Kim turned on the radio as she drove along the quiet road, and soon reached the barn his horses were boarded at, Mountain Pine Stable. She wouldn't have gone quite so far as to call the surrounding terrain mountainous, but it was at least resplendent with conifers, and admittedly hillier than her land. The ambience as warm and welcoming - a true family stable, though few people were left at the barn at this late hour. Most had put away their horses for the day, but a few stragglers here and there were hoping to steal a bit more time with their animals.
She parked the car and entered the barn in search of Tommy Oliver. They had reconnected when she left gymnastics, her supposed storybook relationship fallen through, and after graduating from college he had followed her out here, taking up residence in an apartment. Their mutual past involvement with horses was only one of the surprises she had discovered in their second time around together.
She found him – where else? – in a stall, polishing the already gleaming red coat of his horse, Rebelage, the Quarter Horse gelding who was not only his Western games pride and joy but also a superb trail navigator. Kim approached quietly, just taking in the sight of the man working. They had been together for years, but she still savored moments like this, long hair backlit to gleaming by the sun coming through the window, the muscles of his arms tight and defined.
He ducked under the horse's neck to set the grooming brushes back, and that was when he caught sight of her. She blushed, moderately embarrassed to be seen standing there, but he only winked. He'd been guilty of watching her a time or two, after all.
"Howdy," he said warmly. The corners of her mouth tugged up as she stepped up to give him a quick kiss.
"And who am I riding today?" she asked. "If you're going to make a lady drive herself all the way out here, I should hope you at least did her the courtesy of prepping her horse."
In response, he nodded at the cross-ties around the corner. Catching a glimpse of pale gray hide, she put her hands on her hips in exasperation. "Not the plug again."
"He's the only one available on short notice. And Alabaster is not a plug," Tommy replied almost primly. "He is a steady, surefooted, dependable riding horse."
"With a thick neck and a Roman nose," she pointed out. "And I swear, if you mention one more time how his grandsire was a Lippizan Schooling Stallion…" Kim gave up, knowing it was useless to argue with him any further. Instead, she went over to the gelding and scratched his forehead. He snorted by way of greeting, and she gently blew a "hello" back. Despite her complaints about his conformation, he was well muscled, and his nearly white coat, complemented by a black muzzle, was soft and sleek. Still, he was no Sassy, she thought. Tommy's other horse, her usual mount at the stable, was a lovely sorrel overo Paint mare. Unfortunately, at the moment, Sassy Lady's Demise was heavily pregnant with a future foal, and Kim had been stuck riding stable-owned animals like Alabaster here for the past few months.
At least Tommy had tacked him for her. Despite her preference for English, Tommy's horses, like all the others at this barn, were Western-trained mounts, and for the sake of simplicity she followed suit when she was with him. Slipping the horse a piece of carrot – not that he needed it – she double-checked the contents of the saddlebag and then undid the lead ropes and led him outside, where Tommy was already waiting.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Giddy up, cowboy," she replied, kicking her horse into the lead. Tommy followed behind her, and the pair disappeared into the woods.
As the sun was due to set in a little over an hour, they chose one of the shorter trails. As long as you were in a well-lit part of the woods, where the canopy wasn't as thick, late evening was one of the prettiest times to ride. Most of the bugs had cleared away, and the evening pests weren't quite out yet. Admiring the dim sunlight dappling the leaves, they walked on through the warm summer woods more or less in silence, finally stopping on a high ridge overlooking the valley below, standing side by side to gaze at the setting sun. It was very soothing; time had a frozen quality, even as darkness fell around them.
"Guess we'd better get back," Tommy said, finally breaking the quiet between them. "News said thunderstorms were due after sunset."
"Now you tell me!" she asked incredulously, swiveling her head sharply to fix him with an accusing stare. "You know I have to have Flame inside; he'll jump the fence if I leave him out in that kind of weather."
He looked apologetic. "Sorry…I didn't know he was that bad."
"No, not your fault…I didn't tell you. And I really should be watching the news myself," she admitted.
"We can take a shortcut," Tommy offered. "Found it a couple of weeks ago, I just haven't had a reason to cut a ride short yet." Sliding past her, he took over the lead while she squeezed her horse's sides and followed behind him.
A minute or so after angling onto a side trail, he motioned her to a stop. "Here, see? We can slice at least ten minutes off the return trip if we go down this hill."
Kim walked Alabaster over to get a better view. She frowned. "Don't be stupid."
"What?" he asked defensively. "Just because you ride through flat prairie all day doesn't mean I haven't done some exploring. Reb and I have gone down much steeper than this."
"Please don't tell me that," she sighed, taking another peek at the treacherously sharp incline.
Tommy dismounted and tested the ground with his foot. It remained firm, without even a little telltale shifting to give it away. "Tell you what. I'll go first, and we'll wait for you at the bottom. Okay?"
Kim sighed and bit the inside of her lip. Despite the nagging voice in her head, she really wanted to get home as quickly as possible. There was no question that Flame – a trained show jumper – would pop right over the four-foot wooden fence if he were sufficiently frightened, and she didn't relish another cross-country search for a loose horse. It had been nerve-wracking enough the first time. So, against her better judgment, she agreed.
Hopping back in the saddle, Tommy clucked to Rebelage, and the obedient gelding began picking his way down the slope. Watching, Kim held her breath at first, but slowly began to relax. They had made it halfway down the slope without so much as a loose clump of dirt…no, a misstep!
Kim's eyes grew wide and the scream lodged in her throat. She watched, helpless, as the horse slipped on a stone, pitched forward, and began falling, taking the man she loved with him.
Get help. She tried to turn her horse around, but she was overeager in her command, and as he spun tightly, he lost his footing and began scrambling headfirst down the slope. This time Kim really did scream as her horse was forced to run faster and faster to stay upright. She closed her eyes and dug her fingers into his mane, opening them just in time to see the lake rushing up to greet her. Her first thought was that at least it would slow them down…but Alabaster, with his irrational fear of water, threw himself sideways to avoid it. Though his velocity broke almost to a standstill, he still slipped and went down hard on his haunches in the shallow water, tossing Kim off.
The wind was knocked out of her, but not badly, and the worst of her problems were a few scrapes on her hands and knees. The horse looked bewildered by his body's strange position for a minute, then clambered to his feet and shook himself, apparently unharmed. She hugged him in relief.
At that instant a flash of lightning split the sky, quickly followed by an enormous roll of thunder. Alabaster reared and whinnied in terror, completely oblivious as one of his enormous, iron-shod hooves punched her in the chest. She flew backwards and landed with her outstretched arm cracking against the ground. Her head struck a glancing blow, opening a gash above her eye. Watching his white shape take off at full speed, she lost consciousness.