Midnight by Rutherford Montgomery

Author:Rutherford Montgomery
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: Horse, Western, Mustang, Fiction
Publisher: Acme Book Continuum

* * *

Spring waited for them on the snow-bound meadow one morning when they came down to feed. A chinook wind was blowing and the air was soft, promising life, alive with earthy smells carried up from the lower valleys where green things were already growing on the south slopes and in the canyons. Midnight bucked and pranced excitedly. The old buck shook his head and grunted. He was a sad-looking monarch now. His sides were thick with matted hair and he had shed one horn so that he was forced to carry his head on the side. He moved about more timidly and seemed eager to be near the black colt.

The snow settled down and down. At night it froze but not with the bitter hardness of the deep winter. Each day the snow sank lower and packed harder. It shrank until bare patches of meadow appeared. Then it retreated into the spruce where it would make its last stand against the sun. There were blustery days when snow fell and raw winds blew, but this was spring and nothing could halt its coming.

The wolves and the coyotes raced across the bare ground, leaping over the dirty drifts in the shade, racing on and on, as fast as the steady wind which blew up out of the green valleys below. The wolves were not seeking prey, they were running in pairs, leaping through the dusky twilight or the pale moonlight, seeking romance on distant ridges, trysting places under the stars.

The resurrection came swiftly. Grass sprouted and flowers shoved forth their buds, some of them poking out their hardy blossoms at the edges of the drifts in the twilight of the woods. But the real and certain arrival of spring was announced by the yellowbelly whistlers. They awoke and came out of their dens to blink at the sun. They romped across the bare meadow and bounded among the rocks at the base of the castles. A day or so after the whistlers had come out the calico chips appeared. They had been ready for some time but had been careful not to hurry.

One day the chipmunks appeared. They held a concert at once, and the meadow rang with their “chock, chocking.” The fat little brownies came with the chipmunks. They selected stones and spent much of their time sitting in silence looking down into the blue valley. Only the cabin at the edge of the timber remained lifeless and dead. It went on sleeping. Its one dusty window stared out drearily on the lively scene. Its door did not open to let the spring air into the cabin, there was no one to open it. The willow chair sagged beside the doorstone. It sat there much as though it had stepped outside to wait for the owner of the cabin.

Midnight became restless. He raced around the meadow and mud flew from his hoofs as he splashed through puddles in the hollows. The only spot he avoided was the dog town.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.