An Ounce of Prevention

"How far do you think it is to that gap," she asked Alex.

He looked up at the mountain. "I'd guess about three more miles. It's hard to tell, though. This dry air is so clear that it can be deceiving." He stopped and slid the canteen strap from his shoulder. He handed the canteen to her. "Take a drink."

"I can wait," she said.

He shook his head. "No, don't wait until you're starting to suffer. Drink some now."

She drank from the canteen. It was tepid and flat, but it was wet. She handed it back to Alex and he drank from it as well.

He glanced around as he screwed the cap back on the canteen. "They're probably looking for us by now."

She frowned. "The drug people or the police?"

His gaze came back to her and a smile played at the corners of his mouth. His eyes expressed humor. "Probably both, but I was talking about the authorities."

"How will we know which is which?"

He winked at her. "If a chopper has the word POLICE on the side of it, we're probably safe."

"What was on the one that went over us back there?"

He sobered and shrugged. "I don't know. I never saw anything but the shadow - and the tail of it in the distance. It could have been either or neither."

They were talking around what was most important to both of them - the children. If Jonathan had called for help, what was happening to the children right now? There was a reason neither of them were talking about it - aside from the painful part. They couldn't do anything about it.

Carmen stared at the mountain that lay between them and the camp. Hopefully they had bought enough time for help to get to the children. Would their dilemma be on the news? Would it make the children a target?

"All this so I could look at some wild horses." She didn't realize she had said it out loud until Alex looked at her.

He shook his head. "No Carmen. All this happened because drugs are more important to some people than lives. If we're going to point fingers and assign blame, let's put it where it belongs. A person should be able to watch wild horses from public access without putting their family in danger. You didn't do anything wrong. They did."

He was right, of course. Tears stung her eyes and a lump formed in her throat. Would they ever see their children again?

Alex stepped toward her and drew her into his arms. "Jonathan will take care of them. They will all be fine. We'll be with them in a few more hours. Keep your chin up. We can do this if we don't lose faith and give up. We have to work together."