Opal Dreaming (14 page)

Jess pulled him back around and tried to kick him up, but he only shuffled backwards. She kicked him again, but he jumped sideways in a big frightened leap, snorting loud blasts of snot into the air.

‘Easy, boy,' she soothed, wondering if she should take warning and head back. ‘What is it?'

She scanned the countryside, hoping it wasn't a black snake – or worse, a disgruntled ringer. Instead, she saw a small brown lump move through the long grass. ‘It's a goat, you big sook!' Then she saw several more. ‘Haven't you ever seen one before?'

She let him stop and have a look. His whole body had gone as hard as a rock, and he held his head high, ears jutting forward. One front leg trembled slightly. Jess patted him on the neck and he jumped out of his skin again, making her laugh. ‘Hey, you big baby!'

After several minutes of letting the stallion become acquainted with a new species, Jess managed to coerce him to tiptoe gingerly through the herd, sidestepping with alarm and snorting mistrustfully each time a goat lifted its head and bleated at him.

Safely through the goat herd, the stallion lengthened his stride and relaxed into a brisk walk again, through more small hills and narrow winding trails. She let him have his head for a while and marvelled at the intense blue of the sky and the clarity of colour all around her. It was as though someone had cleaned the air with Windex. Then Legsy shortened his stride again and lifted his head.

‘More goats?' said Jess, bunching up the reins. ‘Just about time to turn back anyway.' Before turning him about, she pulled out her phone and double-checked for any reception. ‘Useless thing.'

Legsy sniffed the air again and began bouncing on his hocks. He arched his neck and a deep throaty rumble came from his chest.

‘You like goats now?' Jess murmured, stuffing her phone back into her top pocket and taking her reins in two hands.

Legsy nickered again and began prancing. His back rolled to and fro beneath her. ‘Who are you showing off to, fella?' she said, running a hand down the length of his mane. As the words left her mouth she heard a distant whinny.

Legsy immediately picked up his stride and began roaring and bellowing. Jess held him tight. ‘Oh, great. A mob of mares.'

And then she caught a glimpse of movement in a thicket of sandalwood trees some distance away, a red and white rump, jumping about but not getting anywhere. ‘Wally?' Her heart stopped momentarily. ‘
Wally!'

Jess knew that snow-capped rump anywhere. She pushed Legsy into a trot and struggled to hold him steady as he began cantering on the spot. ‘Whoa, big fella,' she said soothingly, fighting for control. She struggled to get a better look through the trees.

As she managed to coerce Legsy closer to the thicket, she saw that Walkabout was tied to a tree. The filly was pulling against it with all her might, twisting and shaking her head. Behind her, Jess could just make out a large flat thing – then she heard a familiar sound: horse hooves banging on a tail ramp. ‘Oh my God!' she whispered, still fighting to hold the stallion steady. ‘They're gonna put her on a truck!'

Jess squinted as a man came into sight, and she recognised Clarkey's black hat and scrawny frame. The air split in two with the sound of a stock whip as it lashed over Wally's rump. Jess jumped as though she herself had been whipped, sending Legsy into yet another tailspin. She pulled him around to see the filly lurch forward and smash her shoulder into a tree. Legsy screamed loudly and Clarkey wandered out from the thicket.

He saw her. For a split second, Jess's eyes connected with his.

In a blind panic, she turned the stallion and booted him. ‘Get up, Legs!' she clucked madly. ‘
Hah! Go!'

The stallion leapt into a gallop and Jess steered him straight back to the hills. She rode flat chat, ducking the low tree branches, barely managing to steer Legsy along the small windy track, up and over the hill. Her feet jolted into her stirrup irons as he propped down the other side. Then, as they reached the open pasture a small white goat popped up its head and bleated.

Legsy saw it before Jess did, and reacted with lightning-fast reflexes. In a single, terrified sideways leap, he collided with a tree, crushing her leg and smacking her head into a low branch. As Legsy rebounded off its trunk she tumbled from the saddle, landing shoulder-first on a pile of rocks.

The last thing Jess heard before drifting into a haze was the rumble of Legsy's hooves, retreating into the distance.

17

THE HOT AFTERNOON SUN
blazed on Jess's face, burning into her eyelids and forcing them to open. A buzzing sound went around and around in her head. She licked her dry cracked lips and tried to generate some moisture in her mouth.

‘My leg,' she moaned, reaching down and finding her jeans torn. The leg beneath was grazed and sticky with blood. Flies crawled over it and she waved them off.

A twig snapped near where she lay in the dust and she froze. Then a horse snorted softly down the back of her neck. ‘Legsy?' She twisted her head around. ‘
Wally!
'

Jess scrambled to her feet and looked around for the ringers, her eyes darting from tree to rock to shrub. Wally stepped back out of her way. All Jess could see were short, stumpy mulga trees. The sun beat down, casting shadows directly beneath them and giving no clue as to east or west. There were no sounds apart from the tweeting of birds and the rustle of leaves in the breeze. A long way away, a cow mooed.

‘Wally,' Jess said gently. The little horse hung her haltered head, a broken rope dangling between her front legs. Her flanks were sunken with thirst and she was in a lather of sweat. ‘Oh my God, Wally! What have they done to you?' Jess stumbled as she went to the filly's side. ‘Whoa, I feel woozy.'

When she managed to get her balance, Jess ran her hands over Walkabout, inspecting every inch of her for injuries. The horse had large welts on either side of her rump and rope marks around her hocks. ‘They tried to get you onto that truck, didn't they?' Jess said, rubbing Wally's neck. ‘You're a good, brave girl for not going on.' She unbuckled the halter, which was too small for the horse and squeezed tightly. Jess threw it on the ground in disgust and rubbed at the cruel marks that ran around the filly's nose.

Then a terrible realisation hit her. ‘Oh no, Wal,
where's
Legsy
?'

She scanned all around her again. Beyond the mulgas were tall, jagged rocks and tussocks of grass sprouting from the parched land.

‘And
Marnie
. Is Marnie with you?' Jess's heart sank as she failed to sight the mare. ‘Where are the horses?' she moaned, walking directionless into nowhere. Her leg hurt and her head pounded. ‘Oh, Wally. What have I done?'

When she couldn't spot a single landmark she recognised to give her a clue to the direction of the bore, she stopped and looked back to Wally. ‘Which way do I go, Wal? I have to find them!'

Walkabout stood motionless, her ears following Jess's every move.

Jess took hold of her mane. ‘Easy, Wally,' she said. ‘I need some help, little one.' Facing the filly's tail, Jess took one step forward and threw her leg up and over the filly's back, landing as softly as she could. Wally's skin quivered and Jess ran a hand quietly down her neck. ‘You know where they are, don't you?'

Walkabout took a few tentative steps, then stopped. Jess stayed quiet for a moment and let the young horse continue at her own pace until she stretched her legs into a relaxed walk, away from the rocks. ‘That's it,' said Jess. ‘You lead, little buddy. Find Legsy.'

Jess sat passively on Wally's back, letting the filly find her own way. Her head pounded and her skin felt as though it was shrinking in the intense heat. The rocking sensation of Wally's gait began to make her feel woozy and she held onto the filly's mane to steady herself. As long as she could stay on Wally's back, she was sure the filly would lead her to the camp.

It felt like hours before Jess heard the crack of stockwhips and saw the army of red cattle marching through its own dust. Through the dust cloud she could make out Lawson and Stanley on their flanks, heading them towards the bore.

She cupped her hands over her mouth. ‘Coo-ee!'

Both men immediately looked up. Lawson launched Slinger into a canter and headed her way.

‘Jessica! Where've you been? There are people out looking everywhere. Legsy came thundering back without you. Luke's out of his head, he's galloping around everywhere trying to find—' He stopped, spotting her torn jeans. ‘Are you hurt?'

‘Oh, thank God you found Legsy,' Jess said in a wave of relief, then shook her head, making it throb even worse. ‘I'm just thirsty.'

Lawson dismounted, pulled a water canteen from his saddlebag and handed it to her. ‘Where'd you find Wal?'

Jess guzzled the warm plastic-tasting water, blissfully wet against her parched throat, and imagined it flowing straight to her brain cells, plumping them up and re–hydrating them. She wiped her mouth. ‘She found me.'

‘I see you broke her in for me,' he said, sounding unimpressed.

Jess bristled. ‘I started her ages ago. Like you promised I could,' she reminded him, then muttered. ‘Don't bother thanking me.' She finished off the last of the water.

‘She okay?' Lawson ran a hand over Wally and found the welts on her rump. ‘What the— Who's been flogging her?'

‘Clarkey. I found her tied to a tree—' She paused, the words stuck in her throat. ‘They had a truck.'

‘Did you see Marnie?' he demanded.

'No. But I heard a horse going up the truck ramp.'

The anguish that flashed across Lawson's face took Jess by surprise. He looked a nanosecond from bursting into tears.

How does it feel?
she felt like saying.

Lawson quickly pulled himself together and cursed instead, as any heartache became boiling anger.

‘My best horse,
again
,' he said. ‘I'm going to tear Ryan apart limb by limb if she's not found!'

‘Why is it
his
fault?'

‘They were
his
drunken mates,' Lawson yelled. ‘He promised me faithfully there'd be no problems.'

‘Don't yell at
me
!' said Jess, her head pounding.

Lawson cursed again. ‘It was Harry's dying wish that I forgive Ryan, and look what's happened. He hasn't changed at all!' He stabbed a finger at her. ‘Always trust your gut, Jess. Don't do anything that you know is wrong just to please other people.'

‘I trusted my gut with you,' she said, listening impassively to his ranting. ‘And you took my filly off me again. You're no better than your brother.' She turned to walk away.

‘How dare you compare me with that drunk?' he called after her. ‘I put Marnie out of work for nearly a year to give you that foal, I'll have you know. Your filly is in good hands – the best of hands!' He began stomping after her. ‘If I'd left it to you, she'd be bloody dead by now and you'd be two hundred bucks out of pocket!'

‘You told everyone that she was your filly!' she yelled back at him.

‘She still is,' he thundered.

‘She's
mine
!' Jess screamed. ‘The day she was weaned, she became
my
horse. You had no right to just take her without asking me first.'

‘I had every right! Jesus, Jessica, when are you going to stop arguing with me at every chance you get and trust me?'

‘I gave you my trust when I let you buy Wally. I gave you my trust when you said I could buy Opal. You
blew
my trust when you took her away from me!'

Lawson paused and pulled himself together. He lowered his voice to a cool icy tone. ‘Opal's at the homestead and the staff are on strict instructions to message me as soon as anything happens with her.' He pulled his phone out of his top pocket and shook it at her. ‘I'll hear as soon as her condition changes.'

‘No, you won't, because I told them to ring
me
if anything happened,' she said, ripping her phone out of her top pocket and shaking it back at him.

‘What, on that thing? You didn't, did you?' Lawson shook his head and laughed in disbelief. ‘Tell me you didn't do that!'

Jess shrugged at him.

‘Jessica, this is a
satellite
phone. It's the only sort that'll work out here. You won't get any messages on your thing.'

Jess stared at his phone, and a cold sickly feeling rushed over her.

‘Good one, Jess. Now we don't know if Opal's alive or dead.'

At that moment, Bob appeared on foot, his jeans rolled up to mid-calf and two knobbly black feet poking out below. ‘I'll take you back to camp if you want, Jess.' She could see him looking her up and down from behind his wraparound sunnies and big hat. ‘You're not lookin' too good, ay?'

Lawson hoisted himself back onto his horse and kicked it. As he rode away, he yelled over his shoulder, ‘
And he's not my brother!
'

As Jess watched him gallop back to the cattle, she put her hands over her face and burst into tears, sinking to the ground.

Bob squatted next to her. ‘Hey, come on now, missy. It'll be okay.'

‘No, it won't,' Jess sobbed. ‘It's my fault the ringers stole Lawson's good horse. Everything's my fault.'

‘Nah, them ringers are no good,' said Bob. ‘Bunch of alcos; it's not your fault.'

‘I've probably gone and got Opal killed too. I didn't know Lawson had a satellite phone. I didn't know you even
needed
a satellite phone.'

Bob didn't respond to that one. Jess began sobbing even harder.

Eventually Bob stood and ran a hand over Walkabout's shoulder. ‘C'mon, let's take this filly back. Give her a drink and some feed.' He reached for his belt to use as a rope. ‘Coming?'