cameo wasn’t there. She longed to, but didn’t dare. It was in the small leather pouch with her vial of gold, in the pack with her Bible, all now washed away.

Quickly, and with a stab of guilt, she remembered her uncle was somewhere down in the watery ruin. “And save Uncle Arvid, too—please.”

The water was still rising, inching closer and closer to the tree she was perched in. “Sam is okay. He’s safe somewhere, waiting out the worst of it. Just like me. Just like me.” A sob escaped from her throat.

Sunrise was just around the corner. Cassie glanced down to the water’s edge. A bear careened down-river with the rushing water, his giant paws slapping the muddy torrent in an effort to stay afloat. It reached out and grasped a sapling that, up to this point, had withstood the force of the beating water. He pulled himself out and lumbered up onto solid ground. It opened its massive jaws and let loose an angry spine-chilling roar. Taking a step uphill, it approached the tree Cassie was precariously perched in. She held her breath and prayed.

She cocked her head and peered down carefully, not wanting to draw attention to herself. The animal must have been wounded for it gimped along slowly, dragging a hind leg. What if it smelled Sam’s saddle hanging in the lower branches? Would it then spot her and climb up for a meal? Right when it was about to pass her tree by, it flopped down on its side.

What else could possibly happen? If Sam was in the water he was already miles away. Her heart constricted painfully at the thought.
Oh, Sam…Sam
. Time passed. Her arms hurt from the harshness of the bark digging into her soft skin. Every muscle in her body screamed for release.

But the ache of losing Sam overwhelmed all other senses. What was physical pain, compared to that? What was even the gold and all it represented worth to her now? Her Bible, or cameo,
or anything
—what did it matter—without him? She’d learned a hard lesson with so much time to reflect. It was Sam that God had sent to her.
He was her gold mine. He was her treasure. He was her life
! How foolish she’d been to throw all that away.

The sky to the east now bore the tiniest hint of pink amidst the dark clouds and Cassie willed daybreak to hurry up and come. Was the bear still there? She couldn’t tell since she’d stopped staring at him and lost the spot in the dark underbrush where he slept. She’d just have to wait a little longer for sunrise.

Chapter Fifty-Five

A
cold wind whipped Sam’s drenched hair and pieced his clothes, driving a chill to his core. The rain had stopped, but still he shivered as he stared, mesmerized, at the swirling water beneath his feet. How long would it take for the muddy sludge to recede enough for him to escape the tree he was perched in? It was the same oak Arvid’s horse had been tied to when the wave had come crashing toward him hours before. The thick branch really wouldn’t be such a bad oasis but for the angry raccoon that had scrambled up before him and now resided above his head. Every few minutes the good-sized animal snarled viciously in his direction.

Sam’s only thought was for Cassie. Had she stayed put in the tree where he’d left her, safely out of harm’s way? And what of Arvid? What had happened to him? Whatever the outcome in his case, all Sam could think was
good riddance.

Sunrise revealed the extent of the devastation. The meadow where the horses had grazed was submerged in murky water, and the camp below, gone. Much of the smaller vegetation, washed away. The sky, still dark after the storm, was a foreboding mass of gray clouds.

His insides rumbled. It wasn’t far from his perch to the bank, but the water between the tree and where he wanted to go had been a ravine before the flood and still flowed swiftly, too dangerous to try to swim out. It would be some time until he’d be able to get to dry ground. In the meantime, his empty stomach felt as if it were on fire.

A menacing growl came from above Sam’s head, followed by frantic scratching. Sam glanced up. The raccoon glowered as he ran his claws down the tree trunk, shredding the tender bark into thin curls. Sam laughed at the animal’s obvious ploy to intimidate. “Oh, pipe down. I don’t like this anymore than you do.”

Cassie’s saddle pack was draped over a branch at his side. Was there any food stashed inside? He scooted closer to take a look.

To his disappointment, he found no food, but her Bible caught his curiosity. Taking the book from the pack he opened it, and something—a dried flower, perhaps?—fell into the water and floated away.

Too late. He hoped it wasn’t an important keepsake. He flipped slowly through the pages.

A noise below drew Sam’s attention and he glanced down to see Cassie on the shore. He watched in dismay as her small form collapsed on the sodden ground after she determined there was nothing left of their camp. He could barely hear her over the noisy water, but she was weeping like a small child who’d lost absolutely everything she held dear. The sight of her tore at him and his urgent need to comfort her was like a shock to the core of his being.

“Cassie!” he shouted, stuffing the book back into the pack. “Up here! I saved your Bible. It’s safe.”

Her head snapped up. She looked around wildly. “Sam? Sam! Where are you?”

“Here. Up here. In the tree.”

She scrambled to her feet, looking around quickly. Her clothes were ripped and encrusted with mud, her hair a windblown mess. A bedraggled field mouse came to mind. He smiled. Still, she was alive—and the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

He pulled himself carefully to his feet, finding his balance on the branch. He held her saddle pack out in front of him so she could see. “Look!” No sooner had the word left his mouth than there was a tremendous cracking sound.

With horror, Cassie watched Sam fall fifteen feet and splash into the water. Collecting her wits, she ran along the shore, trying to keep pace with him as he bobbed and churned down the swollen river. Another moment and she’d lose sight. “There’s a big rock coming,” she screamed. “Try to grab it!”

There was no telling if he’d heard her. Every few feet his head would disappear and then a moment later he’d resurface. Cassie jumped a log in her path, but then tripped and fell face down with a grunt of pain. Steeling herself, she struggled to her feet. “Sam!” she screamed between cupped hands. “Sam! Grab! The! Rock! Here it comes! Three, two, one…now!”

He did. She held her breath, fearful he wouldn’t have the strength to hang on. Jumping up, she ran along the bank, her gaze darting between the stony terrain under her feet and Sam clinging to the rock. It seemed like an eternity until she reached him, scrabbling over rocks and debris. Dropping to her knees, she took hold of his arm, and with the strength of an agitated mama bear, heaved back onto her heels, dragging him out of the water. She collapsed onto him, and hugged him tightly. After a moment she pulled back and helped him to roll over.

“That was cold!” Incredibly, he laughed and tried to pull her close.

“Sam, you made it! You’re alive! I was sure you were dead, washed away in that horrible flash flood. Then I saw you were safe, and I felt such relief. And then this!”

“Well, honey, I guess every dog has his day. I was blamed lucky.” His brows, sparkling with droplets, arched disarmingly as he gazed into her eyes. If she’d thought him handsome before, this morning he was entrancing. She couldn’t look away.

“And in any event, you’re not getting rid of me that easily—ever,” he added so softly she had to watch his lips to know what he was saying.

His smile faded and he cupped her cold face in his hands. “Cassie. I…”

Sam pulled her toward him until their lips melded. Tingles blossomed everywhere. His mouth took hers hungrily, and she couldn’t stop a little sound from escaping her throat. Heat pooled in her belly, despite the chill of the wind and wet clothes. Something powerful passed between them.

“How did you survive?” she whispered against his lips, not willing yet to end the pleasure of the moment. She still couldn’t believe he was here, alive, kissing her and making her thoughts race in all manner of exciting, shiver-inducing directions. “When the water crashed through the valley there was so much. How did you do it?”

He pushed up on his elbow. “You saw me. I had only an instant to climb that tree, but up I went. I’ve been perched up there ever since.”

A moment passed and then Sam startled. “Hey.” He quickly looked around. “Your pack. With your Bible. Where is it?”

He looked panicked, and Cassie was alarmed.
Had he hit his head when he fell
?
Or during his wild ride in the water
?
It was possible
. The only thing she’d seen was Sam, falling like a rock into the mucky river. “Did you have it?”

He turned around to look upriver to the tree, which still held the scolding raccoon. Cassie’s saddlebag was looped over the bottom branch a few feet above the water, slowly swinging back and forth.