The Moon-Fire Filly Part 2

by Melody
(New Zealand)

“Lara? Larana Milloc, where are you!” A voice interrupted my thoughts. An angry voice. I stood, gave Esperanza and the filly one last pat, and ran to the direction of the voice.
“Oh Lara, where have you been!” My mother sounded exasperated as she saw me enter the house.
“What do you mean?” I asked innocently.

My face went red as I looked down and saw the rip that reached up past the hem of my dress, and the mud on both my knees and dress.

“I’m sorry Ma”

“And the bad thing is that I’m the one who cleans up after you. Ah well, at least you show spirit"
I smiled meekly, and hoped she didn’t ask about Esperanza. I wanted the filly to be mine. My brother was coming back in a few days, and if someone knew about her, I was almost definite that the filly would be his. Girls were meant to knit and weave, and help with house-work, not look after horses and foals.

My face must have gone slightly pale, as mother spoke suddenly.

“How is Esperanza? Has she foaled? If so...Is the foal...” Ma hesitated. “Is the foal...alive? Or Esperanza?”

I stared guiltily at Ma. “Y...yes, the foal is fine, and Esper...anza, is fine too” Ma didn’t like me to use little ‘childish nick-names for horses you will never own’ as she would say.
Ma raised her eyebrow. She has a way of making anyone tell the whole truth.

“The foal is...” I glanced around. “Special. You can’t really describe it...She’s moon-coloured, like Esperanza, but she has these...reddish marks on her”
“Mhm. Sounds lovely” Ma was never interested in the subject of horses for long.

I headed back outside, going straight to Esper. On the way I thought of names.

“Hm. How about...Anza? No, that sounds strange. Moon? Fire?” I stopped in my tracks. Of course! Moon Fire! I flew across the paddock and halted at the spot where Esperanza and her filly stood.
“Hey Esper! What do you think of the name Moon Fire for your filly?” I asked her, rubbing her head affectionately. The filly snorted, and nodded her head.

“Right then, Moon Fire it is!”
*
Moon Fire, or Moon for short, grew at a very fast rate. At 2 months, she was up to my shoulders. How I longed to ride her! Her gait was...indescribable- I could see that even though I wasn’t on top of her. She walked confidently, with long strides. But, it was as though she was like a flickering beam of light dancing across the surface of water. Here one moment, there another. It was hard to keep up with her.
Of course, by then, mother knew about Moon, but strangely, she never told father. I was grateful; it was hard enough trying to keep Moon out of sight in the trees that lined the paddock, and the only good stretches she had were when father or Harry weren’t around. I cringed angrily at the thought of Harry riding Moon, and breaking her lovely stride to make her walk with short, quick steps. Moon trotted up to me, and snuffled at my tangled, curly black hair, trying to eat it. I giggled, and pushed her away. Moon whinnied indignantly, and I ran through the trees, making Moon chase me. Soon enough, we were engaged in a big game of tag. I was usually in, though. During our game, I saw some people at the fence. I froze; it was Harry and father, glaring at me. They strode into the paddock and came over to me. It was silent for a few minutes.
“You never told us?” My father finally said.
I nodded miserably. Moon stood by my side protectively, and Esper didn’t seem to mind much that her filly was gone. She just grazed with the other mares, occasionally looking up.
Harry whispered something to father, and he nodded gravely.
“Lara, please, go to the house and don’t come back. This foal is not yours. It is Harry’s. You are not to touch it, or even come near it. Do you understand?”
I nodded slightly, shocked at how cold he sounded. Tears dribbled down my face, and everything seemed to go blurry. Harry smiled smugly, and pushed me towards the gate. I walked, in a trance-like state, back to the house, and collapsed on one of the chairs there. I heard Moon neigh loudly, but I didn’t look outside the window. It would hurt me too much to look and see Harry with Moon.


© 2009 Melody