The Soul of a Horse by Joe Camp

Author:Joe Camp
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780307449498
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2008-04-29T04:00:00+00:00

19

Feelings

The stallion stood in the flat, searching the rise around the big rock. His friend had not shown up and it was now the day of the third snow. Winter was on its way and he sensed that it was going to be severe. Never had the snow come so early, nor the second and third snow so quickly. The matriarch was restless, wanting to move their charges south before the weather made it impossible.

The stallion left the herd and trotted up the rise for a closer look, searching the trees along the ridge and scanning every inch of ground down the rise. His friend had never missed the first snow. He had no way of knowing that the Powhatan warrior had been badly wounded in a battle between his adopted tribe and the neighboring Blackfeet. He had fought valiantly to help the Shoshone protect their hunting rights so they could feed their families.

The snow was coming harder now, blanketing the rise in white silence. The huge golden horse looked to his herd and back up the hill. He paced nervously, and the snow fell faster. He was just retreating to the herd when a movement caught his eye, high up the rise. A flutter, a shadow in the snow. He strained to see through the filter of white. But it was gone. Then back. Another movement. He was sure of it. He trotted up the hill, gaining speed as he recognized the shape on the ground as human, his human. He slid to a stop and looked down on his friend, crumpled in the snow, a trail of red stretching out behind him. The Powhatan was trying to pull himself toward the rock, the meeting place, but his strength was gone and he was shivering uncontrollably. He saw the great stallion’s feet and strained to look upward. The sight of his friend vanquished his pain. A smile spread across his face and a tear slipped down his cheek.

The great horse dropped to his knees and stretched out on the ground next to him, trying to warm him. His friend wrapped his arms around the big stallion’s neck, clinging to him as if he were life itself.

And then he was gone.

The stallion’s scream shattered the surrounding silence, again and again. But he didn’t move. The matriarch appeared, and others from the herd, but they stood quietly and watched the falling snow cover this human warrior who meant so much to their protector. Finally, the stallion climbed to his feet and gazed down at the man, the human, with whom he had come so far. He reached to the ground and nuzzled away the mound of snow hiding the man’s cheek. The warm nostrils of this elegant stallion breathed in one last remembrance, then he lifted his head to the trees and bellowed as if his heart were being ripped apart. Then he turned and raced down the rise toward the south, flying like the wind. For hours he ran, until he could run no more, and he lay down and went to sleep.

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