WAR

Chapter 2

I quietly walk away from the hoofbeats. I freeze when I hear a voice. "I don't see any damn deer? Do you? Boss will be mighty mad if we don't come back with nothing." the deep voice says. I crouch down. Close to the ground, well the man talks out loud to his horse. "Well do you Sugar?" The horse-Sugar, Snorts. The man laughs. "Well come on, then you lead on." I see a deer out of the corner of my eye. The horse-Sugar sees it too. She snorts and walks away in the other direction. But the man sees the Doe as well. She pulls Sugar to a halt. And raises his gun. He aims it at her, and I take the chance and bolt. The man jerks the hun to where the ferns are moving. The Does dashes away. I hear a gunshot and a "Gotya!" Anger flares in my eyes. And I want to go back and teach that ugly man a lesson. But I know I will be caught. And brought to his 'Boss'. I hurry back to the stables. Which are a beautiful paddock with a low fence on one side, and tall fences where humans can see. It's for the horses to escape if other humans other than me come over. Hermosa knows well. She will lead her small herd away from the paddock if others ever come.

The cats also know not to hunt my horses. There was only one killing. Last year. I hunted down every cat and they learned to stay well away. Only the cat who killed Bella, was killed. Bella was in foal with Hermosa when she was killed. The tiny foal barely made it, but a mare I called Fern nursed Hermosa back to health. After Hermosa was a yearling, Fern was taken by River's followers. "Hey gals," I say to my small herd of tall prancing mares, Curious Foals, and Independent Yearlings.

I own no stallion. Every year my mares are led away by Hermosa, I keep the yearlings and weanlings with me. By then there are no nursing foals. I used to think that Hermosa just wanted alone time for her mares, but then I realized that most of the mares come back pregnant, And Hermosa must lead them to a Wild herd. Then, one day after a Colt was born, I watched him closely. He reminded me of a tall proud stallion that I had seen when spying on Max's people. This little brown colt made me realize that this stallion was the stud of all my foals.

Hermosa canters over to me. She nuzzles me. And I stroke her neck. "Hey Hermosa." She nickers at me. I sigh. "This man killed a doe today. Make sure she was not one of your friends." Hermosa blinks her soft Green eyes. She pulls away from me and trots back to her herd. I smile, "Goodbye Hermosa! See you later." Hermosa winnys back, and I walk away. Once out of their sight I break into a run. I reach The waterfall before dark. And I carefully look around before walking through the waterfall. The cave is dark. And i sigh. Too late once again. Camp is some sort of magic.

It is dark when it is night. And bright when the sun is out. I have tried to find out why, but only magic will explain it. I had found Camp when I was young. Around 4 Or 5, And i had never shown it to my Mother or Father. I only went to live in the cave around 12 Or 13. When my parents were killed and I had killed my first man. My mother and Father were accused of illegal dog breeding, and Horse breeding, and that's true. Father Breed dogs to help keep me safe. My mother was from River's side. And my Father was from Max's side. My Mother and Father never told anyone about me. When I was only 2, my father showed me the way of the wood. How to hunt, Skin, Kill, stalk. Anything that I could learn, he taught me. My mother was in charge of teaching me how to Cook, Wash, Clean, Write, and read. And in my father and Mother's free time they would tell me stories, And Father would explain how to Pick out the perfect dogs to breed. How to feed them and take care of them. My father never cared about scars or the way they stood. He only cared about how they acted, How they learned, And he bred them like that. Same with the horses.

I dash across the grass, and ferns, and dirt. I can barely see Homebase. Homebase also is magic. When I slip inside I clap my hands three times. The room brightens. When I clap once, they shut off. I grab an apple. And start eating. When I am done I put The core in a bucket, with all the other compost. Ugg, tomorrow work. Then I flop down on my bed, pull the blanket up and listen to the crickets. Then i Clap once, lights shut off, And i close my eyes. And I slowly drift off to sleep.

Enjoy!