Endurance Ride (9 page)

Then suddenly her feet could move again. She thrust Starlight’s reins at Chloe and ran to the trail’s edge. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Stevie and Lisa doing the same thing. “Hang on, Max, we’re coming,” she yelled. She stepped over the edge and nearly somersaulted. She lost her balance and grabbed frantically at weeds. Small stones skittered down the slope.

“Careful, careful!” Lisa shouted, grabbing Carole’s arm. They had to go slowly, no matter how desperately they wanted to hurry. Max seemed far away. Carole took another step and nearly fell again.

“Like this,” Stevie said, sitting down and letting herself slide on her seat. “Like the horses did.” Sliding, slipping, they reached Max’s side.

He was lying on his back with his face turned to one side, his head pointing downhill and still leaning against the rock it hit. The velvet cover of his helmet was torn, and the side of it was crushed. His skin was pale, and blood from a gash on his arm poured in a steady stream onto the ground.

“Let’s get his head up.” Stevie grabbed his shoulder and started to pull.

“No!” Carole yelled so urgently that Stevie instantly
froze. “No,” she repeated. “I had first aid in gym class last spring, remember? We can’t move him. He might have hurt his back or his neck, and we could make it worse. We can’t let him move at all.”

“Sorry.” Stevie backed away. They stared at Max, afraid to touch him.

“We have to do something,” Lisa whispered.

“Right,” Carole said. “Of course.” She couldn’t think. What came first? What had she learned? Gym class seemed like years ago.

“Carole? What should we do?” Stevie asked, her voice uncharacteristically uncertain.

“I’m thinking,” Carole said. She struggled to remember. “Let’s see. Breathing. He has to be breathing. That’s first.” She put her hand against Max’s cheek. How could she tell if he was breathing? His chest would move, that’s how. She looked carefully. Max was breathing.

“Okay, then; he has to have a heartbeat. That’s second.” She remembered how to feel for a pulse on the side of the neck and was relieved at the strength of Max’s heartbeat.

“So he’s not dead,” Lisa said quietly. It was what they had all feared.

“No,” Carole said. “He must have a concussion, like Stevie did last year. He could be hurt in other places, but we won’t know until he wakes up or gets to a hospital.”
She looked around the hillside. How would they get Max off the trail?

“I’ll go for help,” Lisa said. “The end of the ride isn’t too far, so I’ll go there as quickly as I can. They’ll know what to do. You guys stay here and take care of Max—and Barq. No, really,” she added when Stevie started to protest. “Prancer is the fastest horse; she and Starlight got to rest more than Belle did at the last check; and, Carole, you obviously know more first aid than Stevie or me. And Chloe’s got all that trail gear—she might be able to help you. I’ll go.”

“Maybe someone else will come along soon,” Carole said. “One of the other endurance riders.”

“So many people passed us since the last check,” Lisa said. “We might be the last riders on the trail. Besides, we can’t wait.”

“I know. Of course not,” Carole said. “I just wish I knew more what to do. Hurry, Lisa! Please hurry.” Lisa started up the slope.

“Be careful!” Stevie shouted after her.

At the top, Chloe listened anxiously to Lisa’s account of Max’s condition. “I’ll ride for help if you want,” she offered. “You can stay here. He’s your instructor.”

Lisa blinked back tears. She wanted to stay with Max,
and with Stevie and Carole. She was a little afraid of being on the trail alone, when her errand was so crucial. “No, I’d better go,” she said to Chloe. “You know more about riding on trails than we do, and you’re more prepared. Stevie and Carole probably need your help.”

Chloe nodded agreement. “Once you get into the woods, the trail is flat from then on,” she said. “You’ll be able to go fast, but don’t panic.” Lisa nodded. To her surprise, Chloe gave her a brief hug. “Good luck.”

Lisa mounted and gathered up the reins. “Take care of Max,” she told Chloe. She urged Prancer forward, resisting the impulse to turn and look back. Forward was what counted. Max needed help as fast as possible.

Up to the crest of the ridge, Lisa kept Prancer to a controlled trot. She made herself hold the mare to a walk down the last steep section, even though she was dying to have Prancer gallop. No matter what, she couldn’t afford to have an accident herself. Max was depending on her and Prancer.

Prancer. Lisa looked down at the gallant mare she loved so much. The horse had already traveled forty-five miles that day. Was it really fair to ask her to gallop the last five? It might be too much; it might hurt her. But Lisa knew she had no choice. Max could be dying.

Lisa urged Prancer into as fast a trot as she could. As soon as the trail flattened and she could see the woods ahead of her, she asked Prancer to run. The mare seemed to sense Lisa’s urgency. She tossed her head, kicked her heels up once, and flew like the wind, doing what she’d been born and bred to do.

“H
E
’
S BLEEDING A LOT
,” Stevie said, pointing to the puddle of blood forming under Max’s outstretched arm. Lisa had just left, and Stevie and Carole were still bending over Max. “Really a lot,” she added. “He ripped his arm on a stick. It’s scary.”

Carole looked and shuddered. “I didn’t realize his cut was that bad,” she said. “I think we need to stop it pretty quickly.” Stevie pulled a wad of tissues out of her fanny pack, and in seconds they were soaked through. “Hold them there anyway,” Carole instructed. “Press on the cut, but remember—”

“—don’t move him,” Stevie recited. “What can we use for a bandage?”

Carole looked around. “I wish our windbreakers weren’t made of nylon.”

“Belle’s polo wraps!” Stevie said. She shouted up the slope. “Chloe! Take off one of Belle’s polo wraps and toss it down here!”

Chloe already had her horse tied to a tree. She was holding Belle and Starlight, but it wasn’t difficult for her to reach down and unwrap one of the long fleecy bandages that were protecting Belle’s legs. She wadded the bandage into a ball and tossed it to Stevie.

Carole carefully wrapped the bandage around Max’s arm. Blood soaked through the first layer, and the second, but soon the flow was at least slowed.

“I’ve totally wrecked one of your new wraps,” Carole told Stevie.

“As if I care,” Stevie shot back.

“It’s bad, Stevie,” Carole said in a shaky voice. “He really lost a lot of blood in a hurry.”

“He’ll be okay,” Stevie said. “He has to be. Anyway, he’s not bleeding now, right?”

“I don’t think so,” Carole said. Her hands were smeared red. “Stevie … maybe you should look at Barq? He—He’s bleeding, too.” They looked downhill at the patient
gelding. “I’ll stay here with Max. One of us has to, in case he wakes up.”

Stevie didn’t want to go, but she knew she should. Barq needed them, too, and she didn’t think they could do anything else for Max now. “I’ll help Chloe tie our horses up, and then I’ll get her to help me see what we can do about Barq. Yell if you need us. Yell if anything changes.”

“I will,” Carole promised.

Up on the trail, Chloe was fussing with the straps on Starlight’s bridle. “I’m not used to tack like this anymore,” she told Stevie. “I want to tie them up, but not with the bit in their mouth. My bit snaps out.”

Stevie looked at Whitey. She could see what Chloe meant. It was dangerous to tie a horse up in a regular bridle—if the horse tried to pull away, the metal bit would injure its mouth. Whitey’s bridle could be converted to a halter instantly. “I’m sure we can figure out something,” she said, taking Belle from Chloe. “Undo the side buckles to get rid of the bit, and make sure the nosebands are tight.”

“Here!” Chloe said. “That works, and we can fasten the reins to the noseband and tie them up like that.”

“Good!” Both girls worked quickly. Once the horses were secure, they removed their saddles and laid them on the ground out of harm’s way. Then they looked down the
hill. Carole was sitting patiently with Max. Barq looked a long way away.

“Did the polo wrap help Max?” Chloe asked.

Stevie nodded. “His arm is cut, and it was really bleeding.”

“Let’s take the other three down to Barq, then. Looks like he’s bleeding, too.”

They skittered slowly down the slope to Barq’s side. He was standing on the only flat piece of ground on the entire hillside, and, fortunately, there was room for Stevie and Chloe to stand next to him. Stevie braced herself for the worst, but luckily Barq didn’t seem too bad. He nosed Stevie gently.

“He’s putting his weight on all four feet,” Chloe said, inspecting him carefully. “He’s got a lot of bumps and bruises, but he hasn’t broken a leg or torn a tendon or anything like that.”

“This cut is pretty bad,” Stevie said, peering at the gash on his shoulder. It wasn’t bleeding as heavily as Max’s cut, but it was a lot longer.

“Let me see.” Chloe used water from her backpack to flush some of the dirt out of the cut. It immediately started to bleed faster.

Stevie wound the polo wrap around Barq’s neck and across his shoulder. It seemed to help. She added
the second and third wraps down the side of his shoulder. “The rest of his cuts aren’t so bad,” she said. “He’s lost a lot of hair, but mostly he just scraped himself. I think he’s going to be okay. Look at his saddle, though.” She pointed. Barq’s saddle was twisted unnaturally. One stirrup had come off and the leather was ripped open in several places.

“It’s history,” Chloe declared. “The insides must be ruined.”

“Lucky Max didn’t use his good saddle. He would have hated to lose that one. And his reins snapped at the buckle. The rest of his bridle looks okay.” Instead of forming a loop around Barq’s shoulders, his broken reins trailed in the dirt. Stevie bit her lip and looked anxiously across the hill. Carole hadn’t moved. Neither had Max.

“Okay,” Chloe said, patting Barq’s neck gently. “What we need to do is get this guy up with his friends. Any idea how?”

Stevie thought. “The slope is awfully steep. I know he can climb it, but he’ll probably sort of lunge. I don’t think it would be safe for one of us to lead him. He could knock us over without trying to.”

“We’ve had enough of that already,” Chloe said. “I agree. If we just try to chase him uphill, do you think he’ll go?”

“I doubt it. How about we both lead him, one on each side, but far away? If we both hold on to a rein, we might be able to get him to climb up the hill in between us.”

“That’s a good idea!”

They tried, but the reins weren’t long enough. When the girls held them, they couldn’t get more than a few feet away from Barq—not far enough for safety.

“We need longer reins,” Stevie said. “What we really need is the longe line I have for Belle at home. But maybe if we unbuckle Belle’s and Starlight’s reins, and only tie them with one each—”

Chloe caught on quickly. “I’ve got a lead rope on my saddle, too. I can tie Whitey with that, and we can use both of his reins.” They gave Barq another pat for reassurance, waved to Carole, then climbed back up the slope. In a minute they were sliding down again. They tied all the reins together to make two long makeshift leads.

Now they had enough line that they could stay well away from Barq, yet still guide him. Stevie gently moved the horse so that he was facing uphill. Then they started climbing the hill, one on each side of him. When their lines went taut, they pulled gently on Barq’s head, called to him, and encouraged him. Barq had always been well-mannered. He took a step forward, then another. As the slope steepened, he had to use his head for balance, and he
plunged forward in halting, leaping steps. Sweat broke out across his shoulders, and he paused before each plunge as though in pain. Stevie and Chloe scrambled to climb quickly so that they could keep their reins taut and keep Barq moving.

Finally they reached the lip of the trail. Chloe sat down, gasping for breath, but Stevie stood and pulled steadily on her end of the line. “Come on, Barq, you can do it!” she said. Barq made one last leap and came up beside her. He was trembling from the effort. Stevie quickly led him away from the edge.

“Wow,” Chloe said, standing up again. “We did it.” They patted and praised Barq for his effort, then removed his tack as they had for the other horses. Chloe encouraged him to drink from her backpack. Barq licked the tube with seeming gratitude.

“Once he’s done with that, I’d like a drink,” Stevie said. “I’m—oh no! Carole wants us! There must be something wrong!” Carole was waving frantically. Without another word, Chloe and Stevie started back down the hill.

O
NCE
C
AROLE SAW
that they were coming, she went back to watching Max breathe. His chest moved in and out regularly, but that was the only reassuring thing about the way he looked.

“He looks
awful
,” was the first thing Stevie said. “He looks worse. His skin’s turning blue gray.”

“I know,” Carole said. “Why do you think I wanted you? I can’t stand this, Stevie. I don’t know what to do.” She slid the few feet to Max’s side and gently felt for his pulse again. Max was more to Carole than just the best instructor she’d ever had. He was more of a friend, or a favorite uncle.