The Wild Stallion

Chapter 4

The five teens rode through the woods until they came to the entrance of Wild Horse Valley. "Ok, so now that we're here, what'll we do?" Zack asked stopping his horse. "We can't just ride right in there and command them to hand us over the horses they took and then give themselves up to the sheriff." The others giggles at that as they stopped beside him. "Well, we could split up. Two will get the horses and the other two will distract them." Isaac suggested. "Sounds like a good idea. However, none of us have gun belts. They do. Our distraction might turn out to be the death of us. And what about the remaining one of us?" "Well, that person can stay behind and be a lookout. If something happens, they'll ride like the wind towards town and get Sheriff Jones.  But, the rest would have to stall them till we get back here." "But, again, this could be the end of us!" Zack said. "But on the other hand, it may work." Allen mused. "I think it's worth a shot." Zack closed his eyes. "Please do not use the word 'shot' again if we are doing this. Now, who's the lookout, and who is the distraction?" "I think Allen should get the horses." Esmay stated. "M-me?" Allen repeated. He gulped. He was getting better, but he still had a little ways to go before fully being able to trust horses again. "Yes, Allen. You are the best choice! You have a way with horses that is rare. I'll come with you if you want." Allen looked into the valley and back at his sister and nodded. "Ok..I'll do it." He said. Wonder neighed excitedly and reined in delight. Allen held on tight. "Well, Wonder agrees with us." Krissa replied with a laugh. "I think that Zack should be the lookout. Everyone knows his horse is the fastest horse in Driton. He'd be there and back before you know it!" Zack patted Flash's neck proudly. And Flash seemed to have a proud smile on his face. "Bro, quit it. You may be fast, but now's not the time to let us all know your proud of it. Now, that'll leave Krissa and Isaac for the distraction," Esmay said. "That sounds good. Let's ride!" Isaac replied snapping his reins and taking off. "Come on Chance!" they heard him yell. They looked at each other, nodded and then they snapped their reins. After riding for about ten minutes, Allen stopped suddenly. "Whoa, boy. Guys, look!" He pointed towards a group of dangerous looking men. They had horses behind them. Wonder suddenly started to neigh excitedly. He reined and whinnied. "Whoa! What is it Wonder?" Allen asked trying to settle him down and not freak out at the same time. "Hey, look! they must be part of his herd! And he knows it too!" Isaac exclaimed, pointing to a group of beautiful horses. "They know their leader is here, they're reining, and neighing loudly. Allen, we need to calm Wonder down. Maybe if he's calm, they will calm down too. They'll give us away!" Krissa told Allen. Allen nodded and spoke softly to the wild horse. "Easy boy. You need to calm down. If you keep this up, and your herd keeps this up, we won't be able to save any horses! Do you understand Wonder?" Wonder calmed down. He seemed to understand. He neighed to his herd telling them to be quiet. Allen nodded and just as he was about to snap his reins into action, Esmay pulled at his sleeve. He looked at her. "Wait, let's pray first. If we don't who knows what may happen. God will protect us." Esmay told them. They nodded and bowed their heads as Esmay prayed. "Dear Lord, we ask that you watch over us as we try and save these stolen horses. We pray that you would protect us from the horse rustlers. We ask that you would forgive us for running off in the middle of the night, and that mother and father wouldn't be too angry with us. We ask that you would help us, as we are afraid. We know that whatsoever we ask in prayer, believing, we shall receive. It's a promise you made. We know that you never break your promises and we have faith this day that you will guide us. And this we ask, in your name. Amen." As she ended her prayer, the others echoed the Amen. "I'd say I'm feeling braver. I think God is working already." Allen smiled. "Then let's ride!" Krissa said snapping her reins. "Good luck!" Zack said, as he sat there on Flash ready to run if he needed too. Krissa and Isaac rode behind some rocks while Allen and Esmay rode towards rocks nearer to the stolen horses. When they were ready, Esmay whistled a bird-like whistle. Krissa and Isaac nodded at them. Isaac grabbed a rock that was near them and threw it at where the men were sitting, drinking coffee. "What was that?!" one man demanded. "Ralph, what are you doin'?" he asked a small, thin man behind him.  "I ain't doin' nothin'!" he insisted. The big one rolled his eyes. "Sure your not. And we ain't goin' to sell these horses for thousands of dollars!" "We aren't?" one of them asked, obviously not the brightest among all of them. "Shut up, Angus! Of course we're goin' to sell these giant fleabags!" the big one slapped Angus. Allen heard what the big one had called the horses and Esmay had to hold him tight so he wouldn't charge in there and do something he'd regret later. "Come on. Now's our chance." Esmay whispered. Allen nodded and the two tiptoed quietly towards the captive horses. They went over to the horses and tugged at the knots in the rope holding them. But it was a struggle to get them untied because they were tight and well-knotted. Krissa looked at Isaac who nodded at her. Krissa threw another rock in the direction away from their friends. The men were confused and followed the sound. But, then one of the horses neighed loudly. The leader of the horse thieves looked in the direction of Esmay and Allen. Fortunately, they were not discovered because they had ducked behind a big rock. "Esmay I think I got to sneeze!" Allen whispered hoarsely, like he was trying to hold in something. "Try and hold it in!"  Esmay said desperately hoping that Allen would not sneeze. "I-I'm t-trying!" Allen said trying hard to hold it in. Unfortunately, Allen failed and sneezed, attracting the attention of the men. They walked over towards the horses and rocks. Zack, who was still on Flash keeping watch, saw his siblings were in danger. He quickly turned towards the town, snapped his reins, and took off as fast as Flash's legs would carry them. "Come on boy! We got to save Esmay and Allen! Possibly Isaac and Krissa too!" he said panting. Flash whinnied as if he understood. He might have too, because it seemed to Zack like Flash was running even faster! When the men stopped in front of the rocks they saw the unfortunate teenagers. "So, we got ourselves a couple o' snoopers eh?" the big one, who was obviously the leader of the bunch, laughed evilly. Krissa and Isaac saw the whole thing. They were scared for their friends, but also scared they might be discovered. But, it was Allen and Esmay who were scared the most. They knew their lives were at stake, and hoped that Zack would hurry. And, they hoped that Krissa and Isaac were safe. "Krissa what'll we do? They've got Esmay and Allen! We got to save them!" Isaac exclaimed. "I know." his sister told him. "But we can't go in there right now. It's too dangerous. We need to wait." "But what if-" "Isaac, if we go in there and we get caught, not only will they be dead, but we will be too! If we go in now, there is a chance we will be caught easily because they are on their guard. We have to catch them off their guard." Isaac sighed. "Your right. As usual." "Come on. Let's pray for their safety." Krissa smiled and took her brother's hand. Isaac nodded and bowed his head to pray for the safety of their friends.

  Meanwhile:

  Zack and Flash were running as fast as lightning it seemed. Finally, they made it to the sheriff's office.  Zack dismounted and ran inside. "Sheriff! Sheriff Jones!" he yelled. The sheriff came walking in the room with a cup of coffee in his hand. "Hello there Zack. How-" Zack interrupted him. "No time for greetings! Esmay and Allen are in danger! Possibly Krissa and Isaac too!" "What? What's going on, boy??" Sheriff Jones put his coffee down and walked straight up to Zack. Zack caught his breath and continued. "We rode up to Wild Horse Valley. Esmay and Allen were captured by the horse rustlers!" "Mark! Mark get over here!" The sheriff shouted after listening to Zack.  A slightly plump, dark haired officer ran into the room with a doughnut in his hand. "Yes sir?" he asked quickly. "Mark, get rid of that doughnut and get together the deputies . Tell them to gather their guns and ammunition. We're going after those rustlers and save a couple of kid's lives! Now move it!" Sheriff Jones commanded. "S-sir, yes, sir!" Mark saluted an ran back into the room. In a moment, the place had at least two dozen deputies. Most of which, were volunteers. "I'll show you where they are!" Zack rushed outside and mounted Flash. Then all of the deputies and the sheriff and Zack were on their way to Wild Horse Valley.

  Meanwhile:

 "I'm scared, Esmay!" Allen whispered. "It'll be ok. I promise. Trust me, if they want to hurt you, they will have to kill me first." Esmay said. The leader then started laughing. "Well, young lady, I think that could be arranged. O' course you must know what's going to happen to you." He pulled out his gun and pointed it at Allen and Esmay. Esmay got in front of Allen, making sure the bullet would hit her instead of her brother. "Now, shut up! or I'll put a hole in you right now! Got it?" the leader yelled. Isaac couldn't wait any longer. He ran down the slope with Krissa chasing after him. "Don't you dare hurt them you ugly slug!" Isaac shouted. "Isaac you fool! Stop!" Krissa screamed. But it was too late. The leader already heard Isaac's shout. He set aimed his gun at them. They stopped short. "So, you had a couple o' friends with you huh?" the horse rustler replied. "Well, I ain't got no problem with dealin' with all o' you! Georgie, Ralph, take these two and tie 'em up next to their buddies. Soon, Krissa and Isaac were tied up. "I can't believe you, Isaac! You completely messed things up! Now we have to rely on God and Zack! If we die, I'll blame you!" "Krissa stop." Esmay told her. "He was just trying to help. He got angry and rushed into it without thinking. We all do that sometimes. It was an accident. And, there is nothing wrong with relying on God and Zack. We're supposed to." Krissa sighed and grumbled, "Your right, Esmay..I'm sorry." They sat in silence for what seemed like forever, until Zack appeared on the top of the hill. "Hey! You let them go! You'll be sorry if you don't!" He yelled. The leader of the bunch growled. "So, you decided to butt into my plans, and try and take my horses? You thought you would just ride on in here and expect me to set my prisoners free?" he laughed an evil blood curdling laugh. "You foolish children! I shall end all of you! Starting with you!" He drew his gun and pointed it toward Allen. Allen shook with fear and shut his eyes, waiting. The rest of the teens were terrified as well. Wonder saw that Allen was in danger, and that the man was about to pull the trigger. He ran in front of Allen, getting hit with the bullet himself! At that moment, the sheriff and his deputies came riding down the hill and captured the rustlers. Zack untied his friends and siblings. Allen immediately rushed to where Wonder the mustang was lying. The horse was breathing heavily. "Wonder! Wonder, no! Don't die, please!" Allen cried out. He put his head on his friend's chest. "Allen, are you alright?" Krissa asked putting her hand on his shoulder. "No. Wonder's shot! He may die..." Allen responded. "Do you now understand horses, brother?" Zack sat down beside him. "Yes, I do. I'm so sorry! Oh Wonder..I doubted you. But you saved my life in return!" "We'll get your horse some help. If he can be healed, then we will do our best to make that happen. He looks badly hurt, though. It wouldn't hurt to ask God for a miracle." Sheriff Jones stated, motioning Mark to ride to town for the vet. "Don't worry, Allen. He'll be ok. I'm sure of it." Esmay said.