Blazing the Trail (Sunshine & Shadow Book 5) (7 page)

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll take Chinook to the creek. I won’t
be gone long.”

April knew Hailey was watching her go. She
unlocked Chinook’s door and slipped inside, sliding her hand up under his mane
and feeling him tremble. She slid her bridle over his nose and led him from the
stall. Once in the aisle, she hoisted herself onto his wide back.

“Get me out of here,” she murmured,
touching her calves to the horse’s sides and feeling his muscles bunch. She
gripped with her knees and wrapped a section of his mane around her hand.
Leaning forward, the big pinto pushed himself forward into a gallop, and left
the barn, heading down the driveway. April glanced over her shoulder and saw
Kip and Hailey rushing towards her.

“April!” Kip called.

April looked back the way she was going
and squeezed her legs tighter, sending Chinook faster through the snow. She
narrowed her eyes against the onslaught of snow that was still settling from
the truck’s path and felt her horse slow once they were out of sight of the house.

“Come on, buddy,” she murmured. “Let’s go
to the creek.”

The creek trail was one of her favorite
rides. The water was always crystal clear, allowing her to see the giant rocks
that lined the bed, and though cold, there were perfect swimming holes dotted
along the stretch that touched the Blue Haven property line.

Chinook touched the fresh powder and traipsed
through it, slowing and beginning to breathe hard. April patted him on the
neck. She relaxed into the warmth of his back and zipped her jacket up higher.
The wind had a bite to it, turning her cheeks a crimson color.

Overhead, an eagle soared, looking for
something to eat in the quiet, winter landscape. He called out, and April
admired the sound.

She watched the trees go by as they rode,
laden with snow and ice, the branches touching the ground in places. Underneath
the boughs were warm spots of bare earth, where the heavy, white blanket
couldn’t reach, providing little refuge for the deer and other animals that
called the forest home. Up ahead, she could hear the creek gurgling. She urged
Chinook into a trot, and the horse moved up the trail quietly, choosing his
path carefully.

The creek appeared, bordered by snow, but
just as April knew it would be; clear and beautiful. She scanned the rocks as
they rode past, searching for the golden ones she used to find when she was a
little girl, imagining they were worth millions of dollars. She spotted a few
and smiled to herself.

Suddenly time seemed to freeze. Chinook
stopped in his tracks. As April glanced forward, she lost her breath.

There, in front of her, standing
stock-still was a fully-grown, crouched, mountain lion.

The cougar’s eyes were wild, depraved. He
opened his mouth, his lips curling over his long, sharp teeth, and he growled.
The sound sent shivers down April’s spine and Chinook spun on his haunches.
April grappled for a hold of his mane and managed to keep herself upright. The
horse leapt into action and the world snapped back into focus for April.

She wanted to close her eyes; she knew she
could be of no help to Chinook. The best thing she could do was let him choose
his own path and allow his flight instinct to overtake his obedience to her. He
flew through the forest, leaving the creek behind.

April could hear the lion’s snorts behind
them and prayed they could get back to the ranch before he caught up. Chinook
ducked and dove through the thick brush, forcing April to drop to his neck and
wrap her arms around it. She lost her hold on his reins and the leather strap
flapped as the horse ran

The world seemed silent to her at that
moment, the only sounds were her own heartbeat, and the heavy breathing of her
horse. She opened her eyes, looking at the trees flying past, and wondered
where they were. She didn’t recognize this stretch of forest.

Chinook’s coat was slick with sweat,
causing April to lose her hold and slide to the right as he ducked around a
fallen tree. She clambered and found a section of hair. Pulling herself back
upright, she searched the forest ahead of them for any sign of the driveway or
the lodge. She could see a clearing through the trees and gripped Chinook’s
sides harder. She didn’t think it would make any difference; he was already
running for his life.

As the trees broke, she could see the
creek again on their right. April heard a scream, and after a moment, realized
it had come from her. The cat echoed a screech behind her and she prayed again.
She didn’t just pray for her own life; she prayed for the life of her horse,
the animal that was risking his own life by not dumping her on the ground and
continuing on. April knew how much faster a horse could run without a rider.

Something triggered inside April’s mind.
She recalled her dad’s conversation with their neighbor Bill. And when she saw
the snow ahead had been disturbed by something, in a line towards the creek,
she remembered what her dad had said about the beavers...

“Chinook, no!” April closed her eyes as
the horse stumbled in the redirected water.

She was thrown over his shoulder, landing
hard in the freezing water. She tumbled, and as she was brought back to the
surface by the surging current, she heard her horse scream. She fought against
the powerful water, feeling the ice hit her veins and freeze all the way up her
spine. She kicked out, trying to find balance on the slippery rocks beneath
her, but the current was too strong, and the water was too deep.

Her head broke through the surface and she
saw a splash behind her. “Chinook!” she screamed.

She went under again, trying to inhale as
much air as possible, but getting a lungful of ice water instead. She coughed,
spluttered, against the heavy freeze that had set deep in her lungs. She
couldn’t breathe. She tried to open her eyes, but was faced with the churning
bubbles and the grey water that had always looked so clear from above.

She tried to swim but her arms wouldn’t
work. Her limbs were numbed by the cold and she felt her eyes drift shut for a
second. The only sound she could hear was her own heartbeat, sounding like gunshots
in her mind.

She watched the water churn ahead of her
and could see a fallen tree leaning off the riverbed. She reached for it. As
the branches touched her numb skin, she grabbed them and managed to stop her
relentless journey to a frozen death. With her last ounce of strength, she
pulled herself higher up the tree, until her head broke the surface, the ice
water splashing in her eyes.

“Help!” she cried, her voice going.

She heaved herself until her torso lay
over the trunk of the tree, closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She couldn’t
hear anything over the roar of the river. She had no strength left.

Suddenly, something warm touched her arm,
and she was moving. Panic hit her heart and she struggled.

“It’s okay! It’s okay!” A man looked down
at her. “I got ya.”

April felt her eyes close again. “Kip...”
she murmured, her lips numb like the rest of her. “Kip...find...Chinook.”

“It’s okay. We’ll find him. I got ya.”

April felt the cold numbness of
unconsciousness hit her, and she slipped away into darkness, wrapped in Kip’s
arms.

April’s mind was spinning. She was stuck
between a dream and reality and she didn’t know how to pull herself out of it.
She could hear screaming, but it was like there were cotton-balls in her ears,
muffled. She felt the water on her cheeks, ice cold, numbing her. She struggled
against it.

Chinook.

She turned her head, wishing she could see
past the dark mask that was over her eyes. She heard frantic snorts and a
panicked whinny.

“No!” she gasped.

Her eyes opened to the dimness of her
bedroom. Her head whipped around and she spotted Kip asleep in the armchair
beside her, snoring softly. She inhaled, and on the exhale, unconsciousness
took her again.

When she woke again, her eyes opened
clearly, and she gasped as the air hit her lungs. Nausea erupted up her throat
and she flipped onto her side, grabbing her wastepaper basket and vomiting
water into it. She let the air leave her body in a sigh and felt someone touch
her back. She flinched, and her head shot up.

“Easy, it’s just me,” Kip said.

April rolled onto her back, covering her
mouth. She closed her eyes and coughed, moaning as the pain shot through her
throat.

“You okay?”

She looked at him. “What happened?” Sudden
realization hit her. She sat up quickly, throwing the blanket off her legs.
“Chinook!” she exclaimed. “I have to find Chinook!” Her voice was rough.

“Hey, hey!” Kip pushed her back down as
she collapsed in a coughing fit, wincing as her raw throat complained. “He’s
fine. We found him.”

“Is he...?”

“Not a mark on him. He’s shook up, but
he’ll be okay. He’s a fighter, that mustang of yours.”

“I have to go see him...”

Kip kept his hands on her shoulders,
refusing to let her up. “You can later. But for now, you need to rest.”

When she relented, Kip leaned back,
resting his elbows on his knees. “April...” he murmured. He looked up at her,
his eyes full of pain. “What happened?”

“The lion...he spooked Chinook and when he
ran...” She gripped her throat.

Kip touched her hip. “It’s okay if you
can’t.”

April shook her head. “I’m fine. The
cougar chased us, and Chinook stumbled...in the creek. I fell...and...the
current...” Tears began to roll down April’s cheeks. She gasped. “I couldn’t
move. I couldn’t breathe. I thought I was going to die...”

“Hey. Shh. It’s okay,” Kip murmured. He
slipped into the bed beside her and pulled her close. April leaned her head on
his chest. For the first time in a long time, she relaxed.  “We saw the lion on
the driveway when we got home. I tried to stop you...”

“How did you know where I was?”

“Hailey told me you were going to the creek,
and from there I could hear you. I just couldn’t see you.”

“How did we...get back?”

“Charger. Didn’t put a foot wrong the
whole way back.” Kip looked down at her, leaning his forehead on hers. “You
didn’t move,” he said, his voice shaking. “Your lips...Your lips were blue,
April, and you...you didn’t say anything.”

April looked at him. “My parents?”

“Oh yeah, I thought your mom was gonna
have a heart-attack. Hailey called the hospital and a doctor came and checked
you over. They’re downstairs right now.”

April looked at the bright window, her
head pounding. She closed her eyes. “How long was I...?”

“It was only yesterday. You slept all
night, which is good. The doctor said you needed rest and lots of fluids. He
didn’t think you had hypothermia, which is good. But you were right on the
edge, April. Why did you do it? Why’d you take off?”

April’s cheeks flamed. She swallowed, her
throat closing around the movement.

“I was...I’m...” She looked up at him, her
eyes wide. “Where’s Danielle?”

Kip sighed. “She went home.”

April didn’t say anything.

“I mean for good. I couldn’t do it, April.
I don’t know what it is about you, but you’ve got your hooks in me deep.”

“So do you,” April murmured.

Kip frowned. “You...?”

She nodded, looked at her hands as they
wove their way to his. Gripping his fingers, she was overcome by the warmth in
his skin. She touched his palm to her cheek, closing her eyes.

“Ah, I missed this,” she said.

Kip kissed her forehead.

“I love you,” she murmured.

He put his curved finger under her chin
and tilted her face up. She kept her eyes closed.

“April...open your eyes.”

April shook her head.

“Fine.”

She felt his breath on her skin a moment
before his lips touched hers. She hesitated, and then her mouth moved against
his with a sudden ferocity.
He wound his hand behind
her head and held her close.

“I
really
love
you,” April said, when their lips parted for a second.

Kip pulled away and
looked into her eyes. “I...really...love you too. Forever.”

Kip was her missing
piece, the key to open the lock to her soul, and with his lips on hers, April
felt like she could do anything.
Softly, lovingly, they kissed. They breathed their souls
and their love into each other. That kiss; hard, but soft; fiery but cool; it
lasted a second but to April it seemed to last forever.

A wave of total peace and serenity overwhelmed her. She let the
feeling flow through her and she kissed him with everything she had, holding
him like she never wanted to let go. She felt his hands grip her waist as he
tried to pull her closer, kissing back fervently, passionately.

Together they lost track of time and space completely. In that
moment, they knew each other  
undoubtedly,
irrevocably joined as one, never to be separated. His lips spoke love, and hers
spoke forever.

The following day, she
had been outside once, when no-one was looking. She had to see if Chinook was
okay. Finding him in his stall, he looked over at her, nickering. Her eyes had
filled with tears and she swallowed the sob that rose in her throat. She
stroked down his face and he nibbled her fingers, looking for treats. Kip found
her.

“April…I thought I told
you to stay inside.”

“You did, but I…”

“Get your ass back on
that couch!”

She was then placed on
the couch with her book and forbidden to move. Kip was feeding her continuous
tea, trying to warm her up from the inside. The truth was, the only thing that
seemed to help was when he sat beside her, and she was able to snuggle into his
warmth. He was like her sun, heating her soul. April rested on the couch
downstairs, in front of a roaring fireplace. She let her hand stroke the soft
pages of her book, feeling the words transport her to another place entirely.
She sighed.