My thanks and congratulations to Windancer (Wolflover10), who's title in the contest won. Also, thanks to Hunter (the wolf) and Aniu4life who were the runners up in the contest. Also, thanks to Baltoforever,  and emandem who also entered the contest.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: In this style of writing the horses can talk, which is different to the stories I have written for this site before, so it was a bit difficult for me to write in this way. I am writing in this style to speed up the story and to prevent myself from settling into one writing habbit.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The herd grazed peacefully in the valley, undisturbed by the cool wind. There were many horses, all mustangs of different varieties, sizes and colours. Among these horses were a family, a family bound together so strongly that it seemed that nothing could break them apart. Even if one went missing, they would somehow, some day, return home. It had happened before - it would happen again.

The family included an old, greying mare. Her elegant palomino coat glowed in the sun's warm blaze, and her chocolate eyes glistened with wisdom. She was aged, stiff, but she still felt young at heart. She had seen so much of her world change over her long years. She had lost her mate, and at one point, her son. But her foal had come back home, driven on by his untamable spirit, and that was his name. Her's was Esperanza.

Her son was a golden buckskin stallion. His muscles were strong and toned, his face majestic and powerful that made even the cougars cower in fear. He had the eyes of his mother, deep brown and a pool of wisdom. He had fought for his freedom and for his herd, and eventually he had won, bringing a new chapter to his life with his new mare, Rain.

Rain was a tobiano mare, chestnut and white with large patterns. Everything about her was curved: her nose, her back and her markings. She had beautiful blue eyes and a thick, creamy mane. The first part of her life had been spent in the Lakota village, far away, but she had been let free six years ago, and was now considered a member of the herd like she had been born in the wild. She had soon after had a foal with Spirit, a palomino filly with green eyes which they named Jade.

This mare was now well out of her childhood, both in mind and body. Almost three years ago she had been captured like her father and tamed to become a soldier for man. On her adventure she had met the most wonderful stallion, Durango, who she now shared her life with. His sorrel coat and deep brown eyes made him more handsome and mighty than you could expect, but with all his strength and combat experience he did not challenge his mate's father. He respected Spirit, and everything he stood for. And if he wanted their foal to have the best possible future, it had to stay that way.

Jade was heavily pregnant, her sides swollen and her mood unpredictable. At first the idea of her own foal was amazing news, and everyone was happy, until her belly began to grow and suddenly she wasn't allowed to do anything for herself. She hated that, she had survived so much - cougars, fires, snow storms - yet no one felt that she was able to care for herself in a situation where she was perfectly safe and happy.

Now, she stood grazing at the bottom of the hill, within the herd and under the watch of her father. She was standing next to her grandmother, soaking up the late spring sunshine and swatting at the flies with their tales. As they ate, they chatted, mainly about motherhood.

"When your father was born he was always getting into trouble: getting stuck, annoying other animals, he was a right handful! You were a much better behaved foal, dear," Esperanza chuckled, telling her granddaughter tales from years ago.

"Well let's hope that this one takes after my side," replied Jade, "Durango was always running around as a colt - no one could keep him still!"

She winced suddenly, the foal had kicked her but she was fine. "It'll be a lot easier when this little one is out in the real world, my insides will be able to heal their bruises," she joked.

"They're much easier to control when they're inside you, from my opinion," said a voice. Rain stepped forward to join the conversation. Apparently Jade had had her moments - not wanting to swim, she had hated the hard work involved with the lessons from her father and she never wanted to get up in the mornings. The three mares laughed and ate together, completely unaware of the events unfolding just outside their world.

Durango was scouting the edge of the valley, searching for any predators or rouge stallions. He was lucky himself not to have been banished by Jade's father, after all he was another stallion, competition for the mares in the herd. Naturally, he was interested, but deep down the only one in the Cimarron for him was Jade.

He crested a hill and shook himself when he reached the top. The ground was flat and stretched on for a couple of miles before it disappeared between two mountains. He remembered his journey through the snow about a year back, how he had travelled from even further than that point in the distance. It was incredible how he had managed to do that in his first winter in the wild.

He stretched his right hind leg. It always stiffened up after a climb or run because of the injury. He found some lush grass and grazed quietly for a few minutes, just listening to the insects buzz and the birds sing. He thought about the decent back to the river but knew that he needed to walk on level ground before he could test his leg again, so instead he trotted North West to check behind some trees.

After half an hour he was in the woods and had slowed to a walk. He had been there before but this time it seemed less lively. No birds were singing, and only the wind blew. On it there were strange scents, or at least scents that he didn't recognize at first. He followed the smell to the source and couldn't believe what he saw.

Tents, dozens of them, with half constructed log buildings all around. The humans were staying in a clearing, with stumps of trees all around. Already the forest had been cut straight through on one side, the mountains to the North showed clearly on the horizon. Durango remembered his days of captivity, and now he knew what he could smell, hear and see. Smoke and cooking meat, captive horses and the scent of felled pine wafted through the air. Men talked and shouted everywhere, and trees were being hacked at with axes. He realized what was happening.

The humans were building a new settlement right in the valley, and it would only be a short amount of time before they discovered the herd. Durango turned on his heel and ran back to the river, ignoring the screaming agony in his leg, because some things were more important than pain.

Jade was lying in the grass, trying to relax and soak up the sun's heat, when she heard the approach of hooves. Looking up, she saw Durango racing down the hill towards the herd, calling for Spirit's attention. The stallion saw him too and wondered what was wrong, so met the sorrel in the middle.

"Spirit," Durango panted, "man, in the forest to the north west."

Spirit thought for a moment, acknowledging the worried expressions on the faces of the mares, then announced to all of them, "We have seen man before, they are a threat but they are stubborn and easy to avoid. They will soon be on their way home-"

"But you don't understand!" cried Durango, cutting in, "They've already destroyed half the woods and are building a town to live in forever! They're not going to leave!"

A murmuring went through the horses. What would they do? Were the men a threat? Why were they building their home here? Jade had got up by now and walked over to her father. He looked at her, realizing that it would be difficult for her to run from danger in her condition. Finally he said, "Show me."

It didn't look good, Spirit knew that much. Several large buildings were already complete and more humans were arriving. He could see what Durango meant about the forest - it was so thin now that you could see daylight from the other side. Numerous campfires were burning all over the camp site and the grass was slowly being worn away, turning the ground dry and dusty.

He noticed a stabling area with a few horses, though there weren't enough to fill all the stalls. A few men were talking and laughing, ropes slung over their shoulders and their horses being saddled. Cowboys, it had to be, and they wanted to fill up their stables.

"Durango," he whispered, moving back into the tree, "you know what men behave like, if they were going to ride out to the herd, which way would they go?"

"They would ride along the ridge until it sloped down gently and then double back on themselves - they're too cowardly to risk going down the steep hill side, so that would buy us time. They'd follow the river and look for tracks and use any high ground nearby to search the land."

"How long would it take for them to find us?"

"An hour or less I'd imagine, all those men look experienced and determined to me," he replied. He shook his neck and said, "It's no use, Spirit, they'll find us soon. All we can do is try to lose them if they give chase, leave as little evidence as possible and keep moving around the valley. If they spot us upstream a few times then we might get away with crossing the river and going towards the town."

Spirit didn't reply, but was lost in his own thoughts. He led Durango away and they plodded back to the herd. Men were never good to have around, and once they knew where they were it would be impossible to avoid them. They were persistent, stubborn brutes who just wanted to have control over the world. The mares would never be comfortable with humans on the doorstep, and the resources like water and trees would dwindle.

By the time they reached the herd Spirit had thought of a temporary plan to stay one step ahead of the humans. The herd would move further away more often, by never sticking in one place their chances were improved. One of the mares asked how long it would go on for. Jade was particularly interested in that question - she couldn't go on much longer for obvious reasons.

"A few weeks, just until they leave us alone or we get far enough away," he replied, trying to look calm. It was never easy being a leader.

In the early morning the herd woke and started their first march across the valley. By the early afternoon they had made it a few miles across the open country and decided to stop in the heat of the day. Many of the mares and foals laid down under the shade of a few fir trees by the river, while Spirit kept watch from a knoll nearby. Jade had plodded a little out of the way to be by herself. It was too hot, and they had been walking for most of the day. She felt sick from the foal and her energy levels were far too low.

She turned her head to the sound of approaching hooves and saw Durango ambling towards her. "It's too warm to be all the way out here, Jade," he said, "come on back to the river side, it's nice and cool."

"No thanks," she replied sharply, "I just need a little time by myself."

"Why?"

"Why?" she rounded on him, pressing her nose into his face. His expression was a picture - utter surprise and fear. "I can take care of myself, just because I'm pregnant it doesn't mean I'm incapable of eating, drinking and finding shade!"

Durango gaped at her for a moment, then slid off back to the rest of the group. If he had learned anything from premature parenthood, it was this: Don't annoy the hormonal mother! Yet sometimes is couldn't be avoided, since at that moment Spirit spotted something moving on the other side of the river. Horses, with men on them. He raced back down to the mares and told them to move.

He counted heads hurriedly. "Where's Jade?" he shouted. Durango told him that she was in the grasslands, and was sent back out to retrieve her. He had been gone a few minutes when Spirit decided the cowboys were close enough, so he hesitantly moved the herd on, ignoring the demands from Rain about where their daughter was.

"Jade!" He was galloping full tilt to where he had last seen her. He finally got her scent and followed it to the shade of a giant tree. "There you are! Look, we've got to move, now, there's men nearby," he babbled, shoving her up with his head.

"How far?" she asked, staggering to her feet and cantering along side him.

"They were on the far river bank last time I saw them, but that was ten minutes away. I imagine that your father has moved everyone off by now, we need to catch up to them this way," he answered, trying to slow for her. These days it was difficult for her to move very fast, she tired quickly and her legs ached. Durango wasn't in the best shape either, his back right leg was still a problem since he had been shot, but he could manage.

"Durango, slow down!" she shouted ahead.

"I am!" he shouted back. He was getting impatient now, he could smell the men nearby. He halted, letting her trot to catch him up while he had a look around. On the near horizon, he could see some horses mounting the crest of a hill then disappearing onto the other side.

"Jade," he said as she approached, "do you see that hill? That's where the herd will be waiting. I'm going to draw the men away-"

"No Durango," she cut in, but he continued.

"-and lose them somewhere further away, then I'll make my way to meet up with the rest of you. Got it?"

She nodded, uncertain if she should let him put himself in danger for her sake. But she cantered away and into the cover of the trees, soon to meet up with her family and friends, while Durango retraced his steps to the riverside behind the cowboys.

He neighed for their attention. The men and their horses flinched then turned to chase the stallion that was already galloping away. Durango casually ran away from the herd's direction, knowing all too well where he was going to lose these men.

He continued loping while the cowboys followed, but began to feel that usual nagging pain in his hip. It wasn't far now, but he pushed on for the last little bit. He needed all of his speed and strength to do what he was planning.

The man in the middle of the trio brushed his black hair out of his eyes to see where he was going. This was thrilling, his first mustang round up! They were already hot on the trail of this stallion, who was a beauty for his first catch. He knew that moving out to the town had been the right choice.

Suddenly the ground seemed to disappear ahead, and with an almighty leap the stallion took off from the miniature cliff and crumpled to the ground on the other side of the river. The river. The three men either tried to pull their horses down to a stop or urged them for the jump. The leader made the leap on his borrowed chestnut stallion, but missed the shore and was relieved to find the river deep enough to land in safely. The one in the middle was thrown head first over the ears of his horse and they landed together with a gigantic splash and treaded water. The final cowboy had slowed his horse to much, so they literally cantered off the edge and were swept down river.

By now Durango had picked himself up and had hobbled up a hill to watch the fiasco break out. His amused gaze froze as he saw the unbelievable. The huge, chestnut stallion who had been at the front  had climbed ashore and was looking him straight in the eye, as if they knew each other.

The answer was simple. They did know each other. It was Major, his father. They hadn't seen each other in about 10 years. The horse was old, greying and his muscles must have been huge once upon a time, but now they had shrunken to give the chestnut a sense of frailty. His large, dark eyes showed only sadness. Durango couldn't think why.

Then a second wave of shock swamped him. The youngest of the three riders had thick, long black hair and deep green eyes like Jade. Harry, the boy who had taken such good care of his mate. But a sense of hate still gripped Durango's heart, since that was the same baby who had caused him to be sold to the army. And still, if he hadn't been a war horse he and Jade would never have met.

Speedy pulled himself and his son out of the river and lay in the mud to catch their breath. He knew the stallion was watching them, laughing at them, but he had more important matters to attend to. Boss would want Major back in top condition, so the ancient stallion had to be checked over. Once he finished he pulled his son up. "Come on Bullseye, we need to go down river to see if Bear got out alright," he said and led the horse away.

As soon as they had appeared, the men were gone. Durango was left feeling more alone than ever, and his old wound was weeping from being pushed too hard by the jump. Drained, he began to wander back to the other horses.

It was nearly dark when Jade spotted Durango making his way up the slope towards her. She had been panicking for the whole day, fearing that they had taken him away from her. Durango brought her the unexpected news.

"Harry? Are you sure?" she asked, trying to suppress her happiness.

Durango nodded. "And my father. It felt strange to see him after so long, especially since he looked so terrible at heart. I wonder what my mother looks like now."

Jade shrugged, a sense of guilt tugging at her. Tammy had been shot when she got colic, but the palomino mare had never had the heart to tell him. How could she?

“Anyway we can’t let them get close to us,” he sighed. “I’d better tell your father.”

He looked around a bit for the stallion but eventually spotted him on a rise of ground, checking over the herd. He seemed tense and alert, not a good sign. Durango approached with caution. “Spirit?” he said.

He turned and listened carefully to the news. “Do you think they just wanted you or did they think you were leading them to a herd?”

“They’re not stupid; they’d know that I’d be running away from the other horses. But I think they were just after me that time,” he answered, trying to add a bit of humour into the conversation.

Spirit eventually decided that it would be best for the herd to keep moving. Over the next week or so the horses were always on the move. They ran into trouble a few times, and every now and then a horse would be unaccounted for after a chase. It became apparent that they were losing the battle to the men, and as much as he hated to admit it, Spirit knew that they couldn't get the horses or land back.

"So I've decided that tomorrow evening we leave the valley," he announced after explaining this. There were many objections and mutterings, but the lead stallion's decision was final. They would no longer be the Cimarron herd. They would just be a small group of wild horses in a meadow, behind the range of mountains. That was the plan at least. Men wouldn't be able to follow without taking weeks at a time, and the snow would soon be setting in.

Jade was on her own by the river the next evening. She was wondering about the herd’s future, about her own future. Foals could run when they were half an hour old, but would she have half an hour? What if something went wrong? All the usual pre-parent questions buzzed inside her head and were magnified by the threat of man.

Then again, it was Harry. He wouldn’t harm her or her child. Maybe she would see her old stable friends again. She shuddered. Not Boss, though, anything but him. That brute only wanted to control animals, not care for them.

Durango had pulled up beside her silently. “I know that look. Worry.”

She smiled. “I was just thinking if this is really the best we can do for our foal, Durango. All this running, fear and torment. We’re wild; we shouldn’t feel like we’re in a pen.”

He fixed her a steely gaze. “Then what do you suppose we do?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she said.

“I know, but this is the only option we have for now,” he reasoned. “I understand it’s not ideal, but it’s better than being caught.”

They said nothing for minutes, until the sound of Spirit neighing caught their attention. The men were back, and were on their trail. Sure enough, as Jade looked to the East she could see the three cowboys heading straight for them on the bank. The herd was frantic, all the horses were trying to move away at once. Eventually Rain managed to push to the front and get them to follow her over the river. Esperanza kept everyone together while Spirit was at the back, making sure all the members were running towards the mountains.

Speedy pushed the stallion forward so that he could see the selection better. The herd was mainly mares, about two dozen of them, with a couple of stallions. The newly established Cimarron Town needed young horses for work and riding. The older mares at the front wouldn't do.

Then he saw the jackpot. A palomino mare - a beauty - was heavily pregnant and it was obvious that she was struggling to keep up. But a stallion was watching closely nearby.

"Bullseye! Bear! We've got a mother over here!" he shouted back to the others. They quickened their horses and drew nearer, Bear taking the right, Speedy to the left and Bulleye behind, ready to push her away from the group.

By now Jade was panicking. The first time she was captured she had to be trained and tamed. it didn't bother her that she would have to do it all again if they caught her, it was the fact that her foal would grow up without the feintest taste of freedom. As her legs began to give in to the fight, she heard a familiar neigh from behind her. She didn't need to look to know that Durango was following her. But they were being driven away from the other horses in the process, and it didn't look like the herd was going to stop.

Two of the men had drawn level with her on the right, the third on the left. She was nearly exhausted, but still had teh cunning and trickery drilled into her from when she was a foal. She stopped suddenly and turned sharply to the left, causing the trio to keep galloping for a few seconds before yanking their steeds to a skidding halt and going after her. Durango cut infront of the men too, further stretching the gap.

"Speedy, if we don't get that mare the Boss isn't going to be pleased. That's a two for one mustang there, and she isn't far from foaling," Bear puffed as they galloped after the wild horses.

"You leave Boss to me, Bear," he replied, "but I don't wanna let this mare go either. She'll be real valuable for my son's ranch, for working and breeding."

Jade was slowing, but still forced her screaming legs on. She had a stitch, but at least Durango was there with her. He was struggling a bit with his leg, but he had slowed down to stay level with her anyway. They turned a corner. A dead end. A narrow ledge sloped down the rocks, but that was the only escape.

The sound of shoed hooves was getting louder. "Stay behind me," Durango said quietly. He was tensing and breathing heavily, and Jade knew that he would protect her with his dying breath. The men weren't interested in him, but they'd have an extra horse for the profit. At least, Jade thought, if they were both made captive the foal would have a father.

The horses appeared from behind the corner and also stopped. The men could clearly see that the stallion wasn't going to abandon the mare. "I guess we'll take them both, Pa," Harry smiled, reaching for his lasso. The stallion was pawing the ground, waiting for the moment. Speedy had been assured by Boss that his chestnut mount would obey him without question, so he rode him forwards.

Durango hesitated for a second. This was his own father, they were face to face. It was his father - his own blood - or his mate. But Durango had vowed to himself that he would love and protect her, no matter what the costs. His father would understand, surely Major would protect Tammy in just the same way?

Durango reared to his full height, striking out with his hooves. Major jumped back to where he had just been standing. The sorrel stallion snapped at the tame horses, making them shy further back. The men tried to throw the occaissonal lasso at him, but he dodged their grasp. Soon the trio was almost backed up against the cliff edge.

"Outsmarted by a mustang," Speedy muttered. He cursed and turned the horse away and led the cowboys back. Along the way they stopped to look for tracks to the herd, but the sun had set and the horses were by now far far away.

Jade and Durango were still catching their breaths from the chase. She was aching all over and just wanted to rest. But Durango was determined to find the other horses and fast. "Anyway," he said, "it's too open here for us to stay." He encouraged her to try and follow the herd's tracks up the slope, but they made little progress by the time it was pitch black.

"Durango I'm tired, I want to stop here, anywhere," she moaned.

"No, we can't stop," he replied. He was a little further ahead, scouting for tracks.

"We can keep going in the morning, my father won't be moving them in the dark."

"I said no," he replied. There was the sound of hoofbeats, and he turned to see Jade skid to a halt, her nose pressed into his face.

"I said I'm tired! We're stopping to rest now!" she shouted.

Durango flattened his ears back, hung his head low and went to find a piece of sheltered ground.

It began raining just before sunrise. Durango was woken by water dripping on his face from the roof of the overhang. He knew that the rain was just going to get heavier throughout the day, so they could make better progress if they left now. He gently woke Jade and they retraced their steps from the night before.

The ground had been oblitherated into mud now, and any remaining tracks were shallow and misshapen. Durango was confident that he could still tell which direction they went in, but Jade felt miserable. The rain had already soaked her coat, the ground was slippy beneath her feet and she just wanted to be home and dry. She trusted Durango, but she felt that he was too optimistic at times.

It was about midday when Durango stopped suddenly. The rain was even more persistent and the dust was slowly merging into rock, then into frost and snow. Jade knew something was wrong. "The tracks are gone," he exclaimed, "they just vanish here!"

"They must have stopped here last night for us," Jade said, "but they must have moved on when it started raining."

"The ground's flat here, so the water can't drain away. By now it'll be like they were never here," he sighed. "I'm sorry Jade."

She nuzzled him. "It's not your fault, Durango. But they must have continued one way or another, we just need to find out which path they took."

They decided to stop until the weather died down. Jade was dying for a lie down, but the ground was just a mud bath now. She wouldn't be able to get back up. Her legs were sore, her head felt heavy and she wanted to sleep soundly for a good few hours.

The rain lifted slightly. Durango smelled the air, hoping for signs of the other horses. "Jade, if your father had to pick left or right, which way would he go?"

"He'd send scouts in both directions, but if he was on his own he'd chose the way that got him highest the quickest," she replied. "Always stay above your enemy, he told me that as a foal."

"Well, we haven't got any enemies at the moment, and do you really want to be treking up steep mountainsides in these conditions?" he said. Jade shook her head and they opted for the flatter route. From the platform they were standing on they could see the trail winding around and up, back on itself and up further on the side of the mountain, before disappearing through a cave.

"I don't care if the herd is around the other corner," Jade said, beginning to walk along the eastern path, "there's shelter in this direction, so that's where I'm going."

The herd had moved quickly through the storm. Spirit had led them cautiously up the speed bank and rounded the horses to the west. There was a mountain pass that they could reach in as little as two days. It would be hard going, but at least it was closer to the ground than hiking over the top of the range.

Spirit looked around and spotted Rain trailing at the back of the pack. He dropped behind to talk to her. "Rain, I know that you're worried, but Jade is tough, and she's got Durango with her. She'll be fine, she came back to us before."

She glared at him as they walked. "You don't know that, Spirit. They could have been captured, they could have fallen. And even if they are alright Jade is heavily pregnant, when last time she was a young mare - fast as the wind and as strong as the sun. There's a big difference between travelling over flat ground and covering a mountain range in her condition."

She trotted ahead of him and mingled with the other mares, making it apparent that she didn't want to talk to him. Spirit sighed and looked back. The valley looked so far away already. Everything he had ever known was behind him, and the entire herd would have to learn to survive in a new and unforgiving land.

Shivering, they made it into the cave. About half way up the trail it had begun to snow. Tiny flakes, delicate and perfectly sculptured, had fallen. It was a beautiful sight, and it almost helped the two horses forget their troubles for a while. But then the flakes clumped and started to fall quicker. The wind picked up, and before long they were caught in a snow storm.

Jade shook her body to get rid of the mush that was clinging to her frozen body. It was cold in the cave but at least it was dry. She lay down and curled up as much as she could. Durango joined her on the hard ground, offering his body heat to warm her up.

Jade chuckled. "Last time we curled up together like this was after the fire. Do you remember?"

He smiled. "Yeah, but it wasn't anywhere near as cold as this."

They fell asleep together, blocking out the howling wind from their exhuasted minds and getting some well earned rest.

Durango woke first and carefully stood up, trying not to wake her. It was the middle of the night, and the snow was still forming. He could barely see out of the cave mouth because of the storm. He looked into the depths of the cave. A small trickle of water appeared out of the dark, passed by the still sleeping mare, and out into the storm. It meant ice - melting ice - and an uphill slope.

He got Jade up and they started walking deeper into the cavern. It instantly became impossible to see properly without the little daylight they had at the mouth of the cave. Every step they made echoed. Over the hours of walking the cave grew a little narrower at a time until they could only go in single file, Jade at the front, Durango behind her.

Eventually a dim glow appeared further down the long tunnel. As they neared it, it seemed to become tinted blue. The passage began to widen until both of them could walk together for the first time since the morning. Suddenly the walls and ceiling vanished, revealing a vast ice carvern, towering hundreds of feet above them, and hovering hundreds of feet below them.

The light was filtered through thick sheets of ice above their heads, illuminating the frozen cave in a piercing blue. A shelf of ice spread from where they were standing, along the cave wall next to the mountainside and off to the inky darkness of another cave. An icy breeze seemed to be blowing from it. Fresh air, a beacon pointing to an exit.

"It's a way out," Durango said aloud, gazing around the beautiful discovery, "but it could be a sheer drop where it opens out."

"But we should at least try," Jade said, taking a few steps onto the ice platform. It creaked a little, but quickly adjusted to her weight, so she continued to take small steps at a time.

She edged along the ice, slipping a few times but regaining her posture, until she was nearly at the other side. Durango stepped on too. The ice groaned beneath his hooves, but he decided to go for it. He made progress faster than Jade, and had nearly caught up with her, when the first crack appeared.

A hairline split in the ice began underneath it, and spread centimetre by centimetre up the side of the platform and across it in front of Durango. It quickly gave way, slipping a good few inches and wedging itself against the remaining ice.

"It's gonna go, Jade!" he shouted.

"Then move!"

He jumped from the spot, but his back legs just slid behind him and he fell onto his stomach. The ice slipped again. He pushed himself back up on his front legs and scrabbled up the platform as it began to slope. He heard the crunch again and launched himself towards the rocky ledge in front of the cave entrance. His front hooves landed, then his back ones. The ice finally crumbled down into the dark depths of the cavern, but he only realised that his hind left foot was still on the ice. As it went, Durango lost his footing on the cliff edge.

He thought he was a gonner. As the ground disappeared below him, something tugged at his mane. Jade had grabbed him, and was pulling him with all her might back up onto the ledge. After a minute of struggling, he climbed back onto solid earth.

They moved into the exit cave as quickly as possible, eager to get away from the sheer edge. The stray light from both ends of the tunnel lessened the darkness' grip on them, and before the end of the day the cave mouth was in sight. Whether it was a straight drop down or a vertical climb up, they had to leave the caves. There was no way back to where they had come from.

Durango poked his nose out of the cave and sniffed. The air was freezing in his lungs and he drew himself back into the slightly warmer shelter. He looked out of the cave to see a trail leading gently up the side of the mountain, now covered in snow, getting gradually steeper along the way.

"Well, we're in luck," he said, lying down next to Jade in the darkness. "There's a clear and easy path up the mountain and through a pass. We should take that way and stick to it, but there's little shelter and even less food."

"I'll be fine," she smiled. "Remember our journey to the valley? We survived, we found just enough food to keep us going."

"But that wasn't a mountain range, Jade. Life is harsher up here, hardly anything grows," he replied.

She lay her head down to sleep. "We'll get by. It will all be worth it."

They continued to make their way up the trail to the pass over the next few days. But something was bugging Jade as she trudged through the endless snow. It was something that Durango had said about his mother, Tammy, weeks ago, when they were still running from the men in the valley. He had wondered what she looked like now. Jade had known for years that she was dead, but beneath the military precision, loyalty and valour Durango was a very sensitive soul. She knew that his heart would break if he ever found out.

And so she had kept it a secret, thinking all along that she could tell him another time. But now that Major had stirred memories and emotions the sorrel stallion was asking questions and it would only be a matter of time before he managed to get the answer from the uneasy-looking mare. She would prefer to be told honestly, than to realise that someone was keeping a secret about somebody close to her. Maybe a year ago she could have talked to him alone, but now the news was ancient and no matter how he found out he would not be understanding.

Still, she had to tell him.

One evening they stopped to rest under an overhang of rock. The snow blew past them like bullets but they managed to stay relatively dry under the shelter. Jade decided to lie down, the foal was kicking her to pieces. Durango joined her and tried to keep warm. After an hour or so she spoke up, her voice trembling and quiet.

"Durango, there's something I should tell you," she said, trying to avoid his eyes.

"Uh oh, I hope it's not that the foal is someone else's!" he joked.

She tried to laugh, but she couldn't. All she could think about was how his mood would suddenly change. "Do you remember when you first told me about your childhood at the military base?" He nodded. "You said that you grew up on a ranch, and you talked about your parents. Well, I was trained there before I was sold to the army. And I knew you your mother well, she was my best friend."

He was speachless. "Why didn't you tell me?" he smiled. She looked away and tried not to cry.

"Well, I never wanted to tell you because you would want to know how she was, and before I left she got colic, and-" She broke off, and looked at him squarely. "She was put to rest, Durango."

He said nothing, but got up and went to the edge of the overhang and stood there for minutes on end. He was tense and clearly angry. Jade hated the waiting, but what hurt the most was how he seemed to hate her. "Durango? Please say something."

He rounded on her. "And you never thought to tell me?"

"I didn't want to hurt you!" she cried.

"Everyone get's hurt, Jade, but the longer the bullet is there the more you bleed!" he thundered.

She couldn't look at him anymore. "You had lost a love, you had been taken from your family, you had lost soldiers and horses alike in bloodshed. I didn't want you to have that on your shoulders too. And since you lashed out at me in the meadow that time I knew you had a temper, so I also didn't tell you because I thought you would take it out on me. I was scared, but  I was right too."

The next morning they began walking again, but in silence. Jade started to notice how he was always walking a little too fast for her tired feet to carry her, yet she said nothing. Instead she thought about the valley, her birthplace, where she had worked so hard to get to that year. It seemed as if humans were always trying to catch up to her. What if they had followed her home? Could it be her fault that the rest of the herd was somewhere in a vast mountain range? It seemed unlikely, but the coinsidence of Speedy and Bear - and Harry- to meet her again was incredible.

Suddenly her hoof slipped on a patch of ice. She managed to stay standing up and continue up the now steepening path, but it was a reminder of how dangerous their journey was. Durango was right; on the way back from the tribe it was just lowlands covered in snow, but up here in the mountains there was nothing.

Jade nearly jumped out of her skin when Durango spoke to her. "The pass starts about here, but it's deep in snow. We'll have to tred carefully while we're in here, but at least it's downhill from now on." She nodded, and followed him into the deep snow.

The herd was doing well considering the difficulties they faced. Meals were few and far between, but Spirit saw to it that everyone got an equal amount. Water wasn't an issue, since ice and snow persisted through all hours of the day. It was difficult to shelter so many horses, so instead they huddled in groups to keep warm and dry. Rain was still upset with Spirit, but she was now talking to him again. It seemed that the conditions put strains on everyone, and at the time when they most needed each other they were falling apart as a herd.

Esperanza led as a sort of matriach, her age providing knowledge and wisdom on how to survive in mountainous regions. Even Spirit looked to her for advice in the tough climate, and she never failed to lead them safely through the range.

In a violent snow storm one afternoon she was searching for a shelter, and got lucky. An overhang of rock pertruded right out over the trail and would easily fit all the mares under it. Spirit hurried everyone under the rocks and only lay down himself once everyone else was in. But his mother looked uneasy.

"What is it?" he asked, sitting up.

"There were horses here not long ago," she said, turning. "Jade and Durango. I'm sure it's them. Their scents are all over the place. I couldn't tell before because of the storm-"

Rain had wandered over to listen to the news, but now she was panicking. "The storm! Spirit, they'll be further up the trail by now, what if there isn't enough shelter?"

He stood up to let her rest her head on him. "They've made it this far alone, I'm sure they've been caught in a blizzard before."

"But at least we know that they're close," Esperanza said.

Days passed as they swam through the deepening snow drifts. The further they went the higher it reached up their sides. Jade had resorted to jumping up every few steps to try and keep as much of her out of the freezing dust. As she pushed through the sheets a pile would accumulate infront of her and prevented her from seeing ahead of herself.

Durango was trudging along when he banged his front legs on something. Rock. He started to clamber upto higher ground and collapsed in a heap. He hated to admit it, but his bad leg was causing him problems and the pain had been terrible while he was pushing his way through the snow. Jade saw him ahead and called for him to help her out a bit, but he just lay there, facing away.

She had had enough of his sulking. She drew up all her strength and bounded through the snow  as fast as she could. Once she got to the platform Durango stood up and said, "You took long enough, we need to go now while we still have daylight."

He turned to dive back in but she stood side-on in his way. "Now you listen here, warhorse," she said sternly, "I am over ten months pregnant, I have been travelling for weeks, my skin is chapped, I am cold and wet, and when we finally find a place to rest you refuse to help me get there, then when I arrive - exhausted - you want to carry on because you've already rested. I'm sorry about the news, but there's no need to take it out on me, especially when I need my mate this much. So grow up!"

She snorted and stood like a boulder in his way. His ears were back and his tail hung low. He looked down. "I'm sorry, Jade," he whispered. "I've lost everyone close to me, but you have your family, you'll always have your family."

She lowered her head to meet his. "Not at the moment. That's why I need you to help me, Durango."

They slept on the raised piece of rock over the night before continuing along the pass. To avoid slowing their pace, Durango searched for shallower paths that Jade could handle. He led the way through the snow, carving out a trail for her to follow. She found the tundra easier to handle now, and as they declined away from the peaks the snow thinned, the nights were warmer and vegetation grew here and there. That had been the main problem; food, and it was only now that they realised that they were starving.

So instead of rushing, they worked together to try and uncover a patch of rough grass from the powder each afternoon and stopped to refill their stomachs. Durango would let her have most of it while he watched for mountain predators. It was while he was doing this that is first occured to him that the vast landscape ahead of them was their new home.

"We'll be living down there for the rest of our lives," he said as they plodded down the gentle slopes through a pine forest. "It's all our foal will know."

"But look at it Durango, the plane's huge! We could have several herds living here!" she replied.

He went quiet for a moment. "That's something that we never thought through," he said, "there could be herds here, with powerful stallions. What if there's too much competition for land? Or mares? There could be batchelor herds our here, full of previous foals from the Cimarron. It would certainly cause trouble for your father."

"He can handle it, and I'm sure you'd do your fair share of defending," she smiled.

He looked over the landscape. "At least this land is higher, which means we'll have a quicker decent."

"Not quick enough, I'm tired," Jade yawned, lying down and falling promptly asleep. There was no time for protest over the shelter or defencive position, so Durango just lay down beside her and went to sleep too.

Durango found himself shivering awake - a strange thing to happen. He stood up and shook the settled snowflakes off his coat and stretched his legs and back. Something was wrong, he knew it. Something hit his mind like he had run into a brick wall.

"Jade!" he cried, his voice echoing out through the frozen trees. His breath was visable in the air and the blankets of snow were begining to harden over with a frosty crust. It was too cold for her to be alone, it was the middle of the night, she could freeze to death. A cougar or mountain lion could be anywhere. He looked at the potholes in the snow leading away from where the mare had been lying and followed them along the ground.

After half an hour the trees dispersed and eventually disappeared, but he kept following the tracks. Every now and then he called her name, hoping for an answer. He tried to canter in the snow, but the depth restricted him to a steady trot. Then ahead of him, in the snow, was Jade. He rushed to her and lay down behind her.

"Are you crazy?" he whispered. "You'll catch your death out here, what do think you're doing?"

"I was trying to get some privacy," she snarled, but leaned against him anyway. She sighed. "It's the foal, Durango."

He froze. "Oh," was all he could say. "Oh."

She winced at the pain. "Leave me alone! Don't you know that this is very undignified for me?"

"Since when have you bothered about your dignity?" he muttered. She snapped at him.

"Go away! Ow!" She started crying. "Look, there's a reason why mares go off on their own to foal, it's because we can't stand others encouraging us! This is all natural, I know what I'm doing, so either shut up or go back to the forest!"

He chose to shut up, and rested his head on her neck. She was tense and clearly in agony, but he couldn't do anything to help her other than keep quiet and trust her. That was what hurt him, not being able to take her pain away. He was tempted to leave her and go back into the trees, but the cold was penetrating him right to the bone, and he knew that neither her or their foal would survive long without extra heat.

She flinched slightly. "Argh! Durango, I'm never letting you near me again! Remember what I am about to say - you did this to me!"

He was shocked. "Me? What did I do? You wanted kids!"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" she screamed, kicking one of her back legs.

"But-"

"Durango," she warned, glaring at him up her nose. He shut his mouth again quickly.

"This better be worth it," she murmured, laying her head on his legs. "We could have adopted a cute little foal that was abandoned, but no - I decided to do things the hard way." She winced again, and drew her head up. "If those stupid humans had just left us alone then this would have all been a lot easier!"

"Yes dear," he sighed. It was going to be a long night.

Once Spirit realised that it was a downhill journey he thought that the mares could live without sleep for one night. The hardest part had been the pass - the snow was like swimming against a river's flow. But his mother had picked up some tracks from the duo, and he was determined to catch up to them while he could. There was no doubt that Jade would be going at a slow pace and sleeping through the night.

It was nearly dawn when the horses reached the clearing in the trees. Spirit's hopes were lifted suddenly when two ditches in the snow became faintly visable. The overnight snow had nearly filled them up, but they had been here. he sniffed about for their direction.

"That's odd," he said to Esperanza, "there are no tracks heading downhill, just a few scattered about."

"They couldn't have gone far, they were here late last night."

"Over here!" one of the mares shouted, pointing towards a path of holes in the snow. Tracks.

Spirit was puzzled. "This makes no sense, it's them, I can smell it, but why would the suddenly veer from their path? They couldn't have been chased, there's be extra prints."

Rain had joined him and was following the tracks into the distance. She broke into a frantic canter before anyone could stop her. The ground was frozen over now and she could tack longer and faster strides. It took a moment for Spirit to start chasing after her.

"Stay here!" he shouted to the other horses as he followed the pinto across the mountain side.

Durango's ears twitched and spun to the direction that the hoofbeats were coming from. He turned his head to see Rain skidding to a halt in the snow, Spirit joining her side. Jade turned too and was stunned to see her parents. Spirit walked over to nuzzle her and Rain followed.

Jade smiled. "Meet your grandson," she said, moving away from Durango to reveal a sorrel tiny chestnut colt with the brightest green eyes. Durango stood up proudly and moved away to let the foal stand up. He fell a few times, but managed to push himself out of the snow and prance around his mother.

"We were thinking of calling him Spuro," Jade smiled tugging at her new son's mane.

The colt wandered over to Spirit and reared up against him. "He's a lively little fellow," he laughed as he fell back inot the snow.

"Oh, Jade," Rain said, "you're making me feel so old!"

Over the course of the day Rain, Jade and little Spuro wandered back to the awaiting herd in the forest. Spirit and Durango cantered ahead to bring the news. Spirit felt that it was a good time to have a heart to heart with the quarter horse. "At first I had my doubts about you I'll admit, but that's just a father's nature, and I'm sure you'll experience it yourself soon," he said, "but when Jade was left with you I knew that you'd take care of her. You've made me proud to have you in my herd."

Durango smiled, but didn't answer. Guilt was tugging at him. Ever since he had first seen the buckskin at the army base he had resented him, and here he was, letting him stay in the herd and complementing him. But the guilt couldn't remove the slight hatered that burnt inside of him.

When Spuro and his mother made it back all the mares were eager to play with the newborn. Jade stayed close by while he sniffed and toyed with the herd members. Many of them were too old to trot about with him or roll, but a few of the younger ones joined in his games.

Jade was watching him muck about with the yearlings when she asked her father, "So when are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning," he replied, "I want to get everybody fed up and give the younster a good sleep before we set off again. But we have to admit, Jade, that he'll slow us down."

"So? The rush was to get to the meadows before he was born, and since we've missed that deadline we can go at our own pace from now on," she argued.

"Do you want to trail at the back with him?"

"No," she said sternly, "I was at the back when we got separated by the humans, I'm staying in the middle of the pack to give him as much safety as possible."

Spirit chuckled. "You're already acting like a proper dam. Go and find some food, I'll watch him for you."

Over the week the barren landscape of the mountains morphed into trees and grass. Streams appeared through the forest from the melted snow and flowers bloomed in clusters. For the first time in what seemed like forever the herd felt at home. They were familiar with seeing lots of foliage, and familiar with eating it too. Soon the horses were putting their weight back on, and Spuro was growing quicker now that his mother was eating properly. The foal had to experience his first winter in the beginning of his life, so the long grass and shady trees were completely alien to him. At his age he couldn't possibly understand that there had only been snow because of the mountain, and that it was really summer in his home.

In the morning one day Spirit felt that that earth was different under his feet. It was flat, with no slope. Ahead of them stretched miles and miles of wilderness that they could claim as their own. The rest of the mustangs stopped behind him and sensed the same thing. That suddenly their journey, which they had started unexpectantly in a blind panic, was over, and they were all together.

A few of the mares broke off into a gallop, nieghing loudly, rearing and bucking, acting like fillies. Esperanza watched with an old smile. Her herd - her family - was safe. She lay down in the grass and watched the sun rise further through the sky as the other horses jumped about. She was too old for all that lark, but she could still watch and remember.

"The hard part now is setting up a proper home," Spirit said, standing over her. "There could be other horses here, new predators, even another man town. I'm going to keep us all here until we can find a safe enough territory."

"Ow, Ow! Teeth, Spuro! I won't tell you again," Jade said as the colt suckled. Her mother was right - parenting was the hardest job a mare could have.

"Play with me, mum!" he shrieked. Jade laughed and chased after him, surprised at how speedy he'd become over the last few weeks. She stopped when she saw Durango approaching. He'd been gone a few days after insisting to her father that he should scout the land out.

"Well, we're clear for a good few miles out over the planes, not a single trace of another horse, never mind another herd. As for predators, well we should expect cougars but few and far between. But the best part is this: no man. And it's going to take them years to overpopulate their settlement, and then they would have to make it over the range," he explained. He tugged at his son's mane as a greeting.

"You'd be surprised, Durango," she said, "my father says that humans are capable of anything they want to do."

"But we've still got decades alone," he said, looking up.

"Good," she smiled, "because I have to tell you something."

"Yes?"

"I'm pregnant."

(C) gemmawolf 2010