"Ed!" she yelled. The stallion didn't answer. He probably ran back to the barn. Someone would see him and come looking for her. In fact, they were probably already searching. In the rain, could they find a trail?
"Alex!" she screamed.
Remembering her cell phone, she reached for it. It wasn't in the case on her side. Glancing around, she spotted it, poised at the edge of the ledge.
At least she could call and tell them where she was. She leaned forward, reaching for the phone. A stabbing pain shot through her shoulder. Her fingers slid off the phone, pushing it closer to the edge. She leaned back against the bluff for a moment, gathering strength to stretch farther. She closed her eyes, praying for strength and deliverance. Finally she opened her eyes and leaned forward, screaming when the pain hit her again. Refusing to give up, she stretched until her fingers closed over the phone. Leaning back against the bluff, she rested for a moment. She lifted the phone and searched the contact list, pausing on Alex's name. He'd be at work. Gerald would be back by now and he'd remember the bluff. She scrolled down to Gerald's name and pressed send. The phone rang four times before he answered.
"Gerald? It's Carmen. I fell off Ed and I'm stuck on the side of a bluff where we were riding earlier."
There was an audible gasp. "Are you alright?"
"I think I broke something. I can't get up ..."
"Where are you?" he interrupted.
She glanced around. That was a good question. Exactly where was she? She thought she knew every inch of her place, but she'd never examined it from this angle before.
"Carmen?" His voice was urgent.
"I'm not sure. I fell off on the way down the trail from Mom & Dad's graves. I forgot my phone there today and wanted to get it before the storm."
"I'll call Alex," he said. "Hang in there."
Shifting her position to relieve a cramp in her hip, she twisted the injured shoulder and cried out in pain. Her grip tightened on the phone involuntarily and it shot out of her wet hand, bouncing once on the ledge before plunging over the bluff. Moments later it clattered on the rocks below. She leaned back against the bluff, shivering. She might as well figure on getting that cell phone for Jonathan.
At first she was confident someone would find her soon, but after what felt like an hour, she wondered if they would find her alive. As her shoulder began to swell, the pain was nauseating. She drifted in and out of consciousness - which was probably why she thought she was dreaming when she heard the voice calling her name. For a moment she lay silent, and then the voice called again. It was Alex! She scrambled to sit upright, forcing the pain in her shoulder to the back of her mind.