New Hoofprints in the Snow, page 13
“Sounds like a great idea.” Maia wanted to get out of the wind, but she wanted to keep looking for Georgia more. If anything happened to the mare, she’d be devastated.
“Carl and I have been down this way before.” Emma touched her reins to Carl’s neck. “Hopefully he can find the easy path in the snow. Stay close. I don’t want to lose you.”
“You’re not going to lose me.” Maia touched Emma’s arm briefly before she was out of reach. It had been wonderful to kiss Emma earlier, even with Ramon right there. It made all the nervousness and stress she’d gone through the previous day worth it. Being open was a lot easier than hiding things.
Selena fell into step just inches behind Carl. Several times, he flicked his tail and it brushed her nose, but she didn’t seem to mind. The trail down into the canyon was steep, and the snow made footing tricky. Maia was thankful she and Selena knew each other so well. She knew how to shift her weight as Selena went down the trail so she wouldn’t unbalance the horse as they followed Emma and Carl.
When they dropped below the rim of the canyon, the wind slacked off almost immediately. The falling snow wasn’t as biting without the wind behind it.
“Hey!” Emma shouted and jumped off Carl.
“What?” Maia followed suit and led Selena to where Emma knelt on the snowy ground.
“Look.” Emma pointed at a depression in the snow. “It’s nearly filled in, but this is a hoof print. Unless there’s someone else riding down here in this storm, it’s either Georgia or another loose horse.”
The hoof print lifted Maia’s spirits. As Emma stood, she hugged her and gave her a quick kiss. “Cool. Let’s find her and get her home.”
“Sounds like a great plan. I just hope we can do it before we freeze.” Emma frowned. “You don’t have a hat.”
“I’ll be fine.” Maia lifted her collar a little higher. “My coat’s blocking most of it.”
“If you get too cold, let me know and we can swap out with my hat.” Emma walked back over to Carl and mounted.
Maia hurried to do the same.
When they had ridden a bit farther, Maia’s phone rang. Fumbling with her gloves, she tried to answer it.
“Maia!” Her mother sounded worried.
“Mom.” Maia started to say something, then the phone went dead. She glanced at the screen, and it said the phone was looking for a signal.
Maia looked at Emma. “I don’t have a signal.”
“I’m surprised you got that call at all,” Emma said. “There’s normally not a signal down here. Signal out this way is spotty at best.”
The realization they were cut off hit Maia hard. She slumped in the saddle, knowing her other would be frantic not knowing where she was. They’d better find Georgia quick because, if something happened, they’d be on their own.
As they rode down the canyon, they spotted more hoof prints. In spots where the wind found a way down into the sheltered area, the snow drifted in strange shapes, trying to cut off their easy path, but Selena and Carl persisted even as the snow began to pile up on their necks, rumps, and riders. The horses seemed to be able to ignore their riders’ discomfort—at least, Maia assumed Emma was as cold as she was. If they hadn’t been searching for a lost horse—more importantly, Georgia, the first horse they rescued together—she would’ve been tempted to turn around and ride back to the barn so she could warm up. She didn’t remember ever being so cold.
The canyon twisted, and for a moment, the snow stopped completely. Maia looked up and saw a blanket of white above her. This part of the canyon was narrow enough the wind didn’t even dip down, and the storm was howling enough above them, it wasn’t letting more than a few stray flakes escape its grasp and fall into the canyon. A small iced-over stream cut through the rocks and took up most of that part of the canyon.
“Hey!” Emma pulled Carl up alongside the stream. “Looks like an animal broke the ice here for a drink. It hasn’t had time to refreeze.”
“Too bad we can’t know for sure that it’s Georgia,” Maia said. Selena edged toward the hole in the ice.
“Not too much,” Emma warned as Carl did the same. “That water’s really cold and if they have too much, they might colic, and in this storm, that’s something we really don’t need.”
Maia nodded. “Right.” After Selena had a short drink, she pulled up on the reins to get her to stop. It was a slight struggle. They hadn’t stopped after Ramon’s ride to let her get a drink or rest. She was obviously tired and thirsty. “You’ll get more later,” Maia promised.
“There’s not much more to this canyon,” Emma said. “As long as she stayed on this path, we should find her in a few minutes.”
A coyote yipped. The sound carried over the background howl of the wind.
Maia’s heart pounded. “That sounded really close.”
Emma frowned and urged Carl across the stream. “It was.” She put her heels in the gelding’s sides. “Yeah, we need to find Georgia, now.”
“But coyotes won’t take down a horse, will they?” Maia followed Emma’s example.
“Maybe not Georgia, but if she foals, the foal will be in danger. Not to mention both of them’ll be weak from the ordeal, particularly in this storm.” For the first time since they entered the canyon, Emma forced Carl beyond a walk as more coyotes answered the first one’s howl.
Maia leaned close to Selena and hoped neither she nor Emma would miss the signs Georgia, if that was whose trail they were following, had left behind.
A dark gray shape dashed ahead of her, followed quickly by another. More yips broke out.
“Get out of here!” Emma shouted and waved.
The coyotes dropped back, but when Maia glanced back over their trail, three of them followed at a safe distance. A chill went down her spine.
“Over there, I think!” Emma pointed and turned Carl toward a large reddish-white mound near the canyon wall.
The mound shifted slightly when Emma pulled Carl up to a stop and jumped out of the saddle. A soft whinny came as Georgia lifted her head and the snow covering her fell away.
“Georgia.” Emma rushed to the horse. “Girl, why did you leave the pasture?”
Maia jumped down beside her. She looked back toward the coyotes that were so far back they were barely visible through the falling snow. Just ghostly gray shapes, their pointed ears the only thing distinguishing them from rocks.
“What can we do?” Maia asked.
“Let’s get all the snow off her first,” Emma replied and began wiping the flakes from Georgia’s neck.
Following Emma’s example, Maia started at Georgia’s rump and brushed snow off. She was thankful she hadn’t forgotten her gloves with her hat. When she’d gotten several inches of snow off the horse and could see her flanks, the bloodstained snow below her became obvious.
“There’s blood back here,” she said, stepping back, unsure what to do.
“Her water probably broke.” Emma didn’t stop brushing the snow off. “Can you see any sign of the foal?”
Carefully, Maia knelt in the snow and moved Georgia’s tail just a little, and the horse tightened up and shook. A tiny hoof appeared. “There’s a hoof!”
“Just one?” Emma sounded worried.
Maia pulled off her glove and felt. “No, there’s two.”
“Good. We’re probably seconds away from a new pony.” Emma patted Georgia’s neck. “Okay, girl. This isn’t the best place for it, but let’s get this little one out and move the two of you and us to some shelter.”
The mare shuddered again and tiny legs appeared, followed quickly by the rest of the foal. It was a tiny black-and-white paint.
“It’s here!” Maia shouted. She’d never seen a horse born before. It looked odd and gangly, so delicate.
“Quickly, wipe its nose and mouth clean,” Emma urged. “I don’t know if Georgia will be up for that.”
Even as she spoke, Georgia shifted and started to rise. Emma jerked back from the horse and Maia grabbed the foal and did the same. Seconds later, Georgia was on her feet, shaking the rest of the snow off, scattering it over all of them.
Maia set the little one down and wiped the amniotic fluids from its nose and mouth as Emma had told her to do. It hiccupped once, then Georgia was sniffing at it, licking the rest of the mostly clear goo from the foal’s face.
“What is it?” Emma asked.
Maia shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t look at that.”
Emma laughed. “Well, we have to know what it is to know how we’re going to treat it. You know, girls get preferential treatment.”
Maia stared at her. “What?”
“Just kidding.” Emma laughed harder. “It’s our foal. It doesn’t matter what it is.”
Maia helped the foal to find Georgia’s teat as Georgia continued to clean it. Once the foal was suckling, she looked underneath its hindquarters. “It’s a girl… I think.”
Emma nodded and grinned. “I think we both know girls are great.”
Maia laughed with her. “You’re right.”
“Now, we need to find some shelter.” Emma stood and walked toward Carl. “I’ll ride down the canyon a little farther. I think I know a spot, but want to make sure before we move Georgia and the foal. I want to make sure they can make it easily.”
“We could carry the foal,” Maia suggested. “She’s not very big.”
Emma got up on Carl. “You’re right, but let me check this out first.”
“What about the coyotes?” Maia pointed back the way they’d come.
“They probably want the afterbirth at this point. With you and Selena here, they should keep their distance.” Emma frowned toward where the snow was quickly covering the pack. “If they get pushy, throw rocks at them. I’ll be back as quickly as I can. It’s not far.”
Maia put a hand on Georgia and watched the foal nurse. “Okay. Be careful.”
“You too.” Emma clucked to Carl and made him go on down the canyon. In a minute they rounded a bend and disappeared from Maia’s view.
The cold wind blew more snow down on them, and she was happy they weren’t up on the canyon rim in the teeth of the blizzard. The falling snow was enough to worry her. Remembering the weather forecasts, she was sure the snow was supposed to last through the night and into the next morning. She hoped Emma was right and could find them shelter; otherwise, she wasn’t sure they and the horses, particularly the baby, would survive.
22
THE SNOW kept falling, making it difficult for Emma to see as she rode forward. But there it was.
There was a rock formation near the bottom of the canyon, similar to a cave, where they could shelter for the evening. Riding back to the house with a newborn in tow was a bad idea. She wanted to make sure Georgia and the new foal had time to bond before doing anything, and this snow was going to impede that unless they could find shelter. This rock formation seemed big enough for the two humans, and Carl, Selena, and Georgia had grown their winter coats over the past few months, so they would be warm. The question was—what to do about the foal? But they could figure that out later.
Emma spun Carl around, and they returned as quickly as they could to the spot where Maia and the three other horses waited. Thankful that she’d brought the emergency pack with her, she took a halter out, dismounted from Carl, and held the halter out so Georgia could smell it.
“Did you find anything?” Maia asked as Selena stomped her foot impatiently.
“I did,” Emma said, placing the halter over Georgia’s nose and tying it in place. “It’s gonna be cold, but with any luck, we can find some mostly dry wood and start a fire.”
“What do we do with the baby?”
“In any other situation, I’d say let the baby follow her momma. They usually stick right by them. With the coyotes out and about, I don’t really like that idea. Especially since the foal hasn’t had a chance to really bond with her mother or to stand and get her bearings.”
“So then what are we going to do?” Maia sounded stressed and a little impatient.
“There’s a rock formation that isn’t too far from here that will do fine to shelter us from this storm. The horses will be fine—they’ve got their winter coats and won’t need a blanket once we rub them down. We’ll have to trust to nature that the foal will stay close to Georgia’s side.
“How’s this? I’ll lead the way with Georgia and the foal trailing behind me. That way I can give the baby a push if necessary. You’ll need to pony Carl—take his reins and lead him alongside you and Selena. Just stay close to us.”
Emma gave Carl’s reins to Maia. “Remember we can do this. I love you.”
“I love you too, Emma.” More hope colored her voice than had been there minutes before.
Emma pulled on Georgia’s lead rope carefully but steadily as the horse seemed more interested in her foal than following Emma’s instructions. “Come on, girl, we gotta go get somewhere warm,” she murmured to the horse. “We’ll take your baby too. We’ll take good care of her.”
Georgia stepped forward. One step and then another and the foal followed. The snow was deep enough that after a few steps, Emma was tired, but she knew if they rested any longer, she would lose the path she and Carl had carved into the snow. Glancing behind her, she saw that Maia, Carl, and Selena were doing exactly what she had told them to do. It had been a while since Carl had been ponied next to another horse, but he was doing a great job.
A coyote yipped, and a couple of others joined him. It sent chills down Emma’s spine. One or two, they could deal with, but a pack could surround them and then…. Emma shook her head. I’m not going to think about that. Instead she focused on the hoofprints in front of her that were quickly filling with snow.
As soon as they rounded the bend, the rock formation came into view. The red rocks stood out of the snow, covered on the top, red underneath.
“Here. Come on, let’s do what we can for the horses—I’ve got some hobbles in my pack, and we can use them to keep the horses from going anywhere.” Emma pulled out three ropes and tossed one to Maia. “Just tie it around her front ankles—she’ll be fine.” Taking another, she tied it around Georgia’s ankles as well. A third, she used to hobble Carl.
“What about the baby?”
“The baby should stick next to her momma. Georgia will alert us if she wanders too far off, but I doubt that she will. Here—you take Selena’s tack off and I’ll get Carl’s.” Emma tossed Maia a towel to rub the sweat off Selena’s back where the saddle sat. “Just don’t rub anywhere else. The hair will stand out and protect them from the cold….”
After she finished removing the tack from Selena, Maia dragged some wood over to the middle of the shelter. “You don’t happen to have a lighter on you, do you?”
“Yep. I usually don’t carry one, but there’s one in the pack I grabbed. Let’s break up the wood so we can make a campfire.” Emma stepped on a branch and broke it away from the trunk. “Too bad I don’t have a hatchet or something like that. My pocketknife isn’t going to help much here.”
The two girls worked on the tree trunk and the branches until they had a nice stack with some left over. “Paper, paper…,” Emma muttered, searching through her bag. “We need something flammable to get the fire going.”
“Hey, you could scrape some of the wet bark off one of these sticks and try to light it….”
“Better idea,” Emma said, taking off her knit hat. “Let’s burn this. Should keep the fire nice and cozy for a while, I’m sure.” She used the lighter from the emergency bag and lit the hat before Maia could say anything, then shoved it under the branches they’d set up for a fire. “I just hope that the horses aren’t afraid of fire.”
“Why the hat? Don’t you need it to stay warm?” Maia shook her head. “Selena and I have been camping before. Not that far away from home, but Mom and Dad let me use a tent and camp out under the stars.”
“I’ve got a hood on this jacket. If I need it, that’ll be fine for me,” Emma said, sitting down by the fire, rubbing her gloved hands back and forth. “Carl’s been around fire for pretty much the same reason. There’s just something about sitting around a campfire and looking up at the stars. No, Georgia’s my worry. The foal will follow her lead.”
Maia joined her and Emma wrapped an arm around her. “How long are we planning on staying out here?”
“Morning, hopefully.” Even with their heavy coats on and the cold around them, having Maia cuddled up next to her felt great. “It’s supposed to be sunny tomorrow if the weatherman’s right. You know how it can be in Colorado.”
“Yeah, I know. Hopefully, they’re right this time.” Maia snuggled into Emma, and Emma stroked Maia’s hair. “I’m so cold.”
“Well, let’s scoot up closer to the fire,” Emma said and they both scooted up a little closer. “Wish I’d brought some blankets as well.” They were sitting on the towels they had cleaned off the horses with. “Wait a sec, let me see….” Emma’s voice faded as she rummaged around through her emergency pack and came up with a rectangular square of something that looked like foil.
“What is that?”
Emma grinned as she took it out of its package and unfolded it. “It’s an emergency blanket that I tossed into the pack at one time… oh, I don’t remember when. Maybe it’ll help keep us warm.” She threw it over the front of them, their backsides still exposed to the cold air.
Just to make sure, Emma pulled out her phone. There was no signal. “I’ve still got nothing.”
Maia followed suit. “Same here.” She frowned. “I’m still freezing….”
“One more idea. We could get out of these wet clothes and hang them up to dry by the fire.”
“What? We’d be even colder then.”
“Not if we pressed up against each other. Our body heat would generate enough heat to keep us warm throughout the night.”
“Oh, well, if it means snuggling up with you….” Maia winked, and they both slid out of their jackets, shirts, shoes, socks, and pants. “Bras and panties too?”
“Why not?” Emma replied, smiling as she removed hers. Facing the fire was warm, while her back grew colder and colder until she had to turn around. Emma watched Maia take off her bra and panties, her large dark nipples erect with the cold. “Come here.” She watched Maia’s body move as she took a couple steps to where Emma was. Emma took her hands and sat her down on the thin towels they had sat on earlier and pulled her on top of her. Maia brought the foil blanket up over top of them.
