I caught the faint sound of rustling branches behind us but didn’t turn around. Surely Miller and the others had arrived, but for whatever reason they were hanging back.
“I want you to carefully, slowly put your hands on Dash’s side,” I instructed. “Listen to your breathing. Hear how fast it is?”
Ava nodded, trying to get Dash to calm.
“Now try to sync your breath with his,” I instructed.
She sent me a typical dismissive teen look. “Seriously?”
“We’re helping Dash, remember?”
“If you say so.” She looked her horse in his big, brown eyes and gradually, Dash stilled.
“Do you hear him breathing?” I quietly asked.
Ava’s red hair shook as she nodded.
With her attention laser-focused on her horse, I stole a look behind me. Sure enough, there were Miller, Ernie, and Kayce. They stood behind a thicket of trees. Ernie flashed me a thumbs-up, so I knew I had him to thank for keeping the group back. “What do you think Dash wants you to know, Ava?”
“I have no idea,” she said.
I gave her more time to just hold her horse and breathe. As long as Ava was out of danger from the cliff, there was no rush to move. I’d texted a volunteer to handle the first group session in my absence, so we had all day if necessary.
“What do you think Dash wants you to do?” I eventually said when I believed Ava’s nerves had quieted and her body no longer trembled.
“Pet him.”
“Go for it.” I took a step back as Ava stroked her horse’s nose, talking to him softly.
“I didn’t mean to scare everyone,” she whispered to Dash. “I’m just so tired of being afraid…so I ran.” A full minute passed, and Ava moved to Dash’s other side, resting her head against his ribs. “It hurt so bad when my dad went away.”
“Tell Dash about it,” I softly prodded.
“I keep wondering what I could’ve done to change things. How could I have been good enough to have made Dad stay?”
My vision blurred, and I cursed the tears that her words generated. If I cried anymore, my whole body would turn into a dehydrated shell, a dried-up fossil of the woman I used to be.
“I don’t have the answer to that anymore.” Ava pressed her head to the horse’s coat. “All I know is when I’m with you, Dash, the noise hushes, the voices telling me I could’ve stopped my dad’s choices shut up, and I hear…you breathing. And that feels good.”
The horse nudged her and petted her right back, prompting Ava to laugh. They were a bonded pair, those two. No matter what changes Ava faced in her life, Dash could be her constant.
I watched the two until the sun burned brightly above us, shining its approval on Ava and this day. It would take some time, but Ava was going to be okay. If only I could’ve started my healing process at her age. Instead of as an adult. How lucky was she to have found a horse who would listen and a mind quiet enough to still the maelstrom of thoughts in her head?
“I think Dash wants to go back home,” Ava said sometime later.
“That sounds good to me.” I gestured to the waiting crowd behind us. “Are you okay if we bring them too?”
Ava’s mother, uncle, and unlikely friend Ernie stepped from the camouflage of the trees. Kayce walked swiftly to her daughter and crushed her in a hug.
Thank you, Kayce mouthed to me over Ava’s head.
I simply nodded and joined Miller and Ernie a few steps away.
Kayce kissed her daughter’s red head. “Ava, nothing I’ve ever seen in the Army has scared me as much as hearing you’d taken off on that horse.”
“I was just so mad,” Ava said. “Mad at Dad.”
Kayce ran her hand over her daughter’s ponytail. “Me, too, honey.”
