“Yes.”
He bent and held his hands at knee level to help her mount the horse. She quickly placed her foot in his hands, before he should change his mind about letting her ride the stallion. In a moment she was sitting high in the sidesaddle, higher than she had ever been, since the stallion was so much larger than her mare. Her heart galloped, but she smiled, hoping she looked at ease on the powerful beast. She sat still a moment to let the horse get used to her — and said a little prayer that he wouldn’t throw her. Then she nudged him forward with her knee.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the stable master rushing toward them from the other side of the stable yard, his mouth hanging open.
The horse started forward, then reared. Margaretha clutched the reins, grabbing a fistful of mane along with them. The horse reared again as Colin tried to grab the horse’s neck — and the horse’s pawing hoof came within a finger-width of striking him in the head.
Somehow Margaretha managed to hang on and stay in the saddle. When he pounded his hooves to the ground, Margaretha’s teeth slammed together so hard she hoped they didn’t break.
The horse immediately bolted. Again, she was hard-pressed to keep from falling off as her bones seemed to rattle at the violence of his gait. The stallion’s hooves pounded faster and faster, heading straight for the stone well where the horses’ water was drawn.
The roaring in her ears nearly drowned out all other sound. Her heart pounded in rhythm to the horse’s hooves.
Was this the end of her life? Why hadn’t she listened to her father? Even Colin had warned her that the horse was dangerous. O God, I don’t want to die. How dishonorable it would be to die this way. Her father would be so disappointed in her, and poor Colin would be blamed for it. O God, help me!
The horse thundered at an amazing speed, never wavering from his path toward the stone wall around the well. She held on to the horse’s mane with all her strength. Somehow she’d lost her grip on the reins. If they became tangled around the stallion’s legs, he would surely tumble head first and kill them both.
Still, he continued toward the well. Just when she was certain he would crash into the four-foot-high wall around it, he turned and headed back the way they had come, toward the stable, at the same breakneck speed. The stable master jumped out of the way, but Colin came toward them, raising his arms and yelling at her, “Jump! I’ll catch you!”
He must be insane to offer to rescue her this way. Still, it was her only hope to be saved from this horse that seemed bent on killing her. As soon as he was almost close enough for her to jump, the stallion changed his direction so that Colin was on the opposite side, making it impossible for her to leap from the sidesaddle into Colin’s arms without landing upside down.
The horse headed back toward the well again, galloping faster than ever, ignoring her shouts for him to stop. He drew closer and closer to the four-foot wall — it seemed inevitable that he would break his forelegs against the well. At the last moment, he halted.
Only Margaretha kept going. She braced herself as she landed on her back on the ground a hand-breadth from the well.
Chapter
9
She couldn’t breathe. She rolled over onto one side, and after a long, horrible moment, the breath came back into her lungs.
As she clutched at her chest and gulped the air, sharp pain shot through her left arm and shoulder. Someone ran toward her, then fell to his knees at her side.
She blinked hard.
Colin leaned over her. “Are you hurt? Lady Margaretha, can you hear me?”
She blinked again. The black stallion grazed placidly several feet away, beside the well where he had stopped. She shuddered. The horse’s wild plunge toward the well had jarred every bone and tooth in her body. A few more inches and she would have cracked her head open on the wall.
She moaned.
“Where are you hurt?” Colin leaned even closer, bringing his face more into focus.
“I must have landed on the back of my shoulder.” Her shoulder hurt, but it would hurt more if any bones were broken. She hoped.
“I’ll go get Frau Lena.”
“No! Please don’t. I think I am well. Only help me sit up.”
Colin leaned even closer as he slipped his arm underneath her back and lifted her into a sitting position. She gasped at how easily and swiftly he lifted her, then at the pain in her left shoulder. She cradled her left arm close to her stomach.
“Is it broken? Are you in much pain?”
“No, no, I am well. I’ve fallen off horses before, and I don’t think any bones are broken.”