The drive home had been a long one. Sarah gazed out of the window, watching as the trees and sun baked meadows as they flashed by. She had been visiting her grandfather who lived in a small community outside of Dallas.
'Oh why can't I have a horse' she said sulkily to her mother. 'We can barely afford to keep ourselves, let alone a horse' her mother replied, slightly frustrated.
Sarah loved horses, her bedroom walls were adorned with pictures of them, and her dream was to compete at the Olympics. As a young child, she had riding lessons at a private Equestrian Centre, but that was before her fathers accident.
Her dad had worked on the Gas Rigs in North West Texas, and money then, was plentiful. But that one fateful day, 5 years ago, a huge underground explosion had ripped through the rig, killing 9 men and severely injuring Sarah's dad.
The following morning, Sarah woke early, bright rays of sunlight streamed through her bedroom window, illuminating the pictures on her wall. 'C'mon Sarah' her mother yelled, 'we are going to be late'. Her father had an appointment at the hospital, where he was still undergoing treatment for his injuries, and Sarah was to spend the day at the neighbouring ranch of Mr and Mrs McKinney. She loved visiting them, as she could help feeding the Longhorn cattle and was allowed to ride the old Quarter horse mare.
Later that morning, Mr McKinney, loaded up his trailer with cattle. 'lets go' he said cheerfully, 'Where to' she replied. 'Spring Valley, these steers are heading to a ranch out there, to graze on better pasture'. Sarah was in awe as they drove up the long straight driveway of the ranch at Spring Valley. Palomino and Buckskin Quarter horses grazed peacefully on lush green grass, and Longhorn cattle bellowed in the heat of the afternoon sun. As they neared the barn, her attention turned to a cowboy, roping a young stallion, from his horses. Twisting and turning with every move, as the young stallion leaped around in the corral.
Losing herself in a daydream, Sarah imagined that it was herself riding the horse, proudly perfecting the movements, of passage and flying changes, in the dressage arena at the Olympics. The dream faded as Mr McKinney, slammed the door of his truck.
As they drove home, the sun began to sink, the sky turned from a bright pale blue to red, and orange, creating something of a rainbow. They were nearing home when Sarah noticed something black standing in a dry meadow, by the roadside. It was a horse, the coat on it dull and matted, and it's head down. It looked thin and uncared for. 'look at that poor horse' she said sadly. Mr McKinney slammed on his brakes coming to a sliding stop. 'Wait here' he said sternly, getting out of his truck.
As he slowly approached the horse, he could see dried blood on her shoulder and barbed wire embedded in deep wounds. As he neared, the horse lifted it's head gently, as if to say 'help me'. It was then that he saw it, a large horn on the mares head. This wasn’t a horse it was a Unicorn. Very few people had ever seen one, and to many a Unicorn was just a mythical horse in fantasy. Carefully freeing her from her prison of rusty wire, he lead the mare to his trailer. He would take her home and nurse her back to health before freeing her. Sarah couldn’t believe her eyes, she had often thought she had seen a white unicorn roaming at the edge of the forest near home, but had never been close enough to see. Yet standing before her was a black Frisian Unicorn, albeit, one in a sorry sight.
As they arrived home, the mare was unloaded into the warmth and safety of a stall, layered with fresh straw, and a meal of warm bran mash placed in a large feed bowel at it's feet. The mare ate hungrily as Mr McKinney cleaned her wounds and applied an antiseptic ointment. 'It's going to be several months before this lady will be fully recovered' he said 'but I think she’s going to make it'. 'I am going to call you Dark Night' whispered Sarah, as she stared at the mare.
