Blackpeak Station by Holly Ford Read Free Book Online Page A

yesterday, the mob had been on a small flat about two miles further up the gully, to the west of the creek. Now, however, they could be anywhere. Charlotte sighed as her horse picked his way through the dripping trees. Still, you never knew — if they were lucky, the wet weather might have encouraged the cattle to stay put.
    And they were lucky. The mob was still on the flat, standing huddled together against the rain at the edge of the bush. Charlotte decided to take two of the dogs, cross the creek at a spot she knew further up, and come down behind the cattle, driving them back through the creek and turning them towards the hut. She left Rob with her best huntaway, George, to hold the high ground on the hut side, and rode up.
    The ford was high. Charlotte sighed philosophically. She was going to get her feet wet again. The swift-flowing water swirled up around her horse’s forelegs, and he snorted nervously, struggling for each foothold among the rocks below. A final lurch, and they were through. Charlotte patted the horse’s neck.
    ‘Good old Archie. Well done, mate.’
    The dogs shook the creek water out of their coats and followed silently as Charlotte rode carefully down to the edge of the bush.
    With the cattle in sight, she sent Jess away to the right, to come at the mob from behind and drive them over the creek. It worked. Taken completely by surprise, they hurtled with commendable speed to the bank, where they hesitated, not keen to take on the swift water. But Charlotte and her second dog, Fly, blocked any escape upstream, and Jess held the ground below. A couple of intrepid beasts tried a break for the bush, but Jess was quicker.
    Bellowing mournfully, the cattle plunged into the creek. Charlotte rode in close on their heels. The water was higher here, halfway up Archie’s chest, and the cattle’s eyes rolled in fright as the current strove to pull them down. At the back, a yearling hesitated too long and lost his feet. Swept along, he slammed into Archie’s flank. Briefly, Charlotte watched the sky recede through icy water. Hooves flurried around her. The sky went black.
    Her lungs burned. She couldn’t see. Where was she? She couldn’t breathe. There was air around her, she felt pretty sure. So why weren’t her lungs filling? And why was it dark? Inhaling desperately, she retched up creek water. At last, the air came in.
    Charlotte opened her eyes. Rob’s white face hovered above. Oh! She tried to sit up.
    ‘Shh, you just lie there for a bit.’ He rolled her gently onto her side and rested her head in his lap, stroking her sodden hair. ‘You’re okay now.’
    Was she? She couldn’t feel anything. Just a terrifying numbness. What had happened to her? The world looked fuzzy. She closed her eyes again.
    She woke as Rob struggled to get her onto his horse. ‘You’ve got to hold on tight for a minute now, Charlie, can you do that?’ She grasped groggily at the saddle pommel. Her legs — they weren’t working at all. It was as if they were someone else’s. Oh, what had she done? What if she couldn’t ride again? If she couldn’t drive? If she couldn’t
walk
? What would happen to Blackpeak then?
    Rob climbed up behind her and took the reins. She relaxed against his body.
    When she came round again, there was a fire and walls. She felt warm. It was nice. She drifted back to sleep.
    At last, pain woke Charlotte fully. She looked round. She was lying in her sleeping bag on the floor of the hut, in front of the fire. Rob’s arms were around her. Apparently he was in the sleeping bag, too. He raised himself up on one elbow and smiled down at her. ‘Hey, you. How are you doing?’
    She tried to move, and groaned. Okay.
Now
she could feel her legs. One of them more than the other.
    ‘No, see, you have to stay still. I think you might have broken your leg.’ He put a hand on her forehead. ‘And you’ve probably got concussion.’ He smiled. ‘There’s a great hoofprint just above your