Excerpt
A black shadow of a horse stepped to the edge of the fence, but it was not hers. She whistled again. The same horse moved closer and stood patiently in front of her, staring with dark worried eyes. She quietly unlocked the back gate to take a closer look. He nuzzled her hand and she eyed him with awe. Shortstop now had four white socks and multiple splashes of white on his forehead, chest and hindquarters. A white trailing thunderbolt ran down his nose and veered playfully off to one side.
She slipped the bridle over his head and whispered in his ear, Good disguise, ol buddysomeday you can tell me about it. She laid the saddle over his back and tightened the girth. That effort alone was exhausting and she rested her fevered head against him to catch her breath.
As she led him through the gate, there came a shout from the far road and a spotlight blazed in her direction startling them. She was temporarily blinded from its brilliance and threw the gate open wide, pulling herself onto Shortstop, swinging her reins and shouting in defense.
Two more lights blinded her vision, but she no longer needed to see. The field full of retirement horses spilled from the paddock behind them like a tidal wave set loose, crashing through the gate in torrents, their eyes wide with fear and excitement. And in that cloud of dust and choking dirt, thundered in the direction of the troopers cars in a final magnificent explosion of fury and thick smoky yellow fog. She was lost among the churning hooves, and the sudden stampede for freedom. Knowing the bit was useless, she put her head down and held on for her life understanding that confusion would be the tool that saved her.
Officers ran for cover as the mass of old horses breathed the fresh air of freedom and were exhilarated by the memory of their youth. Horses, who had only moments before, limped stiffly in the field, shed their physical limitations with the new onset of adrenalin that surged through their system and the promise of open, virgin pasture.
Get the woman! Tate yelled from the patrol car as he shut the door and put his head down unable to see through the earthen smoke and hot yellow lights that rolled his way in the madness.
Mary held on with all her might as the brazen herd of horses furiously stampeded past the patrol cars. The horses split, and half galloped past the side of the barn, and the others across the paved road to an empty ruin of late summers cornfield. She peeled her horse away from the group. Using the leather crack of her rein to hasten their exit, she headed through the barren field and into a strip of woods that paralleled a group of smaller private homes.
Elva and Harold heard the commotion and ran out screaming and waving their arms at the officers. They knew their antics would help fan the herd and create a little more excitement. Elva ranted at the officers and threatened a lawsuit that they would pay dearly for, but she knew her old horses wouldnt go far.
Tates men scattered across the entire area in small search parties, but couldnt find a trace of the woman. There were too many hoof marks in the dirt to determine any given direction at night.
When it was done, Elva calmly called the horses back with a clanking of grain buckets and the pleasant routine of food. The huge draft horse lifted his head in interest, his eyes bright with determination, and he slowly led the way back to the paddock, his constituents close behind. One by one each drifted into the safety of their familiar paddock. The offered bribe of an extra feeding held more allure than the memory of their youth and life in the wild. Slowly their demeanor returned to the aged and rigid state of their true years, as if the euphoria of their aphrodisiac had failed them. Elva accounted for them all and put a padlock on the back gate.
Mary kept Shortstop in a lope through the housing developments. They hid in back of a garage while cars passed by, cut across into small groups of trees where she stayed until all was quiet again and she could resume her flight. She rode through backyards and even deflected a basketball lost by a young boy shooting hoops in the light of his driveway. The boy watched in awe and surprise while she rode by. Mary smiled and winked putting her finger up to her lips in a motion of silence.
She finally came out behind the local WaWa to catch her breath and let Shortstop take a rest. She was feeling worse by the minute. A weakness seemed to penetrate her bones and her lower leg was hard and heavy. She breathed through her mouth and hoped she wouldnt faint. Police cars slowly rolled by her on the roads, splashing a wave of lights along the woods line that cast shadows across the ground.
Jacks house was only a few hours by horseback. But to accomplish that, she would have to cross more built up areas with residential housing developments, cut through the high school complex and cross the a small wildlife management area to enter the Semi Wild grounds. She couldnt take another night of being pursued. She wanted this to end.
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