The Hidden Valley

Chapter 12: Running

When Quail woke again, everyone was up, eating the sweet snowgrass, and drinking from the calm river.

Everything seemed fine. The magpies chortled in the trees, welcoming the morning with their cackles.

Wombats stirred in the dens, shuffling, and grumbling as the sun's golden rays beamed through their holes entrances.

Quail thought back to Yarrow.

Now their meeting only seemed like a dream. A queer dream, but she still felt the urgency from last night.

So, getting up and stretching, she walked her way over to the Snow Gum, who now looked sleek and healthy, eyes bright, head clear.

"You decided to get up I see," Snow Gum greeted, giving her a friendly nip on the shoulder.

The once immature young colt was now becoming a real stallion, not just in his actions, but in his looks. The white horse had started to grow a lot faster, legs long, face broader, movements more fluent.

"I have a feeling that we are not welcome in this forest, I think it would be wise to leave." Although she had been told reasons, she thought it would be smarter just to say the basics.

"Now?" Snow Gum asked, head to one side. "But we have all the grass we need, shelter, water, safety." Quail cringed slightly at the word safety.

"You must," Quail murmured, copying Yarrow's words. It sounded far wiser than her own. Snow Gum looked dubious for a while, then nodded.

"Pepper, Whisper, we are leaving to follow the stream again." The other two sighed, Whisper was looking more full than usual, her leg was slowly starting to heal, but it was still raw and gaping, it would be a while yet until her full recovery. If she recovered at all.

Pepper let out a growl. "We just got here! You had to fight and kill a stallion for neighing out loud, are we just going to stay here for one night?" Pepper was also looking sleeker, she had started growing longer and thinner, her head sharp and delicate, but her eyes still alight with the same fire she'd had since birth.

"We must follow the stream again," Snow Gum told her pointedly.

"We don't even know if the stream leads anywhere good, but we are here," she gestured with her black muzzle to the forest around them, "this is real, and this is good."

Quail widened her eyes, she had never doubted following the stream, and this was the first time she'd heard this argument.

In the past when they were traveling, they were hungry and desperate. All they wanted was food, and now they had finally found everything they wanted.

"But what about the colts and stallions in this forest?" asked a voice in the back of her head.

"I have trust in Quail, where the stream will lead us is our destiny. We must keep going." Everyone turned around to look at Whisper and Quail felt a rush of gratitude.

The others were likely to listen to Whisper. Since the filly had damaged her leg, everyone cared for the brown filly and had grown to listen to her guidance.

Pepper looked doubtful but nodded slowly, and Snow Gum also nodded.

"Follow me," Quail commanded tersely, and they set off again, Quail in the lead, Pepper behind her, Whisper trailing, and Snow gum at the back to make sure no one got lost or left behind.

The red gums waved goodbye as the wind whistled through them, honey suckle creeping its way up the trunks, bark crunched under the hoof, and the smell of eucalyptus calmed them.

Mopokes darted through the trees, throwing gum nuts at the walking horses.

Leaves showered down to the ground and wild deer ate the grass under the trees, jolting their heads up to watch the horses, then lowering them again once the herd moved away.

She jumped nervously when a stallion gave a shrill scream a bit further behind. She quickened her pace, and the rest of the herd exchanged some glances before following.

They were almost out of the trees now, the light was clear ahead, not blotted out by a canopy of thick foliage. They trotted together now, as one group, not in a single file.

The sun blinded them temporarily, but soon their eyes adjusted.

Pepper gave a shrill startled neigh and Quail leaped back, a small dun coloured horse lay perched on a mossy rock, watching the herd with interested amber eyes.

"Who are you?" Pepper asked, but Quail had already recognized the wild-looking filly.

"This is Yarrow," Quail told them. Snow Gum shook his head.

"What? You didn't tell us about a creepy-looking horse," Snow Gum muttered rather rudely, tossing his mane, and giving a snort.

"I met Yarrow in the forest last night," Quail told them, turning to look up at the rock again, but Yarrow wasn't there.

The feeling of a horse's breath on her haunches made her fur prickle and she turned around to see the amused face of Yarrow. "I must say though, she is a bit queer." Whisper stared at the horse with interested eyes.

"How did you get those scars?" Whisper asked but Yarrow didn't answer, only looked around at the landscape with distant eyes.

"Why are you here?" Snow Gum was put in after a bit of silence.

"To see if the golden one listened, and she did." Yarrow skipped and leaped back up onto her rock. "And also, to ask to join." Yarrow's reason was quite unexpected, and everyone was silent, not knowing what to say, or who to make the decision.

When the silence stretched out, Yarrow began to list some reasons why she was viable to have in their herd. "I know this land, I know how to heal that leg faster," she pointed with a dainty hoof to Whisper's raw leg, "I possess much knowledge, and I already know where you are going." Quail stood stunned, staring at the mysterious horse with his wide eyes. Whisper was the first to speak.

"I think we should discuss this in private." Yarrow nodded and walked a little way away, next to the stream where she began to sort the pebbles by colour.

"Can a horse trust someone like that?" asked Pepper hot-headedly. "Promising such things?"

"She might be able to help my leg through," Whisper put in hopefully, staring at the deep gash.

"That is true, she was also born in these parts, she can help us get to where we need to go quicker," Quail added.

"One thing first though. What did she mean by she knew where we were going?" Pepper asked. Quail felt uncomfortable, that was a good point.

"I'll ask her," Quail began to stroll over to the gurgling river and let the others keep squabbling. As Yarrow saw her, she lifted her head expectantly.

Quail sat down and looked the dun in her deep amber eyes. "My friends and I are wondering what you meant by 'I already know where you are going.' Quail quoted.

Yarrow turned her head down and kept sorting the pebbles. "I heard you saying that you needed to follow the river."

"In the forest?" Quail shifted uneasily. Had this horse been spying on them? She decided to change her question. "Do you know where the river ends?"

"Oh, no, no one knows where Snake Tongue River ends, but I think I know where it's leading you: the Hidden Valley...