by Doree
(Canada)
I stared at the darkening sky. "Come on Skylar, we have to leave now or else we are going to get all wet!" Complained my best friend, Amy. I glanced over at her. "I was really hoping to see the wild horses again today..." I said sadly.
Amy and I had been watching a herd of mustangs beside my house. They were beautiful. The stallion especially, with his long flowing gold mane and tail. His body, the color of a light creamy yellow. He was defiantly the most beautiful palomino I had ever seen.
Amy and I began to walk down the hill back down to my house. We didn't have any horses yet, we had just moved in a month ago. "So Sky, how about we go inside and we can do each others hair and make up?" Asked Amy excitedly. I sighed. Amy was a girly-girl while I was the tomboy. Sure she loved horses, but boys and make-up came first in her life. It was always horses for me; I didn't really care for boys and make-up. According to Leslie and Kennedy, two girls from school, who think they are the best, I am weird, being 15 and having no crush or boyfriend.
I glanced at Amy. "Do we haaave to?" I said in a whiny voice that she hated. She glared at me as we entered my house. "Yes, we do. I brought my stuff." I sighed and let her lead me to my room like a prisoner. As she worked on my hair and face, the rain started to come down, hard and fast.
"Do you think the wildies are okay?" I asked referring to the horses as me and Amy always called them. She nodded.
"Of course!!!!! You being a horse expert know that!" I thought of the bay mare with the blaze and her little dun baby. We named each of the herd members. The bay was Blaze, her dun baby was leggy dancer because of her long spindly legs and the white of her legs which looked like ballet slippers down up. Then there were two identical gray mares, we call them Katina and Latina. (Latina has a stripe, Katina doesn't, and that's how we tell them apart.) Then there is a young colt, because of his coal black coat and no spot of white on him we call him Black Lava. There is a dapple gray we call Misty Moon and a brown and white pain we call Windy because she runs so fast. We took some time to name the palomino before deciding on Rainstorm Alarico, because Alarico means rules all, and the stallion is a king.
"Are you sure Rainstorm Alarico and his herd is fine? I mean what about leggy dancer! She was just born a week ago" Amy finished putting my long dark curls into a bun before facing me.
"Listen. They are fine, okay?" I doubt that a bit and I don't know why. I just nodded. She worked a bit more on me before letting me see myself in the mirror. My dark brown eyes were framed by dark eyeliner and mascara. She had also added shimmery eye shadow. She only put a bit of blush on me, just enough to bring out my tan cheekbones. My hair was pinned up in a elegant bun.
"See, now don't you wish you wore make-up everyday?" I turned to face her, one eyebrow raised.
"No."
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by Doree
(Canada)
I woke up in the middle of the night. Amy was snoring; I grimaced and looked at my alarm clock. It read 4:00 AM. I tucked a piece of my long dark curls behind my ear. I glanced over at Amy again.
She didn't really think she was too pretty. Everyone thought she was though. She had chin length blonde curl hair, baby blue eyes and fair skin. I missed 1st grade. Back then, we didn't care about boys and make-up. But as soon as we hit 2nd grade, it was like Amy was taken over by boy crazed aliens.
A horse's scream snapped me out of my thoughts. I climbed out of my warm bed and squinted into the night, it was still raining. I frowned. Maybe it was just my imagination? I sighed and started back to bed. The scream came again. Then a scream, that sounded exactly like a cougar. My heart began to pound. Something was defiantly happening with the herd, something to do with a cougar. Even though, if Amy was up, she would say, "The horses are fine! They KNOW how to take care of themselves!"
I still had to go check, just to make sure. I slipped into a sweater and put on pants, creeping down the stairs quietly so not to make mum and dad, I put on my rain slicker and went out the door. I hurried up the hill where we always watch the herd. My eyes, now adjusted to the dark, made out the herd.
Rainstorm Alarico was battling something. I felt like my heart would burst with fear for the horses. I started running down the hill. The other horses must have seen my slicker waving in the wind and started to neigh even more nervously.
They started to gallop away, calling after Rainstorm Alarico to come. Rainstorm Alarico and the cougar were fighting furiously. Finally, the stallion had it pinned. The cougar screamed for one last time. I gasped; Rainstorm Alarico was covered in blood! He trotted over to a little figure that I hadn't noticed till now.
It was lying down, covered in blood also. It was Leggy Dancer from the looks of it. After snuffling the little filly for awhile, Rainstorm Alarico neighed to the sky, a pitiful noise. It was then he noticed me. We held each other's gazes. He looked down from Leggy Dancer and back at me, urging me to help her. I came closer. He didn?t move. I stopped and kneeled beside the dun filly. I gulped back tears. Her once beautiful legs were all ripped up. Obviously the cougar had got her. I looked up at the great stallion.
"I-I can?t help her." I whispered. Rainstorm Alarico neighed in fury as if saying, "No! You can! Try harder!" I started to cry as I ran my hand over the filly, then to her nostrils to see if she was breathing. I didn't feel anything for awhile but as I pulled my hand away, I felt quick short breathes on my hand. My heart almost stopped, she was alive!
But just barely, I began to move her; I had to get her back to my place. When I felt hot breathe down my back. I looked up at the stallion. His narrowed eyes asked me what I thought I was doing. "I have to take her back to my place or she'll die." As if he understood he backed away and walked over to Blaze. He nickered to her as if telling her I was going to fix her baby. I breathed in deeply as I lifted up the filly. She was pretty heavy! I staggered slightly, but kept going. I glanced behind me. The stallion's call echoed through the air. It was him saying, "Fix her and bring her home."
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by Doree
(Canada)
I went into dad's shop. He was a vet, had been for years. Just this year he had taught me some stuff. Like stitches and cleaning out cuts. I didn't wake mum and dad. If I needed them I would.
I began to work quickly. I didn't want the stallion and his herd over here. My neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Willow, wanted mustangs. They already had a few and I saw them after they were done breaking them. They had cuts over their faces and bruises and some, even broken legs. We had called the cops, but somehow they always managed to hide the mustangs and pretend they were nothing but people who owned cows.
Mum and dad said I shouldn't hate them but I do. They are cruel people, sometimes even to their cows. I knew that if they saw the herd over here, they would get them. They didn't know about Rainstorm Alarico and his herd.
I worked quickly on Leggy Dancer. First, cleaning out her cuts then began stitching them up. By the time I was done, Leggy Dancer was awake. I fed her some herbs which would make the pain go away slightly. I got her to her feet. She stared up at me, and began to shake.
"It's O.K Leggy dancer." I said softly. I picked her up again and had to dodge my head out of her bites every so often.
By sunrise the little filly was back in her herd. I would have to watch them much more carefully. Her stitches could come undone. The stallion trotted over to me. He bowed slightly at me. I gasped then bowed back. He nickered then ran off, back to his herd. They all looked beautiful, running freely, shaking their manes and living in harmony together. Hopefully, forever.
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by Doree
(Canada)
I felt someone shaking me awake. I stretched then glanced up at Amy. Her blue eyes were wide and her blonde curls a mess.
"Omigosh Sky, guess what? I went to check on the wildies today because you weren't waking up, and I found a dead cougar there! Rainstorm Alarico has a few cuts but he looks fine other then that." I nodded. Good. I forgot to check out the stallion's cuts, since I was to busy worrying about Leggy Dancer.
"I hope he's fine." Amy smiled and said.
"From the looks of it he is. Now get out of bed sleepy head! It?s already 10:00 and my mum is picking me up at 4:00 so let's go, go, go!" I laughed and got out of bed.
I slipped on a pair of jeans that cut off right after the knee and a tan tank top with a picture of wild horses on it. I put my hair in a ponytail and headed outside with Amy.
"It stopped raining." Smiled Amy. We ran up the hill and looked at the wildies.
"Don't they look dreamy?" I said. Amy nodded her eyes wide.
"Watch ya girls looking at?" Said Mr. Willow. Amy's and my eyes flashed wide open.
"Mr. Willow." I said in a high voice. He was coming up the hill!
"Nothing, nothing at all." I ran down the hill and said.
"What's up?" He glared at me suspiciously from be hind his cap. "I needa talk to your papa." He said. I rolled my eyes slightly. He was always treating me like I was five.
"My mum and dad are gone right now. My dad had a vet call and my mum came with him." He nodded.
"Ok will ya get your papa over to my place after, gotta sick horse." I tilted my head to the side slightly.
"Which one? What's wrong?" He squinted at me.
"It's Delilah. She gotta infected cut. I need to ask your papa if I should put her down or if he can fix it." I instantly felt bad for Delilah. She was a bay mustang. I liked her a lot. She sometimes greeted me whenever I came home from school. Right now it was summer vacation so I didn't see her anymore really.
"Um ok. Will do." He nodded good bye then strolled back down the drive way.
Amy's eyes seemed worried. "Do you think he'll come back here just to see what we were looking at?" I bit my lip. Mr. Willow was pretty nosey.
"Let's just make sure he doesn't." Amy nodded in an agreement.
"Let's got get something to eat."
We made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches then headed back up to out watching place with them.
"Mmmh." Sighed Amy from our place on the hill, I smiled. The wildies didn't see us from here because we laid on the hill and watched them. Before I was sure they would spook at the sounds of Mr. Willow's loud voice but they didn't. They were probably almost used to the human voice, I thought.
"I really, really hope they don't find them." Said Amy glancing at me anxiously, I smiled.
"Don't worry. They won't." Hopefully... I added in my mind.