jv, Wyatt Ranch, Trouble

[dens-extra-pups.livejournal.com]

Catherine sighed as she looked out over the ridge. It had been almost a week since she had gone on leave, and this was the first time she had ridden out this far since her arrival back home. How long had it been since she had ridden out here last? Six months? Eight? More? It didn't matter... Her usual riding partner was long gone... It still hurt, knowing that her dad had died while gearing up for a ride out to this spot... It was a bit ironic... But at least he had died while doing something he loved, she supposed...

A short while later, Casper shied slightly, almost as though he was scared of something. Frowning, Catherine visually scanned the area, including the path. Seeing nothing, she gently urged the skittish horse forward. She never saw the snake, but when she fell, she half-wondered if it was a diamondback that had spooked the roan... That'd be just her luck, wouldn't it? She could see the ground fast approaching... and then everything was pain.

~~~

Lizzy looked up from checking her saddle as Casper returned to the stable. Only... "Hey, where's Cat?" The horse was shaking and breathing heavily, as well as covered in a fine sheen of sweat. Wherever he had come from, he had come quickly. Something had scared him badly... And since Cat wasn't with him, Lizzy feared the worst. She moved to lead the terrified horse around the walking coral, pausing every now and then to lead him over to a trough for water. Once Casper had calmed, she lead him back to his stall and got him some feed, before shutting the door securely and putting the saddle on her own horse, a palomino mare by the name of Goldilocks. "Let's go, Goldy... We've got to find Cat..."

later...

The hunting cabin was just in sight. She could make it there, and get cleaned up. Maybe even call for help... If the buzzer system that Mom and Dad had installed years ago wasn't disconnected... Leaning heavily on the tree limb she had found, Catherine searched for the rock that hid the key to the cabin. Her right arm was throbbing, and she suspected she had fractured her ulna in at least one spot, if not two or more when she landed on it in the ditch. If all went well, she'd be in a cast for a few weeks... if not, she'd be in one for a few months... But at least she could write as well with her left hand as with her right...

The next morning...

Lizzy sighed. She was running out of places to check, and even with how well she knew her family's land, she couldn't find any sign of Cat... It was time to call for outside help...

~~~
It's been one week since Cat Scan went on leave...