“He’s not getting worse,” Stevie said. “That’s something, anyway.”
“It’s not much,” Carole replied. “And he could be getting worse, we just can’t tell. I hate this.”
Stevie didn’t know what to say. Carole was rarely this upset about anything—but she certainly had reason to be upset now. How could Stevie comfort her friend when she didn’t feel comforted herself? Max looked awful.
“My mom died in a hospice,” Carole said. “We got to sit with her at the end, my dad and I, and it was just like this—waiting and waiting, and nothing ever changing. She didn’t wake up. She didn’t talk to us, or smile, or know we were there. She just died.”
“He’s not going to die,” Stevie said, scooting over so that her shoulder touched Carole’s. “He’s just got a concussion, like I did. Remember? It was scary at first, but it was no big deal.”
“I’m so scared,” Carole said, her voice trembling.
“I know.” Stevie thought about Carole’s mother, who had died of cancer several years before. Stevie had known Mrs. Hanson a little, but she and Carole hadn’t been such good friends then. Mrs. Hanson had been so sick she rarely came around to the stable, and Carole never had friends over. Carole almost never talked about her mom. Stevie had never before heard what had happened the day she had died.
“What did you do at the hospice?” Stevie asked. “Did you talk to her?”
“No,” Carole said, her eyes filling with tears. “I wanted to—I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t think it would matter. But later I thought that maybe, if I had talked to her, she would have talked back. I don’t think so. The doctors gave her a lot of medicine so that she wouldn’t be in any pain, and it made her sleepy. But maybe she would have said something. I wish I had tried.”
“So let’s talk to Max,” Stevie said. “He won’t die, anyway, but he might be getting bored. We may as well entertain him.”
Carole let out a short laugh. “Only you, Stevie, would be trying to entertain someone who was unconscious and bleeding!”
“I tell jokes in my sleep,” Stevie said. Carole shook her head.
Chloe came back. “They’re okay,” she said. “I gave them some water, but Belle wouldn’t drink from my backpack. She seems okay, though. Barq is getting pretty stiff, but he can still walk. I think he’s just really badly bruised.”
“We’re going to talk to Max,” Carole said in a determined voice.
“Okay,” Chloe said. “Hi, Max.”
“Hi, Max,” Stevie echoed.
“Hi, Max,” Carole said. “We’re sorry you’re hurt. We hope you’ll be better really soon. We sent Lisa and Prancer for help, and you know how fast Prancer can run. We’re expecting them any minute now.”
“We figured you were probably getting bored, lying there on the ground and all,” Stevie cut in. “I’ve got a couple of new grape jokes Phil told me this morning. What’s purple and eight hundred pages long? Moby Grape.”
“I’m really grateful to have you as a teacher, Max,” Carole said. “You’re the best teacher I’ve ever had. I’ve probably never said that before, but it’s true.”
“Thanks for letting me come on this ride with you,” Chloe added. “I know a lot of people wouldn’t want to take responsibility for a rider they never met. I thought you were a nice person right away, even when I saw you last night at dinner, before I needed a sponsor for the ride.”
“Speaking of last night’s dinner,” Stevie said, “am I the only person who thinks it feels like three years ago? Carole knows I’m happy to talk to you, Max, but I don’t want to be too serious. If I were serious, you wouldn’t believe it was me talking.”
Carole smiled. “Stevie’s going to say what she wants to say, and I’m going to say what I want to say.”
“We’re hoping she has some better jokes than Moby Grape,” Chloe added.
“Okay,” Stevie said. “Here’s one. Okay, so these three strings go into TD’s—”
“What’s TD’s?” Chloe asked.
“It’s an ice cream shop near where we live,” Stevie said. “If we ever get off this mountain, I’ll buy you a sundae there. So the three strings go into TD’s, and the waitress says, ‘I’m sorry, we don’t serve strings.’ And so the first string goes back to his friends and says, ‘Twist me up a little bit and unravel my ends.’ So they do, and he goes back up to the counter, and the waitress looks at him and says, ‘Aren’t you a string?’ ‘No,’ he says—”
“Starlight sees something!” Carole said. She stood up.
“No, of course the string doesn’t say—oh! He does?” Stevie stood up, too, and shaded her hand against the sunlight. Starlight, Belle, Whitey, and even Barq stood at attention on the trail, their ears pricked forward in the direction Lisa had gone. “They must hear something!” Stevie said. “Let’s go!”
“I’ll take over with Max. You go ahead,” Chloe urged them. Carole and Stevie hurried up the slope. They reached the trail’s edge just in time to see two four-wheelers crest the top of the ridge. From the backseat of one of them, Lisa stood up and waved. Carole felt her knees go weak from pure relief.
After that, things seemed to happen very quickly. Carole went down the slope with Deborah and the paramedics to explain Max’s condition. Stevie and Lisa tried to calm the horses, which were startled by the four-wheelers and a little tired of standing tied to trees. When Chloe saw that they were having trouble, she came up to help them, struggling under an armload of saddle pads and jackets.
“Not long, not long now,” she soothed a trembling Starlight. She asked Stevie, “What do you think? Should we put the saddles back on? They’ve got blankets around Max, and I think they’re getting ready to move him.”
“Yeah, let’s saddle up,” Stevie said, nodding. “The horses will think we’re going somewhere, and with any luck we will be soon. Home.”
“Five more miles to ride,” Chloe reminded her.
Stevie groaned. “Right. How bad is it?” she asked Lisa.
Lisa shrugged. “Not too bad, I think. I couldn’t really tell, it went by so fast. I’m so proud of Prancer.” She looked down the hill. “It looks like they’re getting ready to put Max on a stretcher. They’ve got his neck in a brace.” Whitey nudged her, and she turned her attention back to the horses. “Oh!” she said, when she saw Barq’s scraped and polo-bandaged side. “Poor baby!” She shook her head. “I’ve been so worried about Max that I didn’t think much about Barq. Will he be able to walk out of here?”
“If we go slowly,” Chloe said.
CAROLE BRACED HERSELF against the slope. Deborah held her hand tightly while the two paramedics worked over Max. Already he had an IV line dripping fluid into his arm. After immobilizing his neck and back, Susan and Daniel carefully transferred him to the stretcher. Max groaned. Carole grinned. “That’s the first sound he’s made,” she said.
Deborah didn’t look too encouraged by it, but immediately after, as they were all getting into position to carry Max up the hill, his eyelids fluttered once. If Carole hadn’t been looking at him she wouldn’t have known it had happened, because immediately afterward he looked just as unconscious as before, but still she felt so happy that she nearly cried again. “He’s coming out of it,” she whispered. Deborah slipped her hand into Max’s and squeezed gently. “I think he squeezed back!” she said. Even Susan and Daniel smiled.
When they reached the trail, they set Max down while the paramedics discussed whether or not to hand-carry him over the steep ridge. Lisa ran over. “He looks worse than he did at first,” she said.
“Shock,” Daniel said briefly. “His blood pressure was awfully low. If he’d kept bleeding—” He didn’t finish the sentence, but Lisa didn’t think she wanted him to. She shuddered. Carole looked pale.
“We’re going to carry him over the crest of the ridge,” Susan said. “It would be too bumpy for him on the back of a four-wheeler. After that, we’ll motor him out.” She looked at Deborah. “We’ll handle your husband
. Will you drive the four-wheeler to where the trail flattens out?”
“Sure,” Deborah said.
Susan looked at the four girls. “I guess one of us will walk back for the other four-wheeler,” she said.
Stevie stepped forward. “I’ll drive it.” To the other girls she added, “I’ll be right back for Belle.”
“Can you?” Susan asked.
“Of course,” Stevie said, “or I wouldn’t have volunteered.” Lisa and Carole looked at one another. Stevie, to their knowledge, had never driven a four-wheeler in her life. “Mr. Brightstar was teaching me to drive his pickup truck the last time we were at the ranch,” Stevie added. “How much different can it be?”
Deborah grinned slightly. “She’ll do fine,” she said.
The paramedics shrugged. “See you in a few minutes,” Daniel said. They picked Max’s stretcher up and started climbing.
Deborah checked to be sure the medical boxes were secure in the back of her four-wheeler. Lisa and Carole put Barq’s broken saddle in the back of the other, while Stevie climbed into the seat and muttered, “Where are the reins?”
“Here.” Deborah came over to Stevie’s side and pointed. “Steering wheel, gas pedal, brake.”
“Thanks,” Stevie said.
“Keys,” Deborah added. “They turn the engine on.” She pushed back her hair. “I don’t think those medics even realized that they were leaving four girls alone with four horses, but I do. How bad is Barq?”
“He can walk,” Carole said.
“I’ll lead him,” Lisa offered. “I haven’t got a horse to ride.”
Deborah shook her head slightly. “I don’t know what I’d do without The Saddle Club,” she said. “I’ll trust you to take care of yourselves, I guess. You know more about horses than I do, anyway—and I want to stay with Max.”
“We want you to stay with him, too,” Carole assured her.
“Here.” Chloe came up with a backpack and loaded it into Stevie’s four-wheeler. “It belongs to that guy who stopped to help us. His jacket’s inside.” She took off her water pack. “This thing is empty now.” To Deborah she added, “Please give it to my parents and tell them I’ll be there soon.”
Deborah nodded. “Mrs. Reg or someone like her will be waiting for the rest of you guys, okay?”
“We’re fine,” Carole said. “Go.”
While they waited for Stevie to come back, Lisa, Carole, and Chloe reassembled the horses’ bridles and got them ready to go. Lisa knotted Barq’s broken reins together. She stood stroking him. Her feet were still killing her—walking five miles in her boots was going to be agony, but she knew she was in a lot less pain than the horse. I’ll just say my multiplication tables as many times as it takes, she thought.
Lisa felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Chloe. “Here,” she said, handing Whitey’s reins to Lisa. “You ride, I’ll walk.”
“Oh, that’s okay—”
“You’re limping already. I’m not.” Chloe smiled. “I don’t mind walking at all.”
“We’ll switch back later,” Lisa promised. She climbed into Chloe’s saddle and settled her feet into the strange, broad stirrups. Chloe’s saddle felt as comfortable as a sofa. Lisa sighed. “Thanks,” she said to Chloe.
Carole suggested that they start moving so that Stevie wouldn’t have to walk all the way back. She took Belle’s reins and led her along as she walked Starlight up the ridge. Chloe came next, coaxing Barq, and Lisa followed. When they met Stevie, she had both hands full. “Here,” she said, holding something out to Carole. “From the man’s backpack. He said we could have them.” It was a candy bar.
Carole managed half a grin. “I guess I could eat one now.”
THE NURSE STEPPED out of the hospital room. She smiled at the four girls and Mrs. Reg. “You can go in now,” she said. “Don’t stay too long.”
“Max!” Stevie’s resolution to speak calmly and quietly failed the moment she opened her mouth. “Max, are you okay? You look great! What happened? How do you feel?” She bounced once on the edge of Max’s hospital bed, but when she saw him wince she slid off. “Sorry! We’re so glad to see you!”
Max was sitting up, supported by several pillows. A large white bandage covered his arm from his wrist to high above his elbow. His hair stuck up spikily, and he definitely looked goofy wearing a light-blue hospital gown. Otherwise, he was almost entirely their own Max. “Same old Stevie,” he said with a familiar grin.
“She speaks for all of us,” Carole said, giving Stevie a small push so that they could all crowd around Max’s bed. Deborah sat holding Maxine on a chair at the bedside. She got up and offered the chair to Mrs. Reg. Lisa took Maxine and cuddled her.
Mrs. Reg refused to sit. “Come, dear,” she said, taking Deborah by the arm. “I know perfectly well you haven’t eaten dinner yet. I’ll go with you to the cafeteria while this crowd has their visit.”
“We’ll keep Maxi,” Lisa offered. “We’d like to.”
Deborah paused. “Have all of you eaten? I could send food up.”
“They’ve eaten,” Mrs. Reg said. “Trust me.” One of the ride stewards had taken them all out for pizza, after she had helped them find temporary stalls for their horses. Even Chloe, her parents, Phil, Mr. Baker, and the Pony Tails had come. They’d eaten six large pizzas.
“Don’t worry about us,” Stevie said. She moved a little closer to Max. Once Stevie’s twin brother, Alex, had been very sick with meningitis. Stevie was ashamed that it had taken Alex’s illness for her to realize how much she loved him. She’d known how much Max meant to her even before his accident, and she was very relieved to see him looking alive again.
Lisa took Deborah’s vacated chair. Chloe and Carole moved to the other side of the bed. They all looked at Max, and for a moment none of them could speak. Carole thought how grateful she was to have him looking so well. If I say anything, I might cry, she thought. And I am way too happy to cry. She just grinned at her dear teacher.
“Well!” Max said lightly. “Some sponsor I am! Good thing I took you girls along.”
“An accident like that could have happened to anyone,” Chloe told him. “We were all walking along the ridge—it was just chance that your horse was the one that spooked.”
“I don’t think it would have helped if you had been riding, either,” Carole said. “Once Barq fell over the edge of the trail, it was going to be bad no matter what.”
Max smiled. “That’s a relief,” he said. “I’m glad I didn’t do anything too outrageously stupid. For a while I was afraid I’d been showing off, doing circus tricks on Barq’s back or something like that.” He laughed, so his visitors laughed, too, although Lisa didn’t quite understand what was funny.
“Can’t you remember what happened?” she asked.
Max shook his head. “The last thing I remember is kissing Deborah good-bye at the second check.”
“But we rode for miles after that!” Lisa said. “That’s terrible!”
“Why?” Max didn’t seem concerned. “Why does it matter? I had a pretty good concussion,” he continued, “but the doctors don’t think I’ve done my head any permanent injury. People often don’t remember bad accidents. It doesn’t matter. I didn’t forget anything important.”
“Of course it matters!” Stevie said. “It’s perfectly unsatisfactory!”
Chloe explained. “None of us saw what spooked Barq. We wanted you to tell us.”
Max grinned. “I guess you’ll have to ask Barq.” His face fell. “How is the old boy?”
“He’s got a bad cut on his shoulder on the near side,” Carole said. “The vet at the finish line stitched it for us. He’s got a lot of other little cuts, and he looks awfully stiff and sore, but other than that he’s okay. He walked to the finish. He’s a little lame in front; it looks like he bruised his knee.”
“If he’s like me, he’s pretty sore,” Max said. “I feel like I fell down a mountain.”
None of the girls laughed. Carole shudde
red, remembering Max’s head hitting the rock.
“Sorry,” Lisa said. “I can tell you meant that as a joke, but to us it just isn’t funny. We saw you fall down a mountain. I never want to see anything like that again.”
Max grimaced. “I’m sorry, too. I guess it’s just as well I can’t remember.”
“Are you really okay?” Carole asked. “Because, to be honest, you looked awful on that hillside. I mean, we were seriously worried. I mean—” Her voice trembled, and she stopped.
Max looked right at Carole. “I’m seriously okay,” he said. “I’m stiff and sore, and I’ve got stitches in my head. I’m going to have to take it easy at home for a few weeks. But I get to go home tomorrow morning, and I’ll be back with my wife and daughter and students and horses. The doctors tell me two things saved me.” He pointed to a plastic bag on the lower shelf of his nightstand, and Lisa handed it to him. He opened it and took out his battered riding helmet.
“If I hadn’t been wearing this, I probably would have left some brains behind on the rock I hit,” he said. “Now you know why I always make you wear helmets. If it can happen to me, it can happen to you.”
He cleared his throat. “Also, it seems I was bleeding pretty good out there.” He tapped his bandaged arm. “This cut is six inches long and two inches deep, and it nicked an artery. The doctors tell me I lost a lot of blood.”
Stevie nodded, feeling a bit sick as she remembered the deep-red puddle.
“People can die once they go into shock,” Max said. “If you hadn’t stopped the bleeding and hadn’t gotten help so fast—if you’d waited for rescuers to find you instead of going to get them—I could have died. I really could have died quickly. So I’m incredibly grateful. But I know I was in good hands. The Saddle Club doesn’t wait for people to do their rescuing for them.” Max looked solemn and proud.
Now Carole couldn’t help the tear that slid down the edge of her nose. Lisa suddenly became very interested in baby Maxi’s fingers. Chloe snuffled loudly.
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