CHAPTER NINE

"Back off! Back off!" Owen yelled, not wanting the grooms to be accidentally hurt in an effort to stop the stampeding horses.

Everyone followed him in fighting their horses to the side of the rode, the horses wanting to follow the rest of the herd in the stampede.

"Joe, Jack, Tom, Dave. Ten metres back there's a gate to the right. Go through and head straight for Ghost Peak. Two more gates and you'll hit the path. Try and guide the horses off the path and into the field. Go! They're taking the long route so you should beat them," Owen instructed.

Four of the grooms wheeled their horses and took off running.

"And NO HEROICS!" he called after them.

"Chris, George, Keith, Fred. Follow the horses. If they jump or ram the fence anywhere report it immediately. And don't worry about keeping up with the racers, they are considerably faster than what you're riding. Go!"

Four more grooms took off, this time in the direction that the herd had gone.

Meanwhile Harry had grabbed the emergency kit that he always carried and he, the remaining grooms and Tracey tended to the injured horse. The bullet had hit the horse just where the neck met the shoulder and while it had missed the main artery there was still a lot of blood mixing with the dust. There were also three hoof prints that Harry could see where other racers had stepped on the fallen horse.

He handed out antiseptic liquid to Tracey and two other grooms, who had basic medical experience, indicating that they were to clean out the prints. He poured liquid over the bullet wound to wash away the blood and dust to help him see what was happening.

Caitlyn dismounted carefully and knelt next to Harry.

"I've done some work with treating injured people, can I help?"

"What do you know?" Harry asked while trying to hold the wound open and reaching for his bag at the same time.

Caitlyn handed him a pair of forceps from his bag with one hand while helping to hold the wound open with the other. "Enough about stitching wounds to know what you need and how to help and stay out of the way."

"Okay," he grunted, his attention focused on trying to remove the bullet without causing more damage.

The horse tried to move out from under the ministering hands. Immediately the rest of the grooms moved in to hold it still.

Harry fished the bullet out and dropped it into a bag Caitlyn held open.

"Thanks. The cops are going to want to see that."

"The cops? You think it was foul play?" Caitlyn asked while pouring more antiseptic into the wound. The horse struggled harder and the grooms held on tighter.

"They'll want to investigate. No one notified us that they were planning to hunt in the mountains, besides accidentally shooting a horse in a forest is one thing but a whole herd, on an open path, surrounded by people and followed by a 4x4 is a whole other story. Never mind that the mountains belong to LLR and any hunting on LLR is only done if the critters are a pest or dangerous and we would all know if either was the case," Harry explained while carefully stitching the bleeding vein closed.

While Harry and the grooms were tending to the fallen horse, Owen had made use of his farm radio.

"This is Owen calling a mayday! Shots fired out of the mountains. One horse down. The rest have stampeded towards the dunes. We are approximately half way down the path. All those able, please respond. Stables, please send transport for injured horse. Over."

Immediately five people indicated that they were headed towards them.

"Stables here. Transport for injured is headed out as well as one of the new trainee vets. Can you tell us which one is injured? Over."

Owen looked at the injured horse, trying to see identifying marks through the mass of grooms holding it down.

"It's either Jack Knife or Trailer. I can't count the socks right now. Over," Owen replied.

"Right. We'll pull both their files and have the hospital barn set up accordingly. Over."

Each horse had its own file containing training, racing and medical information. With so many horses it was sometimes hard to keep up with each ones own quirks.

Then Leo responded from the house.

"Leo here. Do you think this warrants an investigation? Over."

Owen shared a look with Tracey before responding. Tracey's face was awash with anger.

"We do. Over."

"I'll let the station in town know. Do you need any more help? Over."

"Just make sure that there's good food waiting for everyone when we get done. We'll let you know how it goes. Over."



By now the horse had been treated, the five additional people had shown up, four were mounted and one was in a 4x4 and only two minutes had passed.

"Tracey, your show," Owen said as everyone gathered around her.

Tracey looked at those around her. She picked out two grooms and Caitlyn and indicated that they were to stay with Harry and the injured horse.

Caitlyn wanted to argue but knew that there wasn't time.

Tracey quickly drew a kite on the ground leaving out a piece for the gate.

She drew two squares at each of the sharper points indicating that she and the other groom with the 4x4 would take position there. The rest of the grooms, she indicated, would take up positions along the edge and the middle of the field in order to funnel the horses into a giant circle.

"All rights guys, let's go," Owen said as the all remounted.

Caitlyn watched as they all headed towards the gate before turning back to help Harry.



They were just approaching the second gate into the field when Owen's radio came to life.

"Owen? They're getting close. Over."

"All right. How do they look? Over," Owen asked as he directed the grooms into place.

"They're pretty lathered up and a few are starting to fall behind. The Master's chivvying them but he looks as strong as ever though. Over."

"And he's the one we've got to stop," Owen commented grimly to himself before speaking into his radio again.

"Okay crew. Joe says that the Master is still looking good, so he's going to fight being turned. Stay out of his reach! No heroics!"

A chorus of agreements came back. Most of the grooms had fallen foul of this particular lead stallion at one time or another. He only appeared to like Tracey though he tolerated Owen and Joe.

All the radio's crackled to life. "Here they come!"

Time seemed to hold its breath.

Owen watched the dust cloud, hoping that the horses would turn into the field. If not those blocking the path could easily be killed.

A challenging scream rang out, carrying the Master's distinctive sound. The grooms held their ground.

A second scream. But still the path remained blocked.

The Master saw the gap in the fence and the grooms' horses beyond it and chose to take the easier route.

The first two grooms, in the wheel, instantly kicked into action, sending their horses galloping with the herd. They stayed out of the Master's reach, avoiding his attempts to add their horses to his herd, but using those attempts to force him into a turn to the right.

As their horse began to falter, unable to maintain the blistering pace of the racehorses, the next two were there to take over.

Slowly but surely the horses were turned until, eventually, they came to a stop in the middle of the field, legs splayed, sides having and heads hanging low.