Force of the Falcon

"Mommy, save me!"The childlike cry whispered through the eaves of the old farmhouse and echoed off the walls, terrifying and insistent. Sonya Silverstein jerked awake and sat up, a shiver rippling through her as if the icy fingers of a ghost had touched her neck. Had Katie cried out for help? She clutched the sheets and listened for her daughter's voice, for the sound of her small crutches clacking on the wooden floor, but an eerie silence seeped through the cold, dark room instead, and fear gripped her. Something was wrong. Sonya felt it deep in her bones. Her heart pounding, she slid from the bed, pushed open the bedroom door and searched the murky gray den for her little girl. The dying embers of the fire they'd had going earlier glowed. A wild animal howled in the distance. A tree limb scraped the ice-crusted glass, and the shutter flapped against the weathered boards encasing the window. Wind, vicious and blustery, tore through the dark room, hurling dead leaves across the plank flooring through the open door. Her breath caught. She had locked the door when she'd gone to bed. Had an intruder broken in while she'd been sleeping? Panic seized her. Dear God, Katie had to be there. She had to be all right. Katie was everything to her. She was all that mattered. She'd moved here to Tin City to raise Katie, to give her a safe life. To take solace in the small mountain town and heal from the pain her ex-husband had caused them. But the house she'd rented was practically in the wilderness. What if Katie had gone outside hunting for the kitty? Or what if a madman had broken in and kidnapped her? The door to her little girl's room was cracked open, and she pushed it, praying she'd find Katie snuggled in bed with Mr. Buttons, her favorite teddy, and their kitten, Snowball. But Mr. Buttons lay on the floor, and she didn't see the baby cat. The covers were tousled, and the bed was empty. "Katie!" She searched beneath the bed, then yanked open the closet. But Katie wasn't inside. Frantic, she screamed her name again and checked the bathroom. Katie's Hello Kitty cup. Her damp toothbrush. Her fluffy bedroom slippers. But no Katie! Sonya whirled around, scanning the room for Katie's small crutches. They were gone. Terror streaked through Sonya as she ran back into the den and grabbed her coat, her hat and a flashlight, then jammed on her snow boots and darted outside. The bitterly cold Colorado wind clawed at her face as she searched the porch, then the snowpacked ground below, for her daughter or her footprints. Snow whirled in a blinding haze, covering any tracks that might have lingered. A sob welled in Sonya's throat as she scanned the thick, snow-capped woods surrounding the farmhouse. The rigid cliffs and peaks climbed toward the heavens like stone boulders. While she'd thought they'd offer a perfect place for her to hide, a sanctuary, now they looked ominous, threatening. Katie was out there somewhere all alone. No telling what dangers lay waiting in the dense patches of firs and aspens. Katie was so small. She'd never survive the elements or be able to fight off an attacker. "Katie!" A scream tore from deep in her throat, but got lost in the howling wind. "Save me, Mommy!" The whisper of her daughter's plea reverberated through the chilling tension. Whether Katie had cried out for real or not, Sonya didn't know. But she heard her daughter's silent plea for help anyway. She ran into the woods, blindly searching. She had to find her. She couldn't lose Kate. Not now. Not ever. FRESH BLOOD dotted the powdery white snow, the scent of death floating in the whistling wind of the forest surrounding Falcon Ridge. Brack Falcon knotted his hands around the flashlight as rage rippled through him. A loud screeching sound had awakened him and brought him outside. And now, out here, he'd heard it again and founHerron, Rita is the author of 'Force of the Falcon', published 2006 under ISBN 9780373887316 and ISBN 0373887310.