Janet McNulty - Mellow Summers 06 - Where Trouble Roams by Janet McNulty Read Free Book Online

her back as she tried to run off.  How that was possible is still beyond me, but it made for a very comical scene.
    “Rachel,” I said.  “Now isn’t the time.  We should concentrate on finding the treasure first.”
    Rachel huffed a bit, but settled down.  “Well, he just better hope I do not get my hands on him.”
    After we managed to get Rachel to calm down, Jedidiah led us into one of the many canyons that make up the Badlands.  We ended up walking our horses the remainder of the way down.
    The snow on the path made it slippery and many times one of us lost our balance and slid a bit.  My horse snorted in my ear as my foot stepped on some loose pebbl es and shot out from under me.
    “Are you alright, dear,” asked Aunt Ethel.
    Nursing my sore butt, I nodded.  “I’ll be ok.  Just my pride’s hurt.”
    By midmorning we reached the bottom of the trail and continued eastward like the map had said.  I had no idea how far we were to go.  Some of the writing on it was faded a bit and I had to use a magnifying glass to read it.  In the end, we decided to just keep going until we found a good spot to camp for the night.
    Rolling thunder caught my attention.  I looked behind us and noticed a buildup of clouds.  An ominous feeling washed over me.  Lightning flashed and more thunder reached my ears.  By the magnitude of it, I could tell that it moved closer.  I glanced around at the snow around us and at the canyon walls.  As a sinking feeling came over me, I slowly realized that we were in a flood zone.
    “What is it” asked Jackie when she noticed that I had stopped walking.
    “Jedidiah,” I called pointing out the cloud buildup.  “Is that what I think it is?”
    Jedidiah’s brow furrowed as he studied the western sky.  “We need to find high ground!  Now!”
    Thunder roared overhead as lightning lit up the sky.  Jedidiah smacked the behind of his horse sending it running off.  He urged us to do the same with our mounts.
    More lightning.  Rain fell from the sky as it opened up drenching us within moments.  Instantly, the snow around us melted as puddles formed.
    We ran for higher ground struggling to climb upward as the dirt turned into slick mud.  I looked back.  Aunt Ethel struggled to hold her horse which had panicked from the sudden storm.
    “Leave him!” yelled Jedidiah.  “The horses will take care of themselves.”  He ran to my aunt and lifted her up.  I watched as she seemingly kicked and screamed at thin air while floating over to where the rest of us attempted to climb higher.  He placed Aunt Ethel on a ledge and heaved her upward.
    The ground rumbled as a roar filled my ears.  It built in intensity until it reached a deafening pitch.  “What’s that?” I asked.
    We all glanced to our right as a wall of water headed straight for us.  I said headed.  More like it charged for us in an attempt to seize us before we had a chance to escape.
    “Keep climbing!” shouted Jedidiah at us.
    We wasted no time climbing.  Rachel and Jedidiah helped Aunt Ethel who struggled against the slippery earth.
    My foot slipped in the mud.  Instantly, I lunged for a protruding rock.  As though to add insult to injury, the rock popped out of the earth and I fell to the raging water below.
    “Mel!”
    A thousand needles stabbed me as I hit the water being instantly carted away.  I poked my head through the surface taking a deep breath mixed with gritty water.  The resulting series of coughs meant that whatever air I had managed to take in had gone.
    I flailed my arms about hoping to be able to grab something.  No such luck.  More water filled my mo uth as I attempted to breathe.
    Please don’t le t it end like this, I thought.
    Just as I began to believe that I might drown, a hand seized the collar of my shirt and lifted me out of the water.  Jedidiah plopped me on the ground as I hacked up a mixture of water and spit.
    “Anything broken?” he asked.
    I did a quick check and