The day dawned clear and bright over the pine hollow riding stables. Max Regnery the owner of the stables was up with the sun. So was Red O'Malley the head stable hand they began the chores of feeding the horses and getting ready for the day's activities. As Red was making his rounds checking on the horses he discovered a new horse. It was a beautiful white Arabian stallion.
"Hey, Max, "he said, "Who is this?" Max came walking down the aisle between the stalls he broke into a smile when he saw the horse.
"That is Wind Dancer," said Max, "he belongs to Dana Bennett she's the daughter of, Nathan Bennett, an old school buddy of mine." Red's eyes widened
"The famous Dr. Nathan Bennett is an old friend of yours!" he said Max nodded
"Dana and Wind Dancer arrived last night after you had turned in," said Max, "so I took care of it. Dana came here instead of going to the medical conference with her father."
Lisa Carole and Stevie, the illustrious Saddle Club were in the middle of tacking up their horses when Dana walked by leading Wind Dancer.
"Oh what a beautiful horse!" Lisa gushed.
"Thank you," said Dana with a smile, "his name is Wind Dancer." the girls gathered around and introduced themselves to Dana and Wind Dancer. They invited Dana to ride with them. They led their horse out of the stables once out side the mounted up and started out toward their favorite trail talking as they went.
"Who was that girl with the blonde hair and the bad attitude?" asked Dana
"That's Veronica DiAngelo," Said Stevie, "she's just your typical spoiled rich brat. Don't let her get to you." as Stevie said this she stuck her right hand into her pocket looking for her bag of jelly beans. Instead she found a note, it read,
Stevie,
Meet me at High Rock Point I have a surprise for you,
Yours, Phil
Stevie broke into a smile,
"Look's like I'm going to high rock point!" when they reached the fork in the trail Stevie steered Belle toward the left fork.
"I'll see you guys' later." with that the she brought Belle to a canter. Not one of them noticed two smirking faces that were watching Stevie from behind a tree.
"She bought the note hook line and sinker," snickered Kristy
"Yeah," said Veronica, "and by the time she figures out that the note was fake she'll have already made a fool of herself."
10 minutes Later Stevie reached top of high rock point she sat in the saddle looking out over the valley. In front of her was a sheer rock faced cliff if someone fell over it they wouldn't stop until they either hit the bottom or the wide ledge that was about 24 feet down the face of the cliff. Stevie turned bell and started toward the trees. Suddenly there was a loud metallic snap. Belle cried out and reared violently and Stevie was thrown from the Saddle, she hit the ground hard and the force of her momentum carried her over the side of the cliff. The last thing she saw was the ledge coming toward her.
Belle had fallen on to her side and was still trying to get free of the merciless grip of the steel trap that she had stepped in.
Suddenly two hands gripped the trap and pulled it open. The two hands that had pulled the trap open belonged to a teenaged boy who appeared to be about fifteen years-old. Behind him stood his horse a white Arabian stallion.
"Easy girl," he said as the horse stood up, "Let's take a look at that leg of yours." he started toward her leg but she backed away. He tried again but she backed away each time.
"What's the matter with you girl," the boy said gently, "you seem to know that I'm not going to head toward the edge of the cliff. The boy walked to the cliff and peered over the edge. As soon as he did he caught sight of Stevie who lay unconscious on the ledge below.
"So that's it," said the boy with a nod of understanding, "you figure that your young mistress down there is hurt worse than you are so you want me to stop worrying about you and start worrying about her." Belle nodded. He patted Belle on the neck,
"Don't worry girl," he said, "I'll tend to your Mistress." with that he turned and stepped over the edge of the cliff and dropped the 24 feet too the ledge. He landed the jump like it was nothing and walked over to Stevie. He looked her over carefully. Suddenly glowing electric green rings seem to appear in the back of the boys eyes. They stayed there for several seconds then they disappeared.
"She's lucky," he said to himself, "all she broke was her wrist, and because of that helmet the concussion is minor. It's a good thing that max always had that rule about no riding with out a helmet."
The boy reached and pulled Stevie's tennis shoes off of her and used them to splint her wrist. Then slipping his hand under her he picked her up like it didn't take any effort.
Stevie moaned slightly and began to regain consciousness. She opened her eyes to find herself cradled in the arms of a very handsome boy. As she began to fade into semi consciousness she felt the boy's muscles tense and release. The next time she opened her eyes she was fully conscious and at the top of the cliff. She looked up and sapphire blue eyes met chocolate brown ones. The chocolate browns turned up in a kind smile.
"Hi," she said shyly.
"Hi," he said
"What happened?" she said becoming aware of the throbbing in her body.
"Well," he said with a mischievous smile, "it seems that gravity just tried to kill you!"
"Belle my horse," Stevie screeched, "Is she alright what happened, why did she rear like that?"
"Well," Said the boy, "it seems that she stepped in a steel trap. She's going to be just fine though, it wasn't a saw-toothed trap so the wound is really nothing more than a cut on her leg. An antibiotic shot and a day or two to rest and she'll be as good as new." the boy put Stevie down and walked over to Belle and looked at the cut.
"She wouldn't let me bother with her wound until I got you up off that ledge." he said over his shoulder as he tied a clean handkerchief around the wound. "You've got yourself a good horse here."
Max and other girls came running out to meet Stevie when she emerged from the woods leading Belle. Max called the vet for Belle then took Stevie to the hospital to have a proper cast put on her wrist. Her thoughts raced as she thought back over the events of the day.
How did he get me up off that ledge? I never saw any rope. I remember one thing though it felt like he contracted his body slightly then released it. It was like a person does when they're going to jump. But he couldn't have jumped; nobody could have jumped 24 feet straight up by themselves let alone with someone in their arms.
Later as the girls sat in the lounge Stevie told her story. Veronica was incredulous,
"Do you honestly expect us to believe that some dream boat on a white horse came to your rescue?" Veronica sneered before she turned and walked out of the room.
"Surely you believe me," Stevie said to Carole and Lisa, they shifted nervously in their seats.
Stevie threw up her hands,
"Oh great," she snapped, "My best friends don't even believe me!"
"Well," said Lisa, "you have to admit that it does seem a little far fetched."
Stevie didn't say anything she just turned and stomped from the room. She didn't stop until she reached Belle's stall.
"They don't believe me, Belle." she sniffled.
Meanwhile back in the lounge Dana who had been listening from the kitchen placed her index finger on her chin.
"A handsome brown-haired hero in blue denim," she thought, "that description sounds suspiciously familiar."
After her riding lesson Stevie struck out on her own trying to find her mysterious benefactor. She search every inch of the trail, but couldn't find a thing.
Just then as she rounded a corner in the trail she came face to face with Clay and Sledge a couple of unsightly characters who worked for Barton Powell a business tycoon who own a chemical plant and several race horses. Around Pine Hollow it was a known fact that Max and Red didn't like Powell or anyone associated with him. Before Stevie could react one of them grabbed belles halter.
"Well, well," Sneered sledge, "What do we have here?"
"A Pine Hollow girl," sneered his buddy in response.
"And a pretty one too," said Sledge
"Maybe we should keep her." Clay said with an evil leer. They started at her.
"Leaver her alone!" snapped another voice.
"Who said that!" snapped Sledge looking around.
"Look up." The voice said. When sledge looked up he saw a teenage boy reclining on a tree on a wide tree limb some thirty feet above them.
"Leave her alone." said the boy, "unless you want me to come down there and start busting heads!"
"I'd like to see you try it!" Jeered Sledge the boy shrugged and pushed off the limb that was sitting on. He dropped the thirty feet to the ground, landing the jump like it was nothing. Clay and sledge were taken back by this, but only temporarily. Clay strode up to the boy and swung for the boy's face. Stevie cringed expecting to see the boy go down. Instead with a lightning fast move he caught Clay's fist in the palm of his hand. Clay, enraged at having his punch stopped so easily, swung with his other fist. The boy ducked under the punch, grabbed Clay by the belt and the scruff of the neck and threw him on top of sledge. Before the two roughnecks could get back on their feet the boy pulled them up by their collars and banged their heads together. They slumped to the ground unconscious. The boy brushed himself off and shrugged.
"They can't say that I didn't warn them." He said
He turned to Stevie,
"Are you alright, Miss?" he asked
"Y-Yes," Stevie stammered, shaking herself out of her daze, "I'm Levie Stake, I-I mean Stevie Lake." She looked down at the saddle as the color rose in her cheeks
Why did he have to be so darned handsome? She thought. When she looked the boy was nowhere to be seen.
"He did it to me again!" Stevie groaned
Will the girls at pine hollow ever believe Stevie?
TBC
Would should meet our mysterious hero next should it be Stevie again or one of the other girls?
What does Dana the New girl know?
Let me know what you think, help me write the story.
Scottsman