Page 56 of Worth the Fall
I shot my attention toward the little girl and the huge horse. He threw himself back, letting out a loud whinny, and took off.
“Ellie!” Colton yelled.
Ellie held on to the reins, but the horse was gaining speed and darted off the path.
Colton looked terrified, but helpless, with two toddlers on his horse; going anything over a trotting speed could be dangerous. He stood, trying to maneuver his body around the kids to get off the horse.
He was going to run after her, but he wouldn’t be fast enough.
I didn’t think twice. I leaned forward, tightened my thighs on her shoulders, and whipped Gracie’s reins hard.
In no time at all, we were flying.
Chapter Nineteen
The trees became a blur asGracieand I dashed after the runaway horse. The wind was whipping through my hair, branches scratching my arm as we cut off the path.
I rose out of the saddle, hovering in the stirrups with my weight dropped deep into my heels. I leaned forward, my chest close to her mane, squeezing with my lower legs to stay locked in rhythm with the thundering beat of her hooves.
“Ellie!”
Marty was fast, but Gracie was an excellent listener.
Ellie was barely hanging on. She had a good grip on the saddlehorn, but her poor little body was getting tossed around like a rag doll.
Marty was weaving around the trees, barely missing trunks and roots.
Gracie and I were close. I kicked her a little harder, and we were neck and neck with Marty. Ellie was screaming. I tugged Gracie as close as I could get her to Marty.
I didn’t hesitate, I couldn’t. I leaned as far off the saddle as I could and wrapped my arms around Ellie’s waist. She ditched Marty’s reins, throwing herself toward me. We collided.
I pulled her off the horse and onto my saddle, making sure she was secure.
She screamed again just as her little hands wrapped around the saddlehorn.
I looked up just in time to see Gracie sliding to a stop in front of a massive pine tree. The momentum was too much, and gravity threw me from Gracie’s back toward the tree.
Closing my eyes in fear, I could feel the base of the trunk take the brunt of my weight before I was dropped to the dirt.
I lay in the dirt, my eyes still closed, for an extra few seconds. I needed to make sure nothing was broken before I tried to stand.
My toes were mashed against the front of my ankle boots, but I could wiggle them without pain. My legs were tingling, but I was sure that was from squeezing them so tight on the ride. My hips were fine. My stomach was spinning, but that was the adrenaline. My heart was racing so hard, my chest felt achy, but not physically hurt.
When I got to my left shoulder, I winced hard. There was definitely pain, a lot of it, but the more I felt it with my right hand and tried to rotate it, the more the pain subsided.It was okay. I was going to be sore, but I would be okay.
“Ally, please don’t be dead!” A little voice was crying.
I finally opened my eyes. Poor Ellie was sitting on Gracie, tears streaming down her freckled cheeks. I sat up and held up my hands. “Oh no, Ellie! I promise, I’m not dead!”
She looked up at the sky and let out a long breath. “Oh, thank the heavens above, a miracle.”
I stood, confirming my theory that my legs were fine, despite how badly they were shaking. “Are you okay, sweetie?”
She was trembling, unable to stop crying. “I’m okay! I’m okay. I’m okay.” She buried her head in her hands. “Ally, I don’twant to lie to you. That was really scary.”
I reached up, my shoulder aching as I did. “Come on, let me get you down.”
Ellie didn’t wait a second. She put her arms around my neck and dropped off the saddle. My arm screamed at me, demanding I drop her weight, but I held strong until I was able to set her on the ground. She didn’t let me go when her feet touched the dirt. She pressed her quivering body against mine and cried.
