Free Falling Read Online Free PDF

have to actually control him.”
    “Mom, I can do it.” John faced the pony and called over his shoulder: “Somebody give me a boost up.”
     “Come on, Sarah,” David said reassuringly. He patted the quiet bay gelding that he would ride. “It’ll be fine. Up you go, sport.” He lifted his son onto the pony and helped him get his feet into the stirrups.
    “This helmet is too big for me, Mom. It keeps dropping down in front of my eyes.”
    “You have to wear a hard hat, John. Just walk around the paddock and get used to him,” she said.
    “Need a leg up?” David handed Sarah the reins of the big bay named Dan.
    “I forgot,” she said. “You used to ride a little?”
    “Kind of,” he said, lacing his fingers to boost her up. “Had a girl friend in high school who rode.”
    With a sigh, she bent her knee and accepted the lift up onto the large bay’s back. She took a deep breath, felt the horse move beneath her, and then exhaled. Her hands collected the reins and her legs tucked around him as if she’d never stopped riding. Now that she was on, she felt herself relaxing just a bit. She watched John jogging along the fence line. His hat was bobbing up and down on his head.
    David swung into the saddle of his horse.
    Sarah shifted her weight and closed her calves around Dan. The horse moved toward the center of the ring.
    “Wait up, John,” she called. “Let me fix your helmet.” She approached John and his pony.
    He smiled broadly. “This is so great, Mom,” he said. “Star is really easy to ride. I’m ready to go!”
    Sarah smiled, but the pit of fear and uneasiness returned to her stomach at the thought of their venturing out of the paddock along the roadway. She adjusted the buckle on his helmet for a tighter fit.
    “Try that, sweetheart,” she said.
    David trotted over to them.
    “Everybody ready?” he said. “I figure if it takes us four hours to walk it, it should only take us two by horseback to get there, stay a couple hours and two hours back. We don’t want to get back in the dark.”
    “David, I’m not sure about this,” Sarah said. “Why don’t we take some time to get comfortable with the horses first? If they haven’t been ridden in awhile, they could easily decide to take off for Balinagh at a dead run.” The feeling of panic would not go away. She knew she was transmitting her unease to her horse.
    “It’s just that...” David ran his hand over his chin. “If we don’t go now we’ll have to put it off until tomorrow.”
    “If we put it off ‘til tomorrow, I’ll be more relaxed,” Sarah argued. “And I’ll have made sandwiches from the bread I was going to make today.”
    “It’s okay, Dad,” John said. “We can just explore today.”
    Sarah realized, although he’d done a good job of hiding the fact, David was anxious to get word on their family back home, and the status of things—like rescue. She leaned over and squeezed his hand.
    “Let’s don’t rush it, darling,” she said. “We can’t afford any accidents, okay?”
    David nodded. “Of course,” he said. “No problem.” She could hear his disappointment.
    “Come on, sport. Let’s check out who our neighbors are.” They moved through the open paddock gate.  
    “Which way, do you think?” he said, squinting down the road that led from Cairn Cottage.
    “I guess we should follow the road,” Sarah said, grateful that at least there wouldn’t be cars on it since the crisis.
    “I’ll lead,” John said.  
    He trotted ahead of them between ancient, moss-covered drystone walls down the narrow, winding drive that led away from the cottage. The horizon was almost treeless. Sarah tried to remember how far away the ocean was. She thought she could smell it. The sun came out from behind wispy grey clouds to warm their backs as they rode.
    “Just move with your pony,” Sarah called ahead to John.
    “Relax, Sarah. He’s doing fine. How about you?”
    “I just know how easy an accident can