Leopard 03 - Burning Wild

before.
    Andraya and Kyle bounced and kicked and held the reins whenever Joshua and Conner allowed it, laughing in delight as they commanded the horses.
    Emma had never really ridden a horse until a year earlier, when Jake had decided to teach her, along with putting Kyle on a horse for the first time. He’d been careful of her, but he’d pushed her to overcome her fears, until she’d finally realized there was freedom and joy in the power of the animal.
    The riding trail was narrow as it wove through the trees to come to a small stream that the horses splashed across. This was the easiest trail, and one they used whenever they took Kyle and Andraya riding. No steep terrain, just flat land that stretched for miles. In the distance there were a few sloping hills. The wind had a bite to it and Emma was glad she’d insisted the children always have their jackets with them when they went riding.
    In the distance, off to her right, as Emma topped a rise, she noticed dust rising, a large amount. She reined in to study the dust cloud, to determine what it might be. She glanced back and Joshua and Conner were talking to the children and helping them with the reins. She shifted her weight forward, lifting the reins slightly, and the little mare set off using her smooth, fast gait. Emma abandoned herself to the sheer joy of riding, feeling the wind in her hair and the breeze on her face. She urged the horse faster, using her knees to control the speed, just as Jake had said she could do. For just a few moments, she was alone, horse and rider charging across the land and her own laughter ringing in her ears.
    She heard the sound of hoofs and turned her head to see Susan urging her horse up beside hers. They ran side by side, throwing grins back and forth, hair whipping in the wind, the horses running smoothly and confidently.
    Emma’s horse suddenly swerved, eyes rolling, head tossing. Emma pulled her reins just as Susan’s horse began acting up. Emma lifted her head to try to catch the elusive scent, but her horse tried to bolt and she turned her attention to controlling the animal. She had to force its head around, circling.
    Susan’s horse turned tail and made a dash back toward the ranch.
    Thunder rolled ominously. The ground shook. She felt the vibrations travel up the horse’s leg to her body, and she swung her head back to look in the direction of the dust cloud. It was nearly on top of her. The mare crow-hopped, letting out a terrified squeal. Emma kicked her hard in the ribs and bent low over her neck, racing back toward the relative safety of the treeline.
    One moment she was riding alone, the next she was swept up in a sea of running horses. One broadsided her mare, crushing Emma’s leg. For a heart-stopping moment the mare stumbled, her head lowered and she kicked out with her back legs, sending Emma flying to the ground. Hooves rained down on her. She rolled, curling into a ball, hands over her head to protect herself. The ground was soft from the rain and she wiggled into a depression against the side of a small boulder.
    She heard the sound of gunfire and a man’s shout. Joshua had shoved Kyle onto Conner’s horse and had ridden right into the stampeding herd, in front of Emma, firing his weapon, shifting the flow of the herd. The horses thundered past, swerving away from her. When the sound died down and the earth quit shaking, she dropped her hands and rolled over to stare up at the stormy sky, tears blurring her vision. There didn’t seem to be a place on her body that didn’t hurt.
    “Don’t move, Emma,” Joshua commanded. He didn’t sound at all like the Joshua she knew, and when she looked at him, his eyes glowed, small red lights playing through them. “Drake will send the helicopter for you.”
    She meant to tell him that was silly, that she was perfectly all right, but for some reason, when she opened her mouth nothing came out. She heard Andraya screaming for her and lifted her hand to beckon Conner to bring the children to her so she could reassure them, but Joshua shook his head, crouching over her like a protective bulldog. When he even waved Susan off, she tried to move.
    A groan escaped and everything went black.
    14
    “STOP moving around so much.”
    Emma let her breath out in a long hiss. “If one more person tells me that, I’m going to hit them over the head.” She glared at Jake. “You especially. Don’t you have work to do? I’m fine. I’ve been sitting in this den