Wild Horse Spring (7 page)

After a while I checked my phone; almost an hour had gone by. What was Diana doing? And suddenly I knew. She wasn’t coming down at all. She’d skipped out on me—again. I bet anything she’d gone to find the horses.

I put down my book and stood up, turning to look back toward the long, empty, wooden walkway to our house. The triangular window reflected back at me, like a blank stare.

What if Daddy and Lynn got back early for some reason, and Diana wasn’t back? What if she got in trouble? What should I do?

I could take one of our bikes and look for her, but based on where we went yesterday, a bike wouldn’t make it through the soft sand on some of the roads behind the dunes.

I sat down, leaned my head back, and closed my eyes. The insides of my eyelids were red with the bright sun.

Well, Diana could just get in trouble, that’s all. She was on her own. I shouldn’t have to run after her. I hated it when Daddy got mad at us, but she obviously didn’t care. What did she care about, except horses?

I opened my eyes and sat up, trying to put Diana out of my head. I went back to the tide pool, sat at the edge, and put my feet in, watching the tiny crabs dig into the wet sand. Sticking my hand in the water, I picked up a dark mound of sand and watched the crabs busily dig to escape me, their tiny, white cone shaped shells sliding out of view.

I saw a tiny figure far away down the beach moving closer. I saw the gray hoodie and the regular movement of Cody’s thin, dark legs, and I could feel my heart beat faster, pumping in my collarbone.

Could I get him to stop and talk to me? I decided to practice some of my tumbling on the flat area of the beach right by the water.

I put my hands over my head and did a round off. Slow and easy to start off. Then another. Then a couple of back handsprings. One direction. Then another.

One of the things we had to do for our cheerleading routine this year was a standing back tuck, so I stood
very still, arms to my sides, took a few breaths, and pulled one. Perfect.

I planned it so that just as Cody ran by, I linked together a round off, a back-handspring-back-tuck, and a lay out. A long, unbroken stream of me flying through the air, twisting, landing, and taking off again. I landed clean and solid on both feet. Slightly out of breath.

He stopped.

“Wow!” He wiped sweat from his face with the tail of his T-shirt, then leaned over, his hands on his knees, to catch his breath. “That was amazing!”

“Thanks!” I felt myself blush, so I looked away.

He walked in a slow circle, still catching his breath, hugging a towel around his neck.

His dark hair was amazingly shiny, and he had a fun kind of energy that I liked in a way I couldn’t explain. “How far did you run today?” I wiggled my toes in the tide pool, then noticed he was staring at them. For some reason I felt kind of self-conscious, so I stopped.

“Three miles. My normal distance. Are you on the cheerleading squad at your school?”

“Yeah.”

“That looks pretty hard.”

“It does take a lot of practice.”

“You’re good!” His teeth flashed with the compliment, and I could feel my face getting hot again.

“I don’t know.” I looked away. “Just average on my cheer squad. I used to take gymnastics, which helps.” We were quiet for a minute. Then I asked, “So what’s your mom studying?”

“She’s studying the trees in the maritime forest, the way they grow and adapt to the weather. She’s classifying a bunch of them.”

“What do you mean?”

“They twist and grow close together, and entwine, so they protect each other from the wind and the salt. The maritime forest is really important for the island. The roots of the trees keep the sand from eroding.”

“So do you know the names of a bunch of trees?”

“Let’s see. Yaupon. Live oak. Palmetto. Red cedar. Loblolly pine.”

“Cool! I’d love to spend more time here. It’s great you get to come here when your mom is doing research.”

“Yeah. Where’s your sister? Isn’t her name Diana?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Stepsister. I don’t know. Our parents went to play golf, and she was supposed to come out on the beach with me, but she hasn’t shown up.”

“Where do you think she is?”

“I think she might have gone to look for the wild horses back behind the dunes. You know, where the sand paths wind through the forest and marshland. I feel like I should go look for her. ”

“We could take the ATV and go look for her.”

“Um …” I stared at him. I’d never ridden an ATV. Daddy and Lynn probably wouldn’t like it. But it would be a good way to look for her. Much faster than walking.

“I’m a fantastic driver.”

Wow! Maybe Diana was right about him being arrogant.

“Really?” I ignored the thought that Daddy and Lynn would probably say no to riding the ATV if I asked them. I could just do it, and if they got mad, I’d tell them I was looking for Diana. Hopefully I’d find Diana before they got back, and they’d never know. And I was tired of being scared of everything. I wanted to hang out with Cody. “Well, if you don’t go too fast …” I stood up, wiping sand off my hands.

“Great!” He rose to his feet and started up the beach. I went to follow him, but he waved me back. “No, wait here, and I’ll bring the ATV down.” He ran toward the dunes, joyously twirling the towel above his head. I put my T-shirt and shorts on over my bathing suit and wished I hadn’t forgotten my flip-flops. I had no shoes to wear. I shoved my phone in the back pocket of my shorts. Minutes later I heard the roar of the motor, and Cody skidded up in a dust cloud, carrying helmets and goggles in his hand.

“Put these on.”

I slid the helmet on, tightening the chin strap; then he showed me how to pull the goggles over it. The helmet felt heavy and awkward at first, and right away my scalp got itchy and started to sweat. I pointed to the path that ran beside our house and his. “We probably need to go back that way. Yesterday the horses were grazing in the shade near the trees.”

“I’ll take you along the beach a little first, just so you can see what it’s like.” With a broad smile, Cody slid forward and patted the seat behind him. “Climb on!”

I threw my leg over the wide, black leather seat, hot under the sun. I had thought I could sit on the back of the seat without holding on to him, but right away I realized I’d have to put my arms around his waist. He must have changed his shirt while picking up the ATV, because it was dry and clean. At first I felt modest and tried not to lean against him, but the minute we took off, with an exploding blast of the engine, my head jerked back and I locked my arms around him and plastered myself against his back, hanging on for dear life.

The wind screamed by, whipping my hair out behind me, and the engine roared in my ears, making them feel numb. Sand churned up by the front wheels pelted my feet and calves, and the wind buffeted our T-shirts, making them cling to us in front and billow
out in back. “Whoaaeeee!” It escaped from inside me, bubbling up. I couldn’t help it. The four-wheeler ate up the sand. Laughing, Cody drove down by the edge of the water and sprayed me, sending rainbows of water arcing behind us on both sides. I screamed, but I was laughing at the same time.

He veered away from the water.

The sky spread above us, brilliant and crisp, and the sand and water flashed by with amazing brightness on either side. I held my breath and grasped Cody’s waist so tight I wondered if he could feel my heart pounding inside my chest. Thinking about that, I got kind of embarrassed, and goose bumps rose on my arms in spite of the heat.

“Watch this!” he yelled back at me as he veered farther away from the water and crossed onto the drier, more mounded sand. He drove the four-wheeler up one side of a dune, cresting the top, and then we were airborne! We flew a foot off the ground on the way down the other side, landing with a jolt and surging forward. I was so scared my cheeks were shaking. I buried my face in his shoulder.

Then he veered even farther from the flat sand and headed inland, along the path past our houses, past the dunes, and into the shadowed darkness of the maritime forest.

A
loud engine and then brakes sounded behind me, and a woman yelled, “Stop! You’re breaking the law!”

At the sound of the words, Firecracker startled, tossing his beautiful head, and trotted away. After all the time I had spent getting close to him!

I whirled. Behind me, standing beside a small white SUV, was a wiry, tanned woman with gray hair in a bun, wearing khakis and hiking boots. And she looked mad.

“What?” I said, letting my empty hand drop to my side. Firecracker had already eaten the apple as well as all the carrots I’d brought.

“We have a county ordinance that says it’s against the law to feed the wild horses,” the woman said. “Haven’t you seen the signs?”

“No,” I said. Maybe there had been some signs, but I hadn’t stopped to read them.

“They’re only about eight feet tall,” said the woman, raising her eyebrows meaningfully. “It’s against the law to attempt to feed, ride, or come closer than fifty feet to any of our wild horses. Doing any of those things can get you arrested.”

“Arrested?” I said, feeling the muscles in my chest tightening.

“Absolutely. The horses have their own special diet in the wild. They can get colic and possibly die if they eat things like carrots and apples like domestic horses,” said the woman. “How would you feel if you knew that a horse had gotten colic and died from something you fed him? And you shouldn’t get close to them because even though the horses see lots of people and aren’t afraid of them, they’re not tame, they’re wild. They can kick or bite you.”

“Firecracker wouldn’t kick or bite me. I love horses, and I’ve been around them a lot. I’ve been riding and helping out at a barn for almost two years.”

“Horses kick and bite even the most experienced trainers,” said the woman with a patient smile.

I glared at her. “Who are you, anyway?”

“I’m Sally. I’ve been volunteering for the wild horse organization for many years. I check on them and make sure they’re doing okay.”

“I can see how you would need that ordinance for regular people, but I love the horses. I’m learning about horse whispering. I try to read their minds. I try to act like a horse. That ordinance shouldn’t apply to someone like me.”

“The ordinance applies to everyone,” Sally said, almost gently.

I looked at the ground, searching for a change of subject. “While I was watching the herd, I saw Firecracker and the black stallion get into a fight. I think Firecracker has a bite on his neck.”

“Oh, really?” Sally walked over closer to Firecracker to get a look at him. He was grazing now, more than fifty yards away, with the wound facing away from us. “So you named the sorrel stallion Firecracker?” Sally said. She looked at me steadily for a minute.

I was kind of embarrassed. “Yeah.”

“You really care about the horses, don’t you?” she said.

“Yes. Will Firecracker be okay?”

“I don’t know. Stallions will fight. I’d been watching the black stallion and the sorrel and thinking it might happen soon.”

“I think that’s what just happened. The black stallion kicked him out. What will happen to him?”

“We’ll see if the sorrel can find another harem, or maybe he’ll join the herd of bachelor stallions.”

“Bachelor stallions?”

“The stallions that are either too young or too old to have their own harems. Another possibility is that we’ll have someone adopt him. We try not to interfere unless one of the stallions is so badly injured he can’t take care of himself.”

“How badly is Firecracker injured?”

“I’ll have to keep an eye on him and see. But thanks for letting me know what you saw.” Sally nodded to show her gratitude.

“So, are you going to have someone arrest me?” I demanded.

Sally looked at me steadily for a minute. “I’m just going to give you a warning this time, but make sure you remember how serious this is. And maybe, since you’re such a horse lover, you can do your part to help out while you’re here.”

“What do you mean?” I said.

“If you see anyone getting too close, or trying to feed
or ride the wild horses, or being cruel to the horses in any way, let me know.” She took a business card from her pocket and handed it to me. “The number for the Wild Horse Fund is on that card. Call and let us know what you’ve seen. And if you see that the sorrel seems to be so badly injured that he can’t take care of himself, let them know about that too. These horses have it tough. They’re losing their habitat, they’re being shot at and poisoned. The mothers and foals especially are stressed by all the people around them. Some of the horses have been hit by cars and other vehicles. These horses are truly beleaguered. Imagine how you’d feel if you were losing your home. They need all the help they can get.”

I looked at her card, then carefully slid it into the tiny pocket of my shorts. “Deal.”

Sally sauntered over to watch Firecracker. “What’s your name, young lady?”

“Diana.”

“Are you staying around here?” she asked.

“A couple of miles away. I ran here.”

“Do your parents know you’re out here?”

“No.”

“Be careful about staying out in the sun too long. You shouldn’t be running without water.”

“I hate to leave Firecracker.” I focused on the way
his long tail swished as he grazed. “I feel so sorry for him, getting kicked out. He’s all alone. Will he try to go back?”

“Maybe.”

“But the black stallion won’t let him come back?”

“Probably not. Nature is tough,” Sally said. “Animals have to adjust to survive. He’ll have to find another harem, somehow.”

“How many horses are in the whole herd?” I asked.

“About a hundred and ten.”

She explained that most people believe the horses came back in the early 1500s, when the Spanish conquistadores came to colonize the Outer Banks. “When their ships arrived in shallow water, sailors would sometimes push the livestock overboard and make them swim ashore,” Sally said. “Sometimes ships would get stuck in the shallow water and break apart, and the horses swam ashore to safety. Other times, when the Spanish settlers died or the colony failed, they were unable to care for their livestock, and the horses began to forage for themselves and gradually became wild. By the 1800s there were hundreds of wild horses roaming the banks, and twice a year residents would round them up and pen and brand them. Many people tamed the horses to work on the farms or to help haul fishing nets. At one time there were
thousands of wild mustangs on the Outer Banks. But a few years ago, when the Wild Horse Fund moved the horses up to Carova, there were only about sixty.”