Wild Fire Read Free

ranch. He hardly ever sat and watched TV with them anymore, and she would see his light on late at night. “Doing book work,” he said. But Kara suspected he spent a lot of time just staring into space. More than once she’d gone into his office to check on him, and he hadn’t even known she was there.
    Ryan burst into the room, his backpack slung over one shoulder. “Dad! I’m ready to go, see? There’s even room for my videos.”
    While Dad tried to explain to Ryan why he couldn’t take his videos of old John Wayne movies, Kara finished setting the table. Poor Ryan. He wasn’t much of a reader yet, and there was no TV at the lodge. No electricity either, except when they ran the generator. Ryan polished off his spaghetti and reached for the last slice of bread. Kara snagged the basket. “Eat some salad, Ry. You’ve already had three pieces.” She looked at Dad for support, but he was concentrating on the latest Cattleman magazine. She finally split the bread with Ryan and threw the last of his salad down the garbage disposal .
    She had tried to talk Dad into letting her ride in to the wilderness lodge with her brother Greg and the rest of theherd, but he’d insisted she fly in tomorrow with him and Ryan.
    â€œThere’s too much to do, Wakara,” he’d said. “I need your help getting the cabins in shape. Besides, if you don’t come, who’ll watch Ryan? We have to work together on this.”
    He was right, but why did she always have to be the one responsible for Ryan? Because there is no one else, that’s why .
    She packed the last of her things and set her clothes out for morning. It was close to midnight, but she had a hard time falling asleep.
    Last year, preparing for the trip to Eagle Lodge had been exciting. Mom had fixed their dinner, helped Ryan pack his clothes, and then read him a story. After he had settled down for the night, she had spent time in Kara’s room talking about their plans.
    Ten months ago all Kara had to worry about were her grades and which outfit she was going to wear. Now she had to take care of Ryan, do all Mom’s chores, and do her schoolwork besides. It just wasn’t fair.
    Quit whining, Wako. No one ever promised you that life would be fair . She used the nickname Greg had pinned on her when Dad was out of hearing range. She hated it, but lately it seemed to fit her state of mind.
    She had a lot of work to do, but at least she could scratch the schoolwork for now. Yeah, three months in some of the most beautiful wilderness in the world, and all she had to look forward to was cleaning toilets and scrubbing floors.

R YAN CHATTERED ALL THE WAY to the small airport on the outskirts of Lariat. Kara tried to concentrate on the scenery. To their left, the rugged Wallowa Mountains shot straight up into the silver morning mist. She knew their jagged peaks were still spiked with snow .
    Behind that range of mountains was another, just as rugged. The Minam Valley was sandwiched in between.
    The small, four-seater Cessna was already waiting on the tarmac. A brown-and-green logo of crossed antlers against a background of trees had been freshly painted on the front passenger door.
    â€œPretty neat, huh?”
    Kara understood the pride in her father’s voice. He had worked hard to buy that plane and fix up Eagle Lodge.
    She walked over and gave him a hug. “It looks great, Dad.”
    She glanced back up at the mountains. “But are we going to get out of here?”
    Her dad followed her gaze and gave her shoulders a squeeze. “It is pretty thick up there. We’ll give it an hour, then decide.”
    She felt a surge of disappointment. If the cloud cover stayed, they might not get over the mountains today at all.It wasn’t the clouds at the top that would cause a problem. Dad could navigate the peaks by radar. But if the mist continued on down the other side, they wouldn’t be able