Chapter Twelve Jean's Ride
The rest of the week went by without further news. Jim was unable to getthe Tuesday morning paper, the one most likely to contain news of themurder. They searched all the others, but with no success. Timothy and hewere still completely in the dark as to what efforts the police weremaking. They could only make guesses.
Jim was enjoying himself however. He was playing an important part in aserious and exciting game. He kept Timothy well supplied with food,reveling in his mysterious errands. While at home, time hung very heavilyon his hands. He felt that he should be doing something. He was botheredabout Jean. He was not going to underestimate her again, and he knew shewas watching him carefully. Also, her birthday was approaching. Shementioned the matter several times; so he knew she had not forgotten thepromise he had made. While he supposed Timothy could hide elsewhere onthat day, it would be difficult to remove all traces of his recentoccupancy. Also, part of the safety of the hide-out would be destroyedonce Jean knew the way.
Before it had been merely a matter of personal pride that kept Jim fromtelling Jean. Now it was a serious matter--a man's life was involved.
To cover up his nervousness and unrest, Jim began teaching Ticktock a fewnew tricks. He had long since taught the mustang to stand quietly in onespot when his reins were dangling, not to crop grass while a rider was inthe saddle, and various other accomplishments of a good riding horse. Nowhe tried a new idea. He enlisted the aid of his sister for theinstruction.
Jim would go a few feet away from his sister and the horse, then Jeanwould say, "Ticktock, go to Jim." When the mustang did as he was told, hewould receive a piece of sugar or apple as a reward. The process wouldthen be reversed and the pony told to go to Jean. They graduallylengthened the distance until finally Jean was some distance down theroad. Ticktock caught on rapidly, trotting back and forth between the twocarrying out his orders. In a few days he was thoroughly schooled.
Jim then began instructing Jean in riding. Much of his information hadbeen picked up only recently from Timothy, who had a vast store ofknowledge about horses and riding in general. The horse trainer had onceworked in a riding academy and had given riding lessons. Jim was an aptpupil and followed his new teacher's advice religiously. He seldom had tobe told twice. He learned the proper way to sit in the saddle, how tohold the reins correctly and various do's and don'ts of riding. For thefirst time he heard of the art of posting.
All this information was passed on to Jean. Jim spoke in such anauthoritative manner that Jean knew he was not inventing his technicalterms or making up his riding lore. There had been a noticeableimprovement in his riding lately which she hadn't failed to see. As adetective, Jean put her brother to shame. She missed nothing. Aware thatJim had not been visiting anyone she knew who was a riding expert, shesaid nothing but continued to observe. She hadn't missed the frequenttrips to town and other rides in the direction of Briggs Woods. As forthe milk and eggs that disappeared, she had noted that bit of informationdown too. When Jim slipped away with a watermelon, she definitely decidedsomething very mysterious was taking place.
Jean considered the theory that someone was giving her brother ridinginstruction and information for which he was paying in food. But why washe so mysterious about it all. If he was openly taking lessons fromsomeone, he would be certain to talk about it, even boast somewhat. No,there was more to the matter than was covered by such a simpleexplanation. She was just as decisive as her brother and even though onlyten, when she made up her mind, she acted. So she devised a plan.
Jean had long since gotten over her timidity concerning Ticktock and hadridden him occasionally before. Now she applied herself and obedientlyfollowed Jim's instructions. She began riding Ticktock daily around thefarm. Mr. Meadows was somewhat opposed to the idea, as he thought hisdaughter was too young to be riding Ticktock. Although small for amustang and called a ranch pony, Ticktock was far from being any Shetlandpony. Any fall from his back would be a long distance for such a smallgirl. Although he no longer had any worries about Jim and Ticktock, Mr.Meadows still considered the mustang to be rather high-spirited and aptto be vicious with anyone who didn't know him too well. In spite of theparental disapproval, Jean spent more time each day learning to ride onthe little horse.
Friday Jim had to help his father all day. At noon Jean asked to rideTicktock; so Jim saddled the horse and then went back to the field withhis father. After several hours of intermittent riding around the yard,Jean decided that the time had come for action. Casually she went intothe house to find her mother.
"I think I'll ride down the road a way," she announced.
"Be careful," warned her mother, who did not share her husband's fearsabout Ticktock.
"Sure. I may be gone a little while so don't worry."
As soon as she was out of sight of the house, Jean urged the mustang to afaster pace and headed toward the woods. She knew the trail to thehide-out began somewhere near the middle of the forest. It was verygloomy in the heavy shade, but that just added to the excitement for her.Resolutely she rode on.
Had Jean allowed Ticktock to have his head once they were in the forest,he would have undoubtedly taken her straight to the hideaway, as he hadTimothy. The way was old and familiar to him now. But Jean insisted ondirecting the little horse. While she had taken quite a few peeks on herblindfolded trip to the hide-out, she hadn't seen quite enough. Jim hadcircled and doubled back, which misled her too. The woods were confusing,one trail or stream looking like another. She knew they had roughlyfollowed a stream for a distance, so she chose one and boldly plungedinto the woods.
It was difficult riding, trying to duck branches or push them out of theway. Jean couldn't tell too well where she was going, and after somedistance she began to be discouraged and tired. She was determined,however. Any trouble was acceptable if she could only show up her brotherand find the hideaway. She was certain that if she found the place shewould also solve the mystery of why he was now taking away perishablefood.
Seeing nothing that looked familiar, Jean stopped for a few minutes torest and get her bearings. As she did so, she saw a tree loaded withpersimmons on the opposite bank of the stream. She dismounted and pickeda spot to cross. It was a tiny rivulet, but it had deep steep banks fromthe spring floods. She walked upstream until she found a spot where shecould cross. Returning to the tree, she began climbing. She was reachingout for a particularly large persimmon when she lost her balance andfell. She landed on her back with a breath-taking thump and then tumbledon down the bank of the stream. Her right foot hit a rock at the bottomand doubled under her. There was a wrench and a horribly sharp pain. Herscream of anguish brought Ticktock to the bank. He peered down at thehuddled heap at the bottom.
Peering down at the huddled heap]
Jean lay moaning and crying for some minutes. The pain subsided a little,so she sat up and dried her tears. She wanted nothing now but to get backto Ticktock and go home. Cautiously she tried standing. The slightestweight on her foot brought a yell of pain. She got back on her knees andtried crawling up the bank. It was too steep, the soft ground caving inand letting her slide back down to the bottom. If she had had the use ofboth legs, she might have managed to scramble up to the top, but it wasimpossible in her crippled state. Discouraged and frightened, she gave upand began to cry.
No one could find her, she was certain. Ticktock couldn't get down towhere she was and she couldn't climb to him. She was tired, dirty, andher ankle hurt. She looked at the injured member, which was swellingrapidly. It was nearly twice as large as her left ankle. The sightfrightened her even more. Perhaps it was broken, and she would just haveto stay there and slowly starve.
Ticktock looked down solicitously. He knew something was wrong but didn'tquite know what to do about it. He stepped closer to the bank to seebetter, but it began to crumble. He moved back out of danger and waitedpatiently. After Jean had cried herself out, she began to think ca
lmlyonce more. At least it was comforting to have Ticktock standing by, eventhough she couldn't use him.
Jean was a resourceful little girl who didn't give up too easily. Sheconsidered all possible ways out of her predicament and finally had anidea. She would send Ticktock for help.
"Ticktock, go to Jim!" she ordered, sitting up. "Go on home to Jim!"
Ticktock hesitated. He didn't want to leave Jean, as he knew she was introuble. Also, he had been taught to stand still while his reins weredangling. He stirred indecisively.
"Go on, go home to Jim," repeated Jean commandingly.
It was an order; so the mustang decided to obey. He started off. He wenta few paces and then looked around mournfully over his shoulder, hopinghis instructions would be changed. Jean simply repeated her words.Reluctantly he went back through the woods and headed for home. He begantrotting down the road. Repeatedly he stepped on his reins and jerked hishead down savagely. Finally one sharp jerk broke them and he went rapidlydown the road with his broken reins trailing behind him on the ground.
Mrs. Meadows became alarmed about four-thirty at her daughter's longabsence. Finally she could stand the worry no longer. She went to the bigdinner bell in the back yard and rang it vigorously. It was used tosummon her husband from the fields, and she knew he would come running atonce on hearing the bell ring at this unexpected hour of the day.
Mr. Meadows and Jim left their work and headed for the house immediately.Jim's mother had just finished explaining when Ticktock appeared over thehill, riderless.
The little mustang was covered with sweat and dust. The farther he wentfrom Jean the more the pony realized something was decidedly amiss. Hisonly thought was to hurry home to Jim. Jim was his god and could solveall things. He dashed into the yard and obediently slid to a halt infront of the boy. He had carried out instructions.
Mr. Meadows looked at the lather-covered mustang with his broken reins.
"If that horse has thrown Jean and hurt her, I'll kill him."
Worried as he was, Jim did not fail to rise to the defense of his belovedhorse. "He wouldn't throw Jean. Maybe she fell off and he came back forme."
"Well, I'm going to get the car and go back along the way he came,"announced Carl Meadows decisively.
Jim tied a hasty knot in the reins and climbed up on Ticktock's back.
"Take me to Jean," he said. "Go to Jean."
Ticktock was not indecisive this time. He turned around and started backrapidly down the road. Mrs. Meadows and her husband got in the car andstarted slowly after him, scanning the ditches on both sides. They passedJim and went on up the road. He shouted at them as they went by.
"You better wait at the corner and follow me. Ticktock will take us toher."
It was soon evident where the pony was heading. When the woods appearedin view, Jim was certain of at least part of what had happened. Jean hadtried to find the hide-out. He felt positive about that. A thousand ideascrowded into his mind. If she let Ticktock have his head, he would havetaken her to the clearing too. And Timothy was hiding there. Hearing ahorse approaching, he would naturally assume it to be Jim. And thensuddenly, if Jean appeared, what would have happened? He was positivethat Timothy would not have harmed his sister. Perhaps he might havedetained her though, afraid that she would spread an alarm. In that case,what would he do? He would have to lead his parents to the hide-out andbetray Timothy.
There were other explanations too. Jean might have suddenly seen Timothyand become alarmed. If she rode off rapidly through the trees, it wouldhave been the easiest thing in the world to have been knocked off by alow branch. In that case she might be hurt badly. Everything lookedblack. Jean might be hurt; Timothy might be turned over to the police; hemight be taken for aiding a criminal; and lastly Ticktock was once againin Mr. Meadows' bad graces.
So certain was Jim that Jean had gone to the hide-out that he tried topull Ticktock back onto the road when the little horse started offthrough the woods before reaching the usual trail. The mustang, who knewexactly what he was doing, was stubborn and insisted in turning off theroad.
"O.K., Ticktock," said Jim finally. "You usually know where you'regoing."
Jim waited for his parents to arrive in the car. They climbed out andrather dubiously followed Jim into the woods. Every few yards they wouldshout Jean's name. When they had penetrated about half a mile into theforest, they heard a weak answer. Jean had heard them. Ticktock keptgoing forward confidently until he paused on top of the bank above theinjured girl.
Jean was a sorry-looking little girl. Her face was streaked with tearsand dirt while her clothes were torn, wet and muddy. But she was veryhappy to be at last out of her predicament. She had been lonely andfrightened, waiting alone in the woods after Ticktock had gone.
"I tried to climb the persimmon tree and fell down here," she explained."I couldn't get up; so I sent Ticktock for help."
Jim listened to the vindication of his faith in Ticktock in silence. Hewas very relieved to find Jean and know that she wasn't too badly hurt.They were still too close to his hide-out to suit him though, and hewouldn't feel safe until they were clear of the woods. Also, this wasscarcely the time to point out how intelligently Ticktock had acted. Hisparents were still too absorbed in Jean and the extent of her injuries.
Ticktock led the way back to the road while Mr. Meadows carried Jean inhis arms. When the little party reached the car, the others drove off,leaving Jim to follow home alone.
Jim let the little pony take his time on the road back. He felt muchrelieved but still uneasy. He wondered what Jean would say if they askedher what she was doing in the woods. He felt rather guilty about hermishap. After all, it was mainly his fault.
If he had shown her the way that first day, she would never have gone offon her trip of exploration. It had been rather mean of him, consideringthat she had found the cave, which was the most valuable feature of thesecret rendezvous. So if her leg were broken, he supposed that he wasreally responsible.
The doctor was at the house by the time Jim arrived. He was busy withJean; so Jim rubbed Ticktock down and put him in the orchard.
"You're a hero, old boy," he said fondly. "You got me out of a prettyticklish mess by being so smart."
"Just sprained badly," the doctor was saying as Jim entered the house."She'd better stay in bed a day or two. That's the only way I know of tokeep active children from moving around."
Jean had her dinner in bed, rather enjoying being in the limelight. Afterhe had eaten, Jim got a chance to talk to his sister alone.
"I suppose you were looking for the hide-out," he said hesitantly.
Jean nodded her head. "I haven't told anybody though."
"Good girl," said Jim with a thankful sigh. "It was mean of me not toshow you before. As soon as you can get around I'll take you there, evenif it isn't your birthday."
"I haven't said anything about the milk and eggs you took either," saidJean calmly. "What are you feeding?"
Jim looked at his sister with hesitation. She certainly had shown thatshe could keep a secret. She deserved to be in on the excitement, hedecided. Perhaps that would make up in some part for his havingindirectly caused her accident.
"Look, Jean," he said, lowering his voice. "I'll tell you the wholestory...."