Brumbies in the Snow

by Paula Boer

  As each group of sheep rejoined the main mob, Ben chased after the next. After a while, he was certain Brandy understood what they were trying to do and started to anticipate his commands. If a sheep broke away, boy and horse turned as one to chase it back.

  Ben finally manoeuvred all the sheep through the gate. Once the first few of the mob realised the opening offered fresh pasture, the rest followed in a rush. Ben stood and watched as the sheep pushed and shoved each other to get through where moments before they had refused to walk anywhere near the gap. He bent over to rest his hands on his knees and took deep breaths. Brandy puffed beside him, standing quietly with his nose next to Ben’s shoulder. “How many have gone through?”

  “I’m not sure. I think it was only a hundred and twenty. It’s so hard to count them when they’re all squashed together like that.” Louise frowned and plucked at her lower lip with gloved fingers.

  Remounting Snip, Ben wasn’t concerned. “We’ll do a lap of this paddock and see if we can find any stragglers. I’m whacked, but I think that exercise did Brandy a lot of good.”

  Snifter ran ahead as the friends rode the perimeter of the field, peering into gullies and other places where sheep could hide. Drifts of snow lay up against the base of trees and rocks, the muddy tracks in between deeply trodden from the sheep’s cloven hooves. The wind blew in a cutting blast. The animals bowed their heads into the gusts, half-closing their eyes.

  Coming up to a tangle of blackberries as big as a garden shed, Snifter gave a short bark. A lone sheep struggled to back out of the bush, thorns tugging at its wool. Ben jumped off and removed his penknife from its pouch. “I’ll cut this one free before we go and recount them.”

  The lone sheep took no encouraging to join the rest of the mob through the open gate. Ben and Louise finished the circuit of the paddock, finding no more strays. They headed back to where the flock grazed in small groups. Ben quickly came up with the right number. “They’re all there. I think we’ve probably done enough with these guys for today. I know I have with all that running. Let’s have a quick lunch and take Harry his goodies.”

  Chapter 13

  Jake tugged on the reins as Louise tried to keep him behind Ben on Lady. The track from the old road wasn’t wide enough to ride two abreast. “Can you go a bit faster? My arms are being torn from their sockets.”

  Ben turned to look back at Louise. “You go ahead if you like.”

  The horses hadn’t been ridden since the short ride last Sunday; Ben hadn’t wanted to go too far as his back had still been a bit sore from where he had fallen off Brandy onto the metal bucket.

  Louise didn’t have to urge Jake to pass Lady as Ben stepped off the path to let her by. The old stockhorse extended his stride and pushed his nose forward. “Steady, fella. Not too fast.” Louise enjoyed riding Jake, although still felt a bit nervous at how strong he could be.

  The weather had slowly brightened and now the sun struggled through the thinning clouds. Louise didn’t feel the cold breeze through her fleece-lined jacket, and her hands were warm from hanging on to Jake. Her breath escaped in clouds of steam as she wove through the trees at a fast trot. Careful not to knock her knees on the trunks, she bent Jake with her legs and kept an eye open for low branches.

  Coming out of the forest, Louise let Jake roll into a canter down the leaf-strewn track. She knew the way well and wanted to get the bounce out of the gelding before they reached the deep snow of the open plains. Jake stretched his head low and covered the ground with long strides.

  As the riders met the track between the old mines and the homestead, Louise slowed to a walk. “Wow! That was cool.”

  Ben rode up beside her. “Your riding’s certainly improved. You’d never’ve done that on Ned a few months ago, let alone Jake.”

  “You’re right, but it helps when you know where you’re going. We seem to have got here really quickly.” Louise patted Jake’s neck and kicked her feet out of the stirrups. She stretched her legs and relaxed as she let her horse walk on a loose rein. She closed her eyes for a minute, feeling each step the horse took, enjoying being a part of a team with her mount.

  “Come on, we can’t hang about. Let’s get going again.” Ben waited for Louise to regain her stirrups before trotting ahead.

  Jake had settled after his run and kept up without pulling. Louise settled into his rhythm and looked around her. The snow had started to turn to ice where it had melted and refrozen in hollows. She was still amazed at how different everywhere looked in the snow. Familiar landmarks disappeared and new mounds grew where there were none in the summer. Long shadows made eerie shapes of grey on grey, with the only colour being their own clothes, bright against the dismal surrounds.

  The track became slippery. Louise held the reins in one hand to check Jake as she blew her nose on a hanky. “How are we going to find Old Harry?”

  Ben slowed to a walk. “I thought we could leave the saddlebags in the signpost tree. I’ve written Harry a note so he knows where the cake and stuff came from.”

  Louise rode in silence for a while, not wanting to say what was in her head. Finally, she felt she had to. “Do you think he can read? If he’s lived all his life in the bush, he might not be able to.”

  Ben chortled. “He’s got lots of books. I’ve seen some of them in his packs when he’s rummaged for other things. I’m sure he can read. He’s probably got a whole library in that hut of his.”

  Louise felt embarrassed. “How will he know how to look in the tree?”

  The friends had almost reached the dead gum that had been their marker to turn to the ravine where they had captured their brumbies. Ben gave her a knowing smile. “Wait and see.”

  The horses struggled through the deep snow as they came close to their destination. Drifts had built up this high in the valley where the bleak mountains prevented the sun from reaching the ground for much of the day.

  Ben rode up to the signpost tree and edged Lady beneath a horizontal branch. Turning around, he undid the leather straps that held the saddlebags to the back of the saddle. Hefting them with one arm, he swung them over the branch and let them hang. “They should be far enough off the ground to stop any foxes eating that cake, and the possums shouldn’t be able to get into the bags. Come on, let’s gather some sticks.”

  Louise dismounted and tied Jake to a tree before following Ben. “Why do we want sticks? Are we going to light a fire or something?”

  Ben shook his head. “I thought we could use them to write Harry’s name in the snow. He’s bound to come down one of these tracks in the next couple of days. He’ll see it if we make it big enough. You do his name, and I’ll make a big arrow to point to the tree.”

  Louise gathered armfuls of branches from the scrub at the base of the hill and walked a distance away from where the horses were tethered. “Is this far enough? How big should the letters be?”

  “Go a bit further. I’ll go up the track and tell you what they look like from there.” As he said this, Ben jogged up the track. Stopping, he watched Louise make a giant “H” in the snow. “Yeh, that’s good.”

  It didn’t take them long to finish their sign. Louise untied Jake and remounted. “Do you think we’ve got time to go home via the old leasehold land and see if Mr Smythe-Waters has put out any hay?”

  “You reckon he will have? I doubt it. But we can go that way. We can use the fire trail to the park headquarters so we don’t have to cross the ford.”

  The sun sank behind the mountains making the afternoon colder. Louise pushed Jake into a fast trot where the track allowed in order to keep warm. “How will we get across the Dalrymple River at this end? Will we have to jump it?”

  “We’ve already crossed it. Didn’t you notice the gully we went down a little ways back?” Ben rode alongside on Lady as they crossed the snow-covered valley. The wind had packed the snow solid providing a wide track.
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  Louise frowned. “I didn’t see any water.”

  Ben laughed as he rose to the trot. “The whole thing was frozen over. We crossed a snow bridge.”

  Louise gasped. “What if it had broken? We might have fallen into freezing water.”

  Shaking his head, Ben held the reins with one hand as he stroked Lady’s neck with the other. “These guys wouldn’t cross if they didn’t think it was safe. I reckon the river isn’t running at all this high up. I didn’t feel Lady even change her stride.”

  Ben turned Lady to follow a valley off to the right. “We can cut up here onto the fire trail that leads to Mt. Evans. This is where James and Francesca were supposed to be walking that day. Come on, I’ll race you.”

  Without waiting for an answer, Ben leant forward on his mare and broke into a canter. Clods of ice spun back from her hooves as she surged ahead.

  Louise gathered her reins as Jake took off to follow. With his nose almost touching the chestnut’s tail, they cantered until they entered the trees. Slowing to a steady trot, Louise glowed with heat of her thermal leggings. She dismissed the thought of removing her gloves, deciding that Jake pulled too hard. She didn’t want cold numb hands if she had to stop in a hurry.

  Deep ruts with icy puddles showed where the four-wheel-drives had driven up the walking track in search of the missing hikers. Although it had snowed since, the grooves clearly showed and frozen mud splattered the drifts at either side where bushes had been broken down. Normally, vehicles weren’t permitted up this far. The horses were forced to slow down across the sharp ridges and uneven surface.

  “All this damage, and James and Francesca weren’t even up here. I wonder why they said they were walking to Mt. Evans when they the opposite way?” She shook her head in disgust.

  Louise looked between the sparse trees to the township of Goldriver far below in the valley. She couldn’t make out individual places, though some of the houses had lights shining from their windows as the afternoon sunshine dwindled away. “At least we’re not in shadow here. Can you make out Willowlea?”

  Ben waved his arm towards the valley. “See the river? That cuts right through the middle of the Smythe-Waters' place.”

  As they came down the ridge, Louise could see the burnt trees from the wildfire back in the summer. New shoots on the blackened trunks held pockets of snow, making the forest look like strange black and white totem poles.

  The riders joined the fire trail and picked up speed. Before long, they reached the old stockman’s hut where Ben had discovered the fuel can that must have been used to light the fire.

  “Look! Brumbies.” Despite Louise trying to keep her voice low, the wild horses detected the humans and raised their heads as if they were all joined together.

  Within an instant, the mob took flight. A grey stallion turned and challenged their horses, pawing the air as he reared and whinnied shrilly. As the lead mare put distance between herself and the intruders with the rest of the herd following, the stallion turned and galloped after them. The low afternoon sunlight made the flying snow sparkle like a million jewels as the fine powder blew out behind the fleeing horses.

  “Awesome! Look at them go.” Louise checked Jake as he danced on the spot, wanting to run with the brumbies. “Aren’t they fast? They must be surefooted in this snow.”

  Lady danced beside Jake, giving little snorts and snuffles. Ben spun her in a tight circle to get her under control. “Look! There’s hay out. That’s why they’re here. James must have convinced Robert to feed them after all.”

  Louise couldn’t believe it; a long line of hay stretched across the paddock where it had been rolled out from a round bale. The horses had eaten most of it, leaving only the thick stalks. She was sure all that would be gone in another day. “That’s fantastic. I suppose he put it here so that he can’t be accused of interfering in the park. This is his land, isn’t it?”

  Ben finally had Lady settled and walking alongside Jake as Louise followed the trail of hay. “Yeh, so I guess it was lucky he burnt the fence down else the horses wouldn’t have got in. That threat of Mum’s about telling the ranger about his niece looking for gold must have worked. Come on, it’s getting late. We’d better get home.”

  They rejoined the fire trail and headed towards the old homestead. The road made easy going and they soon came across the locked gate before the junction to the Information Centre. Louise stopped and stared at the padlock. “Now what?”

  Ben headed off into the scrub. “The fence only goes a little way to stop cars. We can cut through on horses without any trouble.”

  It only took a couple of minutes to get around the obstacle. Soon they reached the park buildings. There were no cars in the car park, and no lights shone from the windows. Louise shivered as she passed the locked up building. “I’m freezing and it must be getting late. Can we get a move on? I’d better not be home too late.”

  “Sure. The horses know the way from here.” Ben gave Lady her head.

  Jake wasn’t going to be left behind. With a massive thrust from his hindquarters, he plunged after the mare, overtaking her in a few strides. The old stockhorse ran faster and faster. By the time Louise thought to slow him down, she was out of control. Not wanting to pull him over on the slippery surface, Louise told herself to let him go, trusting him to keep his footing over the hard packed snow. Unable to do anything about where or how fast he went, she relaxed and enjoyed the ride. The wind whipped tears from her eyes and muffled noises as if she was listening to a sea shell. As she leant forward to maintain her balance over Jake’s centre of gravity, the horse took it as a sign to go faster and broke into a gallop.

  Louise looked down at the ground which blurred beneath Jake’s flashing legs. She didn’t know whether to be scared or excited. He felt powerful and safe at the same time, his breath pumping in gasps with every stride.

  Gradually the effort of ploughing through the snow took its toll. Jake started to slow. He suddenly veered to the left. Louise had such a good grip with her knees that she stayed with him and used the opportunity to get him back under control. She pulled him up to a trot and finally to a walk. Breathless, she looked around to see whether Ben and Lady had kept up. They were far behind, cantering in her hoof prints.

  Pleased that she had stopped Jake before Ben had caught up, or she had fallen off, Louise tried to work out where they were. She hadn’t been able to make out any landmarks in their mad dash. An unusual mound caught her eye, so she turned and walked across to see if she could recognize the shape. She knew most of the unusual boulders around here.

  Jake snorted and stopped before they reached the snow-covered bump. A crow flew squawking from its perch on one end, startling Louise. She realised that this was no rock. This was the black gelding that had broken its leg. The crow had been feasting on the frozen carcass. Unable to bring herself to look any closer, she spun Jake around to ride away from the grisly remains.

  Chapter 14

  An old flat bed ute was parked askew in the yard when Ben and Louise returned from their ride. “Cool! Uncle Graeme is here.”

  Louise’s silence worried Ben. He didn’t think she’d be so upset to see the carcass of the black stallion. She hadn’t said a word since he caught up with her, apart from agreeing that Jake had a fantastic turn of speed.

  “Let’s get these horses fed and go and find him.” He leapt off Lady and tossed the reins over her head as she followed him into the stable. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Louise dismount slowly and pat Jake before putting him away. From the way she rubbed at her face, he suspected she had been crying. He didn’t know what to do or say to her.

  With the horses untacked and rubbed down, Ben made them up a feed. Handing Jake’s bucket over his door, he watched Louise clean out the stockhorse’s feet. “That tar certainly kept out the snow, didn’t it? Is he okay?”

  Louise nodded. “He’s
fine. It was a good ride, thanks.” She took the feed from Ben and emptied the mash into the bin, not bothering to make Jake stand back and wait with the manners he had been taught. The hungry gelding pushed Louise’s arm out of the way and stuck his nose deep, looking for any carrots or apples.

  “Don’t let him push you around like that. Come on, cheer up. Honey’ll be waiting to be fed too.” Ben hoped that reminding Louise about her own brumby would snap her out of her misery.

  After putting out hay for the other horses, Ben strode over to the house with Louise in tow. The kitchen seemed full of people and warmth, smelling of fresh baked cakes and scones. A feast covered the wooden table, with pots of tea, homemade jams and thick slabs of bread. Ben grabbed a slice of chocolate brownie and handed it to Louise. “This’ll help cheer you up.”

  Mr Naylor turned to Louise. “What’s up? Why do you need cheering up?” A silence fell on the other people in the room, their conversations interrupted by the arrival of Ben and Louise.

  Ben could see Louise didn’t want to answer. “We came across the body of the brumby with the broken leg that the ranger had to shoot.”

  Louise sniffed. “It wasn’t seeing the body that was the problem. It was the crows pecking at its eyes.”

  Mrs Naylor crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Louise. “That can be hard, seeing that. But you wouldn’t want the horse to suffer starvation, and now the body is feeding other hungry animals.”

  “I know you’re right. It was a shock coming across it like that, that’s all. I thought it was a rock under the snow at first. Jake stopped and snorted before I realised where we were.” Louise snuffled into her hanky and sat in the chair that Graeme offered her.