The Snow Pony

by Alison Lester

  22

  Riding for help

  It had stopped snowing but a fine mist hung over the hut, making everything ghostly. The saddlebags were stuffed with their supplies: matches, newspaper, and a bundle of twigs tied in a plastic bag so they’d stay dry no matter how wet it got. They also had a space blanket, their food, spare socks and a map that Jack had drawn on a piece of cardboard last night, grunting with the effort. Dusty handed the horses’ reins to Jade and ducked back inside the hut.

  ‘We’ll be off then, Dad.’ She looked down at him, lying so pale on the bed.

  ‘Good luck.’ He patted her leg and smiled wanly. ‘You’ll be right, I know, but please be careful. Don’t try and cross that river if you can’t see the big rock. If the water is high enough to cover it, you’ll be swept away for sure. Just turn around and come back. Someone will come and find us.’

  Dusty bent over the bunk and kissed his stubbled cheek. ‘We’ll be right, Dad. We’ll come back if we have to, but at least we’ll get the cattle down to the bottom plain so they can have a feed.’

  Jack squeezed her hand. ‘Make sure you send someone in with the chopper to ride Drover out.’

  Dusty looked into his eyes. ‘You know I’m taking the Snow Pony, don’t you? How did you know that?’

  He smiled wanly. ‘I could hear you talking when you were taking Captain’s shoes off.’

  Dusty started to explain but he waved his hand to stop her. ‘No, you do it your way. You’ve done all right so far. Just hang on to her if you get near any wild horses. Anyway, if you leave Drover here, Stew’s got a way to get out if you come to grief, God forbid.’ He squeezed Dusty’s hand again. ‘But don’t forget to send someone in with the chopper. They can take the dogs, too,’ he added. ‘They won’t want them in the helicopter.’

  Stewie was hovering at her shoulder, trying to get her attention.

  ‘What?’ Dusty snapped, then felt terrible when she saw the hurt on his face. Of course he was worried. Sometimes she forgot how young he was. ‘I’m sorry, Stewie, what is it?’

  He looked as if he had the weight of the whole world on his shoulders. ‘When do you think you’ll be back?’

  Dusty looked at Jack as she replied, waiting for him to contradict her. ‘If we can’t cross the river, we’ll be back today.’ Jack nodded. ‘But if we do get over, there probably won’t be anyone here until tomorrow, that’s Saturday, I think. By the time we get to Smokey Plain this afternoon it’ll be too late to organise a helicopter and they wouldn’t come in at night, would they, Dad?’ Jack shook his head. ‘So,’ she pulled him close in a quick hug, ‘let’s hope you don’t see us back today.’

  Stewie held the hug and whispered in her ear. ‘I’m scared, Dusty. What if he gets really crook? What if no one comes back?’

  Dusty held her little brother at an arm’s length and looked into his worried eyes, as big as saucers. ‘I’m scared too, mate, but it will be okay, trust me. You’ll be right here with Dad. You’ll be as snug as bugs, and you’ve got Drover and the dogs to look after as well. You’ll be so busy you won’t have time to worry.’ She began to walk to the door. ‘And I’ll be fine. My horse belongs here and she knows this country. Just have faith.’

  Dusty and Jade rode to and fro across the clearing, using the horses to make a path in the snow from the yards to the track leading to the bottom plain. Captain was a terrific snow-clearing horse, he barged straight through the drifts, and the Snow Pony was willing too, though she didn’t have Captain’s bulk.

  ‘Okay, Stewie, let ’em out.’ Dusty waved to her brother, perched on the fence, and turned the horses towards the track. She twisted in the saddle to watch as the cattle spilled out of the yard.

  Stewie moved back along the fence and climbed to the top, in case the crazy cow spotted him, but she was intent on moving with the mob, following Dusty and Jade toward the trees. Some of the older cows plunged into the snow at first, but eventually all of them followed the gutter the horses had formed. They walked along in pairs, breath fogging into the mist, happy to be going back to the sheltered valley they hadn’t wanted to leave yesterday. As they descended the ridge, Dusty saw Stewie chase the last cow over the clearing.

  ‘You’ve got them all!’ His shout came down to them faintly through the mist, then the hut was out of sight and Dusty and Jade rode on through the snow, leading the cattle down to shelter.

  If she had a horse like Captain, thought Jade, she’d ride him every day. When she’d woken up this morning she’d felt so nervous about the day ahead that she nearly vomited, but the big horse had made it easy for her. It was as though he could read her mind. If she thought about stopping, he stopped. If she thought about changing direction, he did.

  ‘It’s because you’re not interfering with him,’ Dusty said. ‘Most beginners yank on the reins and try to boss the horse around, but you’re just sitting there, letting him be, and he can pick up your body language. You’re a natural, Jade.’

  Through the snow-laden trees, the bottom plain looked like the top of a Christmas cake – white and flat. The cows began to bellow as they wound down through the trees. Dusty and Jade set the horses to one side of the track and watched the mob fan out over the plain. The snow wasn’t as deep here, so the cows moved freely, grabbing mouthfuls of long grass and heath as they went.

  ‘Look, Jade,’ Dusty pointed. ‘They’re digging.’ Some of the older cows were pawing at the snow, clearing it to expose the grass below. The girls shared a muesli bar as the cattle settled on the plain.

  ‘Well, that’s stage one.’ Dusty pulled her gloves back on. It was still freezing. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Yep.’ Jade smiled at her. ‘That was easy.’

  Good, thought Dusty, because that was the easy bit. The next part of their journey would be much more difficult. They watched the cattle until they were all grazing and then quietly turned the horses and continued down the track. The last thing Dusty wanted was for the cows to follow them. Jack had told her how narrow the track was above the river, just a bridle path really, and a mob of cows would certainly come to grief on it.

  For an hour the track continued as a well-defined trail, wide enough for the horses to walk side by side.

  The Snow Pony stepped out as though she was going home. Dusty remembered that first time she’d ridden her, when she was still a baby, and didn’t have any direction at all. The mist had dispersed, but the day was still and grey. The horses’ hooves thudded softly through the snow, bits jingled and saddles creaked, but the bush was silent. When a currawong squawked past them, the noise seemed as loud as a train’s whistle. Dusty reached into her saddlebag and pulled out Jack’s map. She’d never been past the end of the four-wheel-drive track. It stopped at a tiny flat, just big enough for a car to turn around, and the path continued over a steep and rocky ridge. She leant out of the saddle, holding the map out for Jade to see.

  ‘We’re here,’ she poked at the map with her gloved finger, ‘just below the plain, see.’

  Jade looked, but it made no sense to her. ‘I’m lost already. I’ll just follow you.’

  The path over the ridge was invisible under the snow. In a couple of places an indentation showed, but mostly it just looked like trees and snow. If Dusty hadn’t seen the track before, she wouldn’t have believed it even existed. The snow covered the creek at the foot of the ridge.

  ‘Hang on, Jade!’ Dusty warned, as Captain strode toward it. She knew he would miss his footing, and he did, going right down on his hocks and almost unseating Jade, then scrambling back on to the flat, snorting and rolling his eyes. ‘Are you okay?’

  Jade nodded, her face tight.

  ‘Send him forward then, kick him.’ Dusty smiled at Jade’s tentative kicks and Captain ignoring them. He stared at the creek as though it had a bunyip in it. That was the difference between being able to sit on a horse and being able to ride one, she thought. Captain was happy to oblige Jade when everything was fine, but if he didn’t want to do something, t
here was no way she could boss him. ‘He’s got a heart the size of a pea, that’s what Mum says. He’s lovely and he’s quiet, but he’s not very brave.’ She rode the Snow Pony towards the creek and Captain followed her meekly.

  The Snow Pony climbed the ridge without hesitation, striding through the snow as though she was going home. She felt purposeful and sure, and Dusty guessed that she did know the way, that she would have travelled along here when she was a wild horse.

  ‘I think she remembers the path.’ She twisted in the saddle to look back and wasn’t surprised to see Captain’s big baldy face almost touching the Snow Pony’s rump. After his fright he was sticking close to his mate.

  As they crested the ridge, a sharp gust of wind came through the trees, shaking snow off the branches in thick white flurries. Captain moved up beside the Snow Pony and the girls looked down through the trees at the river slicing darkly through the white, far below them. The trunks of the trees, taller and straighter than the twisted snow gums of the high plains, stood out against the snow. The drop down looked almost vertical and both girls shivered at the danger. If you slipped here you’d fall until you hit the river. You’d die.

  ‘Just sit on Captain, Jade,’ Dusty said. ‘Don’t try to steer him. Let him follow us and just have your toes in the stirrups.’

  The Snow Pony stepped out across the slope without urging, walking into the swirling white flakes with a sureness that made Dusty immediately less afraid.

  The snow was almost half a metre deep but it was as light and powdery as down, and the track felt firm underneath it. A tiny squeak came with the fall of every hoof.

  ‘Squeaky snow, Jade! Can you hear it?’

  But Jade didn’t answer. She couldn’t stop staring at the river below and imagining crashing into it, caught up with this huge horse she was on. All of a sudden he felt clumsy and tangle-footed, sliding all over the place. Snow didn’t stumble or slip, she just walked on, steady and sure. The ferns and branches on the topside of the track hung heavy with snow and it fell on to them in bucketfuls as they brushed underneath, collapsing their hat brims and piling up on the horses’ rumps.

  Captain followed and Jade could feel a tension in him that wasn’t there before. ‘He feels nervous,’ she shouted to Dusty, her voice thin and trembling, and gripped a handful of mane tightly. ‘He feels like he’s gunna explode.’

  Dusty twisted in the saddle again and looked back. Even against the snow Jade looked pale, and her shoulders were hunched and tense. ‘You have to relax. You’re gripping on like a squirrel, squeezing with your legs. You’re making him nervous. Take a big breath. You’re probably forgetting to breathe. I do that sometimes when I’m showjumping, and horses hate it.’

  Jade let out a big sigh and Captain seemed to calm down immediately, but Dusty knew she had to keep her friend relaxed.

  ‘We’re going to sing a song. It’s the best way to settle down.’ She started softly, using her favourite showjumping song, thinking at the same time how funny it was that songs so often fitted the occasion. ‘If you go out in the woods today,’ she wriggled back in the saddle to face the way her horse was taking her, and Jade joined in, ‘you’d better not go alone. If you go out in the woods today …’

  It did feel better, and not looking down helped as well. Jade kept her eyes fixed on the back of Dusty’s head and sang, and Captain soon felt steady and safe again.

  Dusty let the Snow Pony make the decisions as they followed the old bridle path. The snow was like a thick blanket covering the path. Logs, ditches and landslides were invisible. The Snow Pony seemed to be able to sense what lay hidden under the white. It was as though she had x-ray vision, stepping over logs that Dusty couldn’t see, and carefully feeling her way across gullies full of snow with barely a stumble. Once she stopped dead, pawed at the track, snorting, then picked her way through the bush above the track, slipping and sliding on the steep grade – by-passing a fifty-metre stretch which Dusty guessed must have collapsed into the river.

  For a while the path descended smoothly, uninterrupted by fallen trees or landslides, and they rode, silent as ghosts, passing through the snowflakes that spun down from the trees.

  ‘It’s like we’re in a movie, don’t you think?’

  Jade’s fair skin and blue eyes looked almost transparent under the dark brown of Stewie’s hat.

  ‘You look fantastic. The woman from Snowy River!’

  Jade tried to smile. The valley was like a beautiful black-and-white photograph, and if she wasn’t so scared she could imagine it was a movie. There was a scene in a film she had seen last year where a native American tribe was riding through the snow, just like they were now, but that hadn’t been on a skinny little track above a ravine. At least the track was getting closer to the river now, so it wouldn’t be so far to fall.

  She took some deep breaths, hung on to a handful of Captain’s mane, watched Dusty’s back and kept singing. Sometimes she sang under her breath and sometimes she and Dusty sang together, belting out songs from the radio that seemed so out of place, so urban, in this hidden valley. They knew the first few lines of lots of songs, but all the words to nearly none, so usually they ended up singing ‘na na na’. She wished Stringer was with them, loping along with his sad hairy face, but Dusty’s dad thought he might have trouble crossing the river, so he’d been left at the hut.

  Dusty pushed up the sleeve of her oilskin coat and looked at her watch. Her stomach had been growling for about half an hour and it was right. Lunch-time.

  ‘It’s a quarter to two,’ she yelled to Jade, ‘we should have got to the big pine tree by now. Are you hungry?’

  Jade had to think about it. She’d been so scared of Captain slipping down the gorge that food hadn’t crossed her mind, but she was hungry, she was starving.

  ‘I could eat a horse,’ she shouted back to Dusty. ‘Ha, ha––’

  Her laughter was cut short by a ringing neigh from the Snow Pony. The mare had stopped in her tracks, head high and ears forward. She neighed again, a shrill trumpeting that echoed back across the river, and began to dance and fidget. Dusty struggled to control her. Captain’s head was high and staring forward, too, ears straining.

  As the echo died away, a whinny came faintly to them from further downstream, then another, followed by a fierce ringing neigh.

  ‘Brumbies!’

  23

  The call of the wild

  ‘There must be brumbies ahead, down by the river.’ Dusty felt a sudden rush of fear. What would the Snow Pony do? Maybe the call of the wild was going to be too strong. Would she run with the brumbies?

  ‘Whoa, girl.’ Dusty tried to rein her in, but the Snow Pony paid no attention. She broke into a prancing trot, calling to the horses downstream as she went. Now she was moving urgently, slipping and stumbling on the narrow path. Dusty could hear Captain doing the same, crashing about like an elephant.

  ‘Dusty! Slow down!’ Jade’s voice was terrified. ‘I’m going to fall off!’

  The horses scrambled through a tangle of snow and branches where a tree had fallen over the path, then tore up a steep incline that ran away from the river. Even though she felt terrifyingly out of control, Jade was so relieved to get away from that scary place that she whooped aloud as they thundered through the snow.

  At the top, the Snow Pony stopped so suddenly that Captain cannoned into her, nearly knocking Dusty out of the saddle. In front of them the track fell sharply down to a small plain, and there, under the pine tree Jack had told them about, was a mob of brumbies. They stared up, trembling and poised to run. The Snow Pony whinnied again, shattering the silence, and two of the mares wheeled away from the mob.

  ‘Oh, they’re going …’ Dusty started to say, as they galloped towards the river, sending the snow flying, but they baulked and raced back to the other horses. She realised that the brumbies couldn’t run away. She and Jade were blocking the path and the only other way out was over the river. A steep cliff circled the back of the clearing
, yarding the brumbies as surely as a set of stockyards.

  Dusty tried to count them as the Snow Pony jiggled and pranced beneath her. There were five mares – bays, a brown and a grey – and three half-grown foals. And there was a handsome white stallion. He was half hidden by the branches of the pine tree, but suddenly he ran forward, chasing one of the mares back to the mob. Dusty gasped, and Jade saw it too.

  ‘He’s the same as the Snow Pony!’

  He was the same – an older, heavier version of Dusty’s horse. His grey had faded to white, but he still had the dark mane and tail of the Snow Pony, and the same fierce beauty. The Snow Pony whinnied again and it sounded like a scream echoing back from the cliffs.

  ‘Whoa, girl.’ Dusty tried to calm her, but the mare reared on her hind legs, teetering above the drop. Dusty threw her reins away and grabbed a handful of mane so she wouldn’t pull the Snow Pony over backwards. Time seemed to stop. The flat below looked a very long way down.

  Suddenly the Snow Pony dropped back to all fours, but before Dusty could gather the reins, she launched herself off the edge of the track. It felt to Dusty as though she sprang into space, flying down the slope in one giant leap until they hit the snow, then sliding and slipping downwards, suicidally fast and out of control. Dusty jammed her boots in the stirrups and braced herself for the fall she was sure would come. The ground lurched sickeningly toward her once, and then again, and it seemed as if her heart was in her throat, but somehow, miraculously, the Snow Pony stayed on her feet, and they were at the bottom, galloping toward the brumbies.

  Dusty fought to pull the mare up, looking back at the same time to see where Jade was. There was no way she’d have stayed on if Captain had followed the Snow Pony. She was right. Captain was thundering after her and Jade was a crumpled figure half way down the slope.