Brumbies in the Snow

by Paula Boer

  Books in this Series

  Brumbies

  Brumbies in the Snow

  Brumbies in the Mist

  Brumbies in the Outback

  Brumbies in the Mountains

  Book 2 of

  the Brumbies Series

  Brumbies in the Snow

  by

  Paula Boer

  This is a work of fiction. The events and characters portrayed herein are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places, events or living persons. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the publisher.

  Brumbies in the Snow

  Book 2 of the Brumbies Series

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN-13: 978-1-925496-93-2

  Copyright ©2018 Paula Boer

  All maps in this book were designed by

  Paula Boer and rendered by Rowena Evans

  Second Edition

  This ebook may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Printed in Palatino Linotype and OptimusPrinceps

  IFWG Publishing Australia

  Melbourne

  www.ifwgaustralia.com

  In memory of Midnight Velvet,

  a black brumby colt

  A glossary of horse-related terms

  can be found at page 127

  Chapter 1

  The buckskin mare’s hooves thud, thud, thudded on the frozen ground as she trotted in ever decreasing circles. Her nostrils flared pink as she snorted, wisps of breath visible in the crisp morning air as she closed in on Louise in the centre of the round yard.

  “That’s a girl, now back out again.” Louise let the lunge rein loosen to spiral the brumby back out to the rubber lined rails. The young mare tossed her head and swished her tail as she covered the ground with long rhythmic strides.

  “She’s looking great.” Ben leant on the gate and zipped up his fleece jacket. “No-one would know that she was running wild only six months ago and had never been touched by a human.”

  The two friends had spent their summer holidays trying to save brumbies from being sent to market as pet food. They had only managed to save Honey, Louise’s mare, and Brandy, Ben’s young stallion, and even that had proved a challenge. Without the help of Old Harry, the hermit who lived rough in the park, they would never have succeeded.

  “Whoa girl. Stand still.” Louise rubbed Honey on the face before leading her across to where Ben waited. “Do you really think we’ll be able to back her tomorrow? I can’t wait to sit on her.”

  Ben nodded. His horsemanship had developed from years of living on a farm and working cattle. He had broken in Snip, his thoroughbred cross stockhorse last year. “Don’t see why not. Let’s pony them out today and wear them out a bit.”

  “What do you mean?” Louise had only moved to the country at the end of last year. Her lessons at the riding school in town had not taught her the bush skills that Ben took for granted.

  Ben loved sharing his knowledge. “We’ll ride Snip and Ned, and lead Brandy and Honey from them. If we stick to the old road we should avoid the deep snow.”

  “Cool! Will I tie Honey to Ned’s neck like I did when I brought her home from the valley?” Ben and Louise had captured the brumbies in a corral they made in a hidden ravine and spent days gentling them before leading them home.

  “No. We’ve handled them enough. They should lead without needing to do that.” Opening the gate for Louise to walk Honey out of the yard, Ben thrust his hands deep in his pockets. “Why don’t you put her in the stable while we saddle up the others?”

  Without waiting for an answer, Ben whistled for his blue heeler, Snifter, and headed for the paddock. Although Snifter only had three legs due to an accident with a tractor, he eagerly rounded up the horses and brought them in.

  Louise closed the stable door behind her and gave Honey a brush. The mare’s thick winter coat had flattened down with sweat from the exertion of working in the round yard. She nibbled at Louise’s sleeve.

  “Hey, stop that. You’re not getting any treats until we’ve been out.”

  At thirteen, Louise couldn’t believe that her dream of catching and breaking in a wild horse was really coming true. She tickled the horse’s upper lip, teasing her with gentle fingertips. The mare nodded her head and snorted. Louise stood near the double door and admired Honey’s strong back and clean legs.

  “Tomorrow we can go for our first ride.”

  Although old enough to be backed at three years old, Louise had no intention of rushing Honey. She wouldn’t start serious ridden work for another year. Although the mare had become accustomed to wearing a saddle and bridle, this morning Louise had exercised her in a rope halter.

  “Wait there while I go and get Ned. You like him, don’t you?”

  Louise walked across to the yards where Ben had the riding horses waiting. Ned, a stocky Appaloosa, whinnied as he saw her approach. “Do you want to go out, boy? Or are you after the carrots in my pocket?” She rubbed his ears as he leant in to her hand and gave him a scratch.

  “Come on, we’d better get going before the weather changes.” Ben always watched the early morning weather report and kept an eye on the sky, ever since they had been caught in a storm while out riding and Louise had become very sick. “We’ll be warmer once we get going.”

  Ben’s family farm lay on the outskirts of Mirraburra, a small village on the edge of the park. An old dirt track wound through the hills close to Tumbledown Creek, blocked to traffic during winter. Slushy snow covered the gravel surface. Wallaby tracks criss-crossed the track and scratchings on the verge revealed nibbled tufts of brown grass.

  Louise settled into Ned’s easy trot as he followed Snip. Honey ponied along beside without tugging on her head collar. Massive gum trees on either side of the road made a tunnel, their heavy boughs bent down with thick layers of snow. Sunlight twinkled off the frosty coverings. Often the weight became too much, causing the snow to slip in a whoosh to the ground. Louise liked watching the flash of shards as ice shattered and flew in all directions.

  Up ahead, Snifter chased the icicles, snapping to catch the crystals, looking puzzled when they melted on his tongue. Louise laughed at his antics though Ben didn’t seem to notice the dog at play. “How’s Brandy going?”

  Ben held the stallion on a tight rope. He turned to call over his shoulder. “He’s a bit of a handful. Maybe you should go in front?”

  “Okay.” Louise urged Ned on. Giving Snip and the brumby stallion a wide berth, she passed on their right hand side. “Shout if you want me to stop.”

  Pleased with how well her young mare behaved, she let Ned stretch out. Honey extended her stride to match.

  Louise’s breath exhaled in clouds from the freezing air, her nose dripped, and she couldn’t feel the tips of her fingers. She didn’t care. It had been several weeks since Louise and Ben had ridden out in the park, as they had spent every weekend doing groundwork with the brumbies. The short winter days were too dark after school for Louise to cycle out to Tumbleford Farm.

  Although happy to be back in the saddle again, Louise thought the snow covered landscape seemed eerily quiet. Few birds remained in the high country through the severe weather and the snow muffled sounds of those animals that hadn’t taken to warm burrows to wait out the harsh conditions. She imagined the wombats, echidnas and li
zards all snuggled up in their tunnels, or under fallen logs, wrapped in leaf litter and moss.

  “Hang on! You’re going too fast.”

  Ben’s cry startled Louise out of her thoughts. She halted Ned and waited for Ben to catch up. She could see Brandy fighting the lead rope, throwing his head in the air and spinning his hindquarters away from Snip.

  “Sorry. How about we try and ride side by side. It’s wide enough here.”

  Ben’s flushed face showed the effort of hanging on to the stallion. “Good idea. Keep it slow. Snifter, get out of the way.”

  The dog obediently ran to the side of the road. Struggling to lumber through the deeper snow, he dropped behind.

  Once the four horses settled into an easy trot abreast the road, Ben loosened the lead rein. “That’s better. He’s relaxing now. This makes it easier to talk, too.”

  Normally the two friends rode side by side, chattering about horses and other animals. Louise envied Ben’s life on the farm and hoped to go to agricultural college when she finished school. She knew Ben wanted to work with horses like his Uncle Graeme, and had hopes of building a breeding herd with the liver chestnut brumby.

  “Did I tell you Adam Cartwright, the ranger, rang the other day? Dad says that the police are taking Robert Smythe-Waters to court about starting that fire we saw when we were fixing the yards at the old homestead.”

  Louise tightened Ned’s reins without thinking as he shied at a branch that fell nearby. “That’s great news. Will we have to give evidence? After all, it was us that found the fuel can. You know Harry won’t go in to town and tell that he saw Robert putting all that bark and stuff around the fence posts.”

  Leaves rattled in the branches as the wind picked up. Brandy’s ears twisted forward and backward as he tossed his head. Ben shortened the lead rein. “No, Dad says the police found finger prints, and when they confronted Smythe-Waters, he just about confessed. Everyone knows he wanted to have his cattle back on the former leasehold land and that’s why he burnt down the fence.”

  “I hope he gets thrown in prison. I’m sure he let the brumbies out of the yards when we caught that big herd at the start of the summer holidays. What a shame we lost them, especially for your Uncle Graeme and your brother John who had come all that way to help.” Louise became very angry when she remembered how they had turned up with the horse truck to select which brumbies to take home, instead finding only hoof prints and distinctive tyre tracks.

  Crack! A sound like a rifle shot rang out behind Louise. She turned and looked to see who might be shooting, at the same time feeling her left arm almost pulled out of its socket. Honey reared and pawed the air, dropped her head and started to buck. Ned danced sideways, trying to keep away from her flying hooves, while Louise leant over his side and heaved on the lead rein. Despite wearing leather riding gloves, the rope burned her palms as it pulled through her clenched fist.

  Crash! Another loud explosion proved too much for the young mare. Honey jerked free of Louise’s grip and spurted away up the track. Louise struggled to hold Ned back as he tried to follow. Next to her, Ben had Brandy held so tight the stallion’s nose rested on his knee.

  Louise didn’t know what to do. Despite knowing that Ben would be unlikely to hold Brandy if she took off, her body urged her to gallop after the disappearing mare. Ned sensed her horror and started to jig-jog sideways across the track. “I must go after her!”

  “Let her go. We’ll have to get her back later. There’s no point chasing after her in a mad rush, she’ll only go faster.” Ben turned his attention to his two horses and talked to them in a calm voice. Gradually they settled.

  Louise fidgeted where she sat on Ned. “Honey is getting away. Come on!”

  He glanced at the sky. “Forget her. Look at the black clouds. It’s going to snow again, and the wind has picked up. That’s what caused the tree to split behind us.”

  In her panic about losing Honey, Louise had forgotten the cause of the commotion. Now she could see that the noise had been caused by one of the giant ribbon gums splitting down the middle of its trunk. A large limb had come off from the weight of snow and lay in a tangle of branches and leaves across the track behind them.

  Ben turned Snip around. “We’ll have to cut through the bush to get around the debris. Let’s head home.”

  Not waiting for Louise, he pulled Brandy close and steered into the scrub.

  “I can’t let Honey go. Why don’t you go back and I’ll follow her?” Louise couldn’t bear the thought of losing her brumby mare after all the effort to catch her, and the six months of work she had put in to her since.

  “Don’t be stupid. You’ll never catch up with her now. And Snifter can’t go much further, especially in the deep snow. I’ll have to take him and Brandy back. With any luck, she’ll get hungry and find her way home. You can put some hay out in the calving paddock and leave the gate open. If she doesn't return, we’ll get her tomorrow.”

  “She could be miles away by then. I must go after her now.”

  Ned, disturbed by her anxiety, danced on the spot. Louise held him back as Ben urged Snip into the thick scrub with Brandy dragging behind.

  Ben turned back to shout. His face glowed with either anger or exertion. “Come back with me.”

  Ben’s voice was lost in the wind as it whistled around Louise’s ears. Turmoil raged within her as she looked after Ben. Making up her mind, she decided not to let Honey go without a chase. Turning Ned away from home, she dug her heels into his sides and drove him in the direction Honey had taken. The deep ruts cut in the snow by the brumby’s hooves made an easy path to follow.

  Chapter 2

  Icy branches whipped across Ben’s face as Snip pushed through the thick undergrowth at the side of the road. His helmet clunked against a low hanging limb as his horse ducked sideways. He gathered up both reins with his right hand. “Whoa there, don’t be in such a mad rush. Do you want to kill me?”

  Brandy pulled on the lead rope in Ben’s left hand, trying to keep up with the black gelding despite being unable to walk beside him. Logs as big as his barrel lay tangled through the bracken and blackberries. Ben felt torn in two between the two horses.

  “Stop! Both of you.”

  Ben dismounted and threw Snip’s reins over his head. He tried to lead both horses with one hand while using the other to knock aside the impeding vegetation. His leather boots slipped on the rotting tree litter underfoot and he stumbled over hidden rocks. The short distance around the fallen tree felt like a marathon.

  Finally he emerged out on the road. Looking back to see how Louise fared in the tough going, he realised she hadn’t followed him. “Stupid girl. She’ll never get that mare on her own.”

  Trying to hold on to both horses with one hand, Ben spun them around to see if he could see Louise. He couldn’t hear Ned crashing through the scrub, or Louise calling for Honey. The wind masked any sounds, even if they had still been close.

  Ben stomped his feet to kick off the snow and jagged Brandy’s lead rope as the stallion pulled against him. “Stand still. What am I supposed to do now?”

  He looked again up the road. There was no sign of Louise. “Stuff it. I’m going home.”

  Snip and Brandy danced about while he ranted and raved about girls and wild horses. The young stallion whinnied loudly in the direction that Louise had taken. Snip tried to avoid his skipping hooves.

  Dragging Snip’s reins back over his head, Ben held them short in the mane. The last thing he wanted was to hop around on one foot while the horses fought each other so, despite the gelding being sixteen hands high, he vaulted into the saddle.

  Feeling for his stirrups at the same time as pulling Brandy forward, Ben sat deep and drove Snip into a trot. “Let’s get out of this cold.”

  Both horses responded by surging ahead, kicking up slush and mud as they hurried along the track.r />
  By the time Ben reached the farm, the horses were lathered in a nervous sweat. Leaping out of the saddle, Ben realised how unfair he’d been to take his anger out on them. He calmed himself down and led them into the yard.

  “Sorry guys. It’s not your fault Honey took off. I’ll make you a warm mash and give you a rub down.” Ben held the first stable door open for Snip to walk in on his own before leading Brandy into the adjacent one.

  He calmed the liver chestnut stallion and rubbed handfuls of straw over his damp coat, getting rid of the sweat and stimulating the horse’s circulation. “Nothing like a good massage after some hard work, eh?”

  Brandy responded with a nip at Ben’s elbow, making Ben laugh. “Yeh, well, don’t expect this sort of treatment every day.”

  Having ensured Brandy had plenty of water, he attended to Snip. He had loosened his girth when he dismounted; now he untacked the horse and gave him a thorough rub down. With both horses settled, he mixed them a big feed and went across to the tack room to clean his gear. He knew if he left the mud splashes to dry they would be much harder to clean off later, and the wet leather needed to be oiled to keep it soft and supple.

  Having worked away his bad mood, Ben strolled over to the house. Kicking off his boots at the back door, he elbowed through the entry into the warmth. “Mum? What’s for lunch?”

  Only the simmering of the soup on the stove answered his call. Lifting the lid, Ben lowered his head over the delicious aroma of oxtail and garden vegetables.

  Mrs Naylor entered the kitchen holding two large cheeses in her hands. “You can have a bowl of that if you like. It’s ready. These are, too, if you want some on that loaf I made this morning.”

  “Great. I’m glad Nibbles is still milking.”

  Ben had thought his mother mad to buy a goat last summer. He’d since changed his mind after tasting the produce that his mother made. Mrs Naylor spent much of her time preserving food and cooking. She even made sausages and smoked hams from their own pigs.