Fortunately, Oreo had thrown him off on the right side of the trail, away from the snake. But when Jules arrived at his feet, he was grimacing and holding his right wrist. She knelt next to Matt. “Are you okay?” she asked breathlessly.
Jase appeared beside her. “Mate, how’s your wrist. Show me.” Matt winced as he let go of his wrist and Jase took hold of it gently, turning it slowly, seeming to look for signs of a break. Andie knelt next to them and opened a plastic first aid kit.
“It doesn’t look broken, mate,” said Jase, “but we’ll get a splint on it just in case, okay.”
Andie went to work on Matt’s wrist, while Jules looked on helplessly. All she could do was hold his left hand, taking the brunt each time Matt squeezed it tightly in reaction to the pain.
“Ah, yeah, Jonno. We’re gonna need you to come out in the Land Rover.” Jase, on his mobile, looked around. “Uh, we’re about a click north of Red Ridge. You know where Jackson’s property backs onto the fire break. Yeah, that’s right.” Addressing Matt, he asked, “Hey, Matty, you reckon you can walk up to that gate with me? Jonno’s gonna come get ya.”
Matt nodded. “Yeah, that’s doable.”
“Can I go with Matt?” Jules asked, looking up at Jase.
“Yeah, course. Andie, when you’re done there, can you take Gingernut, and I’ll grab Oreo and follow you lot once Jonno’s here.”
“No worries,” Andie replied. She secured the end of the bandage with a silver clip, then gathered up the cellophane wrappings and put them into the first aid kit, clipping it shut. “You should be fine Matty. I don’t think there’s a break, but you’ll want to get it X-rayed, okay?”
“Thanks, Andie.” She stood and packed the first aid kit into her saddle bag, then gathered Tim Tam’s reins and led him over to Gingernut who was eating dried grass on the side of the trail. She took Gingernut’s reins, the mare seeming reluctant to abandon her trailside snack. Back on her horse, Andie called over her shoulder. “See you back there.” She gave Tim Tam a firm kick and led Gingernut to the front of the group. The others waved their grim goodbyes from their perches, and then it was just Jase, Jules, and Matt.
“I feel like a right idiot. Sorry, Jules. Not exactly how I thought the day would end up.” Not for Jules either, but all she cared about was making sure Matt was okay.
“It’s not your fault. It was just bad luck. That could have happened to any of us. I’ve certainly been thrown from a horse before.”
“Really?”
“Yes, when I was eleven.”
Matt started chuckling. “Great, so you’re saying I have the horse-riding ability of an eleven-year-old?”
“Oh, hell no, I was way better at eleven than you are now. I was thrown when my horse shied right before a four-foot jump.” She scrunched her nose at him and they shared a laugh at his expense.
“It’s a good thing I like you.”
“Yes,” she said. “I’m starting to think it’s a very good thing.”
“He’s here!” Jase called. He’d been standing about twenty feet away, perhaps to give them some privacy while they waited for Jonno. Would Jules ever get used to all the “Aussiefied” names? She doubted she would ever call Matt, “Matty”.
“Let me help you,” she said to Matt as she stood. She took his left hand in both of hers and pulled him to his feet. “Anything else hurt?”
“Just my pride.”
Jules smiled, keeping hold of his hand as they walked to the Land Rover.
Chapter 23
Lucy
“Mom is going to kill you, Bradley,” hissed Bridget.
“What? I’m fine. Nothing happened!”
“Your mom is not going to kill him, Bridget, because we are not telling her what happened.”
“But—”
Will cut her off. “Bridget, no. Bradley’s fine and that’s all that matters. Your parents left me in charge, and if you think I’m getting told off by Aunt Jackie ’cause you tattled, think again.”
Will’s tone told every occupant of the car that what he’d said was final. Lucy found his take-charge attitude extremely attractive, but she also agreed. They could just as easily have been on their way to A&E as back to the family’s cabin, but Bradley was unharmed, so everyone should keep quiet about it.
“We won’t say anything, Will,” assured Briony. “But what were you thinking, you doofus?” Lucy turned just in time to see Briony cuff her brother upside the head.
“Ow,” he whined as Briony continued her rant. “You’ve only been snowboarding for, like, what, two years? The guys who do those tricks, they’re professionals, you idiot.”
“Okay, geez. Forgive me for raising my hand! They asked for volunteers.”
“They didn’t mean sixteen-year-old novices, you dork.” Bridget was clearly not ready to let things lie.
“And they had all the gear there. What was I supposed to do? Not put my hand up?”
“Yes!” his sisters responded in unison.
Lucy was fascinated by the interplay between the siblings. As her parents’ sole child, the closest she had to siblings were Chloe and Jules. Oh, dear, she thought. Does that mean Will is kind of like a brother to me? She dismissed the thought immediately; the last thing she felt towards Will was sisterly love.
And she was sure that, right before they’d been alerted to Bradley’s stupid decision to ride the half-pipe and try a snowboarding trick he’d never done before, Will had been about to say how he felt about her.
They pulled up in front of the cabin and Will switched off the car’s engine, unbuckled his seatbelt, and turned around in his seat, pinning each of his cousins with a look that said, “don’t mess with me”.
“Remember, we went, we saw ice sculptures—‘Ooh, ahh, they were amazing’—we had hot chocolate and watched the snowboarders. That’s it. Got it?”
“I didn’t have hot chocolate,” said Bradley. The little blighter, Lucy thought. He’s going to get a right bollocking if he’s not careful.
“Bradley, I swear to
