Chapter Four
The Ranch
Interstate 40 stretched out before them like an asphalt ribbon. Eventually the Mojave Desert gave way to squat trees of pinon and then juniper. At Kingman stately ponderosa pines grew numerous and, when they reached Flagstaff, the trees towered above them.
Tamera turned off the interstate and drove right on through town, heading north on a state highway. About twenty miles north of town she turned right on a dirt road and up through a narrow cleft. They passed underneath a thin, wrought iron arch proclaiming they were entering the Silver R Ranch. A steep drop on the other side of the cleft switched back and forth for an easy descent.
A small valley lay below, covered in a blanket of light green. Three log cabins sat near the center. The one in the middle was a tw
