Brumby Mountain (2 page)

‘No!' they said in unison.

‘Suit yourself,' Lawson muttered, and he disappeared down the stable aisle.

‘Oh my God, come and look at this!' Grace yelled from somewhere outside. ‘Where's Jess?'

Luke groaned. ‘We should go help them.'

‘No we shouldn't.'

‘Yes we should.'

‘No we shouldn't.'

‘You're right, we shouldn't.'

Jess sighed. ‘We probably should.'

‘No we shouldn't.'

Jess laughed and reached for the stable door. The questions could wait. ‘Coming!' she called. She looked at Luke and felt a rush of excitement. ‘Let's get them unloaded!'

2

LUKE'S ENTHUSIASM DIDN'T
seem to match Jess's. Something of a warning flashed across his face. Jess looked at him with surprise. ‘What's wrong?'

‘Those brumbies were caught by brumby-runners. Lawson didn't want to take them, they were too . . .' Luke paused, as though lost for a description, ‘ . . . bad.'

‘What do you mean?'

At that moment, Lawson rolled the back door of the stock crate to one side and Jess saw the four horses inside. They were brumbies all right, with rolling eyes and wild, snorty nostrils. Their flanks were hollow and their hips poked out like coathangers. ‘See what you mean,' she said.

‘John's on his way over,' said Luke. ‘I already rang him.'

Jess nodded approval. John Duggin was the local vet.

As she looked over the brumbies her pity turned to shock. There were two mares, one bay and one creamy white, with swollen, cut legs. A buckskin foal had welts around its neck that looked like rope burns, and large patches of skin off its face.

The fourth was a palomino stallion, tall and well-built, but his tail, Jess noticed, was stripped of hair and had sores all over it. It hung crookedly to one side. ‘His tail's broken.'

‘Look at his
face
,' said Shara, joining her in the doorway. The entire side of the stallion's face was one nasty wound, with pus seeping out of it. Even more startling were his eyes, like ice-blue sapphires.

Jess stared. There was something unnerving about those arctic eyes. They were strangely human, and somehow drew her deep inside the wretched creature's soul.

‘Shame they ran him,' said Lawson, hopping up onto the side of the truck and looking in. ‘He'd have been a good horse.'

‘Ran him? What do you mean?' asked Grace.

‘They chase them with horses and dogs until they're exhausted. When they catch a brumby, they tie its head and tail to the side of a truck and drive away, dragging it alongside. It's the only way they can get them out of the bush. There's no way they could get them up a ramp.'

‘He must have fought really hard,' added Luke, ‘for his tail to be broken like that.' He looked away.

‘How could anyone
do
that?' whispered Jess.

‘Makes you sick, doesn't it,' said Luke. ‘Angry, too. I could—' He bit off the rest of what he was about to say. ‘Step back and give them some space,' he said instead, hopping down off the rails. ‘They're a bit freaked out.'

The brumbies huddled in a corner. ‘They don't know what gateways are,' said Luke.

‘We should draft out the stallion to start with,' said Lawson. ‘He needs a vet, big time.' He leaned over the side of the trailer and tapped at the stallion with a long hollow pole. The horse pinned its ears back and lunged, smashing against the truck wall with a deafening clatter.

Lawson swore and leapt off the side of the truck.

‘They're going to hurt themselves even more if we don't get them out quickly,' said Jess. ‘How long have they been in there?'

‘Too long,' said Lawson. He looked towards the stables. ‘We need a coacher – a domestic horse to show them the way out.' His eyes came back to Jess. ‘You bring that filly over today?'

‘Opal?'

He nodded.

‘I'm not putting her in there!'

‘You don't have to,' he said. ‘Just lead her to the bottom of the ramp, to show them where to go.'

‘That stallion would kill her!' She glared at Lawson. ‘Put your own horse in there!'

‘Mine's too old. We need a young horse – one that's submissive, non-threatening.' He held her gaze. ‘A filly.'

Jess shook her head and folded her arms firmly across her chest. ‘Not a chance!'

‘What about in the mares' paddock?' suggested Luke. ‘Are any of Biyanga's foals handled?'

‘Only the colts,' said Jess. ‘They came up to be gelded. None of the fillies leads very well yet.'

As she spoke, one of the mares squealed and kicked out at the metal walls with a crashing blow. It stirred the whole mob up. They scrambled up the side, threatening to jump out.

‘They won't hurt her, Jess,' said Luke. ‘Brumbies are different to domestic horses. They have different instincts.'

Jess looked at the wild animals in the back of the truck and snorted. ‘Yeah, I can see that!'

The brumbies gradually settled again and everyone seemed to go quiet. Jess looked around and noticed that everyone was staring at her, saying nothing.

‘What?' she demanded.

‘Nothing,' said Grace.

‘Jess—' Shara broke off.

Tom looked away.

Lawson was still eyeballing her. Luke turned to her pleadingly.

She gave him a pained look. For the first twelve months of Opal's life the filly had been racked with illness and there'd been times when Jess had thought she wouldn't survive. How could Luke ask her to put Opal at risk again? ‘She's been through enough. She's only just come good. If she got hurt again . . . ' ‘They won't hurt her.'

‘They will.'

‘She only needs to walk onto the ramp and come out again. She doesn't have to go all the way in there.'

‘Oh my God, the bay one's fallen over,' Grace suddenly shouted. ‘They're standing on her!'

‘Okay, okay,' Jess jumped off the fence and raced for the stables.

‘Opal,' she called softly.

Jess took the rope from the hook on the wall and walked calmly to the filly, slipping it around her neck and pulling her away. ‘We need your help, girl.'

Lawson stood at the gate to the yards, holding it open for her. ‘Do you want me to take her in there?'

‘No,' she said, giving him an
as-if
look. He rolled his eyes.

Jess led Opal into the yards and Lawson closed the gate behind her. The ground was muddy and churned up. The filly put her nose down and sniffed.

‘Can you get her to walk up there?' asked Lawson, nodding towards the ramp.

‘In a minute,' Jess said, not wanting to be rushed. She wasn't sure if Opal could even do this. She had only ever trained her at home, never in strange surroundings.

She led Opal to the truck, gave a quiet cluck and pointed up the ramp. ‘Walk up.' Opal put one hoof out and placed it cautiously on the metal. It was different to the timber one at home, making a clanging noise instead of a thud. She scuttled backwards.

Jess brought her back to the ramp. ‘Walk up,' she repeated. After a few more attempts, she managed to get Opal to put her front hooves on the loading ramp. The filly stretched out her neck and peered into the truck, sniffing curiously.

The creamy mare clattered across the truck with her ears pricked.

No one else made a sound. Grace and Shara were crouched behind the fence, out of the way, watching through the lower rails. The boys stood well back. Opal took another step up the ramp. Jess glanced anxiously at Lawson.

He made a quiet gesture and nodded. ‘Let her go in,' he mouthed.

Jess shook her head. ‘No,' she mouthed back.

He scowled.

She tugged softly on the rope, asking Opal to back out again, but the filly pulled against it and walked another few steps up the ramp. She sniffed some more. The creamy mare sniffed in return, with short, anxious puffs. Opal champed her gums like a baby foal and lowered her head. The mare snorted and put her ears back.

‘Let her go,' Lawson whispered.

‘No way!' Jess hissed. She gave another tug. But Opal clambered the rest of the way up the ramp and into the truck, yanking the rope through Jess's hand and giving her a scorching burn. Jess mouthed a few choice words and shook her hand, trying to lessen the pain.

‘Told you to let go,' Lawson said.

At that moment, the creamy mare squealed.

Opal clattered back down the ramp, but before she could get out Lawson leaned over and grabbed her by the mane. ‘Whoa!' He looked at Jess pleadingly. ‘Just a few more seconds.'

Jess held Opal on the ramp, waiting, as Lawson backed away. Within a minute the creamy mare appeared at the gateway.

‘Lead her down,' Lawson whispered.

Jess called Opal softly and brought her down the ramp, then walked her briskly to the exit gate.

‘Not yet,' called Lawson. ‘Wait.'

‘Stuff that,' said Jess, reaching for the latch and letting herself through. ‘She's done enough.'

Safely inside the forcing yard, Jess exhaled loudly and gave Opal a pat. ‘Clever girl!' She looked at Luke. ‘Did you see that? How good was she?'

He smiled and nodded towards the yard. ‘Look!'

She spun around to see the creamy mare making her way down the ramp, snorting suspiciously. The other horses followed and soon all four were together in the holding yard.

Grace hooted loudly, making them all spook again. ‘Way to go, Opal!'

There were more cheers from her friends. Even Lawson was smiling.

But Jess knew it wasn't time to smile yet. It would be a long time before those horses understood that they'd just been saved. She wasn't even sure herself if they
had
been saved, or just drawn further into a world that they clearly didn't want to be a part of.

‘I'm going to get some hay for them,' said Grace, running towards the feed shed.

Shara ran after her. ‘Wait for me!'

Jess felt Luke's arm slip around her waist. ‘Thanks, Jessy.'

She looked up at him. ‘They are some seriously messed-up horses, Luke. What are you guys going to do with them?'

‘Tame them.' He gave her a comical look that was laced with uncertainty. ‘Somehow . . .'

‘Do you think that's even possible?' She watched the four brumbies slamming up against each other in the corner of the yard. ‘How are you
ever
going to convince them that humans are their friends after what they've been through? Horses never forget bad treatment. It just seems . . . like mission impossible.'

‘That's the sad part,' said Luke. ‘It's
not
if you trap them properly. You'll see when we get the next lot.'

‘The
next
lot?' said Jess, horrified. ‘You mean there are
more
?'

‘Only another six,' said Luke. ‘Lawson bought them.'

‘
Only
. . . another six? Are you guys crazy?'

3

‘THESE ONES WERE
passively trapped using salt and molasses,' Luke explained as he took her by the hand and led her to the front gate. ‘They're totally different. You're gonna love these guys.'

Jess heard the rumbling engine of another large vehicle. Around a bend in the road came a truck driven by Lawson's friend Bob, wearing a big wide smile and a black hat.

‘Lawson and I started handling these ones,' said Luke, as Lawson drove his truck away from the loading ramp, making way for the other to be backed in. ‘We can even get halters on some of them, and pick up their feet. The younger ones are the easiest.' Suddenly he was glowing with the satisfaction that Jess always saw in him when he talked about handling young horses.

The truck stopped at the loading ramp and Bob jumped out. His jeans were rolled up past his ankles and his feet were bare. He gave Jess a friendly nod. ‘Got some nice types in there,' he said. ‘Make good station horses most of 'em.' He grinned. ‘Maybe it's time you got a young one and sold old Dodger to me.'

‘Nice try, Bob,' Jess laughed. He'd been angling to buy Dodger for years.

‘I'd give you fifty bucks for him,' said Lawson, striding past. ‘He's not worth more than that.'

Jess snorted.

‘She drives a hard bargain, Bob, trust me on that one,' Lawson said, putting a hand on the man's shoulder. ‘Come up for a cuppa before you head off, hey?'

Bob nodded and the two men walked to the house.

‘You guys right unloading them?' Lawson called over his shoulder.

‘Yep!' Luke wrenched the back door open and one by one the horses clattered and slid down the loading ramp, some calmly, others like lunatics. They were mostly chestnuts and bays, all surprisingly stout, with thick manes and winter coats.

Jess felt enormously relieved as they trotted through the gates out into the campdraft arena and cantered in a great swirling mass of tossing manes and feathered legs. At least these ones weren't injured.

‘Let's get them something to eat,' said Luke.

Jess helped Luke carry bales of hay from the feed shed, then split them and throw them around the arena. The brumbies quickly settled into feeding. As they ate, Luke slipped in through the arena gate.

‘Are you sure you should go in there?' asked Jess, hovering at the gateway.

‘Sure.' Luke walked slowly towards a pale chestnut of about fourteen hands, and lowered himself onto one heel, making himself small in front of the horse. It lifted its head and stopped chewing, a clump of hay hanging from its mouth.

Luke stayed motionless as the horse stretched its nose towards him. It took a step forward and sniffed. Jess smiled as it ran its nose up the side of his arm and smeared green hay slobber over his shirt.

Luke rubbed the horse's cheek, then slowly stood. It resumed chewing while he rubbed it all over with circular, rhythmic motions. Soon the horse curled its lip in pleasure and Luke grinned as he scratched around its belly.