Page 24 of Wild Horses

The students were gathered, all talking excitedly and eager for news.

An ashen-faced Tyler came in through the kitchen door and Maggie started talking to him.

She and Astrid had been left to hold the fort and look after the Lord children while the rest of them searched.

Christy grabbed an egg sandwich from a platter and retreated to a corner, but she couldn’t force the food down.

Clare cut short Maggie’s conversation and pulled Tyler aside. Samson whined and padded after her. Clare’s voice was low and urgent. What could she be saying to make Tyler’s expression grow even more grim? Christy’s hands grew clammy around the untouched sandwich.

Moving closer, her boots leaving muddy footprints on the linoleum, she caught the tail end of a sentence. ‘... can’t delay much longer, Tyler.’ Clare’s expression was drawn, the lines around her mouth deeper than they were yesterday.

Christy couldn’t help herself. ‘What’s wrong?’

Clare hesitated, her eyes flicking to Tyler before returning to Christy. ‘It’s a confidential matter—’ she began, her tone uncharacteristically stiff and formal.

But Tyler interrupted. ‘No, Christy should know.’ He ran a hand through his hair before continuing. ‘Leo is here on a court-ordered diversion program. If he absconds, which it now looks like he has done, the courts will issue a warrant. They’ll arrest him and send him to youth detention.’

Clare looked ready to cry. ‘I’ll give it until four o’clock. If Leo’s not back by then I’ll have to inform the authorities.’

The words hit her like thrown stones. Christy’s throat tightened, the sandwich in her hand now just a lump of soggy bread.

She set it down, her mind racing to where she didn’t want it to go.

She’d been warned Leo had a crush on her.

She’d been warned she should pull back but hadn’t listened.

The kiss with his father last night – their moment of caution forgotten – could it have driven Leo to flee?

He’d been so happy lately, brimming with self-assurance and really coming into his own.

It horrified her to think she might be responsible for all that progress being stripped away from him.

‘I’ll take the truck and check the main roads,’ said Tyler. ‘He might have headed towards Merriang or even towards the mountains.’

‘I need to get out there too,’ Christy murmured, more to herself than to the others.

Turning away, she barely registered the touch of Tyler’s hand on her arm.

She shrugged it off, her focus purely on finding Leo – on the paths they hadn’t taken, on the stones left unturned.

A focus that propelled her back into the rain and the mud and the search that couldn’t wait.

Christy mounted Honey and decided to retrace the winding paths flanking Currawong Creek.

Tom had already searched the area, but there was plenty of cover and intuition nudged her to check it again.

The ground squelched under Honey’s hooves as they set off and Christy pulled her drenched coat more tightly around her.

An hour passed. Honey was as wet and as miserable as Christy was, sidling sideways to brace against the driving rain and tucking her dripping tail between her legs.

Leo had once told Christy that he loved riding in stormy weather.

‘When I’m out there, with the wind howling and the rain coming down hard .

.. It’s the only time I feel completely free.

It’s just me and my horse and the elements.

And Lofty ... he understands that. He’s not scared.

He’s wild as the storm itself. We’re in our own world where nothing else matters.

Not school, not the past, not the future. Just the moment.’

At the time Christy had imagined she understood. It was about finding a connection to something greater, something that made him feel invincible. But now she was actually riding in a storm herself, she thought Leo was mad. Far from invincible, Christy felt like a drowning rat.

They crossed the ford where she and Tyler had picnicked. Memories of laughter and shared shiraz seemed like echoes from another life.

At two o’clock she called it quits. Honey was shivering, Christy couldn’t feel her fingers, and in any case, she wanted to get home before the four o’clock deadline. She was dying to know if the others had found Leo in time.

As she made her way back, she found the creek had flooded the ford. Christy paused on the bank, unsure of what to do. Honey laid back her ears and tried to turn around. ‘Come on, girl,’ she whispered, urging her mare into the swift-running creek. ‘It’s the only way back.’

Honey, sensing the danger, whinnied and reared.

Christy tried to calm her, but the frightened horse bucked violently, sending Christy tumbling into the water.

Winded, at first she couldn’t draw breath.

She gasped like a landed fish and a primal panic gripped her.

After what seemed like minutes but must have only been seconds, she managed to drag in a draught of sweet air.

Cold water soaked through her clothes as she struggled to her feet, her body trembling not just from the fall but also from the realisation of her predicament.

Christy looked around but couldn’t see Honey anywhere.

Shit . Would she be lucky enough for her phone to work?

She pulled it from her soggy pocket, fingers clumsy and slick with mud.

Yes, it turned on! But when she tried to call, she had no signal – a reminder of her isolation.

She’d just have to follow the creek downstream on foot and find another place to cross.

With a deep, steadying breath, Christy started the arduous trek back.

There was no path along the western bank of the stream.

It was slow and difficult going, navigating fallen trees, wombat holes and thick scrub.

She had to move further and further away from the water to make any progress at all.

It didn’t help that her ankle hurt, but at least it had stopped raining.

Christy was hobbling along the edge of the adjacent paddock when she spotted a dropped branch of the right length and width to make a stout walking stick.

She bent to pick it up. When she straightened she saw the silhouettes of two horses and a rider atop the hill to her left.

She waved, and the figure waved back. It must be Tom returning from another part of the search, and he’d caught Honey as well.

But as they cantered closer, the sight of the rider’s tall bay horse sent her heart into her throat. Not Tom, but Leo.

Joy and relief surged through her in a heady mix. Leo drew Lofty to a halt and dismounted. Apart from a certain weariness in his eyes he looked well. Better than her, no doubt, bedraggled and covered in mud.

‘You’ve had a fall,’ he said. ‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m more worried about you,’ she said. ‘We’ve been looking everywhere.’

‘I just needed ... I just needed some space.’

‘Where were you?’ She looked him up and down. ‘You’re not even wet.’

He managed a small smile. ‘I took Ned’s tent. There are plenty of secluded spots to camp, and I didn’t think anyone would be looking in this storm.’

‘Well, you thought wrong.’

They took a seat on a fallen log, the roaring sound of the creek serving as a background to their tense silence.

A phone rang from Leo’s saddle bag. ‘You have reception?’ she asked.

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I just haven’t been answering it.’

Christy scrambled to her feet and found his phone. Leo made no move to stop her.

She checked the time – three forty-seven. Then she rang Clare. ‘It’s me, Christy,’ she said urgently. ‘Leo’s with me and he’s all right. There’s no need to inform the police.’

‘That’s wonderful! Put him on.’

She handed the mobile to Leo. ‘Go on. Clare’s been so worried.’

After a moment’s hesitation Leo took the phone. ‘Hello?’ He listened for a while before saying, ‘I’m fine, Mrs L,’ and ending the call.

‘How’d Clare sound?’ she asked.

‘She sounded happy.’

Christy almost collapsed with relief. She knew there were questions that needed answers, consequences to face, and discussions to be had. But for now, in the calm after the storm, it was enough simply knowing that Leo was safe.