Holding Out for Christmas (The Christmas Tree Ranch #3)(25)

Moments later, Conner came back and knelt beside them. “Will the horses be all right?” Megan asked. “They won’t run off, will they?”

“The horses should be fine,” Conner said. “The sleigh won’t move until we tip it back onto the trail. Right now, I need to check before we try to get you up, Daniel. Can you move your arms and legs? Tell me when it hurts.” He moved the quilt aside. His hands ranged expertly over Daniel’s body, testing his limbs and joints.

Conner would’ve had plenty of experience with injuries in bull-riding competition, Megan reminded herself. He was taking his time, making sure Daniel didn’t have a spinal injury before getting him up. Still, Megan was getting impatient. Daniel was cold and he needed a doctor.

“Try his left shoulder,” she said. “I think it could be broken.”

Conner worked his hand into the snow and under Daniel’s shoulder. When he pressed, Daniel yelped with pain.

“Okay, partner,” Conner said. “We’re going to sit you up and get you out of here. It might hurt. Are you brave?”

“Mm-hmm.” Daniel nodded, his jaw clenched.

“Well, then, here goes. One, two, three.” On the count of three, he eased Daniel to a sitting position. Daniel’s face was pale. His arm hung at a slightly odd angle from his shoulder. Bucket stayed close to him, whining anxiously.

“You were right about being brave, Daniel,” Conner said. “Let’s hope it’s just a dislocation. We won’t know for sure until we get you to the clinic in town.”

“Here.” Megan unwound the knitted scarf from her neck. “We can use this to make a sling. But how are we going to get out of here? It could take time to get that sleigh back on the trail and turn it around. Daniel needs a doctor now.”

“I thought of that while I was with the horses.” Conner took the scarf and tied it loosely around Daniel’s neck, making a supportive sling. Then he wrapped Daniel in the quilt again. “Luckily, we were close enough to the house to get a phone signal. Travis got my call. He’s on his way in the ATV. Listen. You can hear him coming.”

Megan strained her ears. At first, there was only the rush of the wind. Then she heard it, the rumble of an engine, still faint but coming rapidly closer. Relief washed over her as the ATV came into sight, its thick winter tires rolling over the packed snow.

Travis parked behind the sleigh and unloaded the shovel and other tools that lay across the backseat of the open vehicle. “I’ve got this,” he said to Conner. “You take the ATV and get your patient back to the house. I should be able to move the sleigh with the jack I brought. If I can’t, I can at least get the horses home.”

“Thanks. I owe you.” Conner helped Megan ease Daniel onto the backseat. Bucket, choosing to stay with Travis, had jumped back into the sleigh.

The ATV was still running. Conner climbed into the driver’s seat. “Hang on to your brother,” he said, glancing back at Megan. “I’ll do my best to avoid the bumps, but it’s bound to be a rough ride.”

Megan wrapped her arms around Daniel, avoiding his injured shoulder. As the ATV rolled along the packed trail, the slightest bump triggered a jolt of pain. He pressed his lips together, determined not to make a sound. Megan was proud of his stoicism. But seeing him hurt broke her heart. Holding him, she could only wish the accident had happened to her instead.

They covered the distance to the house in about twenty minutes, but to Megan the time seemed much longer. Conner parked the ATV next to his Jeep, climbed out of the seat, and turned back to help Daniel.

“How are you doing, champ?” he asked.

“Okay,” Daniel said, although he was clearly not okay.

“You must be a pretty tough guy.” Conner guided him toward the open door of the Jeep and into the backseat, where Megan was waiting to make him as comfortable as she could. “I didn’t hear you make a sound.”

“I just kept thinking about you, Conner,” Daniel said. “I remember how tough you had to be when that bull got you. I was trying to be like you.”

Megan glimpsed Conner’s face as Daniel’s words struck home. He looked as if he’d been gut punched. She even caught a glimmer of tears in his eyes. Being the object of Daniel’s hero worship could be hard to take.

“Just hang in there a little longer, pal,” he said. “We’ll have you at the clinic soon. They’ll take care of that shoulder. But listen, it’s okay not to be tough. You’ve already shown us how brave you can be.”

Daniel managed a wan smile. “Thanks,” he said.

*

As Conner drove out of the ranch gate, Megan covered Daniel with the quilt and cradled him in her arms. Growing up, she’d always protected her little brother. If she’d protected him today and not allowed him to sit on that unsafe bench, he wouldn’t have fallen, and he wouldn’t be in pain now.

The nearest hospital was an hour away in Cottonwood Springs, but the small Branding Iron branch clinic kept a competent staff on rotation. Megan had taken her mother there and knew the place well. With luck, a doctor would be able to treat Daniel’s shoulder, or at least take an X-ray, check him for other injuries, and do something to make him more comfortable.

Daniel’s tough-guy pose was wearing thin. His forehead was creased with pain. He whimpered under his breath.