Feather

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

New dangers came with leaving the old shelter. She had never been here before and it was new to her, the bushes were the same, the wildlife was the same, but it had a different feel, like someone was watching. Feather started to tense up, she walked slower and more carefully, she raised her head high every few moments to sniff the air. Shraya was on alert, too. She could feel it in her bones that something was not right. Then, she figured it out. In the woods, there was always noise. Always, in the middle of the day, or the middle of the night, something was making a noise. A chatter, a squeak, a chirp, a bounce, a rustle, a splash, it didn't matter what kind of noise, but there was always some. But now, there was none. The only thing, it seemed, was the stepping of Feather as she walked. The quietness, gave Shraya an uneasy feeling. It did the same for Feather. So, Shraya reached back to feel if the machete was in place, and then the knife and all of her other things.

the only thing that put all the animals in to hiding, was a bigger animal, or a human for that fact. But when Shraya walked through the bushes, she made very little nose, she tried to reduce the sound as much as possible. And Feather, having grown up in the woods, knew very well to make as little noise as possible too. So, Shraya went over the possibilities in her head, #1. there was a bear or another large animal in the bushes, nearby. #2, a bear or another large animal was is the bushes but now left and the other animals hadn't come out yet. But then the birds would still make noise because they weren't afraid of bears on the ground. That left only one possibility. #3. Someone was coming after her and they weren't far off. She had to get away, and get away fast. She was glad that she had left that day or they probably would of seen her and her shelter. She couldn't go back home yet, not yet. She decided to weave through the river several times so the sent trail was messed up for the search dogs then start on the other side and go, go, go.

There was a little clearing on the other side of the stream with some berries, and Shraya was getting hungry. On the next weave to the other side, she reached over to the berries and picked a hand full. They were so good she stopped Feather and picked a bunch and put them in the container she made. But, in that time the people got closer and Feather got more antsy, and then started side stepping.

"Whoa, girl! It's fine, it's fine. What's the matter?" She didn't have to go far to get the answer. She heard it. The bloodhounds were barking, and they didn't sound far. "Okay girl, let's do some real riding!" So, Shraya clicked her tongue, and squeezed her knees, and Feather took off down the streams bank. She knew that she'd be on the move for a while now that they had the dogs out after her.

* * *

"Come on!" The leader of the Search and Rescue yelled at the top of his lungs. "My dogs got a sent that she's intent on following!"

When Shraya's parents got home from work the night after she left, they were terrified that something had happened to her. Shraya's mom had searched her room, top to bottom. Then she saw a different type of paper in the garbage. She reached in and un crumpled it. It was the note that Shraya had written the night before she left. Her mom walked slowly to Mr. Lea and read it out loud to him. Together they started crying. Part from relief and part from shame. They knew that Shraya had left because of Feather, and they knew that she wouldn't be easy to find. So, immediately they called the 'Search and Rescue' squad. They asked her parents for some of Shraya's dirty clothes so the dogs would have a sent to follow. Then they asked them what direction she would most likely take. They told them that she would probably go north from the house because that was away from the road and into the wilderness.

At first they had forgotten that Shraya would of been riding Feather, so the dogs had a hard time finding the sent trail. The 'Search and Rescue' squad had gave the blood hounds a sniff of Shraya's cloths and they ran to the back of the house to her bedroom window. Then they followed it to the barn but after that, they couldn't find anything.

It hadn't stayed that way though. The search and rescue eventually asked if Shraya might have been ridding. The parents exploded in to a talking jumble about which horse and then Mrs. Lea started crying. So then the squad started asking her dad about it and then he started crying too. Eventually the search and rescue got a few answers and they were off, again.

* * *

Shraya noticed the Feather was not happy and that she could sense something was wrong. She could feel it too. The bloodhounds were not far off. She could hear them and she knew that she needed to get away fast. Feather could run faster and farther than the people and dogs.

After a few minutes of riding, Feather went into a special stride. They call it the mustang run because it uses only a bit of energy but it covers a lot of ground. Shraya loved that moment, Feather gliding along, as though she were a swan, swimming in a pond. It felt great, being with her horse, her best and lifelong friend.

She came back to reality when she heard the bloodhounds barking behind her. Feather heard it to and stretched out her mighty body in a full gallop. Shraya bent low on her back, whispering little encouragements to Feather, urging her farther and faster along the river. There was a bend in the stream. They curved around it, and slowly, the barking drained away. They had escaped! But Shraya didn't stop, although she did slow Feather down so she wouldn't waste any more energy. She knew that they would still follow her and so she changed direction, after passing through the stream.

Once on the other bank, Shraya slowed Feather to a walk. She reached into her pack and pulled out a cloth to wipe down Feather a bit. She had foam on her neck and withers from running so hard. Shraya knew they could not stop, but Feather needed a rest so Shraya jumped down and walked. As she walked she started to get hungry and knew that Feather would be hungry too. So she walked closer to the streams bank and got a drink of water and let Feather graze for a few minutes, both to rest and to get some food into her. While Feather was grazing, Shraya looked around for something that she could eat. Soon she saw some berries hanging from a dark leaved tree. She knew from home that those were choke-cherries and that you couldn't eat very much at a time. So she walked over to them and pick a hand full or so. The berries were very tart and they didn't have a particularly good flavour, but she was hungry enough to finish the hand full. After she took a long drink and filled up the container that she had made, she and Feather were off again.

Shraya had not planned to stay away for long, but she didn't want to be caught by the search and rescue squad either. That would show weakness, and she knew that her parents would take advantage of that. If she would come home now after just a few days, hey would probably just give it a week or so and then sell her horse anyways. That is what she couldn't let happen.