“It’s dangerous with those dogs,” Mrs. Hanson said. “And Thunder has been crazy this week. He’s lathered up for a ride. You’ve got to stop Jeff. That horse will kill him if he starts jumping fences.”
Ally looked at Coombsie. “I know what to do. Nick and I can get on two of the other horses and follow him. Coombsie can lead Dad around by the dump.”
“Go!” Coombsie said. “If that horse gets out of control, Jeff’ll fall off. He’s not that good of a rider.”
“Okay,” Ally yelled as she ran toward the barn.
In minutes, she and Nick had Snowbird and Lucky saddled up. They roared out of the barn just as Mr. O’Connor shot out of the farmyard with Coombsie and Miss Kruck in the car.
Ally and Nick galloped up the road to the first path in between the fields where they’d last seen Jeff. The tracks of his horse could be clearly seen. Ally slowed down to a loping pace, watching the tracks. She and Nick reached the edge of the field and found a road she’d never been on.
“Where does this go?” she asked, looking both ways.
Nick studied the landscape. “He went to the left. Look!”
The pair of saddlebags Jeff had put on Thunder lay in the dirt about ten yards up the road.
“Go!” Ally said, kicking Snowbird and clucking.
They raced up the road. Coming around a corner, they saw Jeff stopped in the road about a hundred yards ahead. He had climbed down off Thunder and was picking something up in the road.
“Jeff, stop!” Ally cried.
Jeff didn’t acknowledge Ally’s call, but got back on Thunder and stormed down the road at a pace Ally was almost afraid to keep up. She pushed Snowbird into an all-out gallop. Nick was right beside her, leaning forward on Lucky and gripping the horn of the saddle.
“We can catch him, I think,” Ally cried above the pounding of the hooves.
“Thunder’s a thoroughbred,” Nick yelled back. “Are you crazy?”
“Just try, okay?”
Ally’s knees ached as she gripped the saddle with her legs. The horses’ panting came in great chuffs. She knew Snowbird would be worn out in a matter of minutes.
As Ally pushed the horse even harder, Jeff slowed ahead and turned to the right.
“He’s going around the dump,” Nick yelled.
“Maybe Dad will be there.”
Jeff disappeared, and as Ally and Nick came up on the turn, they slowed down. The warm air burned Ally’s throat. She was panting, and her arms were tired from reining Snowbird.
They made the turn and cantered down the road toward the dump, Jeff in full sight ahead of them.
“We can’t keep this up, Ally,” Nick shouted.
“Just a few more minutes and we can get to him, I think,” Ally answered. “There’s not many places to go at the dump, remember? Just around it.”
Jeff veered off to the left around the huge pit of the dump. Ally watched as he galloped into the main area.
At the same moment, she saw her dad, Coombsie, Miss Kruck, and Mrs. Hanson run out from the car, yelling and gesticulating to Jeff. He ignored them and took the road around and behind the dump.
Ally knew she had to rest, so she and Nick pulled up and stopped in front of her dad and the others.
“We can’t catch him,” she said, huffing hard.
“Where can he go from the dump, Coombsie?” Nick asked, panting hard too.
“The road back there comes out near that farm that was burned out,” Coombsie answered.
“That’s just down the street from our house,” Mr. O’Connor said.
“Why would Jeff go there?” Miss Kruck asked.
“Maybe he has another stash there,” Coombsie said. “He told me once that he had a knife and some other things he thought would help him with his father. But I never saw any of those things in the tree fort.”
“Is there a shorter way, Coombsie?” Ally asked. “These horses are almost beat.”
“Yeah, on the right side of the dump, there’s another trail through the trees that goes behind the houses. You come out just below your home road.”
“Let’s try it,” Ally said.
“We’ll meet you at the farm. Be careful!” Mr. O’Connor added.
Ally and Nick started off down the dirt road to the right of the dump. “The horses will get some rest if we go fairly slow,” Ally told Nick. So they loped down the wide trail that had been made, apparently, for equipment to tear down the trees in the development. It was slow going. Ally just hoped they would arrive in time to keep Jeff from getting into any trouble with the authorities.
Twenty
Disaster
Ally and Nick came out of the trail just above the Matthews’s farm. They turned in the direction of the farm. Seconds later, they saw Jeff hurtle down the road on Thunder with six angry dogs chasing him.
“Dump dogs!” Nick said with horror.
Ally was about to kick Snowbird into a full gallop again when Jeff suddenly jerked Thunder up short. The horse wheeled and looked like it would fall over. Then the dump dogs raced up, snapping at the horse’s heels. Thunder reared up on his hind legs, and Jeff tumbled backwards.
A second later, Thunder jolted forward, but Jeff was no longer astride.
Ally clucked Snowbird, hoping Jeff wasn’t hurt from the fall.
Moments later, she saw that Jeff’s right foot was caught in the stirrup. Thunder was dragging him on his back up the road! The dump dogs’ barking had spooked the horse into a full gallop.
“No!” Ally shrieked and shot after the horse, who was now careening up what had once been the Matthews’s driveway. Nick galloped alongside Ally after Thunder and Jeff. It looked to Ally like Jeff wasn’t even trying to get loose.
Then she realized he must have been knocked out.
She and Nick gained on Thunder, and in another half minute they were alongside the big horse. Ally hardly noticed that the dump dogs had run back into the trees. But she did see that Thunder’s reins were flying free. She had to grab them. At a full gallop, she reached across the space between the two horses, being careful not to trample Jeff. But the thought of grabbing the reins terrified her. There was no way she could do it. She reached again and almost fell off Snowbird.
“You can’t do it,” Nick shouted.
There had to be a way.
Ahead of them, the Matthews’s pond sparkled in the sunlight.
“Go on the other side,” she yelled to Nick. “Maybe we can block Thunder into stopping.”
Nick slowed and came up on the other side. They were less than a hundred yards away from the pond. Jeff hadn’t cried out, though Ally hadn’t had a chance to get a good look, she knew he must be unconscious.
She pressed Snowbird close to the big thoroughbred. What was Thunder going for? Then, Ally remembered Mrs. Hanson saying something about the horse liking to cool off in the pond. If the horse went in, Jeff could drown.
Nick had come up on the other side of Thunder, galloping neck and neck. Ally felt her arms pounding with adrenaline. It was now or never.
“Squeeze in!” she shouted.
Nick brought Lucky closer to Thunder and then ahead of him. Ally forced Snowbird far enough ahead not to stomp on Jeff and closed in.
“Please, Lord, do something!” Ally prayed in her mind. “Don’t let Jeff die!”
The two horses pinioned Thunder between them.
“Slow down now!” Ally yelled.
Nick slowed and so did Ally. Thunder was forced to slow himself.
As the seconds ticked off, they came closer and closer to the pond. Thunder slowed even more until, moments later, the three horses came to a stop.
Ally sighed with relief. “Grab the reins,” she said to Nick as she climbed off Snowbird. She came around behind Snowbird and grasped Jeff’s boot. She looked at his face, but his eyes were closed.
“Please don’t be dead,” she murmured desperately.
The boot was stuck. “Come on!” she cried.
Ally didn’t
see it coming.
The dump dogs charged out of the trees again. Thunder reared, then bolted forward into the pond, still dragging Jeff.
Twenty-one
Double Disaster
Snowbird and Lucky leaped away from the dogs and galloped off toward the burned-out house. Ally stared in horror as Thunder began swimming about. Jeff was completely submerged under the water.
Ally didn’t wait. She dove into the pond and swam after the horse as quickly as she could. Fortunately, in the water Thunder was slow, and Ally reached him in seconds. She ducked under the water and grabbed Jeff’s boot, which was still caught in the stirrup. But she couldn’t seem to release it. “Please God,” she screamed in her mind. “Do something!”
She suddenly felt someone behind her.
It was Coombsie. He dove under her and released the saddle. The whole thing came off. Ally pulled Jeff to the surface, and she and Coombsie drew him and the saddle toward shore.
Seconds later, they pulled Jeff out. He was unconscious, his back and head beaten up from being dragged so far. Coombsie administered CPR, with Mr. O’Connor working on Jeff’s heart.
Seconds later, Jeff sputtered air but didn’t open his eyes.
“He’s breathing! He’s breathing!” Coombsie yelled.
“Let’s get him to the hospital,” Mr. O’Connor said, darting off after his car.
Ally sat by Jeff’s hospital bed, with Nick, Coombsie, Miss Kruck, and the O’Connors looking on. Jeff’s face was battered, both eyes black and lips torn up. He had not suffered a neck or spine injury, though. No bones broken. That was the miracle. But now he lay in a coma, giving no sign of understanding or even a flicker of consciousness.
Over the next several days, Ally, Coombsie, and Miss Kruck took turns sitting by Jeff’s bed. Ally read to him from comic books, Sports Illustrated—anything she thought might interest him. Coombsie brought in his violin and played for hours at a time. Miss Kruck was nearly distraught with worry, so she and Ally prayed together frequently.
Then school started, but Ally went through her classes listlessly, not paying attention, thinking constantly about Jeff.
The only one who was upbeat was Nick. He clowned around and tried to get Jeff to respond to his jokes.
Jeff didn’t flicker an eyelash.
After Jeff had been in a coma for a week, everyone began to lose heart. Ally came in one night after spending some time out at the Hanson farm. Mrs. Hanson came by the hospital several times, but that evening Ally was the only one present. She spent the first few minutes in silent prayer, then took Jeff’s hand and prayed out loud.
When she could think of nothing more to pray, she told Jeff about school, her friends, the teachers. Coombsie and Miss Kruck stepped into the room at 7:00, carrying both of their violins. When they began to play, nurses in the hall stopped in to listen.
Jeff still didn’t move.
Coombsie launched into a long rendition of “Are You Sleeping, Brother John,” and other tunes he thought up off the cuff. Miss Kruck sat down, once again near tears. She said to Ally, “It’s all my fault. I should have told him about his father long ago. I just didn’t have the heart. He idolized the man so, for reasons I’ve never understood.”
Ally took her hand and said, “I think Jeff would understand.”
Finally, Coombsie stopped playing and launched into a story. Ally listened, praying while Coombsie talked quietly next to Jeff on the opposite side of the bed.
“It’s about our little dog family this time,” Coombsie said. “I’ve got all the puppies placed except one, and that one’s for you. You’ll have to take good care of him because he comes from a long line—”
Ally suddenly noticed Jeff’s hand twitching. She grabbed it and pressed on the fingers. “That’s it. Feel that? That’s us. Come back to us, Jeff. Please come back.”
The hand twitched some more, then the feet.
Coombsie stood and picked up his violin. “Come to the music, boy. Come to the music.” He began playing vigorously.
Miss Kruck grabbed Jeff’s feet and shook them. “There!” she said. “Feel that! You feel that! Then knock out of this thing!”
Jeff’s eyes popped open.
Twenty-two
Back
The moment he awoke, Jeff smiled beautifully, looking at Ally, then at Miss Kruck, and finally at Coombsie.
“Where am I?” he asked.
“In the hospital,” Miss Kruck said. “You fell off Thunder at the burned-out farm, but your foot was caught in the stirrup. The horse dragged you a long ways.”
Jeff felt around the gauze and bandages. “I’m pretty beat up, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t talk, Jeff,” Coombsie said. “Just rest.”
Jeff laid back on the pillows as everyone filled him in on all that had happened since the accident. Soon visiting hours were over, and everyone had to go home. But the next evening, the whole crew showed up to see him.
When Ally and her parents arrived, Jeff was eager to talk. He turned to Ally. “I guess I kind of blew it, didn’t I?”
“No, it wasn’t you who blew it,” Ally said. “It was me. Just let me apologize. I’m sorry about everything. I was wrong. I should have believed you.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Jeff said. “I’m not always very trustworthy.” He grinned, then turned to Miss Kruck. “But I’m beginning to know who is. When I fell off Thunder and realized my foot was caught in the stirrup, I prayed, ‘Jesus, you have to help me.’ Then Thunder took off, and I was bumping along. I didn’t feel saved, but a funny thing happened—I had this sense like I was being lifted up, like Jesus was right there. It was amazing.”
“You felt like Jesus was there with you?”
“Yeah. I didn’t see him or anything. I just knew.”
“That’s what it is,” Miss Kruck said. “You just know.”
Coombsie took out his violin. “I think it’s appropriate that I play something appropriate.” Then he began playing a heartrending version of “Amazing Grace.”
When Coombsie was done, Jeff said, “I don’t know what it is. Nothing’s really changed…except something in me…and I feel happy for the first time in my whole life.”
“Jesus joy,” Coombsie said. “That’s what I got back when I met Babs.”
Miss Kruck smiled.
“Are you getting married?” Jeff asked hesitantly.
Coombsie and Miss Kruck laughed. “I think it’s a bit too soon for that,” Coombsie said. “But we sure would like to get to know each other better. If that’s okay with you.”
“Yeah, that’s okay with me.”
Everyone was quiet a moment, then Jeff said, “By the way, how’s Thunder?”
“Covered in blankets, sitting by a fire and sipping hot oat mash,” Ally said.
“Is Mrs. Hanson mad at me?”
Mr. O’Connor said, “She’s just glad you’re okay.”
“I’ll have to go over and apologize.”
Then a nurse came in and told them visiting hours were almost over. The gang left, but Ally stayed behind for a minute. It was the first she’d been alone with Jeff since he’d awakened.
“So, I guess we’ll be going to school together,” Jeff said.
“Yeah. Maybe we’ll even have some of the same teachers, but I don’t know your schedule.”
“So when will I be able to go out on a real date with you?”
“I’ll discuss it when I’m sixteen.”
“Is that what you tell Nick?”
“Always.”
“So it’ll be him against me?”
Ally grinned. “I wouldn’t think of it that way. I want you and Nick to be friends.”
“I guess I can do that. Nick’s a cool guy.” Jeff touched Ally’s hand. “But we would make a great couple, you know.”
“When I’m sixteen, we’ll talk about it.”
“Till then, we’ll just be friends, right?”
“Yeah. Great friends. Best friends.”
“Really?”
“Sure.”
“I guess I can deal with that.”
Ally gave Jeff’s hand a squeeze. “See you, pardner. I’ve got to get going.”
“Yeah, see you later, Ally.”
When Ally and her parents got home that night, Mrs. O’Connor said, “That’s an amazing story about Jeff accepting Jesus, you know.”
“I know. Do you think it’s real?” Ally asked.
“Only time will tell. But it’s a good start.” Mrs. O’Connor smiled. “You did good, Ally.”
“What did I do?”
“You saved Jeff’s life, in more ways than one.”
“I didn’t do it.”
“You and God and Nick and everyone. God used everyone.”
They stepped into the house, and a little puppy ran up to greet them. A moment later, Shea came around the corner. Ally picked up the puppy and nuzzled it. “I’m glad Coombsie let Jasper stay here until Jeff comes home,” Ally said. “Somehow a puppy gives you peace.”
Mrs. O’Connor pet Shea. “I’m glad Coombsie let us take Shea. She’s a good dog. Aren’t you, girl?”
Shea barked happily.
Ally set the puppy down to romp. “I think God is good even when it looks bad, Mom. Don’t you think?”
“Always, honey. Always.”
Mark Littleton, a former pastor and youth pastor, is a writer and a speaker at churches, retreats, conferences, and other Christian gatherings. He is happily married to Jeanette Gardner and has three children, Nicole, Alisha, and Gardner, also known as Gard-zilla the Destroyer because, at three years old, he is able to destroy whole cities when left unattended for more than thirty seconds. Mark and his family have a dog named Patches and a cat named Beauty, who is afraid of the dog. Mark collects lighthouses, original paintings of ships, and hundred dollar bills. He is willing to add any contributions you might wish to make to his collections, especially the hundred dollar bill collection.
Other books for youth by Mark Littleton:
Hoofbeats on the Trail Page 9
