Desert Song (Horse Guardian)

by Angela Dorsey

  DESERT SONG

  by

  Angela Dorsey

  Kindle Edition

  Copyright Angela Dorsey 2011

  www.angeladorsey.com

  Kindle Edition: Licence Notes:

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  Published By:

  Enchanted Pony Books on Kindle

  www.ponybooks.com

  ####

  The sun is hot above me. I cannot see it but I can feel its glory on my skin. Where am I this time? Where have I been sent? I feel her call to me. Aria. She is near.

  The first time I shift to a new place always takes all my energy. I am blind for too long. Weak for too long. I know the Great One is protecting me, keeping me safe from harm, but it is hard to wait to become strong.

  I sense Aria’s fear and long to go to her. Soon. Soon. I must be patient.

  Ah, now my eyesight is returning. And now I can move my fingers. Dry dirt and sand are beneath me. Am I in the desert? Yes. The broad expanse spreads away, sage and sand shimmering in waves of heat. And, to one side, rugged red bluffs climb to the azure sky: foothills and canyons with arid mountains behind.

  Where is Aria? I cannot see her, but I sense her near. Soon I will be at her side.

  Sophie put down the book she was pretending to read when her foster parents walked into her hospital room. They had been talking to the doctor in the hallway and, though Sophie tried hard to hear what they said, she hadn’t heard anything more than differently-pitched murmurs.

  “Hey there, Sport,” said Joel, Sophie’s foster dad. “How’re you feeling?”

  “Okay,” said Sophie, though really she wasn’t. Her arm throbbed and the rest of her muscles were becoming sorer and sorer as the hours passed. The doctor had given her pills to help with the pain, but they weren’t working yet.

  “You want to sign my cast?” Sophie tried to sound cheerful as she held her right arm out toward her foster dad. She hoped he wouldn’t notice her eyes flinch in pain or the expression on her face tighten.

  “I’ll hold it steady,” offered Kalene, Sophie’s foster mom. She sat on the chair beside Sophie, put her hands under the cast and held it firmly.

  “You don’t have to,” said Sophie. “I can do it.”

  “I know you can,” said Kalene. “But I want to. It’s my favourite thing to do in the whole world: hold my daughter’s cast.”

  Sophie couldn’t stop flinching this time, but the pain she felt wasn’t physical pain. It was an ache in her heart. Kalene had called Sophie her daughter, again. She had done it a few times over the last two months, and every time she did, Sophie was reminded that she wasn’t really their daughter. She was just a foster kid. Someone that no one wanted for a daughter. The government paid Joel and Kalene to feed and clothe and take care of her, and Sophie knew that one day Child Services would come along for no reason at all, and tell her it was time for a new foster home. She knew because it had already happened too many times.

  But this time I wish it were different, thought Sophie. I never loved living in the other places like I love living with Kalene and Joel. I’ve never felt so much like I was home.

  “It does hurt, doesn’t it, Sport?” asked Joel, when he noticed the sadness in Sophie’s large gray-blue eyes. “I wish I could take the hurt away.”

  “I’m okay, really,” said Sophie, trying to make her voice sound tougher than normal. She lowered her cast. Kalene and Joel will really want to get rid of me if they think I’m a wimp, she thought. The last thing they want is a pouting, whining baby for a foster kid. “It doesn’t hurt that much,” she added in a brusque voice.

  Joel and Kalene glanced at each other and then Kalene looked back at Sophie. “The doctor wants you to stay in the hospital, Sophie,” she said. “He thinks you’re fine, but he wants to keep an eye on you overnight, just in case there are problems.”

  “What problems? I feel fine. I can’t stay here. Really I can’t,” said Sophie. She knew her voice sounded too panicky and forced herself to sound calmer. The next words were more controlled, but still urgent. “I have to go home tonight. I have to.”

  “It’ll only be for one night,” said Joel. “We’ll be here early tomorrow morning to take you home.”

  “But what about Twixie?” asked Sophie, suddenly thinking of Joel and Kalene’s big black and tan mixed-breed dog. “She’ll miss me. I play with her every night. She’ll think I’m neglecting her!”

  Joel laughed. “Trust you to think of the dog’s feelings above your own health, Sophie,” he said. “Believe me, we’ll all miss you. But we’d rather have you here in the hospital just for the one night.”

  “Twixie will survive,” added Kalene. She smiled at Sophie but her voice was firm. “It’s important that you stay.”

  “But…” Sophie started again, but then she fell silent. The familiar breathless feeling of being unable to speak swarmed over her, just as it had countless times when she was younger. Just as it had even a few months ago, before she had started to feel comfortable around Joel and Kalene. She tried to force her uncooperative mouth and tongue to form words but couldn’t do it.

  “Sophie, you were hit by a car,” Kalene said kindly. “The doctor thinks there’s nothing more than the broken arm, but he, and we too, don’t want to take any chances. You are black and blue and you’re scraped up. Just in case the doctor missed something, we want the nurses to check on you during the night to make sure you’re okay.”

  “But you can check on me at home,” said Sophie, finally finding her voice, even though it sounded small and hopeless.

  “Yes, but we’re not professionals,” said Kalene. “We won’t be able to tell if there is something else wrong until you’re very sick. Now there’s no point in arguing. You have to stay.”

  Sophie didn’t reply. How could she tell them that she had to get home to take care of Aria? How could she tell them that the Arabian mare they thought was stolen months ago, was hungrily waiting for her in a hidden corral deep inside one of the willow-choked canyons? Sophie pictured the beautiful gray mare stomping her hooves and watching the trail to the corral, impatient for Sophie to come with her hay and grain. She would wait until long after dark. When Sophie didn’t –come – couldn’t come – Aria would be frightened. She would feel abandoned.

  More than anything, Sophie couldn’t stand the thought of Aria feeling abandoned. She knew how awful it was to wait for someone to return, to wait and wait and wait for days. To believe that any second they were going to come back because you knew they loved you and would never leave you. Not really leave you. To convince yourself that they went out to buy some bread, because you were so hungry. She knew what it was like to promise yourself and God and the angels you hoped were watching – but most of all your mom who wasn’t there anymore – that you would be good if she just came home. You wouldn’t make noise and you wouldn’t cry and you wouldn’t ask for ice cream, let alone bread. Sophie knew what it was like to wait, believing that the next second her mom would open the door, that she would walk into the room and smile and say everything was going to be different now. And then to have her never come. The thought of Aria alone with fear like that, even for one night, was too terrible to contemplate. “But…” Sophie tried one more time, brushing her long, brown hair away from her face.

  “No more ‘buts’,” said Joel and Kalene together, their voices firm, and Sophie knew there was no point in arguing anymore. She had no choice. Aria would have to wait.


  When darkness fell, the mountain lion crept from the shallow den he’d found in the rocks. He raised his head high and sniffed the air. When he couldn’t smell the hunters he leapt from one boulder to the next, smoothly and steadily climbing to the top of the precipice. His paws slipped once on the rocks and dry pebbles bounced and tumbled downward, their rattle echoing off the canyon walls. The big cat didn’t stop to look down. He surged to the top of the bluff.

  The lion stared in all directions, stopping to sniff for foreign smells. The hunters weren’t there. Could he have lost them? They had tracked him for days, the hunters and their dogs. In trying to escape, the mountain lion had traveled far from his home. Then a thunderstorm had hit the mountains and they began to close in on him.

  Rather than holing up and waiting for the storm to pass, the lion sensed that this was his chance to escape. He ran through the storm, terrified of the lightning and thunder that crashed and boomed around him.

  Now, for the first time in days, the lion felt safe. He could kill freely again. Not that he was hungry. The lion had killed a young calf the day before and eaten a portion of his prey before the dogs came too close. But he wanted to kill again. He needed to kill again. He yearned to see the death-horror in his victim’s eyes and longed to feel warm blood soaking his paws. He purred softly to himself remembering his last victim and the satisfaction he’d felt when the calf’s bawl faded to silence.

  The lion stiffened. He smelled something very near. It was the same smell as another of his recent kills: a horse owned by hunters. It was a large, dark brown animal with flowing black mane and tail. He killed it quickly one night while the hunters slept, before they could wake and stop him. Then the lion had skulked away unharmed into the night, leaving behind shouts of rage.

  Like dark ooze, the mountain lion slipped along the ridge top, silent and deadly. Within a few minutes he was looking down at a single gray horse, trapped in a canyon. The mountain lion dropped into a crouch and slunk toward the horse.

  All his senses were in tune. He heard the mare’s impatient step as she paced the enclosure. He saw the moon on her gleaming side. He smelled her frustration.

  Suddenly the gray mare sensed him. Her huge frightened eyes stared into the shadows that held him. The lion didn’t slow. He knew she was trapped. The mare’s fear washed over him, making him growl with pleasure. Her terror only made him more eager for the kill.

  Where is she? I can feel her before me, but this looks like another canyon choked with willow bushes. Could Aria be trapped inside?

  Wait! A narrow trail cuts through the willows. There are deer tracks but no horse hoof prints. Yet the trail looks worn as if more than deer have used it often. I will follow.

  The trail dead-ends in a fence of willow branches woven tightly together. It is ingeniously built and very effective. Aria would not be able to get through, yet to humans who may chance this way, the fence and gate look like thickly matted willow, nothing more. Here is a small hole in the bottom of the woven twig gate. No horse could fit through, but a person could. A small adult. Or a child.

  Aria. There you are! My beautiful Aria, glowing silver like the moon, your coat as soft as downy feathers. Why are you here? Who penned you in this forgotten canyon and then left you here, hungry and alone? And why?

  You are so frightened. I can sense what you fear as well. There is a terrible danger here, though I cannot tell yet what form it takes.

  Do not worry, my beautiful one. I will stay with you. I will keep you safe.

  The cat saw it. He stopped abruptly and lowered his belly to the ground. His quiet growl turned vicious as he watched the Bright Creature move to stand beside the mare. For a moment, he wondered if he could bring it down. He knew the mare would offer little assistance, if any, to the creature. But then the Bright Creature turned toward him, its eyes searching the shadows.

  Slowly, the mountain lion backed away. He could tell the Bright Creature was not human, though it took a human form. Its voice, speaking softly to the mare, made the cat cringe and the gentle light around it terrified him beyond anything he had ever seen before. Pain pulsed through his dark heart as he looked at it, yet he was afraid to pull his eyes away. He fought his desire to whimper, forced himself to creep slowly backward, farther and farther from the Bright Creature.

  Finally, he was far enough away. Like a ghost, he turned and disappeared.

  Safely out of sight beyond the ridge top, the big cat broke into a silent run. Within minutes he was more than a mile away. At last, he stopped and shook his head, trying to remove the image of the Bright Creature from his mind.

  Filled with sudden rage, he sent a piercing scream into the quiet night. He glared back the way he had come with narrowed eyes and growled, a low sound full of hatred, then slunk away, searching for an easier victim.

  Sophie’s sleep was interrupted all night. Every few hours the nurse came into her room and took her blood pressure, listened to her heart and read her temperature. Sophie had never felt so cared for – or so irritated. It was hard enough to fall asleep when her entire body felt like wild horses had trampled her. Her arm throbbed and her right side, bruised and battered from the car’s impact, ached terribly. She found some relief lying on her left side, although it too, was covered in bruises and scrapes from when she had struck the road after bouncing off the hood of the car. Sophie shifted and turned painfully trying to get comfortable. Finally, she accepted there was no position she could lie in that didn’t hurt. She lay on her back, stared up at the ceiling and forced her mind away from her discomfort.

  But without her pain to focus on, thoughts of Aria in danger popped into her mind. What if there is a brush fire in the canyon and Aria is trapped inside the willow fence? What if she escapes and steps into a hole as she gallops away and falls and breaks a leg? What if she gets lost and just disappears into the desert and I never see her again? Or what if she tries to squeeze through the crevice and gets stuck?

  But Sophie kept coming back to the worst thought, the one that was most likely to happen. What if Aria starts to have her foal and there are complications? Sophie knew the Arabian mare had never foaled before. What if the foal or even Aria died? Sophie would never forgive herself if that happened. More than anything, she wished Aria could be safe in her stable at home, with the veterinarian just a phone call away. But that was impossible. Kalene and Joel could never know of the foal’s existence. Never.

  Finally, Sophie drifted into a light, restless sleep. Visions of gray Arabian mares trotted through her dreams; some called to her for help, some neighed in greeting, and some whinnied in pain and confusion. All of them wanted her to come. All were impatiently waiting for her, needing her.

  At 6:30 a.m., the nurse came into the room again. She smiled at Sophie with an overly cheerful smile. “And how are you today?” she asked brightly.

  Sophie groaned and pulled the blanket over her head.

  The nurse chattered on as if Sophie had answered, pulled the covers back, took her vital signs again, then told her the doctor would be in soon.

  “Are my foster parents here yet?” Sophie asked the nurse.

  “Not yet, dear,” said the nurse. “Visiting hours aren’t until eight o’clock.”

  “But they’re not coming to visit. They’re taking me home today,” insisted Sophie, suddenly frightened she might have to stay another day. I better start acting healthier. And be more cheerful, she decided and sat up in the bed.

  “I feel fine. See?” she said to the nurse. Sophie slid off the edge of the bed. She gasped in pain when her feet hit the floor. Every muscle in her body was protesting. “See? I feel great,” she said in an unconvincing voice.

  “Now you get back into bed,” ordered the nurse. “The doctor will be here soon and he’s the one you need to impress. There’s no point in putting on an act for me.”

  Slowly, Sophie climbed back in. “I’m just stiff and sore, that’s all,” she said to the nurse.

  The nurse smiled at her aga
in. “I know,” she said, then added “Would you like some more painkillers?”

  “Yes, please,” said Sophie.

  About 20 minutes after Sophie had swallowed the pills she began to feel better. Then her breakfast came and she spent the next hour pushing the mushy oatmeal around her bowl and staring out the window. The day looked bright and hot, even though it was still early morning. Thank goodness Aria has water, thought Sophie. Otherwise I would have to tell Kalene and Joel about her. She would die without water in this heat.

  When the doctor finally came, he took only a few seconds to examine Sophie’s chart. Then he asked her how she felt.

  “Fine,” said Sophie quickly. “I feel fine. Just a little sore is all.”

  “You can go home with your parents when they get here,” the doctor said. “I’ll ask the nurse to tell them you need to come and see me next week so I can have another look at that arm, okay?”

  “Okay,” agreed Sophie. She didn’t mind going to visit the doctor. She just didn’t want to stay in the hospital.

  “And you take it easy for a few days. Lie around and watch lots of videos,” commanded the doctor. “No school for the rest of the week, either.”

  Sophie smiled for the first time. “Really? Awesome!”

  “What’s so awesome?” Kalene walked through the doorway, Joel right behind her. As the doctor discussed Sophie’s condition with them, Sophie slipped from beneath her covers and grabbed her clothes from the locker beside the bed. She carried them with one hand as she stepped painfully toward the bathroom.

  “Wait, Sophie,” said Kalene. “Here are some clean clothes.” She took Sophie’s ripped and dirty ones from her and handed her a duffle bag. Within a couple of minutes, Sophie was almost dressed. The hardest thing to put on was her shirt. She was glad Kalene had packed her biggest, baggiest T-shirt in the duffle bag but even so, she had trouble fitting her cast through the sleeve. When she came out of the bathroom, the doctor was gone. Kalene and Joel were sitting on chairs beside her bed, waiting for her.