Diamond Spirit (18 page)

The next event was the open draft. Jess wanted to see Harry ride Biyanga. He had been so disappointed about his two sons fighting that he’d decided to ride the stallion himself. He reckoned he was too old and creaky to get around the whole course, but he was going to try to win the highest cut-out score. The top ten scores would be eligible for a competition the next day and Harry had his sights set on that trophy.

Leaving Dodger to eat his lunch, Jess made her way to the grandstand. She was relieved to find Tom and Luke sitting way up the back where there was no chance of running into Shara.

‘Hey, great round,’ said Tom, as she joined them.

‘What happened at the end?’ asked Luke. ‘Dodger stumble?’

‘He overreached,’ said Jess. ‘He’s pulled a shoe and torn up his foot.’

‘Lawson could—’ Luke stopped mid-sentence.

‘Yeah, don’t tell me, he could put shoes on a mosquito,’ said Jess glumly. ‘Not likely he’ll help me, though.’

‘Maybe there’s another farrier on the grounds,’ he suggested.

‘Apparently not,’ said Jess.

‘Hey, here comes that girl again,’ said Tom suddenly.

‘Which girl?’ asked Jess, looking across the grounds. She saw Shara, riding past the grandstand on Rocko.

‘Shara Wilson,’ said Tom. ‘I’ve seen her at a few drafts lately.’

‘A few drafts?’ said Jess. ‘I can’t believe it. She never told me she was drafting!’

Tom and Luke stared at her. ‘How do you know her?’ asked Tom.

‘Who are you talking about?’ Grace shuffled across to join them.

‘Shara Wilson,’ said Tom.

‘She’s Jess’s best friend,’ said Grace. ‘Well, she used to be.’

‘We don’t talk much anymore,’ said Jess.

‘She’s a red-hot rider,’ said Tom.

‘Who’s a red-hot rider?’ asked Rosie, appearing from behind them.

‘Shara Wilson.’ Tom turned to Luke. ‘Brilliant horse. What’s the name of her horse?’

Jess noticed Rosie scowl.

‘Rocky, I think,’ said Luke.

‘It’s Rocko,’ said Jess flatly.

She saw Lawson outside the camp and took the opportunity to change the subject. ‘Hey, look. There’s Lawson. The novice event must have started.’

Lawson rode into the camp on a big chestnut mare and nodded to the judge. He wore jeans and a rusty red shirt, and on his boots were long-shanked spurs. He faced the cattle and danced the mare back and forth to warm her up. A bundle of nerves and jitters, she dived madly into the mob, surfacing with a lanky black steer.

The mare put in several good blocks, only to have the beast duck back to the mob. Lawson faced her up again and brought the steer to the front of the camp. He called for the gate and let the steer race out, completing the course and scoring a seventy-eight.

‘He still did a good job on that beast,’ said Luke.

‘Yeah,’ said Grace. ‘Even though he had two goes at cutting it.’

‘I think that’s his good mare, Marnie,’ said Tom. ‘She’s only young. He probably just wants to give her a bit of experience. Not much point in pushing her too hard in the camp.’

‘Since when does
he
care about that sort of thing?’ grumbled Jess.

Harry was next. Biyanga looked magnificent in a fancy bridle with shiny buckles. With a nod to the judge, Harry squeezed him forward and began his cut-out. Biyanga walked calmly to the mob and singled out a black heifer. He followed it to the front of the yard and ducked quickly to block it as it dashed back and forth. Harry and the stallion danced easily from left to right, pushing the beast steadily to the front of the camp, and when it was clear that the bleating young heifer was under his complete control, Harry called for the gate. As it shot into the arena, the old man brought Biyanga to a sliding halt and let it go.

‘And
that
, ladies and gentlemen, is how you cut a beast!’ said the announcer excitedly. ‘That’s a twenty-four cut-out, folks. You won’t see a better score than that this weekend! We’ll see Harry Blake and Biyanga in the cut-out competition tomorrow, and what an event it will be with that calibre of horsemanship.’

Tom and Luke jumped to their feet, clapping and whistling with the rest of the audience. Jess stood up and clapped too, but although she was happy for Harry, she couldn’t get her mind off Shara and Rocko.

Had Shara known Jess was going to be here? Was she purposely trying to freak her out? Was she trying to stop her from winning the draft? Why would she do that to her? She was so cold.

As the others raced down the stands and back to the truck to see Harry, Jess walked off in the other direction. It was time to get some answers, not just second-hand whispers and gossip. Why would her best friend, her longest and truest friend, and someone she shared everything with, hide the truth from her?

She was determined to find out.

Jess walked into the stable block and found Rocko’s unmistakably chunky head hanging over a stable door. Shara was inside, picking out his feet.

Jess stood at the door. ‘Tell me what happened, Shara. How did Diamond get out of her paddock?’

Shara threw a hoofpick into a bucket and grabbed a brush. ‘Oh, hello to you too. Yes, I’ve been well, thank you. How about you?’ She brushed Rocko with short, sharp strokes, keeping her back to Jess.

‘How did she end up in that cattle grid, Shara?’

‘How would I know?’

‘You must have been there. You saw it happen, didn’t you?’

Shara spun around and glared at her. ‘I did
not
see it happen. Do you really think I would just walk away and leave Diamond lying in a cattle grid? Who told you that?’

‘Why won’t you tell me about it, then?’

Shara kept brushing Rocko and said nothing.

‘Shara!’

‘What? I told you, I didn’t see it happen. Now go away and leave me alone.’

Jess didn’t move.

Silence.

Rocko screwed up his nose and took a swipe at the horse in the next stable. Shara stopped brushing. ‘I swear I don’t know, Jess.’

‘Then just tell me what you do know,’ said Jess, her voice softening, pleading. All this mystery was tearing her apart. ‘Why are you being so horrible to me? What have I done?’

Shara let out a deep sigh. ‘Okay.’ She put an arm over Rocko’s back. ‘When I went down to the river flats that morning, the horses were out and Rocko was chasing Diamond around. I tried to catch him, but he charged at me and bit me.’ She rolled up her sleeve and showed Jess a red crescent-shaped scar on her upper arm. ‘Rocko was really upset about something. I’ve never seen him like that.’

‘Why didn’t you get me to come and help you?’

‘I couldn’t. I was supposed to be cleaning out the shed and Mum had told me not to go down there until I’d finished my jobs.’

‘But that’s a really bad bite. Surely you needed a doctor, surely that was more important than a few jobs? Your folks would be more worried about your arm.’

‘Mum hated Rocko enough already, everybody did, they still do. If she knew about this bite, there’s no way she’d let me keep him. He would have been sent straight back to the doggers. I couldn’t tell her.’

Jess stood there, confused. Rocko screwed up his nose and shook his head at her.

Shara continued. ‘I thought the horses would be okay while I went back and finished the shed. I was going to go back down and catch them in the afternoon, and then I got that letter from Canningdale. When I went around to your place to tell you, I was also going to get you to help me round them up. But I was too late.’

‘So, does your mum know now? That Rocko bit you?’ asked Jess.

Shara tightened her mouth and said nothing.

‘She doesn’t know,’ said Jess. ‘How could you keep that scar hidden?’

‘I told her it was a different horse, some other horse down there. I wasn’t sure which one, because it all happened so fast.’ She gave Jess a
don’t-you-dare-tell-her-otherwise
look.

‘So when did Diamond get stuck in the grid?’ asked Jess.

‘I don’t know – sometime between when I saw her and when you found her, I guess. I swear I didn’t know she was hurt, Jess. There is no way I would have left her.’

‘So how did the horses get out?’

Shara held her hands up. ‘I don’t know. Rocko has never gone through a fence before.’

‘Neither had Diamond.’

They both stared at each other.

‘Why didn’t you tell me, Shara? I was your best friend. We told each other everything. Soul sisters, remember?’ This was the bit that confounded Jess. ‘Didn’t you trust me?’

‘Jess, your horse had a broken leg. You were distraught. If you thought it was Rocko, if you’d seen my arm, you would have said Rocko was vicious too.’

He is!

Shara saw the look on Jess’s face. ‘See. I knew you’d think so! Everyone thinks he’s dangerous. Dad would have made me get rid of him, and there’s no way I could find a good home for a horse like him. He would have had to die too. I just couldn’t do it.’ Shara was beginning to sound upset.

Jess stared at Shara’s scar. ‘I never thought he’d do
that
.’

Shara rolled her sleeve further down. ‘I was going to tell you when we went for that ride, but Katrina showed up, then Lawson, then you were too busy having a hissy fit!’

‘My face was smashed in!’ said Jess, beginning to get angry again.

‘I know it was,’ said Shara. ‘So what was I supposed to do? I stuffed up! I’m sorry!’

‘You blocked my phone number.’

‘You blocked me first.’

Jess scowled.

‘Were there any cattle down on the flats?’ she asked. ‘Maybe they pushed the fence down.’

‘None of ours were, just Lawson Blake’s,’ said Shara. ‘They were way up the other end, nowhere near her. But they were really stirred up. Whatever spooked Diamond through that fence must have spooked those cattle too.’

‘I bet it was Lawson letting off a gunshot!’ said Jess.

‘Yeah, I wondered about that, but I would have heard it.’

‘Maybe he did it the day before? Maybe they were out all night.’

‘No, I was down there the day before. The fence was fine. They were still in their own paddocks.’

Jess sighed. It looked as though she would never know what happened.

‘I’m so sorry you lost Diamond, Jessy. I think about her all the time. I really miss her too.’

Jess nodded.

‘Is that a new horse you’re riding?’

‘That’s Dodger.’

‘Dodger?’ Shara squeaked.

‘Changed, hasn’t he?’ Jess grinned.

‘Sure has,’ said Shara, sounding bewildered.

‘I found a little filly called Walkabout. I want to buy her. She’s an Appaloosa.’

‘Like Diamond.’

‘Do you believe in reincarnation, Shara?’

‘In what?’ asked Shara, slipping a bridle over Rocko’s head and buckling it up. ‘Oh shivers, I better go, I’m on in a minute.’ She reached for her saddle.

‘Reincarnation – you know, when you come back as something else after you die.’

‘Dunno, never really thought about it,’ Shara said, pulling up the girth straps. She walked around to the stable door, and brought Rocko after her.

Jess told Shara about Walkabout, being born on the same day Diamond had died. ‘It’s weird, I know, but she is just so much like Diamond. She follows me all around the paddock as though she knows me.’

Shara put her foot up to a stirrup.

‘Lawson Blake wants to buy her.’ Jess continued. ‘You know how horrible he is. I just can’t bear the thought of Wally being in his hands. She’ll be abused—’

‘Sorry, Jess. I’ve gotta fly,’ said Shara. ‘I’m in the Novice!’

As Jess watched Shara disappear behind a truck, she heard a throat clear behind her. She spun around.

Lawson was leaning against the stable wall on the other side of the aisle. He must have heard the whole conversation. He gave her a cold look and then strode out of the building.

23

‘ARE YOU COMING
over to the bonfire, Jess?’ asked Grace. ‘Harry’s playing the banjo and Lawson’s brought his guitar. It’ll be great!’

‘Nah, I’m going to get an early night,’ said Jess, pretending to clean her saddle. She had spent the afternoon in the back of Harry’s truck, avoiding everyone.

‘Oh come on, Jess. We’ve got marshmallows!’ Grace sang, waving a bag. ‘Yummy, yummy, hot and gooey!’

‘I don’t feel like it, Grace. I’m just going to go to bed.’ Jess folded her polishing cloth and tossed it into her grooming bag.

‘Cum
maahn
! Rosie is all smoochied up with Tom, it’s gross, and I’ve got no one to hang out with. Please?’

Jess wished Grace would go away. She just wanted to crawl into her sleeping bag and sort out her head. ‘I’m really tired, Grace.’

‘Are you still upset about Dodger’s foot?’

‘Yeah, a little bit.’

‘Oh, okay then. You’re dismissed,’ groaned Grace. ‘Have a good sleep.’ She ran off to join the others around the fire.

As Jess crawled into her swag, she could hear Harry’s wheezy voice singing over the crackle of the fire. She mulled over everything that had happened so far, and realised that the only way she could win the draft now was to get Dodger’s foot fixed. The only person who could do that, it seemed, was Lawson Blake – and she was not about to ask him for a favour.

The weekend hadn’t gone to plan at all. She had blown any hope of winning the draft, or saving Walkabout. She rolled over in her swag and her spine hit a bump on the truck floor. She thought of her soft, warm bed at home and wondered what she was even doing there.