August Story Contest
Ajax's Herd: Chapter 4 chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3
By: Arabluv
Age: 11I gasped as I saw the prettiest foal I ever glimpsed slowly walk into the clearing. He was a dark red bay with a patch over his eye and a cross on his face. Somehow, I knew he was gifted, even before he said, “Alice, it was I who told you of Ajax’s whereabouts!” boldly stated the bay foal.
“I see foal, what is your name” sneered Alice.
“Joe” stated Joe simply. He looked away as Zanzibar tensed and galloped out of his hiding place.
“NO!” I screamed as Beverly swung his rope. I galloped out faster than ever and charged at Beverly, making him miss his aim, looping Joe instead. I galloped to Zanzibar, we touched noses as a brief thank you, then I twirled and snarled, skin twitching.
“Ajax, run.” commanded Zanzibar.
“Wait” I whispered. I charged at Scarlet, and she, always fearing me, galloped away, Beverly was the only cowboy there and he galloped away to catch Scarlet. “Now!”
“Everyone! To the hills!” Ordered Zanzibar.
It was then that the phrase ‘Run for the Hills’ was formed. It was total chaos. “Ajax! Go to the front and lead! I’ll stay in the back!” Screamed Zanzibar. I surged to the front of the herd. “Xavier! To the left! Teardrop! To the right!” Soon, we had a herded clump of panicked horses galloping flat-out to the hills. “Stop!” We all skidded to a stop. “We need a new home. But where? Xavier? Do you know anywhere we can go?”
“Yes I do Zanzibar. Up the mountain a way, almost to the peak, it will be cold, since it is almost winter,” Volenteered Xavier, “The snow on the top of the mountain will be thick, only a mustang knows about it and can go up.”
“Thank you. That’s perfect, we just need to make sure no one else will rat us out.” I stated, looking around at the herd. “Zanzibar? Can I talk to you privately?” I whispered.
“Yes.” Replyed Zanzibar. We walked to the base of the hill and left Teardrop and Xavier to keep the herd there.
“We need to scout out the area, we need to make sure that the foals will be able to live there, if it’s too cold, tonight, I will go to Alice’s and steal about 10 foal blankets and 50 horse blankets.” I whispered, “We also need to make sure no one will go to Alice. We need to make them promise, and meet everyone.”
“I agree with both of those things.” Replyed Zanzibar, “I’ll ask Xavier to herd the herd to a large cave or hidden valley, just tell us where it is so we can move.” We trotted back. “Xavier, we’re going to check out the mountain peak to make sure it’s suitable for foals. Herd them to a large cave or a hidden valley. Do you have a place in mind?”
“Yep, that cave right there.” He pointed to a giant cave with a tiny entrance.
“Perfect!” I shouted. “Let’s go!” I galloped to the path going up the mountain.
A short while later, we reached the top. “It’s cold, too cold for foals. Lets go steal some blankets!” We galloped down and reached the cave. “It’ s too cold for the foals, so we’re gonna steal some blankets tonight, and tomorrow morning, before the sun comes up, we’re going to the peak. My tail is long, we’ll go single file and I’ll use my tail to cover up tracks.”
Next month, the next chapter, ‘The Steal’ will be about Zanzibar, Ajax, Xavier and Teardrop stealing the blankets. They will almost be caught, they have to split up. Find out if they ever come together. ~Arabluv~XOXO