Conclusion

I sat next to Ella and tried to get her to drink some of the hot drink. Dad picked up the other mug and cuddled up next to Sophie and helped her drink some. Mum made up two furry hot water bottles and brought them over. I slipped them inside the duvet where they would help to warm up Ella’s tummy. Of the two of them I was more worried about Ella. She was still shivering deep inside the huddle of the duvet. She was very quiet and I could see a tiny tear trickle down the side of her face. I could tell she was frightened.

A couple of minutes later a car pulled up in the driveway and mum went to let the Doctor in. The doctor took one look at the girls and dropped her bag on the floor and pulled out her stethoscope. She gently lifted away the duvet and towel from Ella and listened to her heart and put a blood pressure cuff on her arm. I saw her look at her watch. Then she took out an ear probe to take Ella’s temperature. When it bleeped she pulled it out and looked at it. She did the same to Sophie. Mum and Dad stood by quietly.

The doctor wrapped Ella up again tightly and looked at her watch anxiously. She turned to my parents.

‘You did the right thing wrapping them up like this and calling me. The ambulance will be here soon and I think we had better get them to Casualty as quickly as possible, just to be on the safe side.’

‘Actually, it was Ally here who did all the work. We didn’t appreciate how bad the situation was. He was the one that found them on the hill and brought them down on the back of the pony. I didn’t realise they had hypothermia, I thought they were just a bit cold and wet.’ Mum explained to the Doctor, looking more and more embarrassed as she spoke.

‘Sophie, do you know where your mummy is? I’ve been trying to ring her.’ Dad said turning his attention to the girls.
‘She’s at granny’s.’ Sophie said quietly as she continued sipping her drink.

‘What’s your granny’s name? Maybe we can call her.’

Sophie shrugged, as if she didn’t know the answer to this. But Ella opened her eyes and whispered the phone number. Dad dialled it and this time he managed to get Ella’s mother.

‘They have been really worried about you two. You have been gone for ages, they were just thinking of calling the police,’ he said sternly as he put the phone down.

‘Dad, not now, eh?’ I said. ‘They don’t need a lecture at this moment.’

Dad looked round at me. It seemed as if it was the first time he had really seen me.

‘No, Ally, you are absolutely right, as usual. What would we do without you?’

The doctor frowned at me and looked at my bedraggled appearance. She came towards me with her bag.

‘Now, are you feeling OK? You look a bit cold too, did you get wet as well?’ She asked as she got out her thermometer again.

‘No I’m just fine thanks. I only got a little bit cold because I took my jumper off to put it on Ella. I’m just going off to have a shower and get cleaned up. But I expect I will feel a bit tired later when the adrenaline wears off though.’

‘How old are you?’ She asked.

‘I was ten last month?’

‘Well, you are a remarkably clever, brave and resourceful young man. These girls were very lucky you found them when you did, and even more fortunate that you recognised what was wrong with Ella. Your parents must be very proud of you. Now you had better go off and get cleaned up and warm before you catch cold too.’

I laughed. ‘A cold is a virus and that’s not how you catch them, which I am pretty sure you know.’

‘You’re quite right, you cheeky boy!’ She gave me a little hug and laughed. ‘Oh there’s the ambulance,’ she said unnecessarily as the siren wailed down the road.

I glanced over at Ella who looked alarmed at the sound of the ambulance. I walked over to the sofa and sat beside her and leaned over.
‘You’re going to be just fine, don’t worry. Your mummy will meet you at the hospital. Are you feeling better yet?’ I whispered to her.
Ella nodded and a tiny smile appeared briefly. ‘Thanks!’ she said quietly.

When I came out of the bathroom, the ambulance had taken the girls away. The doctor had left after explaining to my parents that she had been quite worried about Ella whose body temperature had been quite low and her blood pressure was also lower than normal. Apparently even if the bog hadn’t managed to swallow her up she would still have been in grave danger from the cold. The doctor had been full of praise for my actions.

Mum came over and gave me a big hug. She was crying. Dad came over too and put his arms around us both.

‘You are such an angel. You probably saved their lives. I can’t bear to think what might have happened if you hadn’t been there. What were you doing there anyway?’ Mum said as she pulled a tissue out of her pocket and wiped the tears away from her face.

I told them about taking Jessie for a ride and enjoying it so much that I wanted to go further and that was when I had seen them.
‘I didn’t know you could ride, I thought you had given up after you fell off so many times.’

‘Mum, that was years ago, I am bigger and stronger now. It was easy, and it was fun. I might do it more often. Oh crumbs! I have just remembered; I left the saddle up on the hill. Abi will hit the roof when she finds out.’

‘Don’t be silly, she’ll understand. We can go and fetch it later.’ Dad said. ‘I was very impressed with how you took charge of the situation. Where on earth did you learn all about hypothermia, and adrenaline for that matter?’

‘I read some books about Arctic exploration and there was a bit on first aid in one of them. It just stuck in my mind that’s all, you never know when stuff like that will be useful.’

‘Indeed you don’t. Maybe I should read a bit more.’

‘Yes Dad, you are supposed to be a teacher after all.’

We were all still laughing in the kitchen when Abi and Aimee came home.

‘Why’s Jess in the back garden? She’s eating all the flowers!’ Abi asked crossly, glaring at me.

Mum burst out laughing again and we all looked out of the window to see Jessie wandering around with the reins dragging along the ground. She was helping herself to the grass and was mooching around the flowerbeds crushing all of mum’s favourite flowers. The once neat lawn had suffered from severe hoof damage, not to mention the little piles of manure that Jessie had left behind.

‘Sorry Abi, you will have to take her back yourself. Ally has been busy saving lives and as Jess played a major part in helping him, she is welcome to eat as much of the lawn and the flowers as she likes.’

Ella and Sophie came round a couple of days later with a big tin of chocolates for me, and some apples for Jessie. Their mum came with them and rather embarrassingly gave me a big hug and a kiss, and it looked like she was about to cry. Ella shared my embarrassment and grinned at me. Our mothers sat and chatted in the kitchen whilst we went for a walk along to the paddock to give Jessie some chopped up apples. Ella and Sophie were pleased to see Jessie again and made a big fuss of her. Sophie wanted to ride her again and I let her sit on her back while Jessie was munching her way through the apples. Ella explained that they had got bored at their granny’s house and decided to go for a walk up to the top of the hill, but unfortunately they hadn’t told their mum where they were going. Their grandmother lived on the other side of the hill from my house. They didn’t realise that the bog would be so easy to step into. The dark green plants that grew in the bog camouflaged it so well. Ella had been running down the hill and had landed straight it in. She knew instantly what it was and tried to get out but the more she struggled the deeper she sank. She had tried to persuade Sophie to go and get help but because she couldn’t see any houses around she was too scared. In the end it was lucky that she hadn’t gone anywhere, or I wouldn’t have seen them. Ella said she still had bad dreams about it all.

‘I was so pleased to see it was you. Everyone knows how clever you are, I knew you would find a way to get me out of there,’ Ella said shyly.

‘I thought everyone just thought of me as a geek or a nerd.’

‘No way, you are totally cool, and funny too.’

After this little adventure, I felt as if my powers of invisibility had disappeared. Mum and Dad treated me more like an adult, and never accidentally left me on my own again. Even Aimee treated me less like a freak show, but came to me for help with her science and maths homework, as did Abi and even some of their friends. I became good friends with Ella and Sophie who came round for riding lessons with me. Abi is doing a very good job at teaching us all to ride properly. I am finally beginning to appreciate at least one type of sport. I still can’t sing though!

The End

  Ian and Tarkie, the inspiration!