The Homeless Horse

Chapter two

Chapter two

Everyday we grew closer to the city gates. My father kept us the hidden the best he could. It's the days of World War I. And the price for healthy, strong horses has risen. We had to lay low, or we face even more danger of being seen. A sunny day finally arrived, and I was slightly happy. For everyday the sun had hidden, and rain grew stronger. And the rain and cloudy days only reminded me of my mother, who had tragically passed a few days ago. I was weaker, and my foster mother, Copper, was losing milk. Her foal had passed, and she was a good replacement for my mother. She provided milk, warmth and comfort. The only bad thing was that she wasn't my mother. I missed my mother. Very much. I barely acted like a foal anymore. No running, no prancing, no racing. No fun. I had lost my mother, and no one- not even Copper- could replace her. For all I cared, a bear could come eat me. My paint coat was covered in thorns and I couldn't care less. As I stood by my father, I saw a few women on the back of horses. Tamed horses. They seemed happy and I turned my head to my father. He shook his head and walked away. I took one last glance, then silently followed him away. They looked so happy, and they were with humans. Were humans really that bad? As I plodded on behind my strong palomino father, the rest of the herd screamed out to him. We were in between a clump of trees, and the rest of the herd was grazing on flat lands. I galloped off behind my father and he stood still as he looked around for what was wrong. He called out to them. Copper galloped over to me and pushed me forward. "Move!" She neighed. I looked at Father fearfully. "Move with her." He whispered in a strong, calm voice. I moved off in front of Copper, who moved as fast as her legs would take her across the muddy land. Whips could be heard, carried through the trembling, quick moving legs of the herd. As well as shod hoof beats on the rocky places. Soon enough, the sight of tamed horses came into view. They were carrying men on their backs, and the men looked evil. Roughly shaved faces, whips, guns, lassos and what's worse; spurs. They were kicking the horses with spurs on the heels of their boots. All of a sudden, up ahead the herd was bundling together. As me, Copper and the last few horses cantered in, we realised it was a fence. High and wooden. Many horses were stressing and trying to escape, only injuring themselves. A man came over and shut the gate, tightly locking it. A coyote ran through, spooking a tamed horse (which we liked to call 'the broken'.) and knocking the rider off. The rider growled and pulled out his gun. He took two seconds to aim and shoot. I screamed. The coyote luckily got away. A herd member by the name of 'Banjo', who was a palomino mare, around 14, spooked and reared, tumbling over the fence. She landed hard, and didn't get up. A large draft horse came over and dragged her away. I believed that she was gone. Or would be. All of a sudden she began to struggle, and a man pointed a gun in the centre of her forehead. I was still small. I screamed and squeezed through the long legs and only just got under the fence. I galloped over and as I arrived to the man, jumped up and bit his wrist. He dropped the gun and I skidded to a stop. Banjo lowered her head and it fell onto the ground. I rushed across to her, dodging the men who tried to grab me. I nudged her neck and with glossy, brown eyes she looked at me.

I softly nickered and a man grabbed my neck. I screamed and lashed around. I was roughly thrown back into the fence circle. Copper came over to me and snuffled and nudged my cold body. A younger male came over and helped Banjo up, leading her slowly back with the rest of the herd. She nickered to me. The young male slid his hand across her neck and left. The herd surrounded me and Banjo. "Are you alright?" They all asked Banjo. "I'm fine. Thanks to the little one." She nickered nudging my neck. "Not bad kid, not bad." My father said softly, nipping me playfully. I slept next to Banjo that night. I made sure she was ok.