I Will Find You 2

I Will Find You 2
Jennifer 

Miss Holy was still following something and a sharp bark from up ahead reassured me that we were still on the puppy's trail, so I bent low, gripped tighter and let Miss Holy push forwards. 
Frantic barking sounded a short time later as Daisy’s Hi-vis vest came sharply into view, and we slowed just intime. There, right in front of us, was the sharp drop of a ravine edge and the raging river beneath it roared up to us.  
My eyes were wide; my throat dry and my heart raced as a very excited Daisy clearly indicated right at its edge. I carefully walked Miss Holy as close as I could get, staring down with a heavy dread weighing my chest.  
Jackson threw Freddy’s reigns to me as I stood with the horses whose breath misted in the cold night air as their chests were heaving with the exertion they had just given to get here, whilst mine felt like it was caving in.  
Jackson jumped off Freddy’s back and ran to the edge where he paced, trying to get a better look and find a way down. We couldn’t even see the bottom with the flashlights we had though.  
“Fuck, that’s a deep assed ditch.” He said, “That’s a fucking deep assed ditch.” I reiterated. “I think it’s called a ravine when it’s naturally formed like that. Any sign of Maya?” I asked. “No but it’s hard to see from up here, we would need to get down there I think.” He replied. 
“How on earth are we going to do that?” I thought out loud. There are plenty of trees to tie a rope to...if only we had a rope. I could unhook the reigns from both of our horses and hook them together but that still wouldn’t be long enough, or strong enough. 
I let out a frustrated sigh, if there was any hope that she was down there, it would take way too long to get all the way to the house and back with equipment. Just then, Daisy ran into the bushes and a short time later, an out of breath Bjorn and Kevin came panting through the trees.  
“Daisy stopped at that edge there.” I said, pointing to the spot where she had indicated for us, “She started barking so I assume she was indicating but we can’t see down far enough and all we can hear is the water below.” I finished.  
I half expected the men to tell me it was hopeless, that if she had gone over (or been thrown) then there was no hope for my little dog and it would be too dangerous to try and go after her, especially in the dark.  
I was getting ready to argue my point or send them home if they didn’t want to help when Bjorn asked, “How much can those drones carry?”. He was praising Daisy and giving her a toy from his pocket.  
I had no idea “We used them a few times to carry notes or small and light devices in the field but even the big one's struggle with anything as big as a handgun, definitely nothing as big as a dog.” Kevin supplied with a slight confusion colouring his tone. 
“I’ll call Cieran, Kathy might just be able to help.” I said, feeling a new thread of hope as I caught on to Bjorn's idea. “Cieran, can Kathy carry a rope?” I asked when he picked up on the first ring. The line was crackly, and I had to repeat myself several times.  
“It has to be strong enough to hold a person and as long as you can possibly get.” I spoke slowly and clearly, trying to get the message through. “What? Did you find her? What do you need rope for?”. 
He still wasn’t hearing me, I was cutting in and out too much so in the end, I sent a text; ‘will ping exact location, need a rope, strong enough to hold a person and as long as possible, ASAP! Can Kathy, do it?” 
He must have picked up on my urgency as he did not ask any questions this time, simply sent back ‘ETA fifteen mins, wind is picking up.’. Well, fifteen minutes was better than the hour at least that it would likely take anyone to get here, even on horseback and that’s if they could find us in the first place.  
Connor text five minutes later, ‘Jen, do not do anything that might cause you harm, especially not with your leg still in a cast. Cieran said to tell you that the doctor said to take rests, not risks. He is flying Katherine to you as fast as she can go but the wind is slowing her down a little, especially with the heavy load. We also sent Travis and Valkyrie your way. They didn’t get anything from the asshole in the hut. Did you really find her in that ravine?’  
We had been studying maps of this place all day and they had been flying the drones with Kiera all day too so they must have seen it at some point. I had never found this place before; it was outside of my property boundary and the river is above ground where it crosses further South.  
I made a mental note to make sure this border is well fenced off so nothing can come near this place as it is so overgrown, we were almost on top of it before we saw it. 
“The marks on the ground suggest that someone slid over the edge here, it would make sense if he stumbled on this place by accident, looking for a good place to dump the dog and she ended up going over the edge.” Kevin suggested, bending to examine the ground as he pointed to what he was looking at.  
I went to climb down to look when I remembered that I could hardly jump down onto my bad leg. I swung it over, bending so I could slowly make my decent from Miss Holys back when strong arms wrapped around me from behind.  
I whipped my head around as Bjorn gently lowered me down to the ground but didn’t let go. He held me there and just looked at me and I was aware that I could feel every part of him with our proximity.  
“Hold onto me” he said, spinning me to face him and I did without a second thought. He then slowly let go of me and started taking off his coat. “Here, your cold, take this.” He said as he wrapped it around my shoulders and helped me put my arms through the sleeves.  
I hadn’t realised how cold I was until I felt the warmth seep through to my bones and it felt like bliss. His musky smell mixed with the scent of laundry detergent surrounded me. He still didn’t let go and a small part of me was grateful that I didn’t have my crutches so he would have to hold me up.  
I realised I meant to text Connor back, the others would be waiting for my word so they could go home. ‘Daisy indicated here, and Kevin found tracks. We can’t see her yet, that’s why we need the rope.’  
‘And Daisy is...?’ Connor asked, ‘Bjorn's police dog’ I replied, ‘Got it, useful guy, maybe we should keep him around.’ He replied and I laughed, such a Connor thing to say, ever the practical one. ‘ETA?’ I asked, ‘two minutes and thirty-six seconds according to my calculations, accounting for current wind speed.’ He replied.