Hero Of The Flint Hills

A few minutes later the path abruptly disappeared. She stood on the edge of a large grassy prairie. This, she decided, was where the path had been leading. From here a rider would turn in any number of directions to check cattle, or water levels, as Christian had said his father was doing. Or whatever else ranchers did.

Lynnette realized she had been picturing Christian on horseback riding across the pasture. She tried to change the image to Arlen, but it was too late.

She brushed the thoughts aside as an outcrop of limestone caught her attention. It wasn’t far away, and she decided to take a closer look before turning back. The ground was uneven and littered with rocks and clumps of coarse grasses. She hadn’t realized how smooth the path was until she left it. Lifting her skirts, she walked on.

The rocks were farther away than she had realized and much larger. As she approached, she wondered if Christian and Arlen had climbed them as children, perhaps Emily too, though it was hard to imagine.

Lynnette walked around the outcrop, searching for toeholds and found instead the letters C and P scratched deeply into the gray stone. She ran her fingers over the letters, trying to imagine the young boy carving his initials here. Arlen’s were probably around someplace. How different their childhoods had been from her own.

She continued around the outcrop more slowly, studying the surfaces of the irregular rock. A movement at her feet made her jump and gasp. A huge grayand-brown-mottled snake slithered away from her. There was no rattle on its tail, she noted with relief. Still, she hadn’t even considered snakes.

“Time to go,” she muttered to herself. She made her way back around the rock and started across the prairie. The sun was high overhead now and she repinned her hat to better protect her face. She hadn’t thought about any possible dangers involved in walking alone. She hadn’t even told anyone where she was going. She tried to walk faster and nearly stumbled into a hole.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.