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Authors: Heather Brooks

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BOOK: Sapphire: New Horizons
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P
anic shot through her and she rolled to her stomach, yelping as fresh pain exploded in her ankle. “Sapphire!”

Nothing but the rustle of leaves and the trickle of water.

“Sapphire!” She grabbed a small tree and pulled herself to her feet, standing on one foot as she scanned the woods for a black horse. “Sapphire!”

No response. He was gone, just as he'd taken off those other times.

Tears filled her eyes. “Sapphire,” she begged. “Please come back.”

A squirrel ran partway down a tree trunk, chattering
at her while his little tail twitched, as if he were laughing.

“Go away,” she muttered, clenching her teeth against the pain as she hopped toward the stream and back the way they'd come.

She didn't want to go home without him, but she didn't know what else to do. Maybe she'd find him on the way.

She made it to the edge of the water, then frowned at the smooth rocks under the surface. No way could she hop across those. She touched the toe of her injured foot to the ground, then winced and yanked it back.

She looked around and saw a large stick nearby. She crawled over to it, then used it to leverage herself to her feet again. Using the stick for balance and support, she hopped back over to the stream and wedged the stick down between the rocks.

She leaned on it carefully, testing it. When it didn't slip, she put all her weight on it and then hopped into the water, landing on a round rock just beneath the surface. The cold seeped in through her boots, her muscles tightened to keep her balance, and she hopped again. And again.

Then she moved the stick forward a few feet, wedged it tightly between two rocks, and hopped again. The stick slipped and flew out of her hand, and she screeched
as she fell into the cold water, her ankle screaming with pain as she smacked it against a rock.

Water streaming down her face, she managed to haul herself back up to her knees and crawl out of the stream, the rocks digging into her knees and hands.

She pulled herself up the bank, unable to keep the tears from creeping out of her eyes, and flopped down on her belly on the grass, her body shaking with exhaustion and pain.

A minute of rest. That was all she needed.

Just a minute and then she'd keep going.

 

By six o'clock that evening, the farm was in chaos.

Caitlyn and Kyle reported Emily had gone missing when the adults arrived home, and Emily's dad had been the one to realize that Sapphire was also gone. Aunt Debby had been furious and worried that Emily was going to be in trouble riding Sapphire out in the woods.

Emily's dad had spent the next hour trying to calm his sister down, taking responsibility for allowing Emily to do whatever she wanted, and reassuring her that Emily was a great rider, even if she wasn't experienced at jumping. But after four hours had passed with no sign of either of them, even he had started to get worried.

By six fifteen, they'd assembled on horses in the driveway with walkie-talkies, since cell phones didn't work that far out from town. Emily's dad, Alison, Aunt Debby, and even Uncle Rick, who had canceled his last appointments for the day, all mounted. A girl from the barn named Meredith joined them.

Aunt Debby gave instructions. “Meredith and Alison, you two stay together and once it starts to get dark, you both head home. I want your horses in their stalls before dark, okay?”

The girls nodded, and Aunt Debby turned to the adults. “The rest of us will split up.” She created search parameters for everyone.

Aunt Debby patted Emily's dad's arm as she swung her mount past him. “We'll find her.” Then she whirled her horse and bolted up the path toward the extensive lands behind the barn. Emily's dad nudged his horse into action and tore after her, his throat dry.

 

Emily groaned and rolled onto her back in the field, too tired to crawl any farther, and she'd lost track of which way was home. When Sapphire had bolted, she'd stopped paying attention and just enjoyed the ride.

Not her smartest move.

All she was hoping for at this point was a road, so she
could flag down a car, but there weren't even any roads. The vast expanse of fields that yesterday had seemed so beautiful just seemed huge and scary now. And lonely.

She pressed her hands to her face against the swell of tears. She was wet and cold, and in so much pain she'd taken off her sweatshirt and tied it around her ankle to try to immobilize it and cushion it from getting knocked.

It had helped a little bit but not enough.

She stared up at the sky, realizing the sun was beginning to set, and she shuddered. Alone out here in the
dark
? She moaned and rolled back to her knees and started to crawl again, then heard a faint noise. Had that been someone yelling her name? She jumped up, careful to not put any weight on her injured foot, her heart pounding with hope.

She held her breath and listened intently.

Silence.

Her throat tightened, and she was just about to give up when she heard it again. It was
definitely
someone yelling her name. “I'm here!” she shouted. “I'm right here!” She waved her arms, not knowing what direction to face. “I'm here! Help!”

She kept turning around as someone yelled her name again, and then she saw it. A silhouetted figure on
a horse at the other end of the field. “Right here!” It was too far away to tell who it was, and she didn't even care if it was Aunt Debby. “Here!” Waving her arms, she hopped toward the horse, then stopped when the horse spun in her direction and started galloping toward her.

Relief made tears well in her eyes, and her legs gave out. She plunked down on her butt, unable to stop crying as Uncle Rick reined in beside her and vaulted off his horse, a liver chestnut she recognized from the farm as Mystic, a full sister to Moondance. “Emily! Are you all right?”

She tried to answer, but she was crying too hard, so she just nodded and pointed to her ankle. Uncle Rick ignored the ankle and swept her up in a giant hug, and she hugged him back as tightly as she could. After a minute, he pulled back slightly so he could look at her face. “You're okay?”

“I hurt my ankle.”

“Other than that?”

“I'm wet.”

He grinned and sat her back on the grass. “Well, I think we can probably take care of both of those problems.” He paused to pull a walkie-talkie off his belt and reported in that he'd found her and she was fine.

Her dad was so panicked that he made her talk into
the walkie-talkie before he'd believe Uncle Rick, and Emily felt guilty, realizing how much she'd upset him. “I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean to scare you.”

“No, hon, I'm just glad you're safe.” His voice was trembling, and Emily felt awful.

“I miss you, Dad.”

“Oh, hon, I miss you, too. You're really okay?”

“I'm really okay.”

“Thank God.” There was a scuffling noise, then her dad said, “Aunt Debby wants to talk to you.”

“No, wait—”

“Is Sapphire okay?”

Emily felt her cheeks turn red, and she stared at the ground. “I fell off,” she mumbled. “He ran away.”

“What?” Aunt Debby's voice crackled over the walkie-talkie. “I can't hear you.”

Uncle Rick put his hand on Emily's head and gently patted it as he took the walkie-talkie from her hand. “Sapphire took off,” he told his wife. “You and Scott should keep looking for him. I'll take care of Emily.”

He signed off after agreeing to keep in touch and then unwrapped the sweatshirt from Emily's ankle, his touch so gentle it barely hurt.

“I'm in trouble, aren't I?”

He glanced at her, his face kind. “Aunt Debby just
worries about your safety. That's all. She knows what can happen around horses.”

“It was a onetime thing. It's not like I fall off all the time—”

Uncle Rick raised his brows. “Let's concentrate on your ankle first, okay? We'll talk about the rest when everyone's back at the farm.”

“Can't we stay out here all night?” Now that Uncle Rick was with her, it seemed like a better place to be than back at the house getting in trouble.

Uncle Rick laughed. “It won't be that bad, I promise.”

“I'll be grounded, though.” Her eyes started to fill up again at the thought.

“Very possible,” he agreed, then he set his fingers on her ankle and began to probe.

For the next five minutes, she forgot about everything except how much her ankle hurt.

Ten minutes later, Rick sat back on his heels after rewrapping her ankle with white tape he'd brought along in his emergency medical kit. “I'd have to take X-rays, but I think it's just sprained.”

“Just? It kills.”

He nodded. “Sprains can hurt more than broken ankles.” He stood up. “Let's get you home.”

Emily couldn't go yet. She had to ask. “Are you still mad about Sapphire escaping before the funeral?” She swallowed. “I'm really sorry.”

Uncle Rick ruffled her hair. “Oh, Emily, no one's mad at you for that. It happens. The timing was bad, so maybe we got more upset than we would have otherwise.” He squatted in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Look at me.”

She dragged her gaze off the ground and focused on his face.

He smiled. “I promise you, no one's mad about Sapphire escaping. It happens, especially with him. Okay?”

She felt her shoulders sag, and her belly began to uncurl. “Okay.”

“Good.” He bent to sweep her up in his arms. “Come on. You can ride with me, and we'll get you home, where I can do a better job on that ankle.”

She stifled a squawk of pain as he helped her slide into the saddle, then swung up behind her, the two of them barely fitting in the saddle. He wrapped one arm around her to steady her, then eased Mystic into a gentle canter, heading in the complete opposite direction she'd been going in, and she realized she'd been heading away from the farm instead of toward it. She
shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if Uncle Rick hadn't found her—

“Rick!” Aunt Debby's voice crackled through the walkie-talkie. “We've got an emergency! Horse down! We're about a mile west, by the old sawmill. Get over here now!”

Emily tensed as she jerked upright. “Horse down? Sapphire's hurt?” Oh, no! What had she done?

“I'm on my way.” Uncle Rick whirled Mystic around and urged her into a gallop, his arm tight around Emily to keep her from falling off as Mystic bounded across the uneven ground.

Emily clutched tight to him, feeling sick at the thought of Sapphire down. Hurt.

Because of her.

Then they got to the top of a hill, she saw Aunt Debby and her dad, and she realized she'd been totally wrong.

I
t wasn't Sapphire who was hurt, she realized with a sob of relief.

Sapphire was standing over a dark bay horse that was on his belly. The injured horse had his front legs out in front as he tried to pull himself to his feet. He had a big blaze down the front of his face and two white rear socks.

Aunt Debby was holding the injured horse's halter, and her dad was shoving at his butt, both of them trying to help the horse stand.

Mystic thundered down the hill just as the horse managed to stagger to his feet, rocking dangerously back and forth once he made it.

Aunt Debby shouted, and Emily's dad brought his horse, which she realized was Moondance, around to the side, using her as a brace to hold up the other horse. Moondance planted her feet and leaned into the injured horse, clearly accustomed to being used to do exactly that.

“What's wrong?” Mystic skidded to a stop and Uncle Rick vaulted to the ground, yanking his medical kit out of his saddlebag.

“Bad leg. Deep wound on his side—” Aunt Debby stopped talking suddenly and looked at Emily. “Go back to the top of the hill and wait for us. I don't want you to see this.”

But Emily didn't move. She was too shocked by the sight of the injured horse. He was so thin she could see all his bones, and his head hung low with exhaustion. She slid off Mystic and hobbled to the injured animal, hugging his face to her belly and patting him.

He let out a huge sigh that made him shudder, then pressed his head into her. Sapphire lowered his head, and she kissed his nose, so relieved to see him.

Emily wrapped her arms around both the injured horse and Sapphire and looked at the adults, who were ignoring her again, clustered around the injured horse's back left side, all of them looking really, really
serious. “Is he okay?”

Emily's dad finally looked at her, and his face was grim. “He's hurt badly, Em, and no one took care of him.”

“Well, why not? Who was supposed to take care of him?”

Aunt Debby turned her head and gave Emily a thoughtful look. “Now that is a very good question.” Her eyes narrowed. “I intend to find that out.”

Emily's dad glanced at Aunt Debby. “I'll head back to the barn and pick up the trailer. He'll never make it back there on his own.”

Aunt Debby nodded as Uncle Rick bent over, inspecting the wound. “Hurry.”

Emily's dad gestured at Emily. “Ride Mystic. I'll take Sapphire.”

“Sapphire? But—” Emily paused as her dad gave her a leg up onto Mystic, then she watched her dad swing onto Sapphire's back and grab the tattered reins to turn him back into the woods. The stirrup banged against her ankle and she flinched, so she quickly flipped the stirrups over Mystic's withers, crossing them so they'd stay out of the way while she rode. There was no way she'd be able to ride with her feet in the stirrups. That kind of pressure on her ankle would be unbearable.

Her dad frowned. “You okay to ride?”

“I don't want her seeing this,” Aunt Debby repeated. “Take her with you.”

Emily instinctively glanced over her shoulder at the injured horse, whose head was hanging so low his chin was almost on the ground. He was holding his right back leg completely off the ground, and his front feet were splayed for balance. He looked like he was going to topple over right there.

“Come on,” her dad said, gently turning Mystic's head so she followed him. “We need to get a van for him.”

Emily felt her heart tighten for the horse as she let her dad lead her back up the hill she and Uncle Rick had just ridden down. “He doesn't look very good.”

Her dad looked back at her. “No, he doesn't. Are you sure you're okay to ride?”

“Yeah.” Emily finally tore her gaze off the horse and nudged Mystic into a canter beside Sapphire, too upset to be jealous that her dad got to ride him. She winced each time her ankle banged against Mystic's side, but refused to tell her dad to stop. Not with that horse looking so unhappy. “Aren't you supposed to tell me he's going to be fine?”

“I wish I could, sweets. I wish I could. But I don't think he is.”

Emily had to fight back tears for most of the ride back to the house.

 

It was barely dawn the next morning when Emily sat on Moondance beside her dad, who was riding Spartacus, the huge dark bay horse he'd ridden yesterday when he'd chased after Sapphire.

Uncle Rick had put a walking cast on her ankle, which helped a lot. Her ankle was protected, and she could ride without unbearable pain, as long as she didn't use stirrups. Emily had thought you didn't cast for sprains, but apparently if they were bad enough, you did. She could put a little weight on her ankle, but she still limped and it throbbed whenever she stepped on it, but Uncle Rick had assured her it would heal up quickly.

Emily and her dad were at the spot where the injured horse had been found, and they were going to follow his tracks to find out where he came from. They'd decided to call the horse Trooper, because he'd somehow managed to drag himself along on three legs, like a super trooper.

Uncle Rick and Aunt Debby were staying at the barn, unable to leave him alone, and Alison was managing the barn for them.

Apparently, Emily's dad was the best tracker in the family—who knew? So he was in charge of finding where Trooper had come from, and he'd brought Emily with him.

Everyone seemed too freaked out about Trooper to remember that Emily had broken the rules yesterday when she'd stolen Sapphire, but she had no doubt that she'd be in trouble soon enough.

But she believed Uncle Rick that no one was mad about Sapphire escaping before the funeral, so she felt much better about that. It was one thing to get in trouble for knowingly breaking the rules, but it felt much worse to get in trouble for doing something she hadn't meant to do.

This morning she'd managed to slip unnoticed into Sapphire's stall while everyone was looking in on Trooper, who Aunt Debby still wouldn't let her see. Sapphire had been happy to see her, and she'd checked him carefully for injuries and had been horrified to see swelling around his left front ankle.

She'd told her dad, who had told her to wrap it for support, and leave it for when Uncle Rick had time to deal with him.

Her stomach hadn't stopped hurting since.

“There.” Her dad pointed. “See the broken bushes?
He came through there.”

Emily frowned and bent down to inspect the blackberry bush. Some of the branches were definitely broken. “How do you know that's not from Sapphire?”

“I'm guessing, because it wouldn't have made sense for Sapphire to be coming from that direction. Let's go.”

Her dad leading the way, they slowly made their way through the woods and fields, following hoofprints, broken branches, and half-eaten vegetation.

The sun was high in the late morning when her dad reined in Spartacus. “There we go.”

She followed his gaze and gasped as she saw what he was looking at. It was a huge stable, with lots of stalls that opened out into a tiny ring with broken fences, rusted cars, and a big pile of garbage. The horses were up to their ankles in mud, their coats caked, and all of them were so thin she could see their hip bones sticking out. The stench of manure and dirty stalls stung her nostrils. She covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh,
no
. Those poor horses! No wonder Trooper ran away!”

Her dad muttered a word she'd never heard him use before, then he clucked Spartacus into a gallop, riding straight for the barn.

Emily recovered herself and galloped after him.

 

“Hey! Who's in charge here?” Her dad slammed Spartacus to a stop just outside the front door to the falling-down barn, leaped off him, and charged inside.

Emily caught up and grabbed Spartacus's reins as he started to wander off. She could hear her dad shouting and doors slamming inside. Clenching the reins of both horses, she tugged them into a broken paddock, yanked off their tack and let them go, using the reins of one of the bridles to hold the gate shut, wincing at the rank odor drifting from inside the barn. There was a loud crash from inside, making Emily jump. “Dad? Everything okay?”

He shouted another word she'd never heard him use, and she sprinted for the barn, her heart racing in terror. “Dad!” She made it only three steps before she caught her cast and fell, pain screaming through her leg. Gritting her teeth against the throbbing in her ankle, she pulled herself to her feet and limped toward the barn as fast as she could. “Dad!”

BOOK: Sapphire: New Horizons
6.52Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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