Spring of the Poacher's Moon

by Angela Dorsey

  Chapter 7

  I was halfway across the meadow when Rusty’s thoughts popped into my head.

  What is wrong?

  I hate to admit it, but I’d forgotten about him. Twilight in danger.

  I help too.

  I turned back to the barn without bothering to answer, running as hard as I could. Twilight’s panic was almost silent now, which meant she was swiftly being taken further from us. Soon she’d be out of range and then how would we find her?

  I threw open Rusty’s stall door. He trotted into the barn aisle and waited for me to jump on his back. I wasn’t about to waste time with his saddle and bridle, so I leaped aboard.

  Movement caught my eye. The moose calf was awake and staring at me. “Be back soon, Thumper,” I said, the name coming from nowhere. Then I leaned forward on Rusty’s back, clutched his long black mane, and we were off.

  Though I couldn’t hear Twilight anymore, I told Rusty to run in the direction I’d last heard her, then clung to his back with all my strength as he raced across the meadow. In the woods, staying aboard became infinitely harder. Branches ripped and tore at my hair, tree trunks flashed past just inches from my knees. I would have been swept off by low branches a million times if I hadn’t been pressing flat to Rusty’s back. Eventually, I had to ask him to slow down, despite the fact that Twilight was still too far ahead of us to hear. I just couldn’t hold on any longer at that speed.

  Rusty switched to a steady gallop and we travelled in the same direction for ten minutes without another peep from Twilight. Had they changed direction? Were we running farther away from her rather than closer?

  And then I sensed her. Still terribly afraid. Still fighting the rope as she was dragged along.

  We are coming, I told her and I felt her grow calmer, felt her stop fighting so much – and as a result, the capturing horse and rider moved her faster.

  Slowly, so slowly, we gained on them, mile after mile. And finally I saw her golden rump moving through the trees ahead of us. And right in front of her a fire red horse. A stooped rider. Charlie. Just as I’d guessed.

  “Hey!” I yelled, all my frustration and anger raging through that single word.

  He stopped his horse and looked back. His eyes narrowed as we approached.

  “You can’t take her! She’s mine,” I yelled. Rusty slid to a stop beside Twilight, and the filly immediately cuddled up against him, shivering, her eyes wide and glassy. White rimmed.

  Charlie looked down at Rusty, but didn’t seem the least bit impressed that we’d caught up to him or that Rusty wasn’t wearing any tack. “The filly belongs with her herd. You know that.”

  I clenched my jaw so hard, it hurt. This guy thought he knew everything when really he had no clue about anything. “She belongs with me and Rusty. It was her choice to stay with us. We didn’t force her.”

  He shook his head dismissively, then asked his horse to walk on.

  STOP!

  The gelding catapulted into the air, wild eyed and snorting. He landed with all four legs spread apart and stiff, and then froze, not knowing which way to run. Charlie instantly put his hand on the gelding’s neck and spoke to calm to him.

  Okay, so I shouldn’t have mind-shouted at the poor horse. This wasn’t his fault. He was just doing what he was told.

  Twilight gave the equivalent of a horsey mind-giggle, then she pulled back on her rope again. Thankfully, the noose had a safety on it so that it couldn’t tighten enough to seriously hurt her.

  Stop fighting the rope, Twilight. I will talk to him.

  The filly stepped forward, breathing heavily. The rope around her neck loosened.

  “She chose to stay with us and I can prove it,” I said. “And if you’re really the Wild Horse Ranger, you’ll let her go when you see she wants to live with us.”

  Charlie was still talking to his scared horse. I waited for him to respond, my anger slowly dissipating in the face of his horse’s fear. I still felt terrible about scaring the poor thing. Can you imagine a strange language screaming suddenly through your head? The most stable of us would freak out and this big guy was no exception.

  Finally, Charlie looked up at me. “So prove it,” he said.

  “You have to take the rope off her first.”

  Charlie shook his head, his eyes locked on mine.

  “But how can I prove anything if she can’t show you she wants to be with us?”

  He shrugged, not caring in the least, and looked off toward the distant hills. “How long is this going to take?”

  “Not long if you don’t give me a chance to prove anything,” I answered. “At least drop her rope.”

  Again he shook his head – but this time he gave Twilight some slack. Instantly, she darted to the farthest length of her tether.

  “See? She doesn’t like people,” Charlie said as smug as can be.

  “She likes me,” I said and slid from Rusty’s bare back. “I’ll show you.” I faced Twilight.

  You want to escape?

  Yes!

  Do exactly – EXACTLY – what I tell you to do.

  Okay. This was not said as grudgingly as usual. She’d do what I asked this time.

  Come closer to the man. The rope will loosen.

  Twilight hesitated for a moment, then stepped toward Charlie. The rope around her neck slackened.

  Put your ears flat against your head… Now put your head down… Now shake your head!

  The lasso slid neatly over her ears and landed on the ground.

  “Hey,” said Charlie.

  Run in a big circle, I thought to Twilight, completely ignoring him. When you come back to me, give me a kiss.

  My filly looked at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes, then spun away. She raced away through the trees, kicking and bucking. I crossed my fingers as her bum became smaller and even disappeared a time or two behind tree trunks and bushes.

  “Looks like she’s going back to her herd on her own,” said Charlie, his voice swelling with satisfaction.

  “We’ll see,” I said, hoping Twilight wouldn’t feel tempted to hang out in the woods for a while, exploring and goofing off, her two favourite activities. If she didn’t do what I asked her, Charlie was never going to be convinced. Of course I knew she’d come home eventually, but if Charlie didn’t see her return of her own free will, how could I blame him for not believing Twilight had chosen us?

  Twilight!

  Do not worry.

  I crossed my arms. Waited. Her running sounds became louder. Twilight sprinted toward us in a full run and came to a sliding stop right in front of me. She was breathing heavily as she leaned out and wiggled her lips against my neck. It tickled. I giggled. She did it again. I stepped forward and hugged her to stop her from tickling me. Then we both looked up at Charlie.

  His mouth was open in astonishment. “How did you do that?” When he finished speaking, his mouth continued to hang open.

  “Do what?” I asked, thinking he must mean some aspect of Twilight’s training. Twilight’s training – ha ha!

  “Get her to trust you like that? How did you get her to leave her herd?”

  “I… I don’t know. I just talked to her, that’s all,” I said, stating the plain and simple truth. I’d had enough of Rusty being disappointed in me.

  “It has to be more than that.”

  I just shrugged. What he thought really didn’t matter to me, as long as he believed it was Twilight’s own choice to live with us. “So now you believe she chose us?” I put my arm over Twilight’s back and we both stared at him.

  “Yeah,” he said, nodding his head.

  I didn’t bother hanging around for an apology, especially since the chances of getting one were slim to none. Charlie had done what he thought was right, just like I would’ve done if I’d been responsible for the wild horses. I was just relieved that now he believed Twilight had chosen us. And now I guessed he’d been telling me the truth too – he really was the Wild Horse Ranger. Otherwise, he’d
still be trying to get Twilight away from me. So my conclusion about Charlie? He might be a grumpy guy, but he wasn’t a bad one.

  I jumped onto Rusty’s back. Time to get home. Thumper had waited long enough.

  “Hold on!”

  I asked Rusty to stop. Since he wasn’t wearing a bridle and he was anxious to start the miles back home, I was lucky he did. He turned to face Charlie, and threw his ears back. This guy should go away.

  I agree, I replied. Be patient. Do not bite him or his horse.

  Charlie rode toward us on his magnificent gelding. “She would’ve come back to you, even if I’d taken her the rest of the way to her herd. Why didn’t you just wait for her to come back? Why’d you ride after us?”

  Whew, an easy question. “You scared her. She didn’t want to go with you and she trusts me to help her.”

  He looked at me thoughtfully. I was about to ask Rusty to go when the second question came flying at me. “You weren’t there when I caught her. How did you know she was scared?”

  I clamped my mouth shut.

  “How did you know I’d even caught her?” he asked, sounding even more suspicious.

  I could have told him that I’d been there, hiding and watching. I could have lied and incurred Rusty’s displeasure – but even if I did, Charlie wouldn’t believe me. The reason? The lie wouldn’t make sense. If I’d been there when he first roped Twilight, why hadn’t I stopped him then? Why’d I have to chase him halfway across the country to catch up to them? Obviously, I’d been far away when it happened. But I couldn’t tell him the truth either. So I’d tell him nothing.

  “We have to get home,” I said and signalled Rusty to spin around. Faced toward home, he plunged forward. Twilight surged into a gallop beside us. A few strides on, we passed through an open spot in the trees and I glanced back. Charlie was watching us gallop away, a bemused expression on his face. Beside us, Twilight gave one last kick in defiance, then dropped behind Rusty and followed us back into the forest.

  I felt Charlie’s thoughts on us for a while, by way of his horse. Charlie’s horse was picking up on his owner’s feelings. He listened to Charlie’s voice which brusque and preoccupied. When the man patted his shoulder, the caress was distracted. Charlie Black was thinking of us – Twilight, Rusty, and me – and that gave me the chills.

  If he decided to investigate, would he discover my gift, my life-long secret? I didn’t think there was a way he could prove that I was different – but if he could, what would he do? What would I do?

  All I knew for sure was this: if he realized I could talk to horses, and if he told Mom and Kestrel, it would change how they thought of me. It would make them treat me differently.

  The situation was simple; I couldn’t let him find out. I had to avoid him as much as I had to avoid those crazed, ignorant poachers, or maybe more.