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Authors: Jenny Oldfield
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At first she thought it was a shadow cast by the trees. She looked again. The shape was solid. It moved silently between the slender trunks. Then it emerged.
The black stallion stood clear of the aspens. He raised his head, alert to their presence. He stayed calm, watching them, waiting.
“Oh, hey!” Lisa breathed. It was her first view of the magnificent horse.
“He’s alive!” Kirstie closed her eyes. When she opened them, the stallion had taken a couple of steps toward them. “And he’s walking much better!”
They stared at his injured leg. There was no bandage around the knee. It was as Kirstie had guessed; her improvised strips of fabric had done the job of stemming the flow of blood, but soon afterwards, the horse must have torn them away with his teeth. In any case, the wound looked clean.
“You know something… ?” In turn, Kirstie took a few steps toward the horse. “The cut is starting to heal.”
“That’s fast,” Lisa admitted.
“It’s almost like…like…” She was peering hard across the clearing, not wanting to go too close and scare the stallion.
“… Like someone’s put grease around it!” Lisa whispered.
“Antiseptic cream,” Kirstie agreed. Then she shook her head. “No way!”
“Right. No way!” Lisa stared again and again at the injured knee. “But there is
something
on that cut!” she insisted.
“How?…Who?”
Lisa screwed up her mouth and thought hard. “Hadley?”
Kirstie shook her head. “He’d have said.” By now she was sure; the stallion’s right knee had been smeared with a thick coating of white grease.
“Glen Woodford?” Lisa guessed. “Maybe he came back without telling us.”
“Nope.” Kirstie couldn’t believe this either. “In any case, that grease doesn’t look like something a vet would use.” Glen would have relied on jabs of antibiotic and tetanus, and left the wound open, with maybe a stitch or two to hold it together. “It looks more like a remedy an old rancher might have used.”
Lisa shook her head and sighed. “OK,” she said. “We have someone who sneaks into Dead Man’s Canyon behind our backs, who gets close enough to this wild horse to lead him behind the waterfall into this clearing that no one else knows about …”
Keeping her eyes fixed on the wary horse, Kirstie nodded.
“… Who knows about old remedies and can get the stallion to trust him so he agrees to separate from the herd and stays here safe in the meadow …”
“Yep.” This needed plenty of thought. Kirstie knitted her brows and kept on staring.
“That takes one pretty smart guy!” Lisa looked round the green space. “One smart, invisible guy!”
It was strange but true. The person who had helped the stallion must have been here either during those first hours after the landslide when Kirstie had gone with Charlie and Hadley to the ranch for help, or during the night, while Kirstie and Lisa had slept. He’d made no noise, but perhaps it was him who had spooked the bobcat early that morning. He’d treated the stallion, left him to graze in peace, and slipped away without leaving any clues.
“But who?” Lisa voiced the question.
Kirstie glanced away and up at the soaring hawk against the gray sky. She looked down again at the quiet, watchful stallion and felt the knot of worry she’d carried since they’d entered the gully begin to ease.
“A healer,” she said quietly. “An expert. Someone who really knows about horses.”
7
Matt threw another log on the ranch house fire, then quizzed Kirstie and Lisa. “How come you’re so sure the horse didn’t find his own way into the clearing?”
Lisa stood with her back to the fire, her hands cupped around a mug of hot chocolate. She shook her head. “No way would the stallion make it by himself. Anyhow, who cleaned up the wound and put the grease on?”
Kirstie’s brother thought hard. “So maybe Glen Woodford went back to the canyon?”
“No, we already thought of
The black stallion stood clear of the aspens. He raised his head, alert to their presence. He stayed calm, watching them, waiting.
“Oh, hey!” Lisa breathed. It was her first view of the magnificent horse.
“He’s alive!” Kirstie closed her eyes. When she opened them, the stallion had taken a couple of steps toward them. “And he’s walking much better!”
They stared at his injured leg. There was no bandage around the knee. It was as Kirstie had guessed; her improvised strips of fabric had done the job of stemming the flow of blood, but soon afterwards, the horse must have torn them away with his teeth. In any case, the wound looked clean.
“You know something… ?” In turn, Kirstie took a few steps toward the horse. “The cut is starting to heal.”
“That’s fast,” Lisa admitted.
“It’s almost like…like…” She was peering hard across the clearing, not wanting to go too close and scare the stallion.
“… Like someone’s put grease around it!” Lisa whispered.
“Antiseptic cream,” Kirstie agreed. Then she shook her head. “No way!”
“Right. No way!” Lisa stared again and again at the injured knee. “But there is
something
on that cut!” she insisted.
“How?…Who?”
Lisa screwed up her mouth and thought hard. “Hadley?”
Kirstie shook her head. “He’d have said.” By now she was sure; the stallion’s right knee had been smeared with a thick coating of white grease.
“Glen Woodford?” Lisa guessed. “Maybe he came back without telling us.”
“Nope.” Kirstie couldn’t believe this either. “In any case, that grease doesn’t look like something a vet would use.” Glen would have relied on jabs of antibiotic and tetanus, and left the wound open, with maybe a stitch or two to hold it together. “It looks more like a remedy an old rancher might have used.”
Lisa shook her head and sighed. “OK,” she said. “We have someone who sneaks into Dead Man’s Canyon behind our backs, who gets close enough to this wild horse to lead him behind the waterfall into this clearing that no one else knows about …”
Keeping her eyes fixed on the wary horse, Kirstie nodded.
“… Who knows about old remedies and can get the stallion to trust him so he agrees to separate from the herd and stays here safe in the meadow …”
“Yep.” This needed plenty of thought. Kirstie knitted her brows and kept on staring.
“That takes one pretty smart guy!” Lisa looked round the green space. “One smart, invisible guy!”
It was strange but true. The person who had helped the stallion must have been here either during those first hours after the landslide when Kirstie had gone with Charlie and Hadley to the ranch for help, or during the night, while Kirstie and Lisa had slept. He’d made no noise, but perhaps it was him who had spooked the bobcat early that morning. He’d treated the stallion, left him to graze in peace, and slipped away without leaving any clues.
“But who?” Lisa voiced the question.
Kirstie glanced away and up at the soaring hawk against the gray sky. She looked down again at the quiet, watchful stallion and felt the knot of worry she’d carried since they’d entered the gully begin to ease.
“A healer,” she said quietly. “An expert. Someone who really knows about horses.”
7
Matt threw another log on the ranch house fire, then quizzed Kirstie and Lisa. “How come you’re so sure the horse didn’t find his own way into the clearing?”
Lisa stood with her back to the fire, her hands cupped around a mug of hot chocolate. She shook her head. “No way would the stallion make it by himself. Anyhow, who cleaned up the wound and put the grease on?”
Kirstie’s brother thought hard. “So maybe Glen Woodford went back to the canyon?”
“No, we already thought of
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