The+Search

Shannon Branigin Andrews Enr. LA 1/2a Short Story, final draft //The Search// By: Shannon Branigin //A trail ride is always so calming,// I thought. A gentle breeze played with Wolfie’s mane and teased my hair. As we came over a big hill right above the barn, I sighed wistfully at the sight layed out below me. In the center was a big red barn, and many little sheds, stalls, and paddocks surrounding it. All of this was set out on miles of lush countryside, and since it was still early morning, a low mist hung over the grass as if it wanted to eat it with the horses. Coming out of my reverie, I checked my watch and gasped at the amount of time we had taken. I urged Wolfie into a rocking canter, and laying my tongue on the top of my mouth I made a clucking sound that set us into a gallop. If we hurried, we could just make it back in time for me to cool him down and let him relax before my lesson. As we sped down the narrow trail, the slight breeze picked up into a strong wind that whistled in my ears and streamed my long, braided brown hair out behind me. I grinned as the trees turned into blurs and was laughing as we reached our destination. By this time, the mist had changed into little droplets of dew. I could tell that Wolfie had loved to have a nice morning gallop too because his head was down and he snorted in appreciation for a chance to get his energy out. “Not yet boy,” I told him as I loosened his girth, put his halter on, and led him to his stall, “We still have a lesson to go.” I was sitting on the top rail of Wolfie’s stall, watching him eat his breakfast, when my trainer, Dan, came hurrying down the barn hall, his sturdy riding boots sounding like the clip-clop of hooves on the old concrete. “Elizabeth,” he addressed me, “Sorry, but there will be no lesson today.” “Why not?” I asked, “Have you told Kim and Sylvia yet?” Kim and Sylvia were my best friends and riding buddies, and I did everything with them. “Yes I did, and your lesson will at least be postponed because it seems that Cremont [1] has gone missing.” He said. “I’ll help look for him,” I responded eagerly, “And I’m sure Kim and Sylvia will to.” “No, I want you girls to look after the barn while me and Steven go look for him.” Dan replied. Steven was his younger brother, the owner of Cremont. “Ok… I //guess//.” I muttered to his back as he walked away. Cremont had competed in the Olympics with Steven, and therefore had earned the place of “highest value” at Alpine, something I didn’t believe. But the high-strung stallion was my second favorite horse at the barn. I loved both sides of him, the side with his sassy attitude, and the side that could be sweet and affectionate. Turning to Wolfie, I sighed and said, “Well, it looks like you won’t be having a lesson today, so I might as well get you untacked and let you graze a bit.” As I slid the saddle off his sweaty back, Sylvia came running up to his stall, breathless, her long hair swinging. Letting herself in, she asked, “Did you hear that we can’t have our lesson?” “Yeah, and we can’t help search for Cremont either. Where’s Kim?” Was my response. “Outside grazing Pippi and holding Romeo for me while I come and get you. Wanna graze Wolfie with us?” “Sure,” I said, attaching a lead to him. “Lets go.” We found Kim sitting on a cushion of soft grass while Pippi and Romeo made quiet munching sounds. When Wolfie saw them he through up his head and whinnied in greeting, and then immediately started chewing on the rich green grass as well. “Hey.” Said Kim, staring off into space. Kim had deep, tan skin and was small and sturdy. Her enviable long, glossy black hair sometimes shone brown in the light, and underneath her long curled eyelashes were huge brown eyes that sparkled when she was in a good mood. Sylvia, on the other hand, had a tall slim figure, and long curly blond hair that perfectly offset her pale skin. She also had freckles scattered across the bridge of her nose, and brown eyes that always expressed her emotions. “Hi,” Sylvia and I responded vaguely. “So… do you think we should do anything about Cremont?” asked Kim after a moment. “No, they’ll probably be back soon anyways, I bet he just jumped his fence and is grazing, like, on one of the trails.” Sylvia said. I just nodded. “Probably.” After putting away our horses, moving to the hay bales, and talking for an hour, Kim announced, “I don’t care what Dan said; I’m going to look for Cremont! If he //did// just jump his fence,” Here, she looked pointedly at Sylvia, “Then they’d be back by now.” “How do you know?” Sylvia glared back at Kim, “It takes a long time to check all the trails.” “Then we should help them.” Kim stood up. “You guys can stay here, but I’m going.” She marched off. “Wait, Kim!” I shouted, “I’ll come with you!” I jumped up and brushed hay off of my jodhpurs. Turning back I asked Sylvia, “You wanna come?” “Fine, whatever.” She got up reluctantly. We all talked about where to go as we tacked up Wolfie, Romeo, and Pippi. “You should go on Hawk Ridge, Elizabeth, ‘cause it’s shortest, and you already had a trail ride today.” Sylvia stated. “Ok, where’ll you go?” “I was thinking about Chickadee Path.” “Alright, how ‘bout you Kim?” I inquired. “Um…. Maybe Sparrow Trail?” She said it as a question. “That’s where I was this morning though and I would have seen him.” I told her. “Then I’ll take Heron Pass.” “Ok…so if we find //anything//, Cremont, a clue, or anything, we’ll call each other right? And…//wait//… who’ll take care of the barn? Dan will be //really// mad at us even if we find Cremont if we leave the barn unwatched.” I told them. Sylvia sighed. “I hate to do this, but…” And she walked over to Lizzie and Annie, the two snottiest girls in the world. The only thing I liked about them was that they took care of their horses. “Hey Lizzie? Annie?” Sylvia asked with false cheerfulness, “Do you think you two could look after the barn while we’re gone? You know, looking for Cremont?” “Aren’t you three losers supposed to be looking after the horses?” asked a doubtful Lizzie. “Well, we were, but then Dan called to the office phone and asked us to help and to ask you guys to take care of the horses while we’re gone.” Was Sylvia’s lie. Exchanging a glance with Annie, Lizzie finally let in. “Whatever.” “Kay thanks.” Then she turned to us and really smiled. “Alright people lets find Cremont!” I had been riding for at least two hours, with no sign whatsoever of Cremont. //Darn you horse, WHERE DID YOU GO?// I thought. I had searched the woods next to the trail, the bog, and every place else I could think of except for one. I took a deep breath as I trotted forward to the edge of Hawk Ridge, what the trail was named after. It wasn’t that far down, but a horse could get hurt if he fell. Peering down, I didn’t see a sign of him. I let out my breath and sighed with relief. Just then, my silver Alias rang. It was Kim; I knew it before I even checked the caller ID. I opened it and hoped for the best. //Please say you found him,// I prayed. We had to get back to the barn before Dan and Steven did. “I FOUND HIM!!” Were the first three words out of Kim’s mouth. “WHERE? Do you have him? Where are you?” I asked. “No I don’t have him but I’m following him and he’s goin’ really fast and I don’t think Pippi will be able to keep up and he’s headed for Hawk Ridge and are you over there yet? Can you try to catch him?” She sounded out of breath and I could hear the //1, 2, 3, 4// beats of Pippi’s gallop in the background. “I’ll do my best,” Now I was really worried. “But I can’t help it if Cremont swerves us-you know how he hates Wolfie-and falls down-” “Don’t s-say that!” “Ok sorry.” We both knew that if Cremont galloped over the edge of the ridge and fell, then he would most likely be severely injured or maybe even killed. “We’re really close can you hear him?” Asked Kim. “Wait a sec.” I strained my ears towards the woods until I heard the faint hoof beats that were most likely Cremont’s. “Yeah I can here him. Sorry, but I’m goin’ to put my phone down, ‘kay?” I pressed hold, snapped it shut, and then dismounted Wolfie. Even then though, we weren’t half as wide as the drop off. It started to rain. //Great, just great//, I thought, thoroughly frustrated. As the day had progressed, I hadn’t noticed that it had clouded over and that the clouds were heavy and grey, a sure sign of a downpour. I tried to squint through the rain, but everything was blurry. And then there he was. The big, black stallion had never looked so huge to me before. Galloping out of the woods, he was a giant and I was an ant. Wolfie got scared too and nudged closer to me. He and Cremont had never really gotten along, and now they were worst enemies. Cremont reared, and headed toward the edge. He kept running closer and closer. I did everything. I jumped up and down, I clapped my hands, I yelled and screamed, but nothing worked. He got closer and closer until… The weirdest thing happened. Instead of falling, Cremont tucked his legs gracefully and took off, as if he were jumping. I ran to the very edge and watched as he landed with the same elegance as his take off. Then he began to run again. I turned as I heard Kim come out of the woods. Seeing that I had been looking down the ridge, she began to cry. “He fell, didn’t he?” She said. She dismounted and came to look too. “Where is he?” “He didn’t fall…he jumped.” I could tell my voice was full of amazement. “//Jumped//? But how?” “He just…did. And then he ran away again.” “How are going to get him then?” I pointed to a steep, rocky pass that led to the bottom. Then I picked Wolfie’s reins up and led him over to it. “Elizabeth we //can’t//. What if Wolfie or Pippi gets hurt?” “They’ll be fine if we go slowly,” I said. “Besides, we have to get him. And let’s call Sylvia too. Maybe she’s still on Chickadee Path.” I hoped I was right. “Ya, but if one of them does get hurt,” she said, pulling her purple Rumor out of her pocket, “How do you think Dan would react if we came back to a place we weren’t supposed to leave with no Cremont and injured horses?” Before I could say anything, a brilliant bolt of lightning slashed across the sky and after a few seconds a big //KABOOM// followed it. “Well, it’ll be safer down there anyways,” I said. “We won’t get hit by lighting.” “Yea, yea, are you still there?” Kim’s phone was pressed to her ear. “Okay we’ll be there in a bit. Yea, bye.” She slid her phone shut. “Fine. But if they do get hurt…” “Then it’ll be on my conscience.” I finished the sentence for her. “Ok, here goes nothing.” The narrow trail was even steeper than it looked. Stones skittered every which way and Wolfie hated it. So did I. Before every step I prayed that I wouldn’t slip, as I led the way down. “Come on Wolfie, good boy, just a little more,” I said over and over again. I could hear Kim reassuring Pippi as well. When we finally made it to the bottom I smiled and threw my arms around Wolfie, saying, “Good job Wolfie! You are such a good boy!” Burring my head in his thick coat I wished I could just stay there. I was hungry, cold, sopping, and exhausted. Looking over at Kim, I could see she felt the same way. And then I remembered that with each second, Cremont was getting further and further away. I remounted and said to Kim, “C’mon.” I could see him. At least, I thought I could. Was that a tree, or was that Cremont munching on some fresh grass? I squinted. Yes, that was Cremont. “Finally!” I said as I dismounted. Unclipping a lead rope from my saddle, and handing Wolfie to Kim, I slowly made my way over to him, so calm now. “Hello there Cremont,” I said softly, “We finally found you.” I gradually ran my hand down his neck and attached the rope to his halter. Then I turned back to Kim and mouthed //YES!// Just as I was leading him back, though, Sylvia came cantering up. //Oh no//, I thought. I grabbed onto his halter just in time to keep him from rearing. “Sorry!” whispered Sylvia. I nodded and took Wolfe’s reins from Kim. “Come on guys, let’s all go home.” It’s hard to enter a stable without being noticed, especially when there are seven of you, three girls, drenched, and four horses, one of which is very valuable. It wasn’t any easier for us either, considering we had been missing for 4 hours. As we walked in, Dan turned around, glaring. “Um…Here’s Cremont?” I said, handing him the big horse. “I thought I told you girls to stay here and look after the barn.” He said, not taking Cremont. I tried to nonchalantly conceal myself behind Wolfie. “We did…for a little bit.” Said Kim. “Ya, and when we left we made sure that someone was still here to watch it.” Added Sylvia. “By lying to them.” Put in Dan. “But we found Cremont,” I said, “Which means our effort wasn’t totally worthless. And none of us got hurt.” I tried to bring Wolfie even more in front of me. “Yes,” He took the stallion, “But you or your horses //could// have been hurt, and it was a very irresponsible thing to do. For that you will be banned from riding for two weeks.” I looked at Sylvia and Kim, silently telling them not to argue, or else the punishment would become longer. Luckily, they didn’t. “Ok.” We all said in small voices as we hooked Wolfe, Romeo, and Pippi to crossties, “We won’t.” I though it was pretty fair, since we had broken about a million barn rules, and now, thinking back on it, the time without riding was pretty fun too, because somehow during the whole mix-up, Cremont and Wolfie had become friends, so I spent the next two weeks sitting on the fence of their paddock and watching them romp around in the deep green grass, something just as calming as a trail ride.

[1] Pronounced //Cre-mone//