fused together, and she couldn't separate one from the other anymore. She decided she would need at least two or three days of rest before she'd be willing to get into a saddle again.
After a while, Leslie heard some noises off in the distance.
"What is that?" she asked "Some kind of bird?"
Alex cocked his head, apparently listening. "It's not a call I'm familiar with, but I never got my bird watching badge. It must be some kind of night bird, since we didn't hear it all day."
"It's getting louder," Holly said from the back of the line. "It almost sounds like it's saying my name."
Leslie smirked at the suggestion, but when she listened harder, she thought she heard her name in the bird's call, too.
"You know what?" Alex said. "I hear my name, too. That's pretty weird. We must be getting so tired we're hearing things."
While they walked, the calls got louder and clearer. "You know, this is too much to be coincidence," Leslie said. "I'm definitely hearing all of our names now. Do you think people are out looking for us?"
Alex cocked his head and listened again. "You're right! People are calling our names. They are looking for us!" He raised his voice, shouting through the trees. "Hey! Over here! We're over here!"
Leslie and Holly joined in, shouting that they were there, shouting for their parents and Helen, anything to let the searchers know where they were. The calls continued to get louder, and Leslie could hear branches breaking off in the distance.
"Can you tell what direction it's coming from?" Leslie asked when they'd grown tired of shouting. She hoped they would find their searchers soon, because the sky was growing darker between the treetops. She couldn't tell if it was really as late as it seemed or if it was just the trees blocking out the light.
Alex shook his head. "It kind of sounds like it's coming from that direction," he said, pointing off to the right. "But I can't be sure. Sounds play tricks on you in the woods, especially when it starts getting dark like this."
In addition to the distant sounds of the search party, Leslie could hear the sounds of running water. She was just about to ask the others if they could hear it when Alex stopped. Ahead of him was a stream, and a path that ran alongside it. Best of all, Leslie recognized the rocks and trees that lay between the path and the water.
"I recognize this place!" she exclaimed. She looked around her, whipping her head from side to side. "We've even been on this path we were just on. We're not far from home!"
She looked back at Holly, whose weary face split into a relieved smiled. Leslie turned forward to smile at Alex, who beamed back.
"Let's get going," he said, turning Fred to the right to follow the path downstream, and Leslie and Holly followed. He started calling again, "Here! We're over here!"
Leslie and Holly excitedly joined in, and the voices and sounds of sticks and branches cracking grew louder and louder. Finally, they rounded a corner and saw the sweetest sight they'd seen in hours: their trainer, Helen, and the assistant trainer, Julie, led the way with Leslie and Holly's fathers and Alex's mother right behind them.
"Dad!" Leslie yelled, and she pushed Lucky into a trot to meet him as quickly as possible. She was so tired and stiff she could barely post, but she hardly felt the pain because she was so numb. She reached her father a moment later and pulled up next to him. She reached out to throw her arms around him, and he unsteadily put one arm around her, the other clutching his reins and the saddle horn.
"Leslie! I've been worried sick. Where have you been?"
Leslie could hear the two mothers asking Alex and Holly the same thing. "I'm so sorry, Dad. We decided to go for a trail ride because it was such a beautiful day, and then a mountain lion chased us, and then we got lost and we've been wandering for hours."
"Why didn't you call?" Dan asked, his voice hoarse. "When I came to pick you up and no one knew where you were, I called your cell phone and it just rang and rang."
Leslie sniffled, and Lucky moved, forcing her to let go of her father. "I forgot it this morning because I was running late. Alex lost his, and Holly's battery was dead."
"I think we'd better get these kids and horses back to the barn and sort out the details later," Helen said firmly. Leslie turned around to look at her, and Helen's face was lined with worry. "Something is going to have to be done about that mountain lion, but right now I just want everyone to be safe."
"Good idea," Dan said. "I don't want to be on this horse any longer than I have to!"
They all turned their horses toward home, and Leslie noticed that her father and the other parents held tight to the horns on their western saddles. They all wore work clothes from their office jobs. It occurred to her that none of them were experienced riders, and none of them were dressed for it, yet they all had mounted up to look for their children. She felt a wave of guilt. What if they'd gotten hurt?
"I'm sorry you had to come looking for us, Dad," she said, eyes downcast. The path was wide enough for him to ride alongside her. "I didn't know we were going to get lost like that."
"I would do anything for you, Leslie, but I'm very disappointed that you went off on a trail ride without telling anyone where you were going, and without making sure you had a working cell phone with you. If one of you had gotten hurt and couldn't ride, you would have been stuck out there."
"I know. I just wasn't thinking. Helen and Julie were off somewhere, and a trail ride just sounded fun. It didn't occur to us to leave a note or check our cell phones." After a pause she added, "Are you going to punish me?"
Dan was quiet for a moment. He answered, "No, I don't think so. I think your scare taught you a lesson, and by the way you're sitting in your saddle, I'm guessing you're pretty sore."
Leslie grimaced in recognition.
"I think you've already been punished enough."
When they made the last turn toward Green Meadow just as the sun set behind the barn, Leslie decided it was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen in her entire life.
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About the Author
Jennifer Walker is a full time freelance writer, editor and novelist, and her work has appeared in several different magazines and anthologies. She does dressage on her Arabian stallion Capt Han Solo+, and she shares her life with one husband, one dog, and one cat—all of which are ridiculously spoiled.
Leslie and the Lion is a companion story to Jennifer's two published books in the Green Meadow Series: Bubba Goes National and Bubba to the Rescue, both published through Twin Trinity Media and available in print and digital forms at www.twintrinitybooks.com. She has several more novels in various stages of production, two of which are part of the Green Meadow Series.
Bubba Goes National
Bubba to the Rescue
The Fire
You can contact Jennifer at her website: www.AuthorJennWalker.com
Or connect with her on facebook or twitter.
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