Arrows of Acid

Chapter 18

The sky lightened from inky black to ashy gray and the river seemed to wake with the change. It started as a bubbling and gurgling, the water stirring to life beneath him. Just as before, the brighter the day became, the swifter the water flowed, like someone had turned on a switch. Again he let the current carry him, wondering who he was going to see next.

The river bent gently and a steep hill rose dramatically up to the right. He heard yips and cries as if coming from the distance but quickly moving his way. He heard a sound like rolling thunder, and discovered it was the sound of galloping hooves hammering over the terrain as a group of riders came barreling over the top of the hill. His heart leapt into his throat as the horses and riders plunged down the steep hill at break-neck speed. There was a jumble of legs and bodies cascading down the hill, making a great splash into the water at the bottom. Most teams successfully made it to the water and swam across to the other side, still in the race. One or two horses continued on rider-less, and one horse in particular did not surface at all after hitting the water.

As the riders came up dripping wet and whipping their horses and each other into a frenzy, Noah frantically paddled to the location where he had last seen the Paint horse go down. The water was clear enough for him to see the horse, laying fully submerged on the creek bed while the water flowed over him. He was close enough for Noah to touch, but when he reached in to try pulling him out, his hands went right through as if he were a ghost.

"No," Noah muttered to himself as he frantically tried and tried to grab the horse's head and pull him up to no avail. The snake, floating in mid-air nearby, gently rattled his tail. The sound snapped Noah out of it. He'd recognized the horse as Rio. This must have been how he had died.

"He didn't s-s-suffer," the snake hissed and turned to slither off down the river. It was quiet now, the thundering riders gone, the only sounds were Noah's breathing and the calm trickle of the river. Then Noah heard a soft cry from the top of the hill. A little Native girl had spotted her pony in the water and was running down the hill towards him.

Noah was frozen in place as he watched the girl splash into the river toward him.

When she reached their location, she fell to her knees and cradled her beloved horse's head in her lap. It was so heavy, and she wasn't able to pull it completely out of the water.

The moment she touched him, Noah felt a shock and was sucked into her memories. The edges of his vision blurred, and he was seeing through her eyes all the memories she had of the two of them; reclining next to each other under a shady tree, cooling off with the hose on hot summer days, and long lazy evenings riding Rio through endless fields, galloping wild and free. He felt how much Rio loved her and how he would do anything for her.

Sarah had a summer soundtrack. She had David Bowie playing on an endless loop that year, whether plugged in to her little Walkman or on the car radio with her cassette tapes. This was going to be the year they won the Race; she could feel it.

She had agreed to let her brother Adam also use her pony in the race on one condition: that she be the one to do most of his training. Adam agreed, he would be stupid not to, knowing his sister's superior riding and training skills, but he had to put up a token resistance. After all, he couldn't let it get to her head how good she was.

Finally, the day arrived: the Omak Suicide Race!

At the start line, the boys joked and ribbed with each other, their mounts picking up on the excited tension weaving through the air. They were champing at the bit and dancing in place, eager to run. The starting pistol fired, and the field stampeded away.