The Hidden Valley

Chapter 13: Dancing in the daisies

When Quail came back to share what Yarrow knew, the others snorted in amazement and disbelief.

"So do we let her join, or leave her?" Quail asked the other members of River Herd. Grudgingly Pepper nodded.

"If she knows that, she must know a lot more information about the land."

"I would prefer that she join, she sounds as if she can help us," Whisper put in.

"I agree with Pepper. But if the river doesn't lead to The Hidden Valley, she must go." The others nodded in agreement and then walked over to Yarrow who had now got many different piles of rocks.

"We are letting you join, but if we find that the river doesn't lead to the Hidden Valley, you must leave," Quail told the dun.

"Great!" Yarrow smiled. "But before we head off, I should help the brown one's leg." Quail nodded, then realized she had not introduced them yet.

"I had forgotten to introduce my herd members. This is Snow gum," she flicked her muzzle to the muscley white colt, "this is Whisper, a branch fell on her leg, and this is Pepper," in a quieter voice she whispered, "she can be nice when she tries." Yarrow flicked her ears in a kind gesture to the rest of them, before starting to walk off, sniffing the air as she went.

"What a strange horse," she thought. They all had a good drink while they waited, eating some grass as well. When Yarrow did come back, she held a strong-smelling branch of leaves in her mouth.

Yarrow spat them out on the ground next to Whisper's leg. "These are eucalyptus leaves their oil is used as a disinfectant for wounds." Yarrow picked some of the leaves up in her mouth and began to chew them, then spat them onto Whisper's wound.

"How does spitting a plant into a wound help it heal?" Whisper asked curiously as she lay on her side.

"The plant has natural properties that help rid wounds of disease and chewing them first helps it stick and also lets the juices seep deeper."

The horses watched in wonder until Yarrow was done, and then they all set off.

Quail noticed how Whisper could walk a lot easier, and her jaw was loose, not clenched in pain.

She trotted up to the brown filly.

"Does it feel any better?" she asked.

"Yes, my wound feels less stiff, and the pulp is soothing, I'm quite glad we let Yarrow come." Whisper tossed her for-lock as the wind swished into her eyes.

Yarrow was a little way ahead, leading the herd down a daisy-covered hill, Snow Gum was behind the dun-coloured filly, speaking to Pepper, Whisper, and Quail at the back.

Bright yellow daisies swished beneath their feet, pink, purple, and white, a dazzling carpet of petals.

Suddenly she felt like a foal again, prancing through fields of flowers, careless and happy.

With a joyous neigh, she began to race down the hill, kicking the air gaily. Spring would be coming soon, the season of happiness and new life.

Pollen flew up from behind her, a cloud of yellow. Soon Pepper and Snow Gum joined her galivant down the hill, prancing and biting playfully as the afternoon sun beat down on them. When they got to the bottom, they all were breathing hard, puffed from their unnecessary, but fun, dance.

"Is this what you usually get up to? No wonder you're so thin," Yarrow mused.

"I mean usually we would be arguing, trudging through a swamp, or being chased by a cyclone but sure," Quail gave Yarrow a playful nip which the dun returned. They began to walk again, and Yarrow trotted up to her side.

"What did you mean before by 'being chased by a cyclone'?" Yarrow looked confused, but at the same time understanding, as if she had guessed some of the story already. Could the young filly have seen the cyclone as well?

Quail told Yarrow the story of how they had run from the dangerous mass of clouds, how Ash, a former member of their herd had left them to go into the barn on which their parents had been held, how they had gotten in the river, but been caught by the current, and everything that had happened after that.

"I knew there was something quite queer about your herd when I saw you on that hill." Yarrow looked dazed, as if she had just seen a dead horse move again. "I can't believe you survived all that."

"Well, most of us," Quail said sombrely, thinking back to the last moments she'd seen Ash.

"We cannot change the past, only the future," Yarrow murmured, trying to comfort the grieving filly.

"I guess you are right, I just wish I had been more persuasive, then he might have come."

"If you'd stayed any longer, you might have been killed as well though. If you had taken a second longer, Whisper might have been completely crushed by that branch. You saved all these horses," Yarrow gestured to the herd around them. "I would say that is quite an accomplishment." Quail smiled a bit, Yarrow was a very supportive horse, and Quail agreed with Whisper. They were right to let Yarrow join.

"So, what was it like when you were a part of Thrushes herd?" Quail asked as she jumped over a fallen birch trunk.

Yarrow paused for a bit, trying to find the word to describe her life before the death of her past herd leader. "Life was tough, Thrush was a fierce leader, although he was kind to some, every colt, stallion, and mare feared him. Thrush was known to kill colts that stood up to him, and life in a herd is tough on its own. I struggled to get enough food, so quite often I would venture out to these hills we are traveling upon now, to get grass. I know all the best fields, all the hills, all the shelters." Yarrow looked away, as if there was something more that she wasn't telling her, but Quail didn't push it.

"That sounds amazing. Growing up, I was raised in a paddock. There was a lot of exploring, but once I knew everything, there wasn't much more to learn." Quail paused for a second to grab a quick drink, and the rest of the herd followed to the river's edge.

"It's funny to think that these waters that almost killed us, now are guiding and helping us to find a place," Whisper pondered aloud once they had finished drinking.

"It is," agreed Pepper, staring into its aqua depths. "I watch it almost drown you, Whisper." Pepper's eyes flashed back to the horrific memories. Quail realized that they would never truly forget those terrible times, but it was also a time to move on.