Chapter 17

Big Brother in Big Trouble

They found Adam in very short time, and in bigger trouble than either of them had anticipated. True to his word, Hoss had been able to easily follow Adam’s tracks. His eyes focused on the ground, he had trailed after his big brother as if being pulled by a rope. Juliet had kept close by, her eyes searching the horizon. She had been the one who had first spotted Sport between some large boulders. The big chestnut had been standing unnaturally still, head low, with only his tail nervously swishing from one side to the other. When they had come closer, they had seen Adam lying in the morass at the horse’s feet, unmoving, nearly irrecognizably covered in mud. For a second both Juliet and Hoss had feared that Sport was standing silent vigil over his dead master, even though neither would have admitted that aloud. But much to their mutual relief, when they arrived at Adam’s side, they soon saw his chest ever so slightly rising and falling with every shallow breath. At this sight Juliet had let out a stifled sob that seemed to surprise her as much as Hoss.

Now Hoss was kneeling in the mud with Adam’s head in his lap, frantically searching for an injury that might have caused the unconscious state his brother was in. Juliet crouched next to Adam, trying to wipe crusted sludge from his face with a laced handkerchief. Soon the cloth was dirtier than the man it was supposed to clean, but Juliet didn’t seem to notice.

“I can’t believe his horse threw him, Hoss,” she said, shaking her head. “It must have been something else.” She suddenly realized the uselessness of her attempts with the soiled piece of fabric and after a disgusted glance at the marred Brussels lace she threw it rather fiercely into the swamp next to her. Her hands roamed over Adam’s chest in search of his heartbeat—just to be sure, just to at least feel some signs of life when there were none to view; then she suddenly stopped in her motion. She bent over, studying Adam’s upper abdomen intently. Her hands probed carefully at his belly until suddenly she let out a gasp.

“Hoss, this…this isn’t all mud!” She held one hand out to Hoss. The black mud smear on her fingers was tinged with red. She looked up at his stunned face. There was panic in her eyes. “It’s here, down here!” She indicated at Adam’s lower ribcage where, at closer sight, Hoss could see how dirt and blood had clotted to a half dried pulp. When Juliet made to wipe away the grime, Hoss grabbed for her hand.

“No, leave it!” he admonished her. “Iffn ya do this, he’s gonna bleed again.”

“But we have to do something, Hoss!” Now the panic had reached her voice, too.

“Yeah, we hafta get him home, and quick!”