Finding Yourself

Disclaimer: I do not own the story of Hidalgo. I only own the creation of characters that you do not recognize.

Chapter Fifteen: Found

Kaitlin awoke later in the Sheikh's tent. He was the first thing that she saw once she opened her eyes. His face was full of worry. For a moment he reminded her of her father. Then she remembered that her father and Hidalgo were out in the desert, lying as still as death.

"Kaitlin? Where is Frank? Where is he?" asked Sheikh, urgently.

"He… collapsed… Hidalgo too… In… the… desert…" Kaitlin managed to get out between choking sobs.

"Can you take us to him?"

"I-I-I-I think so."

"Let's give it a try. I do not believe that they are dead. Just exhausted. If that is true, then they will wake soon. We must help them."

Kaitlin nodded, sat up and whistled. Zodiac came trotting into the tent, still tacked. Zodiac came over to Kaitlin and bent his forelegs so that Kaitlin could get on easily.

"You have a smart and caring horse there. He wouldn't leave you or let anyone else touch him or you, save me. He remembered me, but he didn't tolerate anyone else. No one could get close enough to him to untack him."

"Thanks boy," she whispered in his ear and Zodiac tossed his head and stood up.

"Let's go then. Time is of the essence."

Kaitlin nodded and the Sheikh led the way out of the tent and he climbed on his own horse and a group of riders set out with Kaitlin and Sheikh, Kaitlin leading the way. Kaitlin eventually got confused and almost stopped.

"Oh boy, where were we? Where is dad and Hidalgo?" Kaitlin asked her horse.

Zodiac shook his head and pulled the reins lose and took off in a canter. Apparently, he knew the way. Kaitlin was surprised but she gave Zodiac his head, letting him find them. She knew better than to fight her horse.

Zodiac led the group to where Frank and Hidalgo lay on the sand. They were still unmoving. Kaitlin threw herself off Zodiac and ran to the bodies, determined to figure out if they still lived. She checked her father first, checking for a pulse. At first, none could be found then she detected a faint, but steady pulse. Frank Hopkins was still alive.

"Kaitlin, is he alive?" the Sheikh asked, appearing beside her.

"Yes, he's alive."

"And Hidalgo?"

"I'm going to find out now," she said taking the painted stallion's pulse.

Just like her father's had been, Hidalgo's was faint and steady. He was still alive. Kaitlin then decided to do a little test that she had learned from her father. Pinching a fold of the skin on Hidalgo's neck between two fingers, then releasing it, Kaitlin checked the hydration level of Hidalgo. It took skin a while to reach it's normal shape, indicating dehydration. Kaitlin ran the same test on Zodiac, whose skin went back to normal at a much more rapid rate than Hidalgo's. The combined tests indicated to Kaitlin that her father and Hidalgo had defiantly taken less water than she had and Zodiac had.

"Stubborn as usual," Kaitlin muttered.

"Why do you say that?" asked the Sheikh.

"Both of them are severely dehydrated. I would have excepted some dehydration but Hidalgo is considerably more dehydrated than Zodiac and Zodiac is Hidalgo's son, so if they had around the same amount of water then both of them would be similarly dehydrated. But they're not. There's a definite difference."

"So the same must be true with Frank then?"

"Yes. He must have decided that he and Hidalgo could do with less water than Zodiac and I and decided to make sure that we had more water and purposely neglected himself and Hidalgo."

"So what do we do?"

"Give them water. Just a bit at a time. We don't want to make them sick. Chances are they haven't had much water since the race began. So a lot of water would shock their systems and have negative results."

"While the water wake them?"

"Hopefully, it should," said Kaitlin with a sigh.

"I will get on it, now," he said nodding to Kaitlin and then he turned to their companions and gave orders in rapid Arabic.

Kaitlin turned back to her father and Hidalgo. "You'd better live…" she told them both. "You'd better or else, mom will never forgive you."

Water was given to both horse and man and soon, Kaitlin heard coughing and saw her father attempting sitting up and Hidalgo shifting in the sand to a sitting position so that he could get to his feet. Kaitlin rushed to her father's side and helped him to sit upright.

"What happened?" he asked. "What are all these people doing here?"

"You and Hidalgo collapsed from dehydration during the race. I thought you were dead and I was about to give up when Al-Hattal and the Lady Anne's horse passed by. Then I decided that I should finish the race for you."

"Did you finish?"

"I did. I also won the Ocean of Fire."

"You did?" asked Frank, a big smile on his face as he hugged his daughter. "You won the Ocean of Fire? I'm so proud of you!"

"I'm just glad that you are alive! I thought you were dead! The race was only an afterthought for me."

"Well I'm not dead! And I'm glad that I'm not!"

Kaitlin smiled. They had all survived the race and would soon be heading back home to Jazira.

Some Time Later…

Frank and Kaitlin had both returned home to a very worried Jazira. And they had brought a surprise with them. Or rather two surprises. Kaitlin brought back the money that she won in the race and the Sheikh had come with them to see Jazira. Jazira was so incredibly pleased that her father was still around and had missed her enough to come and see her in America.

One night, while Frank and the Sheikh were talking, Jazira pulled Kaitlin aside to talk to her.

"Kaitlin, did you find what you were looking for?" Jazira asked.

"I did, mom. I found myself. Well I'd never lost it but it took me going to Arabia and being in the race to realize it," Kaitlin admitted.

"Was it worth it?"

"I guess it was. I proved to myself that I could do it. It wasn't easy though."

"It never is."

"But I'm glad I did it. I'm no longer living in dad's shadow. I'm my own person and I'm just as good as he was. Maybe when I'm a bit older I'll become an endurance rider like he used to be."

"Or?"

"Maybe I will not. Maybe I'll do something else."

"We can only hope!" exclaimed Jazira, teasing her daughter.

"Hey!" protested Kaitlin.

"What?"

"Are you plotting against me?"

"Kaitlin, dear, I was against you racing from the beginning. I was so worried that I'd lose you like I'd almost lost your father. But this race was different. I almost lost you both but you proved that I shouldn't worry so much. You proved that you could hold your own. But I'd like you to be older before you race again. Much older…"

"Mom!"

"Just wait until you have children of your own. If they are anything like you, you'll understand why I worry so much."

"Mom!"

Jazira just smiled at her daughter and gave her a hug. Kaitlin was so much like Frank and also a lot like Jazira. But she wouldn't have had it any other way.

The End

Author's Notes

It is finished! And on time too! Amazing! Well I enjoyed writing this very much and hopefully in the future I will write some more Hidalgo fan fics, but at the moment I have a full plate with three other stories going. Thanks so much to all my reviewers! It really means a lot when you know that people like your story. Every time I hit a rough spot, I thought about all you reviewers who liked the story and managed to write thinking that it would mean something to you if I could just keep going.