Finn was wavering, looking hesitantly at Alice.
“I want to come with you,” he said, frowning. “Why don’t I ride Lachlan?”
Alice’s mum shook her head. “No,” she said. “I grew up here. I know those downs. Lachlan will look after us.” She gave the big Highland a pat. “Go with your dad.”
Alice quickly tacked Secret up, as Finn legged her mum up on to Lachlan’s broad back and tied Ella’s head collar on to Secret’s saddle. If it hadn’t been for the circumstances, it could have been a fantastic adventure. They were on the best transport for the harsh conditions, two true native ponies, sure-footed and bred to cope with the snow.
It was easy at first to follow Ella’s hoof prints. But as they rode on, the tracks became harder and harder to make out, and Alice started to panic.
“Where could she be, Mum?”
“She’s got to tire soon,” her mum answered, but she sounded worried too.
It had finally stopped snowing. The air was freezing, the snow sparkling in the light of the moon, bathing the downs in silver. Alice shuddered. She couldn’t bear to think of Ella out alone on such a bitter night; surely she wouldn’t survive.
“We’ve got to find her soon,” Alice’s mum said, but she didn’t sound confident now.
Alice looked at her mum, who was biting her lower lip, eyes constantly searching the horizon. “You really like her, don’t you?” she said.
“I do,” her mum said softly. “I really do. She has a way of getting right under your skin. I honestly don’t think I’ve felt that for a horse since Lachlan.” She reached down and stroked Lachlan’s thick mane. “Some horses just grab you.”
Alice knew exactly what her mum meant. She’d had the most amazing bond with Honey, her first pony, and then when Secret had come along he had stood out to her in a whole yard of ponies. It was like they were supposed to find each other.
“Like Blue,” Alice said, not thinking, and for one second her mum closed her eyes.
“Just like Blue,” she said. “He really was one in a million.” Then she smiled, looking wistful. “I’m glad you found the scrapbook,” she continued to Alice’s surprise. “I was going to show you, one day. Seeing you on Secret reminds me so much of my relationship with Blue. That’s why, even though I’ll never forget what happened to Blue, I agreed to let you have the lessons with Angus.”
“Finn says he feels truly awful, that he was only trying to help you.” Alice felt brave enough to say it, and her mum sighed.
“I’m sure,” she said quietly. “But that doesn’t change what happened. And Blue paid the price.”
They had reached the top road. Angus’s Landrover was parked on the verge, hazard lights flashing. He and Finn were both out of the vehicle, shining torches up and down the road.
“Any sign?” he called out to Alice and her mum.
“No,” Josephine called back in a despondent voice. “Nothing.”
Suddenly Secret’s head lifted, his ears pricked. Letting out a piercing whinny he danced on the spot, desperate to run.
“What is it, boy?”
Alice gathered her reins as Secret let out another whinny, his eyes searching for something.
“I think he knows something.” Angus and Finn had appeared, hope back in their faces, and Alice knew what she had to do. She just had to hope Secret didn’t bolt. She dropped her reins, and took a deep breath. “Show us where she is, boy,” she murmered. “I trust you.”
“I’ll keep Lachlan beside you,” her mum said. “Come on!”
Secret had already turned, jogging, in the direction of the road, whinnying over and over. The reply was so faint Alice wasn’t sure if she was imagining things at first as Secret surged forward. Then she blinked, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her as a grey pony trotted up towards them in the centre of the road, sides heaving, splatters of blood a stark contrast against her white coat.
“Ella!” Alice’s mum cried, and at the sound of her voice the mare lifted her head and gave a quivering whinny.
“We’ve got to get her off the road,” Angus said as Alice and Josephine rode through the gate and on to the verge. The verge was so wide that they didn’t need to go on the road itself, but it was still unnerving with nothing between them and the tarmac.
Ella seemed disoriented and unwilling to be caught, but did at least scramble up on to the verge. A four-by-four crawled slowly past, headlights illuminating the snow.
“Right,” Josephine said firmly. “Alice, you get behind her, and I’ll go in front. We need to block her in somehow. Give me her head collar, I’ll get her.”
“I’ll stop her going back on to the road,” Finn said, running in between Alice and Josephine, clapping his hands and trying to encourage Ella towards Lachlan, closing the space between them. They were so nearly there, Alice thought. If they could just get close enough, then her mum could reach up and slip a rope round Ella’s neck.
“Easy, girl, easy.” Josephine was talking to Ella in a low voice as she neared her, and it seemed to snap the little mare out of her trance. Slowly she edged her way towards Lachlan, who whickered softly at her. The kindly gelding stood firm as Ella stumbled towards him. Now she was closer, it was clear to see her cuts were just scratches. Slipping off Lachlan’s back, Josephine extended her hand. She was so close. There was nothing more Alice could do; she watched as her mum carefully placed a lead rope over Ella’s neck. Ella visibly relaxed. She was safe.
“Thank goodness,” Finn said, now next to Alice. “Let’s take Secret over to her.”
They started to cross the short distance towards her mum, who had fastened the head collar on to Ella.
Secret heard it first, ears pricked as he lifted his head.
The thump of a stereo, the whine of an engine, the sound of tyres hitting snow at speed. Looking up, Alice saw headlights. Even with Angus’s hazard lights flashing, the four-by-four made no effort to slow down, as the vehicle tore through the snow, sending flurries of powder into the air, before it seemed to hit an icy patch and began swerving all over the road.
It all happened so fast.
The four-by-four skidded as the driver desperately tried to regain control. Coming off the road and hitting the verge, the vehicle slowed on the banked-up snow, but continued to spin round.
“Mum!”
“Alice!”
Alice became aware of Finn grabbing Secret’s reins and her arm, and being pulled aside, falling and stumbling in the snow. Flanked by Finn, her face pressed into his chest and Secret squealing in fright, Alice cried out as the four-by-four skidded past them on the verge, missing them by centimetres.
Josephine, clutching both Ella and Lachlan’s lead ropes, was caught in the headlights and screamed as she desperately tried to turn the exhausted and disoriented Ella, and Lachlan gave a whicker of alarm.
Alice lunged forward, but she was too slow. The car was going to hit them, she realised, and there was nothing she could do.
Lachlan, the biggest, kindest horse on the yard didn’t move. Standing firm, his eyes trusting and loyal, his broad body took the weight of the four-by-four as the vehicle came to a stop with a sickening thud. Josephine and Ella, sheltered by the solid Highland, were untouched. Lachlan had saved them.
Chapter 20
Angus was the quickest. Already beside Josephine, he took Ella’s lead rope as Josephine stood frozen, still clutching Lachlan’s makeshift reins.
Apart from a small mark on the bumper, the four-by-four looked OK, so Lachlan must surely be fine, Alice thought desperately.
The driver opened the door, a mix of anger and guilt on his face. “What were you doing—” he started to say before Angus shot him a look of such fury that he quickly shut up.
“You were going way too fast, that’s why you came off the road and on to the verge,” Angus hissed. “Stay exactly where you are.”
Another Landrover had stopped, driven by a man Alice recognised as a local farmer. Pulling on to the opposite verge, he jumped out
, running and sliding across to help.
“I saw it all,” he called. “This idiot’s been doing circles in one of my fields so I followed him. I’ve rung the police.”
Alice felt like she was watching a TV drama. Blankets were thrown over Ella and Lachlan, who remained strangely still. With a dreadful sickening feeling in her stomach, Alice realised there was something seriously wrong with Lachlan’s left hind leg, the one that had taken the brunt of the impact. He wasn’t putting it on the ground and stood instead on three legs. Josephine was still clutching his lead rope, her face white, clearly in shock.
“Josie,” Angus said softly, “listen to me. Lachlan’s seriously hurt. Don’t try to move him, just stay at his head and comfort him.”
Josephine nodded, touching Lachlan’s big gentle face, running her hands through his forelock. Angus moved quietly round, carefully inspecting the big Highland’s body, and then winced. Blood had started to pool against the white snow.
Slipping off Secret, Alice was aware of Finn’s hand closing over hers. She felt unsteady as they made their way towards Ella and Lachlan. Ella was calm, her head lowered, as Finn took the lead rope, before turning to Alice.
“We need to call your vet,” he said, his voice low and urgent. “Do you have the number?”
Alice nodded, passing her phone over numbly. Her eyes were fixed on Lachlan’s leg.
Put your foot down, she thought desperately. Put your leg on the ground and let us see you’re OK. Please, Lachie.
But Lachlan, his head lowered, his sides heaving, kept his leg in the air. A feeling of dread swept over Alice and a flashback of Honey’s accident swam before her eyes, her beautiful mare who’d suffered a heart attack when jumping, both Alice and Honey falling, everything going black. That had been a cold winter’s day too, Alice realised. She felt the same helplessness, knowing something was terribly wrong and that the world was about to be shattered.
A few minutes later Harriet the vet pulled up in her four-by-four. She’d been the Smalleys’ vet for as long as Alice could remember – and was a real friend of the yard. A shadow fell across Harriet’s face as she looked at Lachlan, and it told Alice everything she needed to know.
Josephine held Lachlan’s big head between her hands, before running a hand down his wide forehead, arranging the forelock and calming him. Lachlan was sweating now, clearly in pain, and his eyes pleaded with his mistress to help him.
Moving quickly and quietly, Harriet assessed Lachlan. Then she turned to Alice’s mum, placing a hand on her arm. Her face was solemn.
“I’m sorry, Josephine,” she said kindly, a note of sadness in her voice. She had looked after the gentle pony ever since he had arrived from Scotland as a youngster. “Lachie’s got a catastrophic injury: an open tibial fracture, and possibly some other breaks as well.” She shook her head. “He won’t get better from this. There’s nothing we can do; we wouldn’t be able to repair the fractures, even in a hospital.”
“No, please, Harriet,” Josephine pleaded. “Make him better. Angus, tell her, tell her to try, just like we did with Blue. I know he won’t be ridden again, but please, just save him.”
Angus shook his head, his face sombre. “I’m so sorry, Josie,” he said quietly.
Alice looked down and realised she was still gripping Finn’s hand tightly. “Not Lachlan,” she whispered. “Please, not Lachlan.”
A police Landrover pulled up next to the ponies. The police officer spoke quietly with Harriet as Josephine started to sob into Lachlan’s mane. Finn and Alice moved closer, Secret and Ella following solemnly behind.
“Josie,” Angus said softly. “You need to be brave, for Lachlan. Try to hold your tears for now. He needs to know you’re there for him.”
Alice’s mum bit her lip and gave a deep shuddering breath and began talking in a low voice to Lachlan. Alice could tell her mum’s heart was breaking.
Moving quietly, Harriet spoke to the police officer again, who nodded and quickly set up a screen around the ponies. The farmer, watching from his vehicle, took his flat cap off, holding it to his chest as Harriet prepared a syringe.
“This first one will just sedate him, calm him down, and then the second one will put him to sleep,” the vet explained. “It will be peaceful, I promise. It’s the kindest thing we can do for him. Lachlan will just go to sleep, with no more pain.”
Josephine, now gripping Angus’s hand, nodded. Alice could see her mum was making a heroic effort not to cry in front of Lachlan. Alice choked back a sob of her own.
It was all so quick. Just a few moments later the big Highland was on the ground, his shattered leg finally giving way as he lay heavily on his side. Lachlan breathed deeply, once, then twice. Then there was silence.
The vet knelt down, listening to where Lachlan’s strong, proud heart had once beaten, and gave a small nod.
“He’s gone,” she said softly.
Chapter 21
Only then did Josephine dissolve into sobs, kneeling beside her beloved pony, tears falling on his thick mane. Angus knelt beside her, still holding her hand. Alice clamped a hand to her mouth, her legs buckling, before she felt Finn’s strong arms round her. Her throat burned with a sob, her cheeks were wet with tears, freezing in the evening chill.
“Oh, Alice,” Finn said in a choked voice, tears falling down his face. “I’m so sorry. But I’m here for you. I’m always here for you.”
Alice felt a nudge on her shoulder. It was Secret. Alice leaned on him, breathing in his warm, familiar scent. The little pony stood quietly, as if sensing his wise old friend was gone.
Finn turned back to Alice. “We should go before they come to collect Lachie,” he said in a low voice. “I think it will upset Secret and Ella too much.”
“I’m not going back to Hilltops!” Alice said, suddenly panicked, and Finn shook his head.
“We’re not too far from your house,” he said. “Let’s go straight back to Park Farm.”
“How?” Alice said tearfully.
“You ride Secret. I’ll lead Ella,” Finn said. “It’s not far if we go the direct route. We rode here last summer, didn’t we?”
Alice’s mum was pale, leaning on Angus as he held Lachlan’s head collar. The sight of the worn leather head collar that had hung in the tack room for the whole of Alice’s life was too much for her and she collapsed against Secret’s side, sobbing. Finn placed an arm round her again.
“How can he not be coming home?” Alice cried, and Finn shook his head.
“He’s not,” he said, his voice cracking. “I’m so sorry.”
Secret gave Alice a nudge, and she refocused. Finn was right: they had to get the ponies home and safe, however hard it was. She was going to have to put all her trust in Secret again, to lead them home.
“Oh, Lachie.” Wiping her eyes, Alice gave a deep, shuddering breath. It had long stopped snowing, the sky twinkling with a thousand stars, now joined by one more, the brightest one in the sky. Alice knelt beside her mum, trembling as she placed a hand on Lachlan’s neck. He was still warm. How could he be gone?
She threw her arms around her mum, who looked completely shell-shocked.
“You go,” Angus said quietly. “I’ll look after your mum. And I’ll make sure Lachlan’s taken care of.”
Nodding, Alice kissed Lachlan’s neck, breathing in his familiar sweet smell, holding the silken strands of his mane between her fingers as she closed her eyes, picturing him thundering around an arena, magnificent and the wisest of all the ponies. “Goodbye, sweetheart.”
Secret gave a small whicker, as if saying his own goodbye as Alice rode him back through the gate and on to the downs. Ella followed quietly as Secret ploughed through the snow, which was over his knees in places. The moon was bright as they followed the bridleway signs back down, an owl swooping and hooting overhead and Finn’s torch catching the eye of a fox or a rabbit every so often. Apart from the crunch of snow between the ponies’ feet, it was completely silent.
Wit
hout realising it, tears continued to roll down Alice’s cheeks as she thought of Lachlan lying peacefully in the snow. “I’ve never seen a horse put to sleep before,” Alice said, choking back a sob and placing her arms round Secret, feeling him solid and warm beneath her. He constantly amazed her. He could be so wilful and headstrong, but now he was calmly leading them home through the snow.
“Will Ella be OK?” she asked Finn who was now in step beside her.
Finn nodded. “Look at her now,” he said, placing a hand on her neck. “Trusting us and Secret to guide her home. She was terrified, but she came to us up there on the road; she came to us for help. This night might be the making of her.”
Alice thought back to the group at the party. By opening Ella’s stable door their actions had set off a chain of events that had resulted in Lachlan’s death. The party seemed a distant memory now.
“Finn, about earlier…” she started to say, and Finn held up a hand, as if he knew what she was about to say.
“Don’t,” he said. “I know how it looked with Hannah, but I really thought she just wanted lessons. But then she called me her boyfriend when I met her school friends.” He looked annoyed. “Boyfriend! Please, she’s not my type at all. Especially after tonight.”
Alice thought about the way Hannah had looked at Finn as they rode into the party.
“I was enjoying helping her with Barney. And she’s fun. But go out with her?” Finn shook his head and looked straight at Alice. “I can’t imagine her turning up to a party in old jods and still looking beautiful, riding to the rescue of a pony in the snow. If I had a type … that would be it.”
Alice felt her heart thudding under her jacket. She couldn’t believe what Finn had just said. His words danced around her head.
Moments later they arrived back at Park Farm, and everything looked calm and peaceful.
Angus was back already, helping Fergus hang up hay nets ready for Ella and Secret. Fergus had tears running down his cheeks and Alice gave him a hug. She knew how much he had loved Lachlan.
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