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Chapter: Trying To Help

"Lindsay!" Danny came racing across the yard to her as she stood waiting at the entrance to the stable. She looked at him anxiously as he stopped in front of her, Ranger's bridle gripped tightly between her hands.

"What did they say? Can they fetch the vet?" she demanded.

He nodded, clutching his hat against his chest, a little out of breath. "They're going to ride into town now to get Dr Hammerback and bring him back here. It won't take them long if they ride fast, and judging by the speed they left the house, they're gonna be riding real fast!"

Her heart fluttered in relief and she sagged against Ranger's side. "Thank you, thank you for going and telling them. What else did they say?"

"Just to keep walking him, not let him lie down, but I guess you knew that already?"

Lindsay smiled quickly at him. "Yes, I did, one of Pa's horses had colic once and we walked him right through the night."

"And he was all right?" Danny asked, putting his hat back on and then shoving his hands into his pockets as he looked closely at her.

The memory of that night came back to Lindsay then, the anxious hours of walking up and down the yard, of how exhausted she had felt by the time the sun crept into the sky, and how her arms and legs felt as they had become lead, it was so hard to move them. She had only been fourteen, but, stubbornly, she had insisted on helping as well. As the sun had risen, finally, her father's horse had taken a turn for the better and she had at that point collapsed in a heap on the ground, crying with relief, when her father's strong arms had picked her up and carried her up to her room.

Lindsay smiled briefly again then at the memory and at Danny's question. "Yes, he was all right, he made a full recovery. In fact, he's still going strong to this day! Pa was real proud of him for recovering."

Danny grinned. "Hey, I like that, your Pa being proud of a horse!" then a darker look crossed his face suddenly and he kicked at the foot of the stable door. "Don't know if my Pa was ever proud of anything, certainly wasn't ever proud of me..." and then he glanced quickly up at her and gave a short laugh. "But that's nothing for you to worry about, sorry, forget I said that."

Lindsay looked curiously at him and sympathy rose in her at his words and what was underlying them. Just for a moment she had caught a glimpse of a very vulnerable heart inside Danny and it was a glimpse she wondered if she would ever see again. She saw a problem inside him too, and when Lindsay saw someone in need of help, she found it very difficult to ignore that. It was clear that Danny was hurting, but she knew she would have to be patient before she could offer what help she could.

For the moment, she laid her hand on his arm for a moment and let her fingers stroke down the coarse material of his shirt. "Don't apologise, Danny. I'd be interested any time to hear about your family."

He looked at her and she saw him weighing up if that was indeed the case, and then he nodded slowly, and she knew that he had seen she was sincere as a smile appeared for a moment on his lips. "That's good to know, thanks. But honestly, you don't want to be hearing about my family. There's nothing to tell anyhow."

His last few words were spoken with more than a hint of defiance and Lindsay recognised the need to tread carefully here, so she turned her head back to Ranger, who was rolling his eyes at them now and snorting softly.

"He all right?" Danny asked, reaching out tentatively to pat his neck. "Only he looks kind of angry..."

Lindsay sighed. "He's in a lot of pain, I guess it's hard to describe colic, but if you can imagine the worst stomach ache you've ever had, and then make that at least ten times worse, then that's how it is for a horse. Don't forget, they've got real big stomachs, so when they hurt, there's a lot to hurt."

"I guess so," Danny winced and patted Ranger again, who wickered and pushed his nose into Danny's shoulder. "Hey boy, you hang in there, okay? 'Cause me and Lindsay here, your Lindsay, we're gonna take care of you till Mac and Stella come back with Dr Hammerback, and he's the guy you're gonna want to see. He'll have all all kinds of stuff that'll fix you up good, make that stomach fine again."

A fresh smile broke across Lindsay's face then at Danny's words and the way Ranger was responding to them. She knew that Danny had been a little wary of her horse when he had first encountered him, and he had confided to her that he had never been as close to a horse before as he had at the Taylors' Ranch. There were horses in the city, so he told her, but he had never had chance to befriend one.

Then she realised that Danny was looking at her with a wondering gleam in his eyes behind his spectacles. "What do you want me to do? Want me to walk around the yard with him for a bit?"
"That would be very helpful, thank you," she smiled, and passed the reins to him as Ranger pranced about. Danny backed up a little bit, but as she soothed him and whispered into his ears, he calmed and Danny took hesitant hold of the reins again. "It's fine, he won't hurt you," she reassured him.

"You sure about that?" Danny raised his eyebrows and gave a nervous look up at Ranger, who rolled his eyes again but kept his feet still.

Lindsay smiled. "Absolutely, trust me."

Nodding, Danny squinted at Ranger. "I do, I do... I just don't know if I trust him... hey, no, I didn't mean that, boy." With a sudden guilty look, he reached up again and patted the horse's neck, a little more confidently this time, and Lindsay smiled to herself, even in the seriousness of the situation.

But her smile disappeared a moment later as Ranger let out what could only be described as a groan and his legs seemed about to buckle.

"Oh no!" she gasped and grabbed the reins back from Danny. "Danny, no, we can't let him lie down, we've got to stop him, he's trying to lie down!"

"Then we're not going to let him!" he grunted and heaved at his side as Lindsay dragged him forward, anxious tears threatening at the back of her eyelids. "Come on, boy, no lying down for you, not for a while yet. Come on, how about you, me and your mistress go for a real nice walk round the yard, huh?"

"Keep him moving!" Lindsay ordered as she heaved on the reins again and Ranger moved forwards a few stops, snorting and protesting, the whites of his eyes showing now. "Ranger, come on! We're taking a walk!"

Pulling and tugging between them, they got Ranger out into the yard and began to lead him round. It was only then that Lindsay realised how bitterly cold it had become. Dressed only in a thin cotton dress and with a light cloak round her shoulders, she began to shiver uncontrollably. A glance up at the sky also alarmed her as she saw a thick mass of clouds come rolling in over the horizon and a yellowish light crept over everything.

"Danny..." she started.

"Snow," he said grimly. "Been here long enough now to know what those clouds mean." He looked at her more closely then, touched her arm and gave an exclamation. "Hey, you're frozen stiff! That ain't gonna do Ranger any good if you freeze solid!"

"Well I'm not going to stop and go back indoors am I?" she retorted.

"Wasn't suggesting you did," he threw back at her, folding his arms across his chest. He was also shivering she saw now as he continued, with his teeth chattering. "If you give me a chance, I'll tell you what I was thinking. If you wait here I'll go get coats for us, something warm anyhow."

She nodded between shivers. "All... all right. I'll keep walking, that's going to keep me warm anyhow."

"Make sure it does," he instructed before taking off towards the house.

Lindsay shuddered and pushed herself forward again even though her feet were now starting to lose all feeling and her hands had gone almost completely dead. She plodded on though and Ranger walked alongside her, letting her know with his occasional whinnies that he was still with her.

"Keep going," she murmured, talking to him as much as herself. "Just keep going, Danny'll be back in a minute, Mac and Stella and Dr Hammerback will be here soon as well..."

"Here." A coat was suddenly around her and Danny's hands were fastening it as he took the reins gently out of her fingers. "Get this on you."

"Thank you," she said and felt how ice cold her lips were now, but the coat and the gloves that Danny had brought her soon had an effect. Even more than the gloves though, Danny's hand wrapped round her free one warmed her beautifully.

For another few minutes she walked Ranger and made another circuit of the yard, and then Danny took a turn and she walked beside him, clasping his hand tightly.

And then the first few flakes began to fall from a sky that had become grey and sallow, the colour of gruel and she shivered again, this time as a realisation came to mind.

She clutched Danny's hand more tightly and he turned to her.

"Danny, the snow, Mac and Stella, they're likely going to be caught right in the middle of it!"
His steps slowed and his face lengthened as the implications of that struck him. "And they had no idea the weather was going to turn, they weren't even wearing proper coats!" his grip increased. "They're in serious danger if they've not stayed in town..."

"If they even reached town," Lindsay groaned. "And there's nothing we can do to help them!"


In a hurry, Mac and Stella had left the farm to head to Hope and fetch Dr Hammerback for curing the sick horse. As Danny had rushed inside, sharing what he and Lindsay had found out about the young woman's horse, they hadn't hesitated a moment to offer support.

More than once, Stella had gotten a chance to speak to Lindsay even though she was aware that still there was a lot the Montanan native hadn't shared with her yet. Still they had a lot of time to get to know each other better and she was determined to use every chance she would get. But anyways one topic that always got Lindsay to talk was her horse Ranger. Many times Stella had listened to the stories the young woman had told her; some amusing, some more serious, but all of them revealing how much the animal meant to her.

Ranger seemed so important that Stella didn't want to imagine what feelings it would cause if the horse wouldn't be alright. Without a wasting a second, she had grabbed Mac's hand, had pulled him with her and left the farm with him towards Hope in a matter of minutes. Their journey had not taken long, riding their horses at a gallop, and once they arrived in the town they had easily found Dr. Hammerback and explained the current situation in short words. At the mention of 'colic', the older man hadn't needed any more information; he had mounted his horse hastily and followed them back out of town. Just a few moments later and the three were on their way back to the farm.

"It was very friendly of you to offer us your help, Dr. Hammerback," Stella let the man know, speaking over her shoulder as she and Mac were riding in front of the vet.

"Oh, any time, Mrs. Taylor," Dr. Hammerback replied with a smile. "Colic is nothing easy to handle for a horse and as I know how much my own one here means to me, I can feel for your friend. She won't have to worry though as we'll cure her horse and then he will be all fine and healthy again."

"That will relieve her," Stella answered satisfied. She glanced over to Mac, surprised by the lack of reaction he had shown to the conversation so far, finding her husband staring ahead with a concerned expression on his face.

"Mac, may I ask you what's concerning you?" she asked softly. Reaching out, she rested a hand on the thick fabric of his coat which he had thrown on before they had left the farm. Gently she squeezed his arm. He turned his attention to his wife, still with the same concerned expression that sent a soft shiver through her body.

"The weather's concerning me, Stel," he answered in a voice filled with worry. "Look ahead, my dear. That doesn't look good for us."

Stella followed his finger that pointed ahead of them. Indeed she found the horizon in a dark shade of grey, caused by the thick clouds that were dangerously spreading across the sky. The sky itself was no longer coloured in the bright blue from earlier, instead it was slowly turning into a shade of yellow that didn't promise anything good. It was then that Stella realised how cold it was; the temperature had to have dropped a couple of degrees during the last couple of minutes. She shuddered as a sudden cold breeze hit her, creeping under the soft fabric of her blouse. Unlike Mac, she hadn't thought about taking any jacket or coat with her, not expecting the formerly warm weather to change easily like that.

"The Montanan weather can be a danger for everyone who isn't fully used to it," Dr Hammerback announced as he wrapped his own coat closer around his tall figure. "All we can do is hope that we arrive before the clouds turn into the blizzard they're promising and we will be caught right in the middle of it."

Mac nodded at the doctor's words. So far they had been glad to not experience the famous harsh changes of weather in this area, but as he had noticed the clouds that were steadily and surprisingly fast spreading across the sky like a train that was rushing towards them, he had known that nothing good was ahead for them. A blizzard could cause serious danger for them if they didn't arrive at the farm before its start or found a shelter. Once again his eyes wandered over to his wife. What he saw caused his worry to increase in a matter of seconds.

"You're freezing, Stel," he said. "Your clothes are no protection against the cold."

"I'm fine, Mac, don't you worry about me, please," Stella replied, offering a smile to her husband. Despite her attempts at not showing it, she couldn't prevent herself from shivering. The wind had increased and the cold was causing her skin to feel numb and icy.

"Don't you tell me not to worry," Mac replied sternly. "You're freezing, I can see that. You'll get sick if you stay unprotected against the cold like that."

"Mr Taylor is right here, Mrs Taylor," Dr Hammerback agreed with Mac. "The sudden cold we get to experience here shouldn't be underrated. Folks tend to do so. All of them end up in the same way."

"And I won't let that happen to you," Mac added. He moved his horse across to hers, freed himself from his coat and wrapped it around Stella's shoulders before she could fight him off.

"Mac!" Stella exclaimed. "You can't ride in nothing else but your shirt and waistcoat!"

"Still my shirt and waistcoat are a lot warmer than the clothes you're wearing, Stel," Mac told her. "You will wear this coat now as I don't want you to freeze out here."

Stella glanced back at Mac, opening her mouth to contradict and explain to him that she didn't want him to freeze either. One fact she had learned during her relationship with the love of her life; they had a lot in common. Both of them were stubborn and in situations like this, it wasn't easy for either of them to back off. They wanted to protect each other, always had and always would.

They had to face a lot together, had to pass many hindrances to get married. More than ever they wanted to make sure their beloved partner was alright. Stella knew Mac wouldn't take his coat back, no matter what she would try to convince him. It was an inner fight she had to handle, but she knew this time she would have to listen to her husband.

Feeling herself still shuddering in discomfort, Stella allowed her eyes to travel ahead of them, the sight she got concerning her just as much as it had worried Mac moments earlier. It seemed like in a matter of minutes the bright afternoon had changed into dark late evening. There was no sunshine finding its way down at the three travelers anymore. Surrounded they were by dark grey clouds that seemed to approached from all four directions. The wind was slowly changing into a storm, causing the trees that were edging the small road to bend dangerously.

"We should hurry," Dr Hammerback shouted against the roaring of the wind. "Either we might have to try to find a shelter or we should hurry to arrive at your farm."

Mac and Stella exchanged a short look at the doctor's words. Both of them were mirroring each other's expression; an expression of pure concern. It was the first drastic change of weather they were facing and they had just gotten caught right in the middle of it. Mentally they prayed that they would arrive at the farm in time. It was then that they looked upwards, in time to see the first snowflakes fall.


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