I've been drifting in and out of consciousness for an hour or so. My head thumps with every heart beat and I think I've broken some ribs. I drag myself in to a sitting position and look around. The rain has stopped but it's almost dark, making it almost impossible to see properly. Every shadow and bush seems to come alive in this light. A sudden thought hits me. Midnight! Where is she? After I fell off her there would have been more thunder and lighting. It would be a miracle if she hadn't run off. I struggle to my feet, instantly regretting doing this as it sends daggers of pain shooting through my head. I lean against a smooth gumtree until the aching in my head subsides a little, then I painfully start walking in the direction of home. Maybe Midnight managed to find her way home. I will try to comfort myself with this thought, but there's a niggling doubt in the back of my mind.
I trip over for the tenth time, but this time I don't have the motivation to drag myself back up and keep on going, I just prop myself up against a tree, exhausted by the days events. I'd forgotten about the ordeal earlier today with me running out of the house and all, I hope Dad isn't too upset with me. I wonder why he, or someone else, haven't come looking for me. Surely they'd think of looking down this path for me, they know it's where I go when I ride. Maybe they were searching, but it became too dark and rainy to continue the search. At least it's warm and I'm mostly dry now. As I'm sitting here against the tree, I wonder about continuing on home. I don't think I'd make it half way, so I slide down and curl up into a ball on the soft grass. My head feels like there are a hundred hammers pounding at it and my chest is aching. I'm so sore and scared, very, very scared.
Eventually I cry myself to sleep, the wind in the background an eerie lullably, making the reality of the situation I'm in even more daunting than it already was...
'Ebony!' The sound of my father's voice jerks me into painful reality. It must be early morning, judging by the mocking laugh of the kookaburra's all around me. 'Ebony, where are you?' I hear Dad's voice again. I cry out to Dad, even though it's almost more than my head can take. 'Dad, I'm over here!'. I can hear Dad crashing through the bush, and then he's there, holding me in a huge bear hug, overcome with relief that he's found me. 'Dad, please, ow', I say to him. As happy as I am to see him, it hurts too much for him to hug me. 'Eb, are you ok?'. I give a small nod. I can't fool him though, he can tell I'm hurt, so he gently picks me up and starts to carry me home. He dosen't ask me anything as he carries me home. I'm grateful for that. He's been carrying me for a couple of minutes when I look up at him. 'Thanks for finding me,' I murmur. 'Well, I wasn't exactly just going to sit at home and twiddle my thumbs while my daughter was missing'. I smile up at him and snuggle deeper in to his arms. I must have been closer to home than I thought, much closer, because it only takes about fifteen minutes before I see the water tank that we keep about a minutes walk away from home. When we get home Dad puts me straight to bed, gives me some painkillers, and tells me to go to sleep, so I do.
I opened my eyes, willing them focus. Mum, Gran, and Dad are all looking over me with worried expressions on their face. 'Are you alright Honey? We were worried sick about you' Gran says
. I give her a small smile. 'Yeah, although I think I craked a rib or two'.
'You'll be alright, rest is the best thing for you'. Mum says as she brushes my blonde fringe out of my face.
'I don't want to sleep' I say as I struggle up in to a sitting position.
'Ebony, you really should. Lie down now and get some sleep.' Mum gently pushes me back down.
'You can tell us what happened to you when you're feeling a little more up to it' Gran says as she leaves the room with my parents.
They're just about to close the door when I call out, 'Wait! Did you find Midnight?'.
Mum smiles at me. 'Yes Eb, she came back about an hour ago. She's fine, although I'm sorry to say that your bridle is a mess'.
That's all I needed to know, that my horse was safe. With that I roll over and fall in to a deep, dreamless sleep.
I'm woken up this afternoon by Mum, who has a hot cup of tea and some food. I greatfully take these from here. 'Thanks Mum'. After I've eaten my fill Mum asks me what happened. I tell her everything, well, everything except for the time I spent at my waterhole. When I'm finished telling her everything she says that she's sorry it always has to be this way and leaves. It's weird how she always apologizes to me when she can't do anything about it. I guess she puts some of the blame on herself for the situation we're in. It's not like we're the only family who goes through this. There're a few kids at school who have their family seperated most of the time because the father, or even mother, is away. Summer's family used to be like that until her Dad died in a minefield explosion. She took that really hard, blaming herself, although I'm not sure how she could've stopped it happening. Anyway, that was two and a half years ago now, and she's getting on fine. She's such a strong person, I don't think I'd be able to get over it if my Dad died, but I don't even want to think about it.
I was in bed for two days before I could really get up and about properly again, and it took another two days until my head stopped aching and my ribs didn't feel like they had an iron band around them. Today I think I'll go out and spend the day with Midnight. Maybe Summer can come over and go for a short ride with me, she only lives about 20 minutes horseback ride from here. I get out of bed and have a shower. After I've braided my hair back in the inside-out braid I have spent the last four days perfecting I grab the phone and dial Summer's number.
'Hello?'
'Hey, Summer, it's Eb'
'Oh my goodness, Ebony, are you ok? I heard that you fell off your horse and then got stuck outside in a storm during the night and that you hit your head really hard and...'
'Hahaha, Summer, I'm alright!' It's so funny when Summer is so concerned about someone that she shoots an endless line of questions at them without giving them time to answer.
'Oh, good, for a moment there I thought you might have concussion or something!'
'Haha, no, I'm completely fine! Oh, by the way, do you want to come over this afternoon for a ride?'
'Sure thing! As long as you're up to it. I always get so bored in the Summer holidays, and we've only just started them!'
'Yeah me too. So, I'll see you in an hour?'
'Yep'
'Ok, bye then!'
'Bye!'
