Majesty

1. A Discovery

When Mindy's alarm clock screeched at her for the third time, she made a few incoherent noises and buried her head under the pillow.

"I refuse," she mumbled, "It's not time to get up yet."

The alarm continued screeching.

"Go away! I will not yield to your commands."

The alarm did not go away.

"Tell the sun to go back to bed. I'll wake up tomorrow instead." Then she thought for a moment and laughed to herself. "Hehe, that rhymed."

The screeching grew louder and more rapid. Mindy reached her hand out blindly to attack the snooze button. When that failed she let out a long, reluctant sigh and sat up to turn it off. "You win today, daylight. But this is not over."

Talking to the daylight now? She thought to herself, you really are going crazy. She walked across the room to her dresser and started running fingers through the blond curls that greeted her in the mirror. The fatigue in her mind was quickly being replaced by the nagging feeling that she was forgetting something, but she shook it off because she always felt that way. She turned on the radio, mostly to hear a voice other than her own, and hummed along to the music as she went about her morning routine.

When her breakfast was over, she sat on her porch swing with a Bible to do her morning devotions. She smiled broadly and started praying, thanking God for another beautiful day. Spending time in scripture and in prayer was quickly becoming her favorite part of every day.

As she opened the Bible, her dog came bounding up to the porch wagging his tail furiously to greet her. She laughed. "Why good morning Copper! Who's a good boy?" She bent down and rubbed her fingers through the bronze-colored fur of the English Shephard. Then she turned her attention back to the Bible and finished her devotions before setting her Bible inside and prancing into the yard greet her horses.

It's a beautiful day for riding, she mused as she walked to the pasture. Mocha and Toffee were grazing just inside the fence. Toffee's dark sorrel coat was filthy from rolling in the mud. Her pale mane and tail were signature marks of her Rocky Mountain breed and matched her sister, Mocha, who was a darker brown and much cleaner this morning. Mocha twitched her ears toward Mindy as she approached and Toffee whinnied quietly.

"Ooo I get to introduce a new horse to your herd soon, Mocha. The Hanson's want to board their horse here and hire me to break him in. I get to pick him up from them this morning. Isn't that exciting?" Her eyes went wide for a moment as realization struck. "Wait a second, that's today?" She checked her watch and stared dumbly at the 8:32 it displayed. "I'm late!"

Time ticked by as Mindy rushed through her chores as quickly as humanly possible. "Oh man oh man oh man," she kept mumbling, "why am I always late?" She hitched the horse trailer to her pickup half an hour later and jumped into the driver's seat, rehearsing her apology to the Hanson's and trying to think of a good excuse for being tardy. I'll take the shortcut by Hoof Canyon, she decided. It'll make up some of the time.

Her truck rumbled along the country roads for a good half hour before she turned onto a dirt road that would take her past the cliffs. The grassy plains were so dry that it always surprised Mindy how well the wild horse herds flourished out here. She scanned the horizon every few minutes out of habit, searching for a sign of them.

Her sense of urgency to reach the Hanson's ranch diminished as the familiar blur of color finally became visible in the distance to her left.  The distinctive whirring of a helicopter chasing the mass caused a wave of resentment to build up inside Mindy. Why can't they leave them alone? What have mustangs ever done to you idiots? She knew the reasons they gave for rounding up and selling mustangs, but they were never good enough excuses to satisfy her.

A shrill whiny pierced the air as the mustangs galloped wildly toward her. She estimated almost a hundred rampant mustangs charging blindly. Their eyes were wide and their nostrils flared. The colors were vivid and varied, but all seemed to fade as a black stallion surged ahead of the rest. His eyes blazed with fire and his muscles rippled with power with every movement of his body. Mindy caught her breath and gaped at him in awe for a few seconds before shaking her head to come to terms with what was happening.

They are probably trying to herd them into Hoof Canyon, she realized, glancing a dozen yards ahead where the cliff on her right split and opened into a convenient dead end to trap a horse herd. A crazy idea popped into Mindy's head suddenly that made her question her sanity. She slammed her foot against the gas petal and braced herself as the truck and trailer lurched forward and sent clouds of dust into the air. She held her breath as she raced for the entrance to the canyon before the mustangs could reach it.

She hadn't quite made it far enough to block the way when the black stallion spotted her and shook his mane. He pumped his legs faster and turned away from her truck in one fluid motion, leading his herd away from the canyon. The entire mass followed, moving as one, and were soon galloping away as swiftly as they had come. Mindy's heart still thudded against her rib cage as she skidded her truck to a halt. Her eyes searched frantically for the majestic stallion.

There! Amid the blazing colors, her stallion reared. His hooves struck the air and his mane clung to his glistening neck. The shrill whinny that escaped his mouth was like a king's thundering command. His ebony coat shone brilliantly as sunlight glinted against sweat. His wild eyes rolled in his head and his muscles revealed shameless power as he thrust his body back into the herd. A moment later, he was gone. The whinny rang in Mindy's ears and made her smile. Freedom for another day, gorgeous. I hope they never catch you. She lifted her foot off the brake petal and glanced at the canyon she had been trying to reach.

A figure lay limply against the cliff not ten yards away. "Is that a person?? How'd they get way out here?" She drove closer and her hands flew to her mouth in horror. It was a young girl, barely thirteen, lying motionless on the ground covered in blood. Her left leg was twisted gruesomely underneath her, the bone clearly snapped in half. Throwing open the truck door, she leapt from her seat and rushed to the limp figure. "Please let her be alive," she prayed aloud.

Long black hair was matted and tangled and knotted bangs hung awkwardly against her face. A gruesome gash marred the left of her forehead just above her eye and drying blood stained her pale cheek. Kneeling softly at her side, Mindy gently lifted the girl's wrist and felt for a pulse.  When at last it came, she let out a breath of relief.

What now? Her car radio wouldn't reach anyone out here. She could finish driving to the Hanson's and use their wall phone, but the girl needed more immediate treatment. The only reasonable option she could think of was to take the girl to the hospital herself. She walked back to her truck, detached the trailer, and drove forward a few feet. Then she retrieved blankets from under the front seat to spread them out in the bed of the pickup. She carried one with her back to the girl and laid it beside her on the ground. "Lord, help me please. I have no idea what I'm doing."

The crimson pool on the ground grew larger by the second as blood seeped from the open wound in the girl's leg. Mindy's hands shook as she gently shifted the girl's body off the broken bone and onto the blanket. Fresh blood spirted from the wound and Mindy gagged as she guided one leg than the other to the blanket and wrapped the corner of it around the broken leg. Then she dragged the blanket to the back of her truck and heaved the girl onto the bed of her pickup. Her entire body shook as she positioned the other blankets around the girl as best she could before climbing back into her seat. "Please Lord, please Lord, please let her survive this." She prayed repeatedly as she inched the truck forward toward the nearest hospital.