Light, ears lolling unhappily.

     'Oh-!' exclaimed Clovebreeze.

     And then she, and everybody else, looked up in uncertainty.

    For the screaming, had suddenly . . . stopped.

 

 

 

'I'm sorry, son,' Archer whispered through clenched teeth, unmoving as stone with his leg still wedged in the crevice. His foot had started bleeding, and was bent and twisted at the joint. 'I didn't mean to cry.'

     Lonan didn't answer; dumbfounded was he as he chanced a stare upwards at the hill top, where the top ends of three black figures had materialized. He pressed his body closer to the hill's steep face and signaled to Archer to hold his breath. Oh, how glad he was that there was an overhang of shrubs just above, large enough to cover them both.

     'What are we looking for?' muttered the whiny voice of a man from above.

     'Maybe you imagined it, Josh,' said another, gruffer voice.

     'What! That's impossible!' came a third. 'Yeh' must 'ave heard it! It was crazy-loud!'

     'As loud as you, Josh?' muttered the Whiner.

     'I might have heard it,' said the Gruff Tone. 'You heard a horse screaming, Josh, is that right? And you saw somethin' in the Holz?'

     'What's this got to do with the Redskins?' snapped the Whiner. 'Come'on, if there's anything at all in the Holz, let's get down there. We'll go the Dugg Creek way.'

     'That'll take too long!' exclaimed Josh.

     'Climbing down here would be insanity.' Whiner laughed. 'But by all means take this route if you've lost that many, Josh.' Lonan and Archer heard a horse grunt, as if Whiner had spurred his mount. Gentle hoofsteps could be heard, fading away.

     Lonan's throat tightened and it grew dry; he peered around the vegetation, fixing his eyes on the hill top. He could see the figure he guessed was Josh, a short man dressed in a rather business-like suit, still there, the only man lingering. He had dismounted from his steed and stood at the edge of the slope, looking wistfully out over the countryside.

     Josh gave a grunt, and with one foot it kicked a couple of stones down the hillside in an ill-tempered way.
     Lonan flinched as the stones hit his back and bounced off down the valley. He looked back up at the man.
     Josh shrugged and walked back to his horse, dragging his feet slightly, before getting on. Horse and rider disappeared, leaving Lonan and Archer to breath for a moment.

     'You can come out now,' said Lonan to Archer.
     The elder stallion nodded. He had stayed absolutely still throughout the last few scary moments.
     Not quite still, thought Lonan, noting that the poor old stallion had managed to extract his now blood-covered leg from the crevice. He smiled proudly at Archer. 'Well done.'
     Archer hoisted himself down to the bottom of the hill, where he paused to rest.
     'They might come back this way,' said Lonan, 'So I am afraid we've got to be quick. Can you make it? I'll support you.'

     Archer bit his muzzle. 'Of course, and thank you' he nodded, bravely pulling himself up and leaning on the muscular red-brown stallion's shoulder. 'Let's go, son.'
     Slowly the two horses made their way towards the dusty track which led into the the Holz.

 

*

 

Clovebreeze nearly shattered her teeth, before at last the cry of, "I see Lonan and Archer coming!' came to her shuddering sharp ears.
     Leaving her place with the permission of Treacle, the old mare next to galloped through the maple trees (somehow managing not hit any of them!) towards the tired calls of the returning stallions.

     She stopped all-of-a-sudden near the fringe the woodland, in a clearing; fearing the humans, she trotted about calling her mate's name, for she could not see any sign of him anywhere.
     'I'm here, Breezy,' came the voice of Archer, and the elderly horse pushed himself through the undergrowth and stumbled towards her with a smile, Lonan not far behind.

     'Oh, Archer!' cried Clovebreeze, and so there was reunion. 'Oh, I was so worried! Why! Whatever happened to your poor leg? Come, let me see it. Let me clean it. Lie down on this soft moss just under your feet. That's it, now . . .Oh, it's terrible! How it must hurt you! Oh, dear Archer, how did it happen? How did you walk with that? How did you even get here?'

     Lonan watched the two with a half-smile on his face, then he turned to a strong looking brown-and-white stallion with a silver-streaked black mane who had just come into the clearing. It was Alcatraz.

     'Wotcha, son,' said Lonan.

     'Wotcha, sir. Tough adventure you had,' said Alcatraz. 'I've been looking out for you both . . . Did you catch sight of Pantha and Lucius?'
     Lonan shrugged and shook his head. 'No. Left them in the valley. Haven't seen them since. What's been goin' on here? Everyone safe?'

     'Oh, we're all fine,' said Alcatraz. 'I managed to round up all the colts I was watching before the humans came, and took them over to the pond lying at the furthest part of Gold Holz. The rest of the herd is somewhere deeper in the forest, safe in the shadows.'
     'Good work,' Lonan nodded. 'And the men?'
     'Heading back towards the Fleewood last time I saw.'

     Lonan pinned back his ears in thought. Perhaps the riders were not part of a roundup after all. Still, he felt something bad was on its way. He wasn't the slightest bit sure what, however. Or when. But the feeling buzzed in him, around him. And it was growing.
     'We need to wait for Pantha,' he said. 'I can't move the herd without his order. I'll check on the colts now. Do you mind staying here and keeping a lookout for Pantha?'

     'Not at all.'

     'Thanks,' said Lonan. He flicked his mane and slowly disappeared into the shadows of the forest.

     Alcatraz stood, watching Lonan go, his father's shiny blood-bay coat glistening for a few minutes in the warm sunlight rays that broke through the branches and into the clearing.

 

 Chapter IV: Around the Bend

 

 They came around the corner not knowing what to expect, Milo Mistrack on Sandy, both leaning with skill as they galloped.
     Paul found himself squeezing his gun in anticipation, which his black mount seemed to pick up on, enough to pick up speed.

     They came around the bend, thirteen riders headed by Milo on Sandy.

     Halt.

     Milo stopped them in a cloud of dust.

     They were close to the left valley side, where the ground was a bare patch of sandy soil. Part of the side had crumbled away unbelievably. Where there once had been - twenty, thirty years ago as some could gather - a smooth valley slope, grass and saplings - there lay a cut, a wound, a thing that looked like a wound gouged by the claws of a giant fantastical beast. All earth and stones and dead trees

     'They could be on higher ground now,' came the growling whisper of a stocky man to Milo.

     'Whit?' muttered Milo, face twisted into what looked like an annoyed scowl. He was staring at the landslide with some sort of irritation and confusion in his eyes. He turned to glare at the stocky man, Bill 'the Wrangler', a horse rustler of good reputation in Mill Town.

     Bill glared back at him. 'Indians, Milo, Indians . . . Not here.'

     Milo sniffed. '. . . Yer, they're probably long gone.'

     The riders shifted uncomfortably on their horses, waiting for an order.

     Just as Bill was deciding to take charge, Paul flew off his horse. With gun to shoulder he strode up to the broken piece of valley; some men followed his lead. He struggled up the rocks and crumbling earth, not knowing what intuition was leading him to. But leading him it was.

     Soon a final mound of stones lay in his way. He placed a hand on to top of it, seeking a sturdy hold.

     At that moment, there came there came short, sharp ''click'', and a shaky voice cried out: 'Who's there?'

    Paul scrambled over the stones. He came immediately confronted a slightly quaking gun point, and behind it, the scared white face of a red-headed girl.

     'Jenni!'

 

End of Book II

 

Characters Copyrights Note

• Jenni Adams, Elf, Discovery, Josh Richardson, Paul Adams, Archer, Clovebreeze, Lilacflower and Condor and additional characters belong to Pawface (of

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