Sarah's tears stopped as quickly as they had started. With one last sniff, she stood up."We'll have to go after him," she said firmly. She sloshed through the water to the bank and climbed out.
"How?" Mary asked, stepping up beside Sarah. She stopped to peer toward the woods, but she could see no trace of the black horse. As they stood there, the water streamed off their dresses.
Sarah shrugged. "He wouldn't have gone far. He's a good horse. We'll find him." She shook her skirt, snapping it downward sharply to try to get the water out. Little droplets filled the air.
"It works better if you wring it," Mary offered. She bent over and picked up her own skirt. Starting from the hem, she twisted it tightly. She couldn't get it completely dry, but at least she could stop it from dripping.
A light wind brushed her face. She shivered. She thought wistfully of the hot afternoon sun. Only yesterday, it had coaxed her into this same stream, down by the camp. But now the sun was low in the sky and the shadows were getting longer. The breeze, blowing on her wet clothes, chilled her.
Today, it did not feel good to be wet. Not at all.
Sarah was twisting her skirt too. "Get the back of my skirt, Mary. I can't reach it, and we need to go get Hudson."
Mary squeezed the back of her cousin's dress. The last dribbles of water fell around their feet and soaked into the wet ground.
"Where do you think he is?" she asked Sarah.
"Probably just a few paces into the forest. I'm sure we'll see him. We just have to look a bit. Let's go."
They ran, slowing toward the edge of the forest to watch for bees. Mary figured they'd washed all the mad bee smell off in the stream. Papa had told her once that bees don't remember you if you don't have their smell anymore. Still, she wasn't about to go anywhere near the fallen log to find out.
As they entered the woods, Mary blinked a few times.
The filtered light made it harder to see. She thought she saw something moving ahead, something black. Or were her eyes playing tricks on her? "Over there!" Her cousin pointed in a different direction. "I saw his tail."
"Where?"
"Way ahead there. Let's go!"
She gathered her skirt and started off.
Mary hesitated for a second. Wasn't it dangerous to go into the woods in the dark? Couldn't they get lost? Then she remembered that day back in the city, when Sarah had led her on a crazy chase after Robert's dog, Prince. Sarah never got lost, anywhere. So she grabbed hastily for the front of her skirt and hurried to follow.
She had to keep up with Sarah. Sarah knew the way.
But now Sarah shouted. "Hurry, Mary! He's way ahead!"
Mary ran to catch up. Her eyes flicked up and down between the woods ahead and the ground below. A branch! Don't step on the branch. Oh! Dodge the trunk. How could Sarah run so fast?
"Stop! Sarah, stop!" she panted. "I... can't... run... like... this!"
"We have to!" Sarah's voice was muffled. She hadn't even turned around.
Mary's breath grew shorter. She made herself breathe more slowly and deeply and run with longer strides. She didn't want a side ache.
Wham! Her shoulder met the trunk of an old chestnut tree. It spun her sideways, and she stumbled. But she didn't fall.
Now where was Sarah? There! A flash of white skirt up ahead. How could she keep running like this?
A brief clearing opened up, and Mary dashed through it. Now she was catching up.
And then suddenly, Sarah disappeared. In a moment too quick to grasp, Mary heard a soft thud, a loud WHUMP, the barest second of silence, and then a piercing scream.
She wanted to run from that scream. It wasn't right, didn't sound normal. But she had to find Sarah. She forced herself to walk forward, one step at a time. What was making that noise?
As she topped a ridge, she saw. Her body froze. Her legs refused to move forward. This wasn't, couldn't be, real.
Sarah's scream ended with a great heaving sob.
She had crumpled, half sitting, to the ground. Her hands fought each other, opening and closing in twitching motions. They touched empty air, grabbing for her right leg.A leg that was bent all wrong.
Sarah looked up and saw Mary. Her face was white. She gritted her teeth and sucked in some air.
She managed to choke out the words, "Help me!" And then she could say no more.
"What do I do? Oh, what do I do?" Mary was frantic. She knew she couldn't fix Sarah's leg. She'd need help. Papa! But she wasn't sure she could even find the meadow where they had eaten. How could she find their camp?
She wanted to sit and sob too. But she couldn't. Not now.
"Which way do I go? Sarah, which way do I go?"
Sarah shuddered, but she gritted her teeth and sucked in air. "That way. The stream... it's that way." She raised one hand to point. Then her eyes rolled up and back, and she fainted.
Mary's hand flew to her mouth. Oh, what should she do? The stream. Sarah had said the stream. If she could follow it, it would take her to camp!
She looked in the direction Sarah had pointed. In the deepening shadows, she couldn't see the stream. But Sarah always knew her way.
Didn't she?
She looked at Sarah again.
So quiet, so still. Mary could see her chest rise and fall, but that was all.Well, at least she couldn't feel the pain this way. Mary wanted to stay with her, but she knew she couldn't. She had to get help. And she had to hurry.
She closed her eyes. Then she looked again at Sarah and whispered, "I'll be back."
Mary set off across the clearing. When she reached the other side, she turned to check. She would need to be sure she could find her way back. She could still see the ridge from here, so that was fine.
She turned to continue into the woods, toward the stream. It was darker in there, but she would just keep going straight. She set her jaw and started walking.
But she had only gone five steps when it hit her. Darker? But... that meant... soon it would be completely dark! She might reach the meadow, but it was a long, long way. She would never be able to see to lead Papa back here.
And then the sobs, which had been trying to break free from her hurting heart, burst forth. She sank to the ground and buried her head in her arms. Why had they ever left camp?
How she longed for Papa now! Papa, who was always there when she was afraid.
Suddenly, she could hear Papa's words. But they came to her heart, not her ears.
"He's a big God, Mary. Bigger than all our fears."
God. She had forgotten about Him.
She looked through the branches, and cleared her throat.
"Hello, God."
Her voice wavered, but she went on. "It's me, Mary Muhlenberg. I know I haven't talked to You very much, and I'm so sorry, but... Oh! I need You!"
And then the words -- and the tears -- poured forth. "I'm scared, God. And I'm cold, and I don't know what to do. Sarah's hurt, really bad. I have to bring them back, somehow, and I don't know my way. But Papa says..."
Her voice shook. "Papa says You can take us through dangers, and toils, and snares. Papa says You can lead us home. Please, God, will you show me what to do?"
Mary sniffed. She needed to blow her nose. She reached in her pocket to pull out a handkerchief. Instead, her hand closed on a bunch of ribbons. Ribbons? What good were --
And then suddenly she knew, beyond a doubt, what ribbons were good for.
She only hoped there would be enough!
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