Snow Ride (6 page)

“Let’s go,” Dinah said. “Goldie’s ready for a little trotting, aren’t you?”

Without waiting for an answer from Stevie, Dinah signaled Goldie to move. Soon the horse was trotting obediently, though he had more than a little difficulty managing it in the deep snow. Still, he did what he was told. Stevie got Evergreen walking and then trotting as well. It was an odd gait in the snow, slower than usual, yet somehow smoother than usual. Stevie had been prepared
to post, but found that in the snow she could sit the trot better than she could post. Since the snow was deep and the ground was hard, she knew it was difficult for the horse to move quickly, and she thought it was an imposition to ask him to do it.

“Let’s just walk,” she called ahead to Dinah. Dinah slowed down, but when she glanced over her shoulder at Stevie, there was a frown on her face.

“It’s too hard on the horses,” Stevie explained.

“Aw, come on,” Dinah said. “They can make it. They’ve been cooped up in the stable for so long.…”

“That’s not a good reason to let them do something dangerous,” Stevie countered. She was surprised at how much she sounded like Carole. She was also surprised at how much Dinah had sounded like Stevie!

“All right,” Dinah relented. “We have to stop now anyhow. The trail goes back into the woods here.”

She turned Goldie to the left, reentering the forest and heading straight around the mountain. Unlike the first part of the path, this was relatively level and open. Dinah explained that the path merely circled the top of the mountain here, rejoining the lower path at the other end of the field they’d just left.

Boom!
came another sound of a clump of snow hitting the ground. It was followed by a cracking sound.

“What’s that?” Stevie asked.

“That’s the sound of the ice melting,” Dinah explained.
“See, up here you can get big icicles on things in the winter. Sometimes on tree branches, sometimes on rocks. As the weather warms, the water in the icicles expands—remember that lesson in science class?—and the ice can crack as it melts. You can get the big booming sounds when it freezes as well. The pond by our house sometimes makes that noise. It’s weird.”

It
was
weird, and Evergreen thought so, too. He began flinching with each loud noise in the forest. And every time Evergreen flinched, Goldie started. Stevie kept a tight rein on Evergreen. He seemed to appreciate it and ironically relaxed a little.

As they continued along the path, Dinah gave a sort of guided tour.

“I’ve never ridden this before,” she said, “but I’ve walked it a lot. In the summer we sometimes have picnics up here. There is a great rock formation up the mountain, just ahead.” She pointed, holding both her reins in one hand. “We climb on it in the summer, and it seems like we can see forever. We won’t be able to see it under the snow, but I’ll tell you when—”

Boom!

Then, as Stevie watched in horror, Goldie took off! Dinah had been holding his reins with only one hand when he fled, and he was jolting her around so with his awkward terrified gait that she couldn’t even grip the reins with both hands. Her left hand grabbed for his
mane. That steadied Dinah, but it didn’t do anything to slow Goldie down.

Stevie didn’t know what to do, but she knew that sitting there on Evergreen wasn’t going to do her or Dinah any good.

“Hyaaa!” she said to her horse, signaling him into action. He understood instinctively. He began moving as fast as the snow would allow.

“Stevie!” Dinah yelled.

“I’m coming,” Stevie yelled back. “Hold on!”

“I’m trying!” Dinah said.

Then, just when Stevie thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did. Suddenly the woods were filled with the booming sound of cracking ice and melting clumps of snow, but there was something else, too. There was the sound of wood breaking, and rocks skittering and crashing against one another. Stevie’s mind raced even faster than her horse galloped. There was only one thing it could be. There were rocks rolling down the hill! It had to be the rock formation Dinah had been talking about. It was like an avalanche, and Dinah was riding right into the most dangerous part of it!

“Stop him!” Stevie yelled as loud as she could to be heard over the sound of the tumbling rocks.

“I can’t!” Dinah called back.

It couldn’t be true, Stevie thought. This beautiful
place, these wonderful horses. How could there be such danger? How could—

Then, thirty yards in front of her, Goldie, now even more terrified by the fearful threat, reared. It was a sight Stevie would never forget. Small rocks tumbled down the mountainside through the snow, kicking up puffs of snow and mud. In the middle of it was Dinah clutching the horse’s mane for her life, her fingers desperately twined through the thick pale hairs at Goldie’s neck. The horse, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the worst place in the world for him was right where he was, stood majestically on both his rear legs, whinnied, and screamed in horror, his front legs trembling with fear. It was as if the whole scene were in slow motion—until the moment he landed. As soon as his forelegs touched the ground again, he took off.

Stevie knew full well how hard it was for the horses to move quickly in the snow, but Goldie didn’t seem to be having any difficulty at all. And as he bolted off, Dinah flew from the saddle, landing right in the path of the oncoming rocks!

“Help!” she cried, rolling over in the snow to protect her face. She also managed to crawl over toward a boulder to give herself some protection from the continuing shower of rocks.

There was nothing Stevie could do to help her. She
had to protect herself and Evergreen until the rocks passed, until it was safe for Dinah to get up—if she could. Stevie heard herself think those last three words and then shut them out of her mind. But her thoughts of the isolation and wilderness kept haunting her.
What if
? she asked. She forced the question back and out of her thoughts.

Evergreen stood, frozen in fear. Stevie’s eyes were riveted to her friend, now curled up in fright. The stones continued tumbling down the mountainside, only now there were larger ones as well. Then Stevie’s worst suspicions were confirmed. This kind of rock shower had to have been caused by something big, and she could see it coming.

The big rock was about three feet in diameter; it lumbered slowly but relentlessly down the hill, following the path of the smaller rocks before it, heading straight for Dinah!

“Move!” Stevie shrieked.

Dinah moved as she had never moved before. She shot out from behind the rock, dashing for safety.

“Faster!” Stevie yelled.

The boulder bounded downward, picking up speed, narrowing the distance, shifting now slightly to the left, then slightly to the right. Evergreen backed away. Stevie halted him. She had to stay by her friend.

“Help!” Dinah called.

“Here! This way!” Stevie called back. It was the only help she could give.

Dinah pulled herself through the snow, apparently unable to stand up. The boulder came closer. Dinah was moving, but she wasn’t moving fast enough. Suddenly Stevie knew what she had to do. She kicked Evergreen and he courageously bolted forward, quickly moving into a lumbering canter. Stevie and Evergreen headed straight for Dinah.

“Give me your hand!” Stevie cried out. Dinah looked at her, terrified

“Your hand!” Stevie repeated.

Numbly Dinah reached up, sticking her hand in the air. Stevie shifted both reins to her left hand and leaned over to the right. Closer and closer. Stevie strained, shifting Evergreen’s direction ever so slightly with signals from her legs. The horse understood the urgency and responded instantly. There was Dinah, frozen in horror, with her hand reaching, reaching.

An inch more, that was all it would take. Stevie strained. At the last possible second, her hand met Dinah’s, grasped it, pulled. Dinah nearly flew up out of the snow, propelling herself upward, pulled by Stevie’s grip.

Dinah clung to Evergreen’s saddle with one hand and to Stevie with the other. She somehow managed to haul herself up onto the horse’s rear. That was when Stevie dared to look up the hill again.

The boulder struck a tree, ricocheted to its right, crossed the trail just behind Stevie, Evergreen, and Dinah, and lumbered menacingly downward, hitting the rock Dinah had used as her hiding place. It shattered chunks of Dinah’s safe haven and then continued down the mountain until it entered the flat meadow below, where it rolled to harmless stop.

The woods were once again silent.

It was over and they were safe. Stevie let out her breath. The only other sound she heard was Evergreen’s snort of relief and the soft whimpering sounds coming from Dinah. She was hurt.

Stevie helped Dinah off the back of the horse and secured Evergreen’s reins to a bare branch. Dinah lay in the snow, crying hard.

“Where do you hurt?”

“Is it over?” Dinah asked.

Stevie nodded. “It’s done, we’re safe. Are you okay?”

“If it’s over, I’m okay,” she said. “At least I think so, though I did get hurt when Goldie threw me. Did he rear?” she asked.

“Yes, and you were magnificent. You looked like a swashbuckling cowboy—if there is such a thing. Anyway, you stayed on for the rear, but when he took off, so did you—in the opposite direction.”

“You mean
down
!”

“Yes, down. He took off up the hill, beyond where I
saw any trouble from the rocks. He’s probably safe. We’ll find him.”

Then, as if he’d heard them talking about him, Goldie appeared from behind a tree, looking more sheepish than anything else. He paused to munch on a tempting piece of moss that peeked through the snow.

“Now, about you,” Stevie began. She offered Dinah a hand so she could get up. Dinah took it gladly, but as soon as she began to rise, she also began to wince.

“Oh!”

“Where does it hurt?”

“Everywhere,” Dinah said, tears of pain forming in her eyes. Stevie helped her up the rest of the way and led her to a tree stump, where she could sit.

“Is something broken?” Stevie asked.

“No, I don’t think so. It’s just scratches and bruises, but a falling rock can give you a mighty bad bruise. I hate to tell you where it hurts the most.” From the way Dinah was sitting awkwardly on the tree stump, she didn’t have to tell Stevie where it hurt the most. It was already clear.

“You’ve got to see a doctor,” Stevie said, recalling the times she had hurt herself riding.

“No way,” Dinah said. She stood up and took a few uncomfortable steps, as if to prove that nothing was broken and she would be all right.

“Why not?” Stevie asked.

“Because we promised,” Dinah said. “We promised Jodi.”

“What difference does that make?” Stevie asked. “Some promises were made to be broken.”

“Maybe, but not this one,” Dinah told her. “This one isn’t just for Jodi’s sake. See, if we tell, Mr. Daviet will be furious. Not only will he be angry with Jodi, but he’ll be furious with me, and with you. He might never let me ride again. Even if he
did
let me ride again, my parents wouldn’t, so it’s the same. The answer is no doctor. I’ll be okay. I promise. Anyway, we can take care of this. After all, if we can manage to avoid being killed by a landslide avalanche thing in the middle of the Vermont wilderness, we can certainly take care of a couple of cuts and bruises, can’t we?”

Part of Stevie’s common sense told her that it was foolish not to tell and get Dinah to a doctor, just to be sure. Another part of it told her that Dinah was up and walking, and there was no way a bruise where she sat was going to be fatal. And besides, Stevie knew first aid and she was pretty sure that Dinah was basically okay. After all, she
could
move and talk. She was going to be all right. Even more than all that, Dinah was definitely right about what would happen to Jodi and what Mr. Daviet would say and how her parents would react. She didn’t like to think of Jodi losing her job, but the worst thing in the world would be if Dinah couldn’t ride anymore. That
was not a risk worth taking. Somehow they’d figure out how to take care of Dinah and keep the secret. Stevie was good at this kind of thing. She knew how to be sneaky for a good cause, and this was about as good as causes could get.

“Okay,” Stevie agreed, confident now that they would succeed. “The promise holds. We’ll take care of this ourselves and keep it to ourselves.”

“Forever,” Dinah said.

“Forever,” Stevie promised.

“Which is just about how long it’s going to take me to walk down this mountain,” Dinah joked. “I mean, there’s no way I’m actually going to
sit
in a saddle!”

It seemed to Stevie that this was a good time to make an exception to the “Get right back into the saddle” rule of falling off a horse.

“I’ll ride Evergreen and lead Goldie,” Stevie offered.

“Thanks, pal,” Dinah said.

They began the long and slow journey home.

“H
ELLO
, P
HIL
?” L
ISA
said into the phone. She felt a little nervous about calling a boy, especially her best friend’s boyfriend. Carole stood next to her and encouraged her with a smile. They were at Pine Hollow, doing just what Stevie had asked them to do. They were calling Phil to let him know Stevie was away and couldn’t come to his pony club meeting.