TWO WEEKS LATER, Jess sat in the sunroom out the back rubbing an oily rag over her saddle. It was Saturday, the big day – Shara was sitting her test. Jess had tried to be as supportive as possible and give her friend space when she needed to study. If she didn’t get in, Jess didn’t want to be blamed for distracting her.
In between swot sessions, they had built an amazing cross-country course. Jess just couldn’t wait to get a saddle on Diamond and try it out. One especially tricky jump was like a ski ramp on the bank of the creek. They would jump it downhill and land in the water. Wicked!
Diamond was fat and happy down on the river flats; so happy, in fact, that she barely raised her head from the grass to say hello to Jess each day.
Bang, bang, bang.
Jess registered a noise from the front of the house. She glanced up at the line of trophies along the picture rail and the scores of ribbons hanging on the wall. Only one more week and she could ride again.
She dipped her rag into the oil, lifted the flap of the saddle and kept rubbing.
Bang, bang, bang.
Someone was knocking at the door. No one ever knocked around Coachwood Crossing. She heard voices: her father’s and another man’s.
‘Jess!’ called her father. ‘You’d better come out here, love.’
‘Hang on,’ she called back. ‘I’ll just finish my saddle.’
‘Jess, come now. It’s Diamond.’
Jess dropped her rag and ran to the front door. ‘Diamond?’
A man she had never seen before stood holding the flyscreen door open. Her father was pulling on his boots.
‘Do you own an Appaloosa pony?’ asked the man.
‘Yes.’
‘It’s stuck in the cattle grid down near the old drovers’ yards. I nearly ran over it.’
‘My pony is about a kilometre up the river from there. It wouldn’t be her.’
‘Is it a buckskin Appaloosa with spots all over it?’
Jess’s blood ran cold. She pushed past the man and grabbed her boots, then ran down the front steps after her father, who already had the car running.
‘Why would Diamond be down near the drovers’ yards?’ she cried, as she jumped in. ‘Her paddock isn’t anywhere near there.’
‘She must’ve got out,’ said Craig.
‘She was behind three strands of electric tape. I checked her this morning. It can’t be her.’ Jess’s stomach churned. Cattle grids and horses were not a good mix.
‘We’d better go and find out,’ said Craig. ‘Thanks, buddy,’ he called out to the man, before ramming the ute into gear and accelerating up the driveway.
They sped along the dirt road until they reached an overgrown easement that ran between two properties and down to a small tributary of the river called Slaughtering Creek. Craig put the ute into four-wheel drive and let the bull bar push through chest-high weeds. Just before the line of trees that marked the river was an open gateway leading onto the old droving route that had once followed the river. Behind the gateway were some dilapidated cattle yards that hadn’t been used for years.
‘I can’t see any horse,’ said Jess, stepping out of the car.
‘Well, there are no other cattle grids around,’ said Craig.
Jess swore out loud. In the ditch next to the grid, Diamond lay with her head back, eyes blank. ‘Oh my God, Diamond!’ Jess squealed. She ran to the ditch.
Jess’s eyes darted frantically over her pony’s body and legs. Her stomach twisted when she saw the two front hooves jammed between the steel rails. She looked up desperately for her father. ‘Dad, her legs are stuck. They’re in the grid!’
Her dad knelt beside her, hand over mouth. He closed his eyes and swallowed.
‘Dad,’ Jess said, her voice starting to quaver. ‘We’ve got to get her out. Her legs, Dad. Look at her legs!’
Diamond’s legs were wedged tightly and bent at a weird angle.
‘How are we going to get her out?’ Jess looked urgently to her father for answers.
Craig took a deep breath. ‘Okay, let’s get it together, Jess,’ he said, firmly. ‘We won’t be any use to her if we fall to pieces. Do you have your phone on you?”
Jess patted her empty back pocket and cursed again.
‘Grab a halter from the car.’ Craig took a step towards the pony and muttered something under his breath. ‘And stop swearing.’
Jess ran to get the halter. She put it down beside her father and ran her hands over Diamond’s neck. ‘It’s okay, we’re going to get you out, Dimey. It’s okay.’ She took a large gulp of air and willed herself to keep it together. ‘Hang in there. It’ll be all right.’
‘She must have really galloped through it. Her feet have gone straight through the rails and her body’s just kept going, I reckon.’ Craig took hold of one of Diamond’s feet. ‘It’s wedged in so tight!’
Diamond groaned.
‘Don’t hurt her,’ sobbed Jess. ‘Be gentle.’
‘I’m trying to, honey, but we need to get her out of here. These rails’ll cut off her circulation. Who knows how long she’s already been in here?’
Another car rumbled through the easement. Craig looked over his shoulder. ‘It’s your mum.’
Caroline stepped out of the car in an old sarong and ugg boots. ‘I ran into some strange man in our driveway. He said that—’ She looked down and saw Diamond lying in the ditch. ‘Oh crikey, Diamond. What have you done to yourself?’
‘Caroline, can you race back to the house and ring the vet? Then hook up the horse float and bring it back.’ Craig turned to Jess. ‘Get that halter on her head, while I try to get her legs out.’ He continued to push at the pony’s legs.
Jess lifted Diamond’s head and slipped the halter over her nose. She stroked her neck. ‘It’s okay, beautiful girl. I’m here. We’re going to get you out,’ she whispered as she buckled it along the pony’s jaw with trembling hands. Diamond’s eyes rolled to the back of her head. ‘She’s not moving, Dad. Why isn’t she moving?’
‘She’s probably in shock,’ said Craig, still working at the pony’s legs.
‘Why don’t we cut the bars?’
‘Do you know what it would take to cut through steel that thick?’
Behind him, the car door slammed and Caroline’s car engine started up again.
‘Bring some bandages back too,’ called Craig.
‘Okay,’ said Caroline, as she pulled away and roared back towards the house.
‘That’s it. I’ve got one out,’ said Craig, giving a final push. Blood spurted from the front of Diamond’s leg as it squeezed out between the rusty steel.
‘You’ve cut her!’ squealed Jess. ‘You’ve split her leg in half!’
‘It’s the only way I can get her out,’ said Craig. ‘Flesh can be healed, Jessy, bones can’t. It’s better than leaving all her weight hanging on those legs while they’re twisted like that.’ He took a breath and shoved the other leg out from the bars.
Jess stared in shock at Diamond’s two front legs, slit right along almost to the bone. She felt sick. ‘Dimey?’ she whispered, but the pony was motionless, her head stretched back. ‘Diamond, we got you out. It’s okay, you’re free.’
But the pony still didn’t move.
‘We should get her up,’ said Craig, reaching for the lead rope.
‘No, you’ll hurt her,’ said Jess. She snatched at the rope. ‘Daddy, no.’
Craig pulled at the pony’s head. ‘She has to, honey. It’s for her own good.’
‘Please don’t,’ sobbed Jess. ‘She can’t, leave her alone!’ She pulled at the rope.
Her father ignored her. ‘Come on, girl.’
‘Dad, stop it!’ screamed Jess.
Her dad kept pulling until Diamond gave a mighty heave and struggled to her feet. Jess jumped back out of the way.
The pony stood squarely on all four legs, her head low. Both Jess and her father were quiet.
‘It’s okay, honey, she’s up,’ said Craig. He put his arms around Jess. ‘She’s going to be okay, she can stand.’
Jess shrugged him off. She threw her arms around Diamond’s neck and sobbed. ‘Thank God you’re all right.’