two women were standing about thirty feet away from the ditch where Peggy had disappeared. Around them, firemen and other rescue people were discussing ways to bring her daughter out to safety. But Kerry’s attention was focused on one lone man rather than the group of professionals. And that one man was Jared Colton.
If anyone could find her daughter and bring her safely out of that mess, it was Jared. She wasn’t sure why she’d placed her confidence in him, of all people. She’d never really liked the man. He’d always been a playboy and considered himself God’s gift to women. Especially all the sexy sirens around Black Arrow.
It had surprised her enormously to learn he was the man who’d discovered Peggy’s whereabouts. She hadn’t even known he was still living in Black Arrow. She’d thought he’d moved out years ago and was now making a fortune for some large petroleum company down in Houston.
With unshed tears stinging the back of her eyes, she said quietly, “They have to locate exactly where she is first, Mom. Then maybe they can do something about getting her out.”
“Well, I don’t know why that Colton boy had to be the one who crawled into the pipe to go searching for her,” Enola commented. “He’s not a rescue person. He should have let one of the firemen go. Like Tommy Grimes. You remember, he’s the one that saved the Wilsons from being blown to smithereens.”
Kerry groaned inwardly. Ever since she’d returned to Black Arrow, Tommy had pestered her for a date and she knew her mother had encouraged him simply because he was divorced with a small daughter around Peggy’s age.
“If I remember right, the Wilsons’ neighbor is the one who discovered propane was leaking inside their house. All Tommy did was turn off the valve at the tank. And as for Jared Colton, he’s an engineer, Mom. He’s been working on these pipes and he knows all about which way they run and how deep they’re buried. I trust him. More than anyone down there.”
Surprised by Kerry’s remark, Enola studied her daughter. “I don’t have to tell you he’s a rounder, Kerry. The man is in his thirties and he’s never been married or had a child of his own. He couldn’t know what Peggy means to you or what you’re going through right now.”
Normally Enola was an open-minded woman. Kerry couldn’t see any reason for her mother to be saying such nasty things about a man who was risking his own life to save her granddaughter’s. Unless Enola was simply too upset to know what she was actually saying.
“You’re wrong. He does understand. A person doesn’t have to be a parent to value a child’s life.” Besides, Kerry thought, she’d heard the caring in his voice when he’d promised her to get Peggy out, felt it for those brief moments when he’d held her against his hard chest. It didn’t matter if he was a still a playboy or married with three kids. He was the man she was counting on to save her daughter.
Enola was about to make a reply when a flurry of activity caught Kerry’s eye. A mixture of hope and relief flooded through her as she spotted Jared standing at the mouth of the pipe. Although the late afternoon sun was casting long shadows over the group, she could easily see that he was covered with mud. Streaks of it slashed at an angle across his cheek while parts of his short black hair were splotched with brown. In spite of his bedraggled condition, he was wasting no time in relaying information to Bram, and from the quick hand gestures he made back toward the drainpipe, he was a man just starting a mission rather than ending it.
“There’s Jared,” Kerry said to her mother with a breathless rush. “Maybe he’s found Peggy!”
Not waiting to see if her mom was following, Kerry pushed her way through the crowd until she was standing next to Jared and Bram, who’d now been joined by their younger sister, Willow, who ran the Black Arrow Feed and Grain store. There was also Gray, a tall, dark-haired Colton cousin, who was a local judge. Apparently the Colton family believed in banding together in times of crisis, she thought, and in this case she was deeply grateful that their help was being extended to her and Peggy.
Focusing her attention on Jared, she begged, “Tell me. What did you find?”
Jared’s gray eyes locked with Kerry’s pleading brown gaze. All the while he’d been crawling his way through the maze of drainpipes, his mind had been consumed with thoughts of the agony he knew this woman was going through and of the little girl who must surely be feeling trapped and terrified by now.
Stepping forward, he took her hand and gently folded it between his. “I’ve located her, Kerry. As I worked my way deeper into the pipe, I kept calling her name. She didn’t answer me directly, but I picked up on the sound of her crying.”
The relief of hearing that her daughter was alive flooded through Kerry and in the process nearly buckled her knees. If Jared hadn’t been holding onto her hand, she would have crumpled right there in the mud.
“Then she must be okay! But—” she stopped abruptly as another thought struck her. “If you could hear her, why didn’t you go after her and bring her out?”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s not going to be that simple, Kerry. Your daughter, Peggy—or Bram told me you sometimes call her Chenoa. Which name does she usually go by?”
“Chenoa is her Comanche name which means—”
“Little dove,” Jared finished for her. One corner of his mouth lifted wryly. “You must have forgotten that us Coltons are Comanche, too.”
She hadn’t forgotten the Coltons, Kerry thought, especially this one. By the time she’d been a senior in high school, he’d had women running out his ears, but for some reason he’d wanted to date her. Back then the idea of going out with a rogue like him was indecent, not to mention unsettling. Even though he’d been incredibly handsome and too sexy for his own good. A fact that hadn’t changed as far as she could see.
Flustered that she’d allowed her thoughts to wander, she said, “My daughter normally goes by Peggy.”
Jared nodded at Kerry while from the corner of his eye he could see that Bram was already talking over a course of action with the rescue people. “Peggy has wormed her way back into a shaft of pipe that I can’t reach,” he explained to her.
Sick with fear, she gripped his fingers. “Someone else—someone smaller—” she began, only to have him dash away her hopeful suggestions with a shake of his head.
“It would take someone smaller than Peggy even. I’ve found where she’d crawled through to another section of pipe, but her movements disturbed the surrounding ground, causing some of it to cave in behind her. Even if she was smart enough to turn around and find her way back, she couldn’t get past the dirt and rocks that are blocking the end of the pipe.”
“Oh God! Oh please tell me you can get her out! Please!”
One of Jared’s hands lifted to her shoulder. He gripped it firmly as he looked directly into her eyes. “Kerry, I promise you I’ll get her out. I’m not sure exactly how to do it yet, but I’ll get her.”
Kerry desperately wanted to believe him, but the whole situation sounded so awful. Her baby was in a deep dark hole with no way out. “But she might not have enough air! If it takes a long time to get her out—”
“Now, Kerry, don’t panic. If you collapse you won’t be much good to Peggy once we do bring her up.”
Tears were blurring her eyes and she blinked furiously to prevent them from
