Defeating the Wind

Chapter 5

Faith snorted in pure annoyance at Cobalt, who kept inissting on stopping to graze. Shaking out her pretty mane, Faith nudged the larger stallion forward. This was her father out there! She had no idea where he was, or where he could be. She didn't know if he was safe, or if he was injured, but it was killing her to know. She just wouldn't let the horse who raised her when her mother shunned her away disappear into thin air. Faith would die before she let that happen.

Cobalt whinnied softly at her distress, and nudged her again, picking up his pace into a collected canter, trying to get the smaller horse to follow him.

Glaring forward with her sightless eyes, Faith picked up her pace, and grudigly cantered beside her partner.

With a whinny of satifaction, the cocky stallion struck the ground with his hooves as they moved forward over the crest of a hill, which led out of the valley, where Faith, and Cobalt, had lived all their lives.

Foursquared, Faith gazed around the landscape that led out of the valley. Shivering, she blinked, and looked backwards at her old homeland.

Cocking his head to the side, Cobalt stared at his friend, not sure of what was wrong with her. He nudged her again, which caused the little mare to whip around, and face him, panting in annoyance. Her look said "Just leave me alone, I need to think."

Sticking her muzzle out, Faith began sniffing the wind, that was blowing gently back and forth across the hill, causing the grass underneath the two horses to lightly tickle their hooves, as it swayed, dancing to unknown, or unheard music.

Getting impatient, Cobalt dropped his head to graze at the sweet grass. Faith shot yet again daggers at this action, and Cobalt rolled his eyes, and continued to eat, stealing little glances at her every once and a while.

Meanwhile, Faith had a lot of confusing thoughts swirling through her head causing it to pound within her skull, making the thoughts even more jumbled.

The night of the storm, her father had been there, hadn't he? Or had he slipped off before the storm? She could swear she had some words with him about the training of a couple of the yearling foals, or had that been the day before?

Screaming in rage, Faith dropped onto the soft grass, sprawling out like a newborn foal, her head tucked neatly under one of her strong legs, her eyes squezed shut.

Worried, Cobalt neighed to her, nudging her back gently, which just made the tiny framed horse roll over, and tuck her head again under her leg, only this time, one of her eyes being open, flicking back and forth, staring into Cobalt's black eyes, which stared down on her. They where wide, and filled with concern, which clouded their usual beautifulness.

Eventually, after hours of pacing bakc and forth in front of Faith, who was now snoring softly, her body jerking every once in a while, Cobalt laid down beside her, and snuggled close to his friend.

Next morning

 

The bright morning sunshine burned through the soft tissue of Faith's eyelids, and she shot up, her head almost bagning into the side of Cobalt's body, who was standing protectively over her, watching across the landscape, where he had earlier spotted a roaming cougar, prowling around through the long praire grass, every once and a while pouncing onto moving leaves.      

The cougar crept closer, and Cobalt nudged Faiht to her feet, as he could now see the blood streaked muzzle of the prowling prairie animal, an enemy to all others that weren't its kind on the valley. Although these animals barely ever crossed the hill around the valley of horses, all foals where taught by the time they could wlak that these animals where dangerous, and that when you saw them, it meant danger.