The Quest: Countdown to Armageddon: Book 6 by Darrell Maloney Read Free Book Online Page A

500 patrol car much more than Tom did. Yes, it would have enabled Tom and Sara to do their search much faster. But if there were an emergency in Kerr County and someone died because the deputies couldn’t respond in time…
         Well, that was just something Tom couldn’t risk.
         And horses were safer, in that the travelers were less likely to fall victim to ambush from marauders who desperately wanted a vehicle to drive.
         Horses seldom broke down, could be easily hidden from view when Tom and Sara spent their nights in the woods, and were easy to keep at that time of year. The weather hadn’t yet started to cool, and the wild hays and grasses were ripe and ready to eat.
         Tom rode Trigger, a young colt who loved long trail rides and was strong enough to carry Tom for days at a time.
         Sara rode Nellie, who she claimed was the sweetest horse ever bred in Texas. Or anywhere else, for that matter.
         Tom was quick to point out, “That’s only because you spoil her rotten with those apples.”
         The pair was traveling relatively light, but brought several days’ worth of rations. The rations were carried in saddlebags aboard a third horse, Silver. Silver got his name because he bore an uncanny resemblance to the Lone Ranger’s horse Silver in the old westerns.
         Silver would become Stacey’s horse once they found her and headed back to the compound. She would also provide a backup in the event one of their primaries went lame or got injured and needed a lighter load.
         By the end of their first full day they’d covered about fifteen miles.
         Sarah asked Tom, “Is this about what we can expect every day?”
         “It’s not too bad, considering they’re out of shape and so are our backsides. We don’t want to push either too much. How’s your butt?”
         “It’s sore, but not too bad.”
         “I brought some Corona you can use if it starts to blister.”
         “Thanks, but I don’t like the taste of beer. And I didn’t know it was good on blisters.”
         Tom smiled. He’d forgotten that Sara hadn’t come from a horse family.
         “It’s salve. The best on the market. You can use it for horses and people too. When we set out tomorrow, put a small pillow on your saddle before you mount up. Even though we can treat blisters, the best idea is to avoid them altogether.
           Tom took a hand-held radio on their journey, so they could stay in touch with the compound for their first two travel days. By the third day, they were out of range. Rather than carry a worthless radio on what could turn out to be a journey lasting several weeks, Tom stashed it.
         He turned it off to conserve the battery, wrapped it in plastic to protect it from the elements, and left it under a mesquite tree exactly fifty paces south of a high tension power pole marked with the number 805.
         He chose that particular pole because he was relying on Sara to remind him where they’d left it.
         And her birthday was August fifth.
         On their way home they’d retrieve it and use it to announce their progress as they neared the compound.
         An hour before sunset they stopped at one of the power poles and let the ponies graze while Tom started to climb up the tower.
         “Why don’t you let me do that?” Sara offered. “It’s my turn, and I’m younger and more agile than you are.”
         Tom’s muscles had gotten stiff and sore from three days in the saddle and he was inclined not to argue.
         So instead, he boosted Sara up to the first rung of the pole’s ladder.
         The pair knew that others used the road beneath the high-tension power line poles to travel north and south because they’d met several along the way. Some were on foot and others had horses.
         One couple had bicycles, and said they were trying to make their way to Minnesota.