Free Sapphire: New Horizons by Heather Brooks

she gave him his head, rising into her half-seat as his feet took off.
    â€œAck!” He exploded into the air, and she got leftbehind, totally not prepared for the powerful lurch of his body as he leaped forward. She lost her grip on the reins, and her feet flew out of the stirrups. Then he landed with a thump that jarred her forward onto his neck. She grabbed for his mane as she started to slide down his neck toward the ground, her heart racing as Sapphire increased his speed.
    Then he dropped his head and did a little buck, and she catapulted off him onto the ground. She threw up her arms to brace herself and crashed hard. Pain shot up her ankle and shattered through her body.
    She groaned as she rolled to a stop, unable to move through the pain. The thud of Sapphire’s hooves faded and her heart dropped as she opened her eyes and looked around.
    He was gone.

11
    P anic shot through her and she rolled to her stomach, yelping as fresh pain exploded in her ankle. “Sapphire!”
    Nothing but the rustle of leaves and the trickle of water.
    â€œSapphire!” She grabbed a small tree and pulled herself to her feet, standing on one foot as she scanned the woods for a black horse. “Sapphire!”
    No response. He was gone, just as he’d taken off those other times.
    Tears filled her eyes. “Sapphire,” she begged. “Please come back.”
    A squirrel ran partway down a tree trunk, chatteringat her while his little tail twitched, as if he were laughing.
    â€œGo away,” she muttered, clenching her teeth against the pain as she hopped toward the stream and back the way they’d come.
    She didn’t want to go home without him, but she didn’t know what else to do. Maybe she’d find him on the way.
    She made it to the edge of the water, then frowned at the smooth rocks under the surface. No way could she hop across those. She touched the toe of her injured foot to the ground, then winced and yanked it back.
    She looked around and saw a large stick nearby. She crawled over to it, then used it to leverage herself to her feet again. Using the stick for balance and support, she hopped back over to the stream and wedged the stick down between the rocks.
    She leaned on it carefully, testing it. When it didn’t slip, she put all her weight on it and then hopped into the water, landing on a round rock just beneath the surface. The cold seeped in through her boots, her muscles tightened to keep her balance, and she hopped again. And again.
    Then she moved the stick forward a few feet, wedged it tightly between two rocks, and hopped again. The stick slipped and flew out of her hand, and she screechedas she fell into the cold water, her ankle screaming with pain as she smacked it against a rock.
    Water streaming down her face, she managed to haul herself back up to her knees and crawl out of the stream, the rocks digging into her knees and hands.
    She pulled herself up the bank, unable to keep the tears from creeping out of her eyes, and flopped down on her belly on the grass, her body shaking with exhaustion and pain.
    A minute of rest. That was all she needed.
    Just a minute and then she’d keep going.
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    By six o’clock that evening, the farm was in chaos.
    Caitlyn and Kyle reported Emily had gone missing when the adults arrived home, and Emily’s dad had been the one to realize that Sapphire was also gone. Aunt Debby had been furious and worried that Emily was going to be in trouble riding Sapphire out in the woods.
    Emily’s dad had spent the next hour trying to calm his sister down, taking responsibility for allowing Emily to do whatever she wanted, and reassuring her that Emily was a great rider, even if she wasn’t experienced at jumping. But after four hours had passed with no sign of either of them, even he had started to get worried.
    By six fifteen, they’d assembled on horses in the driveway with walkie-talkies, since cell phones didn’t