by Paula Boer
Mrs Naylor filled the kettle with water and placed it next to the soup on top of the wood heater. “Where’s Louise? Is she coming in?”
“No. She’s gone off after Honey. She’ll never get her. I told her to come back with me, but she took off on her own.” Ben continued washing his hands at the kitchen sink and dried them on his flannel shirt.
“What do you mean? Where is she?” Mrs Naylor stood with her hands on her hips, her face clouded over instead of her usual jovial smile.
Ben pulled a chair out at the kitchen table and sat down. “A tree came down and scared Honey. Louise dropped the rope and the mare bolted. I told her not to follow, but she wouldn’t listen to me.”
Mrs Naylor grabbed Ben by the shoulder. “You get back out there right now and find her. No argument. The girl will get lost in the snow, and we don’t want her getting sick again. Do you know which way she went?”
“Yeh, she’s following the mare’s tracks. I told her she’s better off letting the mare come home on her own as she’ll only spook her by chasing her. I thought she was following me round the fallen tree, but she took off.” Ben picked at a knot of wood on the scrubbed topped table. “There’s no point me going looking for her. She’ll be back soon.”
“Nonsense. Don’t think you’re having any lunch now. You get back out there and bring her home with or without the mare.” Mrs Naylor pushed him on the shoulder and opened the door. “Leave Snifter here too.”
Ben’s jaw dropped. “Snifter! He didn’t come back with me either. He must have had trouble getting through the bush.” Leaping to his feet, Ben dragged his boots on and hurried to the stable to re-tack up Snip.
Ben could hear Brandy scream after him as he trotted back down the track to where the tree had fallen across the road. He had left the brumby locked in the stable instead of turning him out in the stallion paddock as he didn’t want him trying to escape. Ben thought the stallion might want to follow Snip, or try to look for Honey.
As he neared the place where he had detoured through the bush, Ben whistled his dog. Relief flowed through his body like a hot liquid as he heard an answering bark. “I’m coming! Where are you?”
Following the sound of Snifter’s yelps, he located where the dog had become trapped between two logs. He must have jumped in between them and then been unable to get back out with only three legs.
“Are you alright, mate?” Ben ran his hands over the dog.
He couldn’t find any damage as Snifter squirmed and licked Ben’s face, wagging his tail as hard as he could. “Cut it out. Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
Placing both hands under the dog’s rear end, Ben hoisted the blue heeler in the air. With that extra help, Snifter leapt out of his trap and bounded through the rest of the scrub to reach the road. There he sat and licked his paws while waiting for Ben to join him with Snip dragging behind.
“Now what am I going to do with you? I know you won’t go home on your own, and I suppose I’d better go and look for Louise.” Ben’s earlier anger at her disappearance resurfaced. “It would serve her right if she did get lost.”
The wind had grown in the time since Ben had last seen Louise. A fine powder of snow blew across the track and in his face. Heavy purple clouds scudded low across the darkening sky. “Sorry mate, I’ll have to tie you here and come back for you. It’ll be too hard for you to come with me.”
Dragging a long piece of baling twine from his pocket, Ben tied Snifter to a tree and gave him a scratch behind the ears. “Wait here. I’m glad you’re okay.”
Seeing him dig a nest for himself in the leaf litter and lie down as he was told, Ben gave Snifter another pat before mounting Snip.
Ben pulled his scarf tighter around his neck against the wind and headed up the road. He could barely make out Honey and Ned’s hoof prints in the drifts. Reaching the locked gate, the tracks had all but disappeared.
“Now what?” Ben sat on Snip as he surveyed the country around him. He couldn’t see any evidence of horses on the other side of the locked gate. As he was about to dismount for a closer look, he noticed where branches had been snapped off at chest height.
Following the blazed trail, Ben saw the occasional hoof print in mud and more broken twigs. Slowed to a walk by the hard going, Ben made a number of false turns and had to double back to pick up the marks of the two horses. Suddenly the heavy scrub gave way to open country and he emerged from the trees.
A white expanse met his gaze. Snow covered everywhere he looked. Snow in drifts on the ground, snow on the branches of trees, snow thickly covering the hillsides around the valley. The wind whistled through the tree tops and cut through his moleskin trousers.
Apart from a single hoof print on the tree-line, nothing showed which way the escaped brumby had gone. Earlier he had sometimes had glimpses of where the rope had dragged in the snow when she’d slowed down. Ben had been fairly sure he had been following two sets of hoof prints; now he wasn’t so sure. Had Louise made it this far? He should have thought to call out as he went. What if she had come off Ned and lay injured somewhere, and the Appaloosa had returned home another way?
Despite his mother’s warnings to not come back without Louise, Ben knew he had no hope of finding anyone out in that vast whiteness; the weather made visibility almost non-existent.
Not wanting to give up too soon, Ben headed towards the old homestead in case he came across any signs of Louise or the horses. Maybe if he rode to the crest of the hill he’d be able to see movement, or something, if she was in the next valley.
Perhaps she'd reached the old mines. She could have cut back across the track and headed for the shelter of Gould’s caves. When a hail storm had hit them in the summer, they had taken refuge there. He changed his mind about that idea when he remembered that Louise had been too sick to remember where they were. Ben thought it unlikely she would go anywhere else except back to the farm if she gave up chasing Honey.
After an hour of wading through deep snow and slipping on icy rocks, Ben climbed the rise he had been aiming for. The wind bit even deeper through his clothes. His toes had long since lost any feeling.
He could see nothing except white and more white.
Snip shivered despite his thick coat. Ben thought of Snifter, tied to the tree, waiting for him. He would also be getting cold.
“We can’t stay out here. Maybe they’re home already by another path.” He stroked Snip’s neck and turned the gelding back the way they had come.
Despite his anger at Louise, Ben worried about her. She didn’t know the park like he did. He also knew how upset she’d be if Honey had gone for good.
Chapter 3
Louise shivered as a cold trickle ran down inside her shirt where another clump of snow dropped on her neck. She peered ahead to where hoof prints led through the trees. The mare’s path had been easy to follow at first. However, deep in the forest, the going had turned rocky. She worried about Honey’s lead rope snagging on fallen timber or wrapping around her legs, causing the young brumby to panic.
Little light filtered through the leaves. Louise blinked and pulled Ned to a halt. “Where next, fella? Look! There’s a snag of mane on that branch. This way.”
She pushed the Appaloosa into as fast a walk as he could manage through the dense undergrowth. The ground rose and fell as they climbed the hills, picking their way between boulders and fallen trees. Rivulets flowed amongst the knotted roots, forming creeks in the gullies.
After another half a kilometre or so, the trees thinned. Louise could see the grasslands open out before her, except no green welcomed her eyes. Thick snow covered every blade and rock. The plains looked sinister in the dim light; no twinkling sugar-coating now. Purple-bellied clouds hung low, blending the land with the sky so the horizon became indistinct. Louise tightened her jacket around her and smacked her hands against her thighs to try and warm them.
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br /> “Here!” Louise cheered up as she saw deep hoof prints in the snow at the edge of the trees. “We’re on the right track.”
With the going easier out in the open, Ned broke into a trot. Louise didn’t dare go faster in case hidden obstacles lay under the snow. Her spirits lifted with the faster movement. As she relaxed, Ned pricked his ears and quickened his pace.
Intent on Honey’s track, Louise failed to notice the severity of the weather. Only when the cold wind cut into the exposed skin on her face did she look up. A fine powder of snow blew across the ground, forming drifts wherever a mound of rock or tussock broke its force. Stinging pellets attacked both horse and rider. In the time it took Louise to look around her, the tracks they had been following had disappeared.
“Where did they go?” Louise dismounted and led Ned in order to study the ground more closely.
“Do you know where she is?” Louise had thought that perhaps Ned had been following Honey’s scent, or he could hear her. Now when she looked at the horse, he bent his head to avoid the flying snow and tried to turn his rump to the wind.
The cold battered at Louise and the wind had reached a whistling pitch. She knew that the weather was her enemy. In these conditions, she had no hope of finding the escaped horse. “It’s no good, Ned, we’ll have to go home.”
Louise didn’t want to think what it meant to leave Honey out here. It wasn’t only that she didn’t want to lose the brumby that she had fallen in love with, or the waste of all the effort she had put in to her. Louise worried that, still wearing a headcollar and rope, the horse would injure herself. Or worse, she may get trapped, unable to eat or drink.
Despite knowing her actions to be futile, Louise continued to look for any sign of the mare. Her eyes couldn’t even make out familiar landmarks; a total whiteout blocked her vision like flying in an aeroplane amongst the clouds. The cold seeped through her clothes and she could barely stand against the force of the wind.
Louise knew she had to go back to Tumbleford Farm. She thought of Ben and how angry he would be with her for going to search for Honey on her own. Her own anger boiled up as she thought how mean he had been to not come and help. Maybe if he had come with her straight away they would have found Honey by now.
No. Louise knew she was looking for excuses to explain her behaviour. Ben had been right. He couldn’t drag Brandy along on a search, and Snifter couldn’t have come this far. Looking around her, Louise started to wonder where she actually was.
She had no idea. Her heart raced and her pulse throbbed in her neck. She looked back the way she had travelled; even her own hoof prints had been obscured with the blowing snow. She wasn’t even sure if she was looking back the way she had come.
Where was she? And which way was home?
Telling herself to stop panicking, Louise mounted Ned. She patted him on the neck and shortened her reins. “Time for you to take charge.”
Trusting that Ned would want to go back to the farm rather than only get out of the wind, Louise pushed him into a fast walk before letting the reins go to the end of the buckle. She didn’t think he’d take off fast in this weather. Keeping her body very still so as not to give Ned instructions, she willed him to find a path home.
Ned seemed to sense that he had been given control. He veered to his left and shouldered into the wind. At one stage he turned to look at Louise who sat rigidly in the saddle. She encouraged him with her voice alone, avoiding giving him any leg aids.
This is like riding with my eyes shut, Louise thought. She tried to relax to keep her sense of balance. The cold made it hard for her to unclench her muscles. Shutting her eyes, she felt the rhythm of Ned’s walk. She could feel each of his legs as he moved them in turn, stepping to one side to avoid treacherous going, pushing faster on firm ground and slowing down when the snow deepened.
Despite still being a bit frightened of being lost, Louise quite enjoyed the sense of being totally alone with a horse. Like a dream, they moved through a whiteness of cloud and snow. Louise forbade herself to think about Honey; the brumby would have been out in conditions like this many times in her short life. She would know even better than Ned where she was and how to look after herself.
Louise’s stomach rumbled. She realised she hadn’t had any lunch. Usually she carried a backpack containing water and food when she rode out. There was no point carrying a mobile phone as there was no reception in the park, and besides, she had always been with Ben before.
Ben. Her thoughts travelled back to the farm, and how worried everyone would be with her disappearing. She had no idea how much time had passed since she had started to follow Honey’s tracks; she had left her watch in the grooming kit so it didn’t get in the way while she worked Honey in the round yard.
She thought of her parents. If Mrs Naylor called them to say she was missing, they would never let her ride again. They had been worried enough when she had fallen off Jake when they had first mustered the big herd of brumbies. Then she had become sick in bad weather and ended up in hospital. What would they think now if she became lost after having gone off against Ben’s suggestion?
Louise calmed herself, believing that Ned would find the way home. Although she tried to drift back into the dreamlike state when she’d had her eyes shut, too many thoughts rushed through her head.
Boom! Boom! A deep rumble shook the ground and permeated her body. Ned snorted and stopped dead. Before Louise knew what was happening, he bolted. Taking giant lunges through the deep snow, Ned plunged in a mad scramble, head down and leaning on the bit.
“Whoa! Ned, stop!” Louise sat back and pulled on the reins with all her might. Panic engulfed her. She realised she’d never win a fight of strength with a horse. Calming down, she shortened one rein and attempted to turn Ned’s head. Using her legs to bend him, she swung his hindquarters out from behind. As he spun, he slowed, and finally stopped, shivering all over.
With her heart pounding in her chest, Louise took a deep breath and stroked the Appaloosa. “What was that, Ned? Something really scared you. I’ve never known you to spook before.”
The gelding raised his head, blowing deeply through his flared nostrils. With ears pricked, he looked back the way they had come.
The whiteout had started to lift. Louise could see rusty shapes twisting out of the snow. She recognised the hulk of abandoned equipment. The old mines. Ben had always slowed down through here as it could be very dangerous. And she had just galloped through it.
She quickly gained her bearings. Now she knew where she was, the day seemed brighter. But what had caused the noise and Ned to bolt? A billow of snow and a weird rushing noise made her look towards the hillside. The mines had been dug into the cliff faces and many rock overhangs jutted through the ice. Billows of snow rose in a thick cloud as giant snowballs tumbled down the slope.
An avalanche! The last remains of the snowfall reached the bottom of the hill. Despite believing herself safe where she stood, she had no intention of hanging around to see what might happen next.
Louise decided to take the longer way home via the old homestead where she could see the track, rather than risk an avalanche catching her on the shortcut that went through to Gould’s caves. As Ned had settled once the snow stopped moving and the cover on the ground seemed thinner, she pushed him into a jog.
Trotting along the familiar trails warmed Louise up. Although the cruel wind had eased, it started to snow. Large flakes clung to her eyelashes and settled on Ned’s mane.
Louise passed the abandoned homestead where they had mustered the first brumbies back in the summer. That excitement seemed a lifetime away. It had been hot and sunny, and she had only recently started riding with Ben. The memory of the holidays brought back to her that Honey had escaped, just when breaking her in had been going so well. She should have been riding the mare this weekend. Instead, she was out in the snow with Honey gone.
Lost in her thoughts, Louise failed to notice another horse up ahead. Ned whickered and stopped, jolting Louise into awareness. “What’s up? Who’s that?”
Ahead of her, like a shadow in the mist, a black horse stood looking at them. After her initial joy, Louise could tell it wasn’t Snip. Instead of the telltale white patch on Snip’s nose, this horse had a broad blaze. His ribs stuck through a thick unkempt coat, matted and patchy. His hollow neck seemed too thin to hold up his head. Having returned Ned’s call, he lowered his nose and tried pushing the snow to clear the ground for feed.
Louise couldn’t believe a brumby wouldn’t run away with the approach of a rider. She watched the horse for a moment, realising it must be sick. She saw it try to move.
The horse hobbled forward, dragging its near fore. It seemed to be injured above the knee, with the lower limb hanging uselessly and the hoof dragging in the snow. “Its leg is broken! The poor thing is starving. Come on, Ned, we need to get help.”
Louise pushed Ned as fast as the conditions permitted, going over the rise to join up with the track that led from the park’s Information Centre to the old road. She knew the trail came out near the locked gate where she had lost Honey earlier in the day.
When they arrived at the road, Louise let Ned canter. His speed picked up nearer to home and they bowled along at a fast pace. Not even slowing down to go through the farm gate, Louise pulled Ned up outside the yards where Ben rubbed down Snip.
“Where do you think you’ve been all day?” Ben glared at Louise as she jumped off Ned and loosened his girth. “And what sort of condition have you got Ned into? Look at the sweat on him. You know to go steady for the last kilometre, even if it is snowing.”
Louise tried to answer. However, the exertion of the day, the cold and hunger, mixed with the relief at being back at the farm, proved too much for her emotions. She bent over with her hands on her knees and tried to get her breath back.