And the woman in the coat could have got out of their way could have ducked back under the rail, no harm done. Then the horses had come-thundering round the curve one. Her own wits were recovering nicely-enough to recall, in some detail, precisely what had happened: She had nipped under the rail, a thin woman in a dark coat, which had flapped as she strode out onto the course. Hazel shook her head and settled back on her heels, only faintly ashamed of her desire to know precisely where the woman had been kicked, and if there were any bits of brain on her clothes. “You’re not going to faint, are you, pet?” But the man on her left was her father, so it was all right. Had the Cyril person been so presumptuous, Hazel would have stomped on his toes. The man on her left caught hold of her arm. She raised herself up, on the tips of her new shoes, swaying with the effort to see.
Hazel had never seen a dead body before, or anyone’s blood but her own. Serves her right was her eventual response, followed, a bit later, by Poor thing.
Too fast for her to make any sense of it until her pulse, and her thoughts, stopped racing. It was ghastly, all right, and had happened so fast. Hazel continued to stare at the woman lying out on the turf like a big, broken doll. And trampled so badly, by the look of it, that she probably wasn’t going to see the sun go down, never mind her own next birthday. But it would be insensitive, she knew, to make an issue out of her relative grown-upness when someone had just been trampled by a horse. She might even have told him, in her iciest tones, not to be so rude. Under less shocking circumstances, she would have fixed the man on her right-the Cyril one-with the evil eye. Hazel Louise Mull-Dare, being very nearly thirteen years old, objected to anyone calling her a little girl.
Lean on me, that’s right, but whatever you do, DON’T LOOK! Ladies. I can’t believe she’s- Oooof! Keep your eyes closed, old thing. “She must have taken leave of her senses.” “HEY! ARE YOU CRAZY OR WHAT? COME BACK!” “What’s she doing? What in the devil’s name is that woman playing at?”
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