Flightless Bird

Chapter 28 - part 2

"Adam!" I cried, frantically kicking my horse into a canter and motioning Lexi to follow.

"Sh/t, where is he?"

I looked around, pulling June to a stop. Lexi soon pulled up beside me, and together we scanned the surrounding land for signs of Adam's mad break.

"You see anything?" Lexi asked me nervously after a minute of silent observation.

"Nothing, you?"

"No," she said, but then gasped and shouted, "Wait, over there! All the bushes are scattered; looks like they ran straight through," she told me as we both began to trot towards a small patch of bushes and brairs, most of which were now strewn on the ground.

"Adam definitely came through here," I said, a wry smile pulling some of anxious creases away. Soon Lexi and I slowed to a walk as the shrubs gave way to a small copse of trees. I immediately spotted Adam's chestnut horse, who was standing about in the green light looking rather pleased with himself. Adam, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Lexi and I decided to dismount and go looking for him in the trees, so we tied all the horses to a small Ash tree before following and signs of destruction we could see. Once we had gone a little way, I tried calling out to Adam, but got no reply. We carried on through increasingly dense foliage, and when we still found nothing we were about to head back when Lexi's keen eye spotted one of Adam's gloves.

"We must be close," she said to me as the handed me the green glove and began a chorus of,

"Adam? Adam!"

As I wandered forwards, stroking the woolly glove, I noticed a sound coming from a few metres left. It sounded suspiciously like splashing.

I left Lexi and walked off to where the source of the noise was, only to come face to face with a dripping Adam standing knee deep in a small river.

"Adam, what happened?" I asked him, trying not to laugh as he shook his warm brown hair like a dog.

"Well, the horse ran off, then tore through all the bushes, whacked my head of a couple of trees, and then decided it wanted a drink," he told me with a miserable face as he tried to climb out of the water, only to slip back in on the mud.

"Why are you in the river then?" I asked, stepping forwards to extend a hand to him.

"I fell..." he said, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand while he picked his floating woolly hat up from the water with the other.

"Okay then," I replied. I didn't want to embarass him any more, especially since the poor boy was standing in a ford and ringing out his bobble hat. Once it was back on his head and dripping water into his eyes he took my hand and I hauled him out of the river. Just as he jumped off the bank, I slipped on some mud and fell onto my back on the soggy ground next to the river. Adam, who was still gripping my hand, narrowly avoided falling back into the river by throwing himself on top of me. We both started laughing, because we both knew we were just friends and it wasn't awkward. Although I couldn't help notice a glint in his eyes, and the way he was staring at my mouth. I bit my lip, and he smiled. I didn't feel the chill from the ground, and then it was awkward again when Lexi crashed through some bushes and cried,

"Adam, get off her, you're all wet!" Adam rolled off me, and Lexi rushed over to pull me, letting him climb to his feet alone.

"This mud is so slippery," she exclaimed as we began to walk back to where the horses were, "no wonder you guys fell over!"

Adam and I both murmered agreement, and let Lexi lead the way.

He shot me a grin behind her back, which I returned, and just like that it was all okay again. Nothing had happened. Nothing at all.