Feather

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Shraya awoke in the middle of the night, cold and alone. She didn't figure it out right away, but all of a sudden it clicked. She was ALONE! She panicked, and not just a little. She ran away from home to stay with Feather, and now she was gone. She hadn't tied her, because she had thought that she would stay in the shelter were it was warm and by her.

"Well, she could be anywhere!" She ran out of the clearing and started to call Feathers name, over and over again. She walked in circles around the shelter looking for her, always keeping the shelter insight. The last thing she needed was to get lost in the bush.

"Feather!" She yelled with all her might. "Feather, Feather! Come here!" All of a sudden, she heard a distant whinny, it was not a call of notice, but a cry for help, Shraya started running, sprinting, galloping toward the faraway sound. She yelled again, "Feather", and she got a reply, a little closer now. She kept running, kept calling, and wondering why Feather wasn't coming. She could see the outline of her horse in the moonlit sky, but she wasn't coming. She wasn't even moving, standing so still that Shraya knew, something was wrong. When she got closer, the ground told her the answer. Feather was stuck in a bog. The mud, and clay was slowly sucking her in, she was already knee deep. If Shraya didn't react soon, it would be too late. She needed all the cooperation she could get form Feather, and she was willing to give it to Shraya. She knew, if she would thrash, she would sink in deeper. Shraya needed to spread Feather's wait somehow, she needed to get her to pick one leg out at a time.

"Feather, it's ok, be still, I'll be right back." Feather seemed to know what Shraya meant, so she ran back to the shelter and got some rope and her machete, gabbed some tall grasses and ran back to where Feather was stuck.

When Shraya got back she noticed that Feather had sunk probably another 1/2 inch. Shraya started to cut off some small braches from a birch tree close by. She started to dig around Feather, but every time she would take a scoop out, more of the mud would sink close. She had to fill it in with something else, but what? She had no shale or loose rock, nothing to hold it back with. She would have to make a plat-form for Feather to step on to. So she cut more of the branches of the birch, and other birch, and started to lay them down in front of Feather, making a floor-like surface for her to step on. When she had enough sticks and branches there, she made a loop in the rope, not a slip knot, because that would go to tight and hurt Feather. Shraya slipped the loop over Feather's head and pulled. While she pulled, she clucked and urged Feather to try and get herself free. The mud wouldn't let go. So, Shraya stepped on to the plat-form and grabbed Feather's leg. She started to pull it upwards, and when Feather figured out what she was trying to do, she started to help Shraya by lifting the one leg up.

Feather was only about 1 and a 1/2 feet stuck, but the mud was still sucking her in deeper. The one leg she had been pulling on, came about 2 inches higher. She started to pull on the rope again and Feather leaned forward and put less weight on the one leg. Then, with all her power she pulled on it. Shraya came quickly and helped her by pulling on it too. It came out more and more then, all of a sudden, the leg popped out of the mud. Feather held it there, in mid-air, not knowing what to do with it. Shraya came over and placed it on the plat-form of sticks.

With this foot out, Feather had more power, but she was very tired from the being stuck so long. Shraya walked over to the stream and pick a few large had full's of tall grass. She brought it to Feather, and she ate it greedily. They rested for a few minutes and then got to work on the next leg.

It was stuck in a bit further than the other one, from the extra weight being put on it. Shraya knew they wouldn't be able to just pull this one out. They needed to get some of the muck away from her leg first. Shraya went to the stream and picked a hand full of stones. She walked back to Feather, scooped some mud away from her leg, and before more muck could come she put the stones by Feathers leg. It worked, so she went back to the brook and picked up lots of rock and repeated this over and over again. Soon, Feather could move her leg, a little bit at a time. Once Shraya got rocks and pebbles about half way down Feathers leg, she put the rope back on and started clucking her tongue, urging Feather to walk out of the sucking mud. Feather put the one free leg out on the plat-form and started to pull the other almost free one. Pop! And the second leg came out of the mud. They rested for another 10 minutes or so, then Feather got both front feet on the branches. Shraya put the rope back on, got a good grip, and tugged and tugged, and Feather pulled and pulled on the last 2 feet in the sinking mud. Her feet came about another 2 inches out of the mud, and Feather was only about 7 inches deep.

It took them about an hour to get Feather all the way out, and once she was free, she just about collapsed from exhaustion. Shraya led her to the stream to have a drink of water. Feather had her nose in there for quite a while before she took it out to get led back to the shelter. Shraya also took a refreshing drink. The water was cold and clear, and soon Shraya felt sleep coming to her too. So they walked back to the shelter, and were asleep in moments.