Ghost Horse-Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron

Chapter 21-Racing the Wind

Spirit and Rain stood on the High Hill, bowing their heads in remembrance of their daughter. The whole herd had gathered at the foot of the grassy slope, Desert laying silently in front of them. Eagle and Jigsaw stood next to each other at the front of the crowd, trying their best not to cry. Words were said about her, she was courageous, kind and sweet. That the past leaders had taken her too soon. At the end of the ceremony horses came up to their herd leaders and murmured reassurance, gracefully bowing their head to Desert. Everyone had left, gone off into their usual groups to do their usual duties. Not Eagle. Of course, not Eagle. He walked calmly towards his beloved mate and lay beside her, staring at her delicate face, hoping for something to happen, a twitch of the ear, a flare of a nostril, blink of an eye. Nothing. The white stallion sighed and nuzzled her for the last time lovingly.

"I'll help you take her down to the river." He whispered, standing up. The plan was to haul Desert onto two stallions backs and take her down to the river a little while off from the herd. It was a quite sera that floated off downstream, at some point joining the sea. Cliffs surrounded the area, creating a private location for them to set her body into the water and send it off down to the sea. Rain nodded and flicked her head at a few other horses, motioning for them to help get the mare onto Spirit and Eagle's back.

"I'm coming too!" Jigsaw called, cantering over just as they were about to set off. She took her place beside Eagle, fearing that if she glanced at the body she would break down into sobs, and no one needed that right now. The herd watched them leave, all four of them. Well, five. The sparser patches of grass grew thicker as they went on, the sun dragging itself painfully slowly across the sky. After about two hours of walking, the band of horses stopped and gently slid Desert onto the ground
next to the water. Each one touched their muzzle to the crook of her neck, saddened by her absence of spirit before standing back as the sky began to darken. The horses said their final goodbyes, waiting for a moment to breathe.

~~~

Back at the herd, the mood didn't change for days. Weeks. Months. The burden of Desert's death stumped everyone's happiness. No one had a spring in their step, a spark in their eye... All was dull. Since then, Echo had grown taller, stronger. He was almost the size of Rain and definitely had his father's build. Seeing as he was too young to take over the herd, the growing stallion was in charge of patrols and searches. But he had also grown colder. He had taken the death of his sister to heart and refused to be cheered up. The one thing that would make him happy, make the whole herd happy, was nearly impossible. Nearly.