26) in debt

Monday, 4th September

Z A C

She's got to come back some time. And then I'll tell her how sorry I am for my part in the argument and I'll apologise for getting involved but assure her that I meant no harm. Who knows where we'll go from there but I sat waiting patiently by the paddock gate, flinging stones at the small tin shed for hay. It dinged. Ding, ding, ding.

This wasn't the most productive use of time but I couldn't concentrate on much else when I knew that she was out there, pissed off at me. Probably hurt because I told her to get a fucking grip. I winced and dropped my head into my hands, feeling like an asshole.

The sun beat down on my body, sweat caused my T-shirt to cling and my jeans were thicker. Suddenly, I heard the quick pounding of hooves on the grass, the whinnies of Lavender and the distress in her neigh. I stood up fast and spun around, watching her gallop toward the fence line at a pace I'd never seen from her before.

She came to a skidding halt right in front of me and I watched her, stunned as she twisted in circles, crying, agitated and restless as she ran back and forth.

"Woah, girl, what's the matter?"

She stomped her hoof, started running back to the field, stopped, came back to me and repeated.

Did she want me to follow her?

She came to a complete stand still, a statue, she didn't move for a split second while she stared at me and then she started back toward the paddock.

She wanted me to follow her.

In a matter of moments, I was on the dirt bike, tearing after her. She'd made a head start while I got the bike out but I caught up and trailed behind her, her hooves kicked up dirt and grass, her pace was steady as she galloped, fast, faster than I thought she was capable of going.

We came up to the fence line and as we approached, I watched her stance change, the focus in her strong frame right before she jumped it. So that's how she'd be getting loose without damaging the damn fence. I had to stop and unlatch the gate but we were off across the next field in no time. We broke the clearing and ended up on a narrow trail, trees overhead blocked out the harsh sun and the stream ran high after the rain on the other side of the thick.

It wasn't long before Lavender was slowing, trotting off the trail and through thick leaves and branches. I left the bike running and hopped off it, following her through bush and across dirt, closer toward the edge of the cliff face and of course, closer toward the water. My stomach felt tense, knotted. What the hell was near this cliff face?

My mind didn't even want to go there.

It couldn't be.

Fuck, it was.

When lavender stopped at the edge of the cliff and started stomping her hooves in distress again, I peered over and saw Addie about seven feet down on a lip of rock that jutted out. She was unconscious and a black and orange cat was pacing beside her.

My voice hitched as I grabbed a tree branch and shouted. "Addie?! Ads, wake up!"

She was too damn close to the edge of the lip. It was narrow, maybe three or four feet wide, unstable looking. Another six foot drop and she'd be in the water.

"Shit," I gasped and leaned over again. "Addie!" This was doing me no damn good. I pulled my cellphone out of my jeans and squeezed it. Hallie was at the house, but it could take her a damn long time to find us.

I didn't want to leave Addie in case she fell, but if I jumped down there with her, we could both end up in the water. My breathing was sharp and harsh as my hands trembled, dancing over the screen. Lavender was still making all sorts of noise and it wasn't helping me one damn bit.

Finally, I settled on one of the multiple possible solutions that I had and called Hallie. She answered, fast. "Hallie, put Cain on."

"Zac? Everything alright?"

"No. Put Cain on."

She didn't say anything else and the pause between voices felt like a lifetime until I finally heard his confusion before he answered.

"Hello?"

"Cain, saddle up Nellie as fast as possible, grab the longest rope that you've got and then cross the west paddock. Go straight ahead until you break the clearing and end up on the narrow trail between trees and shit. The river is on the right. You know the one?"

"Uh. I think."

That would have to do. "My dirt bike is on the trail. Call out for me when you get there. Understood?"

"I'm confu—"

"Just do it! It's an emergency. It's— it's Addie. She needs help."

"I'll be right there."

The line went dead and for a moment, I was grateful that he was so infatuated with my girl.

Now I had to wait and waiting was damn torture. I crouched at the edge of the cliff and kept hold of a branch, watching her, petting Lavender with my free hand while she watched Addie too.

Now that I had nothing to do but wait, I stopped and thought about the fact that Lavender knew to come and find me. She knew Addie needed help, that something was wrong. And she seemed so damn concerned about it too.

"You're a good girl," I mumbled, my voice still uneven. "No matter what happens to the farm, you're with me."

She continued to watch Addie.

About ten minutes later, Addie started to stir. My chest tightened, my entire body felt rigid. Cain still wasn't here and although I was glad that she was coming to, I was panicked because—

"Addie, no," I shouted as she started to sit up. Her head swivelled with confusion, like she wasn't quite awake. She put a hand to her bleeding head and winced but she wasn't listening, she was still moving. My stomach felt like it was about to end up in my throat. "Addie stop fucking moving!"

I heard the sound of hooves galloping toward us just as she looked up at me, causing her to lean back and then she toppled and I couldn't even make a fucking sound as she fell backward, her scream silenced as she hit the water. I didn't hesitate for a moment, I stood up, stepped backward, ran forward and jumped off the edge, aiming as close to where she'd fell as possible.

The water was rushing, as soon as I went under, I spread my arms and frantically searched, hoping that I'd feel her and could grab her before she went too far. As it was, I was being swept down stream. I broke the surface and inhaled a deep breath, planning on going under again, but then I did a quick sweep with my eyes and saw her hands splashing, her face bopping up and down while she sputtered and gasped.

"Zac!" She cried out whenever she came back up. She was about six feet in front of me and moving fast. "Zac, I can't swim."

Shit. "Stop talking! Save your breath."

I kicked and swam toward her, doing my best to close the distance between us. Whenever her head disappeared under the surface, I felt the panic seizing me, making it harder to breathe than it already was. While I swam, I looked from side to side, hoping that there would be something we could hold onto. But it was flat rock for who knows how long. We'd come to a clearing eventually but the question was, would we both make it until then. I would, but she was getting weaker and weaker. I could see it in her lagging movements, the desperation in her expression killed me.

"Zac," I heard Cain and looked up, he was following us with the rope, running.

"Throw it down when I've got her!"

I didn't bother to find out if he'd heard me, I just pushed harder because Addie was coming up for air less and less. I was getting closer but the fucking current kept sweeping her out of arms reach.

"Addie," I shouted as soon as she came up again, she spluttered and disappeared. "Addie."

I was close now, so close, I reached out, kicking hard and just caught hold of her wrist as she went under. She was gasping when I pulled her up and wrapped her around me. "It's alright," I said, kicking harder so that we'd both remain above the surface.

"Zac, catch," I looked up to see Cain throwing the rope. I almost missed, we were still getting pulled down stream but I gripped the end of it, wrapped it around my wrist and we came to a stop. The current was still pushing us, putting pressure on our bodies to move but we remained in one place, splashes of water jumping onto our faces and causing Addie to splutter more. She was still breathless.

"It's tied to a tree," Cain shouted. "What should I do?"

I looked around. We were about twelve feet below the cliff edge. I wasn't sure if Addie could pull herself up the rope that far. Not after she'd used all of her energy trying to stay above the water. As it was, her head was still bleeding and her lids were drooping.

"Go back, untie it, and walk us down stream. The cliff declines about a hundred feet that way. We can get out there. Oh and call an ambulance."

So he did, he held the rope tight and walked along the cliff edge for what felt like forever. The rope was burning my wrist, it was tight and cutting off the blood flow, but I held on despite how numb I became. Addie clung to me, her head rested on my shoulder and she wouldn't respond when I spoke. The only reason that I knew she was still breathing was because I could feel her chest rising and falling against mine.

Finally, I could see the cliff declining into a patch of rocks and gravel, the stream widened and became more gentle. It was a spot where some of the local teenagers and children came to swim but at the moment, there was no one in sight. No doubt at school and work. I could hear the sound of ambulance sirens as Cain hit the gravel and began pulling us towards land.

My feet finally hit the bottom and I felt relieved to feel the earth beneath me. I scooped Addie into a bridal hold and looked down at her closed lids as I walked us inward. "Ads," I gave her a light shake. "Addie. Need you to wake up, Ads. Best not to sleep with a bump on the head, baby. Addie?"

The water splashed around my ankles as I came out of the river and onto the gravel. Cain was waiting, covered in sweat, he was panting and red. "Is she alright?"

"Of course," I couldn't hide the concern in my tone, no matter how hard I tried. "Just exhausted. You were a huge help, Cain. Appreciate it."

He nodded, but kept his eyes on Addie. "Mom is back with the horses, trying to get the cat off the edge."

"Great."

The ambulance couldn't drive down here, so I followed a narrow footpath up toward the road. The ambulance was just pulling up and into the shoulder lane when we reached the top. The drivers unloaded and immediately situated her on the stretcher while I explained what happened, as best I could.

Cain didn't seem too pleased about the fact that only one of us could get in the ambulance with Addie and I wasn't going to step aside and allow him to go.

We loaded up and the medics immediately began assessing her so I offered to shut the door and as I did, I looked outside and there was Lavender, standing on the side of the road watching.

"Unbelievable," I mumbled. She was starting to creep me out a little bit. "Get her home, Cain. Please."

He nodded. "Call us and let us know how she is."

The medics offered me a towel and I used it to give my hair a shake out. There was no point trying to dry off too much. I was wearing jeans and they were still holding a decent amount of water. That reminded me, my phone was in my pocket. That'd be screwed now.

"Zac?" Addie mumbled from under her oxygen mask, I sat forward and leaned over so that she could see me while the medic took her temperature. Her head and hair were mattered with blood but the water had washed most of it off. Still, there was a fresh trickle coming from a gash in her temple that I wished they would stitch up as soon as possible.

"I'm here. You gave me a fright. What were you doing."

"There was a cat," her brows were furrowed, eyes closed like the light was too much for her. "I slipped. I think. How did you find me?"

"Lavender."

"Lavender?"

"Yeah she came and got me."

Addie slowly peeled her eyes open but continued to glare as if it was causing her too much pain to have them open. "What?"

"We can talk about it later," I said and took her hand, lifting it to press a soft kiss on her knuckles. I lowered my voice to a whisper but leaned in closer. "I'm sorry. About intervening with Milo. I am."

She let her lids close again. "I'm sorry for being a bitch."

I kissed her knuckles again and kept her fist to my mouth while I watched her, so damn thankful that her injuries weren't worse. I'd be in debt to that horse for the rest of her life.

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