I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade by Diane Wilson

Author:Diane Wilson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2011-09-14T16:00:00+00:00

18

Genma’s Dreams

Genma abruptly ended our conversation. A long silence crept by while she stared at the shirdik. Then, keeping her thoughts to herself, she fashioned a sunny smile and asked if I wanted to see Bayan now. Of course I nodded happily and Bator and I followed her out and around the station house to a sheltered meadow. Several horses, hobbled for ready saddling, grazed contentedly amid a small flock of black-and-white-spotted sheep.

Bayan, however, stood apart. Even with both front legs hobbled and a hind leg wrapped in a poultice-stained bandage, she shuffled anxiously from side to side. She was peering intently toward the thicket to the south and I thought at first she was looking for Bator, but when he ran up, she gave him only a quick sniff before returning to her nervous weaving.

“What’s gotten under her hide?” Genma asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know.” But I could feel Bayan’s uneasiness stirring the hairs on the back of my neck. Something was wrong.

Genma turned her attention to the whereabouts of her two daughters and left my side calling their names. Neither Bayan nor Bator flicked an ear to her voice as the little cat joined the mare in staring into the distance. With a concerned frown I moved toward Bayan, hand outstretched. The moment my fingers touched her shoulder she whinnied loudly. I jumped. Bator looked up, meowed, and looked away.

“What’s wrong?” I murmured, scratching the fuzzy white neck in big, soothing circles. Bayan shook all over, continued shuffling. I looked down at Bator. “What is it?” He ignored me, although his mouth opened and he began to pant rapidly. Following the eyes of my two friends, I squinted toward the thicket. Nothing was coming that I could see.

Or was it that the two wanted to be going? The path leading to the next arrow station stretched into this thicket. My heart bounded as I remembered Genma confirming what Echenkorlo had told me: ten thousand white mares waited to the south. I was certain I would find my swift horse among them. Observing Bayan’s leg, I noticed some stiffness, but no serious lameness, although shuffling was hardly galloping. And if my plan was to work, we would have to gallop—fast and hard.

I retreated to the shade of a large pine tree to study Bayan’s leg further and to go over the details of my plan. Genma ignored me as she waddled back to the station house followed by Otgon and Davasuren. The girls appeared some time later carrying milking bags and disappeared over a small rise. They returned—and this I found strange—to unhobble the horses and lead them over the rise. Pounding hooves signaled their release. Only Bayan and the sheep were left in the meadow.

Not until late afternoon did Genma call my name. Bayan had finally ceased her shuffling, though she lifted her head between snatches of grass to continue staring southward. Bator had moved to my lap, but he, too, was keeping a watchful eye on the path through the thicket.

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