Cracker-Jack

Chapter one

Morning came with blistering cold wind along with frost glistening on the grass behind the fence. I breathed in the dusty air. I did not smell blood anymore, nor does my face hurt as bad. The smell of the manure from the cows was strong, and my hooves were buried in mud. I felt dirty, tierd, cold, and hungry.

I waited at the tree as I swung my tail side to side, shooing the countless, buzzing flies off my skin. With every stomp of my hooves, with every swish of my tail, an army of buzzing flies swarmed around my face and chest, but my mind wasent set on the flies, it was set on being patient and calm for Master. Then here he came stumbling across the mud and muck with a pair of scissors in his hand and used his other hand to hold his ragged brown hat, he came to me and un tied the bailing twine off my face as he puffed smoke from a cigarette into my eyes. The black cloud lingered around my face for a while until it vanished. The ashes fell on my nose and burned my skin, the smell was worse than the cows.

The bailing twine fell to the ground, immediatly I pulled my hooves out of the mud and cantered away, I don't know what he planned on doing with the scissors, but I dident want to find out either. He jumped towards me and gripped my ear before I could go far.

 "Your tail is too long, if you wanna look nice you gotta trim em'." Master wrapped his arm around my neck and pulled it to his side and pulled my cream colored tail to his hands and cut away the hair. Helpless, I stood there for him, listening to the snipping of the scissors, bearing the pain of my neck being pulled so hard, I stood there for him,...because I still respect him, I still believe the old days will return.

Master let go of me.

 "Now, Jack, you look like one of those fancy horses! Whadd'ya call em'? Percherons? Yeah, it looks like them, not that mangled rag you used to have," I looked back at my tail. Now it was just a lump of fuzz. No use to it. I tried to swish it around to get the flies away, but it won't reach to my side, the itching and the biting of them was almost unbearable.

I watched Master as he stumbled back to the gate, I followed him. Master laughed "Sorry Jack, ain't no food today, I forgot to get the sweet feed," He grinned an evil grin as he took a drink from a copper colored bottle. I walked away with my head low, he said those same words seven months ago. I limped to edge of the pasture and lied down. With my eyes closed I can use my other senses better. I could hear everything more clearly.

"Here Jack! Come on boy!" Master shook the coffee can full of sweet feed. I lifted my head from the clover to see him waving his hands all around. "C'mon, bud!" I lifted my feet and trotted to the white fence, he poured the food in my bucket and rubbed the white stripe on my head. "You handsom man, is about to be a rodeo star!" He combed my mane with his fingers. I enjoyed going to the rodeo, I often did reining, sometimes I did cutting, but mostly reining, my favorite. Once I finished licking the bowl, I decided to my tree. It was a big, old, round oak tree that shaded the juiciest, sweetest clover. It was my favorite spot to be.

 Then strange things began to happen. I rolled under the oak tree to get the summer flies off of me when loud noises flooded around me. My head jerked up as a red and white van drove quickly down the driveway, leaving clouds of dust and dirt behind it, it flashed all kinds of lights and pulled in to Master's house, many men got out of the van and ran inside. Who is that? Why are they breaking in to Master's home? I ran to the fence to get a closer look. The men from the van carried out a human. A female. Master ran after them with terror in his eyes. He screamed after them.

"Get up when I tell you!" he squeezed his fists together and screamed again. "Get up!"

 I pushed against the fence with my chest, trying to get across it and help master.

 "Get up,"

"Get up," Master grunted as he kicked my face. "What is wrong with you, get up!" He wrapped my mane around his dirty hands and pulled as hard as he could. The pain flooded in my neck and down my back, it hurt so much, I lifted my knee and pushed up, my kneese locked and a fell back to the ground. I couldent get up. I pushed and pushed, but I was too tierd. My stomach was aching with hunger, my back and sides were itching and burning from flies, and my stiff knees can't push me back to my feet. I laid my head down and gave up.

 Master let go. "Okay, you wanna be lazy? Well I bet a fire could get your lazy self up!" Master picked up logs and sticks and threw them at my hindquarters. He dropped his cigarette on stub that used to be my tail. I jerked my back legs behind me as the fire started to burn, I tried to push my hooves on the ground to try to scoot my self over away from the fire, I kicked and kicked until dirt was flying, then I kicked but hit something strange, to soft to be a tree, but too heavy to be a stick, but then I realized.

I kicked Master.