Tim knew as soon as he saw Caleb riding at full speed something was wrong. He mounted and rode out to meet the younger cowboy. "What is it? What's happened?"
"It's Amy. She went to town with Lyndy, hasn't come back, and Jack can't reach her. Ty and Jack went to look for them. Jack couldn't reach you either so I told him I'd come out."
Tim's face went pale white. Although she was a grown woman with a family of her own, Tim never stopped viewing part of her as the little girl, not much older than Lyndy was now, that he'd walked out on, along with her older sister and her mom. "My phone's inside." He'd lost power and hadn't had enough warning to charge his phone first. He could almost hear Lou telling him how stupid he'd been but that was a topic for another day. All that mattered was Amy. "Let's get to Heartland. Maybe they're back."
Caleb nodded, riding back with his mentor, hoping against hope that he'd see Amy's truck there when they arrived, safe and sound, or get a call saying she'd stayed put in town. Amy was one of the two smartest women he knew, she knew to be careful, especially with Lyndy in tow, but the storm had just happened so fast.
No horse, no buckle, no championship trophy would make Amy's truck appear magically safe and sound, a smile on her face like 'why were you worried', or put a phone call or message on the machine. Tim wanted to call Lou but was afraid to tie up the phone line. Besides, part of him was still hoping that Amy would appear quicker than Lou could come home. He remembered hearing about Marion's wreck, the accident that had taken the love of his life. He'd never gotten to make things up to her; he'd only just started making them up to the girls. He couldn't lose his daughter too, his grandbaby, that smile just like her mama and her grandma that lit up the whole room.
"Tim." Caleb called from the barn, having taken up repairs where Jack left off to give himself something to do. "Tim…"
Tim walked outside and saw Ty coming back, on Pal, with Lyndy in tow. Amy wasn't there. Why wasn't Amy there? He swept Lyndy to his arms, hugging her, kissing her blonde hair, so much like Amy at that age…He barely noticed Ty getting off Harley and letting Caleb put the horse away for him. "Where's my daughter?"
"There was an accident," Ty said, trying to put everything together in his mind, say the words for the first time aloud.
"Where Is My Daughter?" Tim asked again, no nonsense voice, tightened fist.
Caleb whisked Lyndy into a bear hug, helping her unbundle, hoping she didn't hear or see what was about to happen between her daddy and her granddad. "I don't know," Ty whispered, his eyes closing.
"You don't know. Didn't you look? You just left her out there. You left her…" Before Tim or Ty knew it, Ty was flat on his back and Tim's hand felt like he'd just hit a brick wall.
"You hit my daddy!" Lyndy yelled at him. "You say you're sorry, mister. Right now!" She stamped her tiny little foot, her hands on her hips.
"C'mon, Lyndy. Let's go call Aunt Cass." Caleb carried her inside quickly, worried that Ty would do what he would have been tempted to do, come back swinging.
The Ty before Amy would have done just that, no matter the circumstances, come back up swinging. Even the Ty before Lyndy would have been tempted as a reflex action or in stressed situations, like this, to belt him one back. Ty brushed himself off and went inside to his daughter.
Jack and Cass arrived back at Heartland at about the same time. Caleb was still working on repairs, anything to keep busy and not think, and Tim was pacing by the phone inside. Cass went to her husband, kissing his cheek, holding him for a moment or two. Caleb looked down at her, thinking about Ty and Amy, and rested his head on hers, his eyes closing. Life with Ashley seemed like a distant dream, sometimes nightmare, at this point. What would he do if he was in Ty's shoes, if Cass were the one they'd lost? She kissed his cheek and went upstairs to the loft.
Jack walked inside to his ex-son-in-law. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was to make this call. He wasn't even sure if he needed to make one or two, to tell Georgie himself or let Lou make that call. New York came first and he dialed his wife's number, knowing they'd be together. His voice broke when he heard Lisa's hello and he had to remain quiet to keep from shedding tears.
"Jack?" Lisa knew from the quiet that it was him; it had to be. "Jack, what's wrong?" Lou's eyes got wide and Lisa put him on speaker so that Jack's voice filled the apartment.
"Is Lou there?" He knew the answer, but he wanted to make sure.
"I'm here, Grandpa," Lou answered.
"We're both here, Jack. Are you okay?" In her heart, she could already feel he was anything but okay.
"Amy and Lyndy were comin home from town during the storm. Amy lost control and hit a tree." Lou let out a stifled sob, biting back a scream, remembering a call like this, fourteen years prior, when her entire life had changed, when she'd lost her mom. "We found the truck; Lyndy was in there. She seems to be okay; we'll get her checked out in the morning to be sure."
"And Amy?" Lisa asked, holding Lou's hand. While Lou was more of a friend, even a daughter, Amy felt like a real granddaughter, not step. She was as scared as they all were, but she knew she couldn't show it, not while she was talking to Jack and not while she was trying to comfort Lou.
"Still missing. I talked to some folks in town; a lot of them want to help, but no one will go out in the dark, not in this weather."
"Grandpa, it's freezing and dark out there. You can't leave her out there overnight. You just can't…" Lou was crying, tears rolling down her cheeks. Home had never felt so far away, not even when she'd lived in Dubai.
"I know, honey. Your dad and I, probably Ty, maybe even Caleb, we're all going out to look. We're not going to leave her out there a second longer than we have to." He looked at Tim who nodded in agreement. "Honey, I need to know…do you want to call Georgie or do you want me to?" He could tell even over the phone that his granddaughter was emotional; they all were.
"I'll do it, Grandpa." Although part of her daughter would break, just as part of Lou was, at the thought of not being immediately of help, Amy was glad her daughters were with Peter. He could take care of them, be there for them, in the way that Lisa was being there for her now.
"Lisa, you two be safe. But get home as quick as you can. Please." His voice cracked at the last word.
"I'm going to start getting us a way home even if I have to drive all night, Jack. We'll come home. Please…please be careful." The last thing Amy would want or needed was one of the search party getting hurt as well.
"I love you," Jack said, not hesitating, even in front of Tim. He kept learning just how quickly the entire world could change course; he didn't want to put off telling her what they both needed to hear.
"I love you," she whispered before ending the call and starting to pull every connection she had to get them a way home.
*****
Cass stood in the open entrance of the loft, watching Ty and Lyndy. He was sitting on the bed and she was curled up next to him, wetness from her lashes still evident on her face where she'd cried herself to sleep. She clung to the stuffed pony that looked so much like Spartan and had Amy's phone in her other hand where she'd been watching videos of Amy training horses.
"How is she?"
Ty looked up, startled, so focused had he been on his daughter. "I think she's okay, but after we find Amy, I want to get them both checked out."
"I can take her in tomorrow morning, if you're not back." She was hoping, they were all hoping, they'd find Amy long before that.
"Thank you. I should have taken her today, but…" Ty shook his head. "I remember when I was sick, I was so scared I wasn't going to be a good dad. I don't know if anything I've done today has been a good dad, especially leaving her like this."
"You went to work, Ty. That's all you did. And it's how you help provide for your family." Cass reminded him gently. "Do you think for one second Amy wouldn't want you there when it came to caring for an animal?"
She had a point there; many times had Lou or Jack, usually Lou, gotten upset about Amy collecting more 'strays'. "Our little girl just cried herself to sleep. And not because of a tantrum, but because she wants her mommy and I can't give Amy to her. I can't even give her to me." He rubbed his forehead.
"That's why you're going to look for her, Ty. You're going to let Lyndy's awesome godmother watch out for her and you're going to go find Amy so she can come home." She tried to smile for him.
"Amy's hurt, Cass. There was blood in the truck, a few drops outside in the snow. She's hurt and she's out there in the dark, cold…Lyndy had every coat or blanket in the truck, including Amy's, on top of her, something to eat and drink, even Amy's phone. If I wasn't 100% sure she's fine, I'd have her at the hospital as we speak, but I think it would just scare her more than it would help her. I know she's fine. And that you'll take good care of her. I just…" It was hell leaving his little girl yet again. "I don't…I don't have a good feeling about this. I just don't."
"Because you think that every good thing is a mistake somehow that you don't deserve and you're going to lose them. It's not, Ty, and you won't. I've got Lyndy & you will find Amy. You just will. Okay?" He nodded, wishing he felt as sure of it as she did.
Jack and Tim were gathering food and emergency supplies, then Jack divided them evenly between the four packs. He tried to think of his task as supplies to get Amy home, safe and healthy, rather than what his mind automatically went to: things his granddaughter didn't have. It scared him to death to think of his granddaughter out there all alone and Tim's attitude on the matter hadn't helped any more than usual.
"Nice of you to join us," Tim said as Ty came down from the loft.
Jack sighed, resisting the urge to punch his own son-in-law…again. He satisfied himself with the memory of the last few times he'd done it and how he might be tempted to do it again, once they found Amy, but right now it wasn't worth the time it would take away from the search. Some might say it was crazy to go out at night in this weather, but the thought of Amy hurt and unprotected from the elements was more than any of the four men could bear.
"We'll start from here. Ty, you and Caleb ride the way we went the first time, since we know what we're looking for now. We mighta missed something or she mighta doubled back to the truck." It wasn't like his granddaughter to give up though; he knew that for a fact. "We'll ride to Tim's and make our way up towards the truck that way."
Caleb nodded. "Good news is that now we've got the phones back. You'll call us; we'll call you. Cass will call us if Amy makes it back here before we do." Jack nodded, never thinking he'd be glad for a cell phone before.
"All right, let's go," Tim said, as impatient as ever, maybe more so with what he risked losing this time.
*****
Ty had opted to let Harley rest and take a barn horse this time, wishing they'd been able to bring a truck. Even the spotlight flashlights weren't letting them see much and, with the still falling snow, even if Amy's tracks had been right in front of them, they might not have seen her. He couldn't give up though, just go back home, pretend everything was all right. If he was cold, he knew Amy had to be even colder. When he was afraid, his mind went to how terrified she must be, about Lyndy as well as herself. He kept wishing to smell smoke, but the ground was so wet that he wasn't sure she would be able to start a fire. He heard the wolves and tried to push away the thought of Amy out there alone, maybe still bleeding, with no means of defense.
"Thank you," he told Caleb softly.
Caleb turned around to see if he'd heard right. "What?"
"I know this doesn't make any sense to be out right now. That we can't see anything. I heard all the reasons for starting in the morning, but…"
"Hey. If Cass was out here, you'd be out here with me, right?" Ty nodded. "And Amy would too. Thank me when we find her. And, man, we're gonna find her."
"Do you think Tim's right?" Ty asked after a long silence.
"You would give your life for Amy's. If it was just you and Amy in the world, then you woulda stayed out here until you found her, no matter what. But it's not. You both have Lyndy to think about. Amy left Lyndy in the truck for a reason, to take care of her, to try to keep her safe and warm and dry." His voice was a little choked up at the last. "Taking Lyndy back to Heartland, to her family, is what she would have wanted you to do, not take a scared little girl on a survival search."
"You know Amy was always afraid of electrical storms, right? Wouldn't drive in them." Caleb nodded. "She was scared that she'd have an accident, like Marion. She was…she was scared of this." Not this exact outcome, but either getting her or someone she loved hurt and losing them again.
"Lyndy's safe. And we're gonna find Amy. Everything's going to be all right." At this point, as much as he'd said it, Caleb was starting to believe it. He had to believe it to keep both him and Ty going until Amy came home.
*****
Tim couldn't help but think that Amy hadn't been much older than Lyndy when he'd gotten hurt. Although he didn't always say it, he didn't always act like it, his biggest regret was leaving Marion and his girls, not fighting harder to keep his family together. He flexed his hand where he'd hit Ty, much like Jack had hit him over the years. He knew none of this was Ty's fault, knew how deeply the young man loved Amy, but it was a reaction. Part of Tim would always see Amy as the little girl he'd walked out on, Lou as the teen, and to picture her lost and alone out there, maybe even hurt, was beyond what any father wanted to imagine. Amy was stubborn, a family trait passed on by both him and Marion. He knew she would survive this, but what she'd have to go through to survive scared him.
Passing by his house, he thought he saw what seemed like a phantom puff of smoke from his chimney. That was, until he saw another, and then a third. "Jack!" He cried out against the wind. Could it be that Amy had been at his home all the time they'd been waiting for her at Heartland?