then straight down. Keep walking. You’ll come across Snow Crest.” She smiled grimly. "It’s a little hard to miss a ski resort, even at night. ”
“Then what?”
"There’s a parking lot, and relatively easy access for a horse trailer. We can haul him down from there.” She rubbed his face again. “I’ll send someone up as soon as I can.” Her face was a mixture of tension, fear and impatience. “Oh God, do you think you can do it?”
“I can do it,” I assured her. “But what about you. Aren’t there fences between here and Smoketree?”
She slapped a back pocket. “I have my wire clippers on me. Hornet and I will do just fine.” She gestured. “Climb down so I can give you my clumsy child.”
I dismounted and ducked under Hornet’s nose. Preacher stood quietly, nosing at Cass as if asking her to relieve his pain.
She handed me the reins. “Straight down the hill,” she said. “You’ll come across a wide ski run. Cross that, and you’ll see a catwalk. At the end of it is the flat in front of the ski lodge.” Her face was pale and strained. “Take care of him for me. And I’m sorry you have to do this.”
“It’s okay,” I said gently. “You just see to Nathan.”
Cass turned and swung up on Hornet, making the motion look effortless. She walked the mare a few steps away so she wasn’t crowding Preacher, then set her into a fast trot. She didn’t dare gallop, not in the darkness. I watched the pale flash of Hornet’s rump fade into the shadows, and then she was gone.
I turned to Preacher, putting out a hand to stroke his face as Cass had done. But I stopped before I touched him. It was this horse who had killed my friend.
For a moment I nearly dropped the reins. My hands trembled, transmitting my apprehension, and Preacher responded. He shifted uneasily; his ears flicked up, then forward. He stared at me, and the injured leg was lifted from the ground in an attempt to ease the ache.
My breath hissed as I exhaled through taut lips. I had promised Cass, and she already had enough to worry about. I had to get Preacher to the ski area, or she would never forgive me. And I wasn’t certain I’d forgive myself.
Slowly I put out my hand and touched his face. My fingers shook; it irritated me, but I couldn’t stop it. I felt the stiff, short hair beneath my fingertips; the unyielding bone beneath that. I wondered what thoughts went on in the brain within the skull. Horses, I had heard most of my life from various sources, were stupid. They had no sense.
Preacher nudged my shoulder with his nose. He resembled, suddenly, nothing so much as a large dog, and I felt ludicrous in my apprehension. And yet the knowledge wouldn’t fade.
This horse had killed a man.
And now I was all alone with him.
Chapter Fourteen
I led Preacher up the hill, down it, then on toward the ski resort. The big horse moved slowly; no doubt he would have preferred to stand still, but I gave him no choice. I knew well enough that if I thought about it, I would not do what I said I would. And so I took him through the forest, wondering the entire time what might set him off.
At times, when he lagged, I felt the reins tighten against my hand. I tugged, urging him onward, and after a moment he continued. I did notice that as we went on his gait improved; perhaps he had not injured himself as badly as Cass feared. He began to move more willingly, if still somewhat stiff and hesitant, and our pace improved. Perhaps it wouldn’t take hours to reach Snow Crest after all.
Patches of snow remained beneath the night-blackened trees, luminescent in the moonlight. To minimize the distance we had to cover, I kept myself to a straight line. This meant most of the time I had to walk through the snow patches, which crunched and mushed beneath my shoes. I disliked the slimy, slippery feel. Preacher, following behind me, did not seem to care, but then his weight was significantly more substantial. He left black holes wherever he stepped in the snow.
I was cold. The night air crept through the weave in my heavy sweater and raised goosebumps upon my skin until I shivered and set my teeth. Preacher’s breathing was loud in the silence of the night; hot horsebreath