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As they drove along Alpine Street, Lucy admired the distinctive rustic houses dotted amongst the pines and native bush. ‘Very alpine, I see where this street got its name,’ she said, looking all around.
‘This is so pretty, Cynthia. Look at these gorgeous trees each side of the main road. Oh, and look over there, is that the pony club grounds? They even have their own little rustic chalet . . . I bet that’s their clubrooms, you know, where they have lunch and stuff at rallies . . . Wow, look at all these cool shops. I bet this place is busy in winter when everyone’s up here for the ski season?’ Lucy’s big eyes were taking in everything.
‘Yes, the ski bunnies love Mountain View Village. This place seems to double in population in the ski season. The skiing generates a lot of income for the village as well as being a base for neighbouring farms. As you know, this is where we get our supplies and of course down the road there we have the medical centre. Would you like to visit the hairdresser now or would you prefer to go to the motel first?’
‘I’m kind of peckish,’ Lucy said, ‘let’s go and have some food first. I’m a bit excited,’ she added, screwing up her face.
‘Or, should I say, anxious . . . comfort food like . . .’ Cynthia smiled. ‘Great idea. I could do with a strong cup of coffee actually.’ She pulled into the diagonal park and, grabbing her handbag, she walked round to the passenger’s door to help Lucy with her crutches.
Lucy opened the door and rummaged around in her wallet. ‘Here’s a dollar coin for the parking ticket,’ she said, handing it to Cynthia.
Cynthia chuckled. ‘We don’t have parking wardens in the village. C’mon, let’s go get our coffee.’
Lucy shrugged her shoulders and manoeuvred herself onto her crutches.
The cafe was busy and staff in black aprons seemed to be going in all directions. Most of them looked quite young, thought Lucy, as the waitress placed Cynthia’s coffee on their table. She scanned the posters and paintings that hung from the log cabin-style wooden walls, as she munched on her sausage roll. ‘Heaps of skiing posters, Cynthia . . . but where are the horse ones?’ she asked, noticing a group of girls at the counter. ‘Are those girls from the village secondary school?’
‘Yes, they’ll be from Mountain View College; it’s a boarding school for kids from remote areas and also for the locals.’
‘Some are wearing jodhpurs and riding boots,’ Lucy noted, sipping her lemonade. ‘Is it an equestrian college?’
‘Yes. It’s an equestrian college as well, Lucy. They can take their horses to boarding school with them . . .’
‘Cool! So lucky!’
Some of the girls went and sat down while their friends bought drinks and pies. Lucy was keen to ask them about their horses and stuff. However, she felt a little shy and just as she plucked up enough courage, they got up and walked towards the door.
Cynthia pointed to the far end of the cafe. ‘There’s a noticeboard over there, and there’s always equestrian information on that.’ Finishing her lemonade, Lucy got up and thumped over on her crutches to have a closer look. ‘Back in a tick, Cynthia . . .’
Lucy scanned the photos then glanced over the Horses for Sale section and then Saddlery for Sale, Clinics, Lessons and Events . . . Mystery Trek . . .
‘The Mystery Trek will be awesome . . . Are you into horses?’ asked a girl licking on an orange iceblock, she’d appeared from nowhere and was now pointing at the pony-club poster.
Lucy jumped. ‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t realise you were there. I was just reading about the Mystery Trek . . . Yeah, I’m definitely into horses!’
‘Me too! Oh, I’m Hannah by the way. I go to college here . . .’
Lucy looked Hannah up and down; she was wearing jodhpurs and a dark blue teeshirt with an emblem. ‘You wear your riding clothes to school?’ Lucy asked, completely amazed.
Hannah bit off a large piece of iceblock and mumbled through her icy mouthful. ‘Yeah, mm-mm –’ she swallowed and said, with a grin, ‘That’s better – sorry about that, we’re having lessons today.’
‘How cool! Do you go to pony club too?’
‘Yes, when I’m at home for the holidays I go, but as I’m here most of the year, I attend the Mountain View Village Pony Club. So I guess I kind of consider myself more a MVVPC member. See, this is our logo.’ She pointed to her teeshirt.
Lucy nodded. ‘Oh, so you’d know Mr Smith?’
‘Yes, of course, he’s our president!’ Hannah licked her iceblock. ‘Peter! We call him Peter, none of that Mr stuff . . .’
Lucy liked Hannah.
Hannah continued, ‘Peter’s buying a heap of young horses and he’s asked me to help him put a bit of mileage on them, like, ride them out and stuff . . . So how do you know him?’
Lucy felt pretty cool and proudly replied, ‘Well, I’m from White Cloud . . .’
‘Oh my gosh, you’re from White Cloud!’ gasped Hannah. ‘Wow! You’d obviously know all about the horses Peter’s bought then. Well, they’re the ones he wants me to help him ride.’
‘Yes, I do actually. They were having their veterinary examinations this morning. We passed Peter on the way to collect them. So, if you ride for Peter, you must be a pretty good rider.’
‘Well,’ Hannah blushed a little, ‘I don’t mean to blow my own trumpet, but yes, I am actually. I was in the Mountain Rangers Team at the big competition here . . .’
‘Oh, yes, you came third to the White Cloud Flyers.’
‘I don’t remember you at the event?’ Lucy looked down. ‘No, well, my leg! But my best friends and my instructor were riding at the event. They were the White Cloud Flyers.’
‘Wow! They were, like, totally awesome! Everyone’s talking about how they rode so well.’ Hannah licked melted ice from her fingers, looked at Lucy and pointed to her crutches. ‘Oh, yeah, I guess, you couldn’t go, like, because of your leg? Gosh, how did you break it anyhow?’ she frowned.
‘Hmm, well, my horse and I had a terrible accident.’ Lucy sighed heavily. She hated talking about it, especially as she now felt she’d moved on. But it was obvious Hannah wanted to know more.
‘What happened? Is he okay?’
‘She actually. Her name is Hope.’
‘Hope’s a cool name. Is Hope okay?’ Hannah looked concerned.
‘She’s going to be fine,’ Lucy sighed. ‘Thank goodness I—’
‘What happened?’ interrupted Hannah.
‘A horrid wild pig frightened our horses while we were out riding, we went in all directions . . .’
Hannah replied, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ve had that happen – you have to be careful of pigs! Any pig, that is, horses and pigs generally aren’t a good combination.’ Hannah nodded and sighed. ‘Seriously, don’t talk to me about pigs! My horse hates pigs. So, Hope threw you?’
Lucy was adamant. ‘Of course not! Hope would never throw me. We fell down a bank into the river . . .’
‘Oh my gosh, what a nightmare! Like, that would be just the worst thing ever, I reckon. I read in the newspaper about this girl and her horse . . .’ Hannah did a double take, ‘Oh heck – you’re that girl?’ she gasped.
‘And what does that mean exactly?’ Lucy asked indignantly.
‘Well, you were in the headlines. In fact, there was an article about how courageous you were. They wrote about how you made them promise to go back and look for your horse or you’d refuse to go to hospital for treatment. Like, you would have died for that horse they reckon. You must be the most amazing person I’ve ever met. You’re pretty famous, you know. Like, people just can’t believe you survived that nasty river. Dad says you’re one gutsy and brave girl!’
Lucy smiled, ‘Well that’s nice, I guess. Anyhow, I’ve put that horrible experience behind me now. I’m looking forward to when I can ride Hope again.’
‘For sure! She sounds like a pretty awesome horse. What colour is she?’
‘Chestnut.’
‘Hey, my horse Fox is chestnut too!’ Hannah pointed to a display of photos taken at the recent event. ‘Here we are!’ She added proudly. ‘Well, I don’t actually own Fox. Peter does. I ride for him, but Peter says he’s kind of mine . . .’
‘You look like a winning combination, all right,’ said Lucy, leaning over to take a closer look. Alongside the photo of Hannah’s team was a large photo of the champions, the White Cloud Flyers: Alexa on Liquorice, Netty on Fine Duke and Suzy on Ripple holding the trophy. They all had big smiles and, for a fleeting moment, Lucy felt sad she hadn’t been able to attend that day.
Hannah looked at her watch. ‘Heck, I’d better go soon. I’d love to chat to you for longer but I’ll be in for it if I’m late.’
Lucy agreed, ‘Sounds like that wouldn’t be a wise thing to do. Hey, I’m here for the night, maybe we could meet up later on or tomorrow? And, if that doesn’t work, here’s my email address.’ Lucy wrote the details on a piece of paper and passed it to Hannah.
‘Yeah, that would be great. I’ll be sure to get touch with you.’
‘We’re at the Alpine Motel.’
‘Cool.’ Hannah reached down and picked up her bag from the floor. ‘Better fly. Hey, just one more thing? Have you ever seen the wild horses, like, you know, the really wild ones, the herds in the wild country?’
Lucy replied, ‘Seen them? I’ve actually ridden with the wild horses. In fact,’ she added proudly, ‘I was part of the official round-up team!’
Hannah’s eyes rounded, ‘Are you for real? You’re so lucky! I dream of doing that.’
Lucy now felt extremely important. ‘Yes, I rode with the round-up team into the ranges to find the wild horses. My friends and I helped bring them down to the station for the auction, and then we got to help with handling them!’
Hannah had been gaping for so long that she’d forgotten about her iceblock, and the last of it dripped down her fingers. ‘Wicked. You are so lucky.’
Lucy smiled. ‘Yes, I know. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced in my whole life. I’ll tell you all about it some day. In fact Dad’s got a video of us . . . ’
‘I definitely want to hear more about this and so will the others in our equestrian class.’ Hannah checked her watch again, ‘Heck, I better get back to school. Bye.’ She rushed towards the door and, looking back, she smiled widely, ‘Great chatting! You’ll hear from me soon, I promise! Hey, come to think of it, how about after school? Would you like to come over after school today and meet our horses and my friends? Please, please. They’d love someone famous like you to come.’
‘Um, probably not today, Hannah, I’ve got a few appointments to go to.’
‘Okay, well, I’ll be in touch!’ Hannah grabbed her mountain bike and pedalled madly down the main road.
Lucy finished reading all the equestrian news on the village noticeboard and then returned to find Cynthia reading a glossy magazine. She looked up as Lucy approached the table. ‘Right, darling, we’d better get to the hairdresser and then to our motel.’ She got up. ‘Ready?’
‘Ready? This fringe is driving me nuts!’ giggled Lucy. ‘Hey, I made a new friend. Her name’s Hannah and she’s from the college here. We’ve exchanged numbers and email addresses.’
Cynthia smiled and, placing the magazine back on the rack, she replied, ‘That sounds wonderful, Lucy. I could see you two having a good chat over there.’
***
Lucy was perched up in bed with a book when Cynthia came out of the bathroom. ‘Your hair looks pretty, Cynthia,’ she said, noticing her flannel nightdress. It was long and she wondered how Cynthia ever slept in anything so massive.
‘Thank you, sweetheart. It’s been a fun day! I really enjoyed being pampered at the beauty salon.’ She giggled as she sat on the bed. ‘Oh, my goodness, look at my beautifully manicured toenails. I do like this bright pink nail polish!’
‘Yeah, it’s pretty,’ Lucy replied, ‘Alexa always has us painting our fingernails and toenails. Mind you, she loves make-up and bling, and not just for her. You want to see poor Liqui at the shows. She has painted hooves, make-up and sparkles galore!’ she said with a laugh.
Cynthia flopped down on her bed and poured herself a coffee liqueur from a tiny bottle from the mini bar in their room. ‘This is the life, sweetheart,’ she giggled. ‘After your appointment I’m looking forward to shopping for some new clothes.’
‘I can’t wait. I’ll help you, Cynthia!’
‘Well, I think we should buy you something special too?’
‘Nope!’ Lucy was adamant. ‘All I want are some new riding clothes. Do they have a good saddlery shop here?’
***
They both had a good night’s sleep and Lucy woke early. She peeked out of the motel window and noticed some kids making their way to school. After putting the kettle on to boil, she made her way to the bathroom, trying not to disturb Cynthia (which was always extremely difficult on crutches).
Cynthia sat up. ‘Good morning, Lucy. Did you sleep well?’
Lucy giggled, thinking about how Cynthia always greeted them that way in the kitchen at White Cloud. ‘Yes, thank you, Cynthia. How about you?’
Cynthia rubbed her fingers through her new hairdo. ‘Oh, I slept like a log!’
‘You stay in bed, I’ll bring you an Earl Grey,’ instructed Lucy. It felt good to look after Cynthia for a change, she thought.
‘Oh, that sounds lovely,’ replied Cynthia, puffing up her pillows. ‘I’m on a spoil!’
***
Lucy felt uneasy being back at the hospital. Maybe it was the smell of it, or maybe it was the memories it conjured up, but whatever the reason, she felt anxious. Lucy bit her lip as she made her way along the corridor and into Dr Frampton’s rooms.
A pretty nurse greeted them. ‘Hi, you must be Lucy? I’m Monica, I’m Doctor Frampton’s assistant.’
‘Oh, hi. Yes, I’m Lucy and this is Cynthia.’ The nurse’s big smile made Lucy feel a little better. ‘Now you just relax, sweetie, and we’ll pop you up onto the bed. Doctor will be with you in a moment.’ Monica helped Lucy onto the bed and propped some white pillows up behind her shoulders and head. She then wheeled the trolley alongside Lucy’s bed and walked over to the X-rays hanging on the wall. Monica turned on a light and Lucy could see the bones inside her own leg. Lucy looked around the room and then glanced at the instruments and weird-looking contraptions on the trolley; they all looked a bit scary to Lucy so she quickly looked at the painting on the wall. She tried to focus on the snowcapped mountain, but it didn’t help her butterflies.
Cynthia sensed Lucy’s apprehension and moved closer, placing her hand on Lucy’s shoulder. ‘You’ll be fine, darling. It won’t hurt having your plaster off.’ But it wasn’t only the plaster coming off that was worrying Lucy. She needed to know she would be able to walk, run, swim and, most importantly, ride again.
‘Good afternoon, I’m Doctor Frampton. Pleased to meet you, Lucy.’ He reached out his hand. Lucy shook it nervously. ‘Hi, I’m, um, pleased to meet you too . . .’
He checked her leg and foot and went and examined the X-rays closely. After conferring with Monica he disappeared out the door, causing Lucy to feel nervous.
Cynthia rubbed Lucy gently on the arm. ‘It’ll be all right,’ she said.
Doctor Frampton came back in and walked over to Lucy’s bed. Cynthia pulled a chair beside the bed and held Lucy’s hand while the doctor examined Lucy’s toes and leg further. ‘So I see you’ve got plenty of graffiti and words of wisdom on your plaster?’ he smiled, continuing the examination. ‘Now, who’s Mystery?’
Lucy smiled back, ‘Oh, he’s my foal. Well, he’s not a foal now, he’s rising one. He now lives at White Cloud.’
‘Well you’re a lucky young lady having a young horse of your own,’ He replied, raising his eyebrows.
‘Well, actually, I have two horses.’ Lucy replied proudly.
‘Do you now?’
‘Yes, Hope and Mystery. Mystery is Hope’s foal,’ Lucy was relaxing, the horses taking her mind off whatever it was he was doing. ‘Hope was in foal when I got her. Hope was a wild horse from White Cloud Station. We didn’t know she was in foal so it was scary when we thought she had an attack of colic.’ Lucy glanced at the doctor, who was picking up a horrible looking contraption from the trolley. She quickly turned away and closed her eyes.
‘These are plaster shears,’ the doctor said.
‘Is this going to, like, hurt?’ she asked, cringing as a crunching noise started.
‘Not a bit, it will probably feel a little strange that’s all. Now, Lucy, you were saying?’
‘Oh yeah, it was a bit scary; we thought Hope had colic one night. Poor Hope, she was up and down with her sore tummy and we were about to get the vet. Netty, she’s the stable hand at Jasmine Farm – well, not exactly the stable hand, but she’s a very experienced horseperson and lives in the cottage at Jasmine Farm – that’s where I keep Hope . . .’ she was waffling nervously.
‘There, it’s off! Now that was pretty fast and painless, wasn’t it?’ Doctor Frampton smiled as he examined her leg.
Lucy still couldn’t look. ‘Is it, like really off?’
‘Yes, young lady, and it’s looking very good.’ Monica came back into the room with a basin and some other things. ‘Right then,’ said the doctor, finishing his report and gathering the X-rays, ‘I’ll leave you in the good hands of your nurse and she’ll give you an information pack. Monica, can you please check Lucy’s appointment at physio this afternoon please.’
‘Yes, Doctor,’ replied Monica, bathing Lucy’s leg.
Doctor Frampton stood up. ‘Now you can resume regular activities, but take it slowly and only a small amount of riding at first.’
‘Oh, I can ride!’ Lucy’s eyes filled. ‘My horse has just been given the all clear too. She damaged her suspensory ligament and a tendon. Grandad Phillips has suggested some swimming for her.’
‘Swimming is excellent,’ Doctor Frampton replied, bending Lucy’s foot slightly. ‘Now that would be good for you too . . .’
Cynthia chipped in. ‘It might be some time before Lucy feels like swimming again.’
‘Oh, yes, of course . . .’ nodded the doctor.
Lucy frowned. ‘Well, come to think of it. That doesn’t really seem fair does it? Like, Hope was also in the river and we’re all expecting her to feel okay about getting back into water and swimming. It’s no different for horses – they have feelings, memories and emotions too. Maybe Hope’s going to be terrified of the water too?’
‘Are you terrified, Lucy?’ asked Cynthia. ‘You know, about Hope swimming in the pond?’
‘No, of course not. It’s just that I hadn’t really thought about it from Hope’s perspective and stuff,’ she sighed.
Doctor Frampton said, ‘Now, you’re all good to go. Remember, if you feel any discomfort, it means you’re pushing things. Okay? I don’t want you to go overdoing it.’ He stood up and raised an eyebrow.
‘I won’t overdo things,’ chuckled Lucy, looking down at her leg. It looked weird, she thought, all yucky and scaly.
‘Thank you, Doctor Frampton,’ Lucy called as he left the room.
‘Good day, ladies.’
Cynthia got up and handed Lucy her crutches. ‘C’mon, what say we take you to physio and then we visit the saddlery shop and buy you some nice new jeans and riding boots.’
Lucy smiled. ‘Okay, and then we’ll go to that other shop and get you that skirt you spotted in the window, Cynthia!’
‘That will be fun, Lucy! You’ll still need your crutches though . . .’
‘Yeah, I know!’ Lucy said with a smile. ‘But not for too much longer.’
***
Lucy was glad to be back at the station, even though she’d had great fun at the village with Cynthia. She’d missed Hope and couldn’t wait to see her. The Cruiser bounced along the dusty road and turned at the iron gates. Lucy eagerly looked for Hope and smiled when she saw her resting in the shade of an oak tree.
They pulled up at the turnaround and were promptly greeted by Grandad who was doing something with his western saddle.
‘Hi, Grandad, are you off riding?’ Lucy called as she wound down her window.
Grandad grinned. ‘Now don’t you meddle in my affairs, young lady. Right, let’s have a look at you.’
Cynthia helped Lucy out of the vehicle. ‘Your leg will feel a little strange for a while,’ she said, passing Lucy her crutches, ‘but you’ll be fine, sweetheart.’
Grandad wandered over and looked at Lucy’s bare leg. ‘Now that’s better isn’t it, lass?’ Then he pointed to her hair, ‘And I see you’ve got a flash new hairstyle. My word and look at you, young Cynthia, your hair’s gone from grey to brown overnight! What on earth’s in the water at the Alpine? The pair of you have come home totally transformed,’ he chuckled, playfully. ‘And we had a foot spa and pedicure too,’ said Lucy, pointing to her toes.
‘Ah, the farrier too,’ he joked. ‘I don’t know. Just watch out – Grandma will be wanting her white hair dyed blue or something when she spots you two.’ He turned and went back to his saddle on the rail. Lucy could tell Grandad was in a very cheerful mood.
‘Hey, Grandad,’ Lucy called as she made her way to the house. ‘We bought some new clothes too. We’ll do a fashion parade later for you.’
Grandad huffed, ‘Away with you. Next thing you’ll be telling me you’ve bought some new fandangled fancy cover for your horse.’
Lucy laughed. ‘Well, now that you mention it . . . I did go to the saddlery shop.’
‘Goodness me, what next? You’d better get inside and fill Grandma in on all the news. And don’t you go giving her any funny ideas about a fancy new hairstyle. She’s beautiful just the way she is,’ he added affectionately.