Rain! Its smell was in the afternoon air. Gray clouds scuttled across the sky and thunderheads boiled in from the north.
"This is lousy!" Dr. Wilson muttered. But Mandy knew it already. Rain would halt the search, end it before nightfall. Well, the others could turn back, but she wasn't going to! The constant thought of her friend lying hurt some place made Mandy feel physically ill. She urged Solana on, and the Paso responded with unfaltering speed.
"Wait up!" her father called. "If we have to go back, don't get any ideas about going on without us," he told his daughter.
"I won't," Mandy said. She was aware that she had disobeyed him once already today. Yet, she purposely let more and more distance separate her and the rest of the party. Finally, around one bend she veered off west and headed toward the creek.
Somehow she had a feeling about the creek. In summer past, they'd had lots of picnics along its banks. Mandy really felt that Laura might have headed there the night before. The water would have erased Diablo's tracks. If she'd been thrown, she'd be lying down there, somewhere in the undergrowth and rocks.
Thunder rumbled and Solana strained to turn back for her stable.
"No, you don't, girl," Mandy said. "We're in this together--all the way."
The rain started with a dull drizzle, and in no time turned into a wicked downpour. The banks along the creek became slippery. Mandy got off Solana and led her along the trail for safety's sake. They stopped for a while under a canopy of green leaves. Solana nibbled, and Mandy waited for the rain to slack off.
By the time the rain stopped, it was dusk and darkness was coming fast. Still, Mandy led Solana around the creek bed. The rain had caused it to swell, and the water rushed loudly over stones and t ree roots.
It was Solana who heard the noise first. The little horse pricked up her short sensitive ears and gave a nervous snort.
"What is it, girl?" Mandy asked. She strained to hear what Solana was hearing.
There! It sounded like a moan. Mandy thought. No. . . just the creek. No. . . it was a moan! Mandy began groping along on her hands and knees in the wet, thick undergrowth. The banks of the creek rose steeply. She could see the edge of the trail above whenever she looked up.
Mandy's hand touched something soft. And at the same time, she saw a bright patch of cloth. It's Laura! she thought. Mandy pulled quickly at the undergrowth, throwing away chunks of bushes and tall wet grass.
It was Laura all right. She was lying face down and was covered with dirt and debris. Gently Mandy turned her over. Laura moaned again, but appeared to be unconscious. Her face was pale. She felt cold.
"Please, Laura, please, wake up! It's me. It's Mandy." She started to move Laura and then noticed the way her leg was bent backward. "It's broken. I just know it. Oh, no. What am I going to do?"
Mandy was worried. Should she leave Laura and go look for the search party? Mandy wondered. No, it was dark now. Mandy wondered. No, it was dark now. The searchers would have all gone back to the Callahan's to wait for morning. Maybe they would bring lights and keep on looking. Now, two girls were missing.
Mandy imagined her father's face. She thought about how worried he must be. She began to cry. She was scared. Solana! Of course! She'd send the horse back without her. That way they'd know she's found Laura.
But how? Mandy hunted for some paper. There was nothing to write on. How could she let them know? They'd keep on looking if they could narrown down the places to look. How can I tell them? she wondered.
Mandy's eyes fell on the bright blue scarf around Laura's neck. Of course! The scarves. Everyone knew about the birthday present. Mandy pulled off her own scarf and then gently removed Laura's. She carefully tied up some small creek rocks in the red one and then went over to Solana.
"Here," Laura told her horse, tying both scarves to the horse's reins. "Now, go on back and get your supper." She led Solana back up the steep bank and turned her toward the Callahans' stable. "Please don't fool around, girl. I need you to go back to the stable. Mandy slapped Solana hard on the rump and sent her off at a fast pace. "Home!" she yelled.
Mandy watched her horse disappear out of sight. She hoped Solana's hunger and natural instinct would take her back to her warm, dry stable. She sighed and felt more alone than she ever had in her whole life. Then she thought of her friend lying hurt and unconscious below. She scurried back down to her side.
Mandy knew enough about medicine to know that Laura was in bad shape. The way she had fallen, the twist of her leg, the color of her face left no doubt that she needed medical attention soon.
"Hurry, Solana," Mandy muttered under her breath. Then she hunted around for some way to make Laura more comfortable. She realized that the search party had probably passed Laura more than once that day. Because of the dense foliage, they had not seen her. With Laura drifting in and out of consciousness, she had probably never heard them calling her name either.
Mandy found some moss, shook it out and tried to cover Laura with it. She knew that it was important that Laura stay as warm as possible. Mandy's own clothes were damp and she began to feel chilly in the rain-cooled night air. But she sat huddled near Laura's head and settled down to wait out the night ahead.
"Hurry, Solana," she whispered again.
