by Westerngirl, age 14

The sounds of nickers, screeches, and screaming filled the air. It was unbearable. I tried to get them to run but they wouldn’t. Horses were loyal and they would never leave another member of the herd in trouble. Then I saw him. The horse that I loved. The horse that I had a special bond with. The horse that was mine. His white coat with brown spots was sweating. And now he was being captured. Being tied up for no reason. Heading towards certain death.

I couldn’t let that happen to her. I threw rocks at the men in desperation. They just flinched and gave me dirty looks. I ran over and grabbed and man who had a tranquilizer gun.

“Leave him alone!” I screamed. I ripped the gun from his hand and threw it hard against a boulder. I heard a crack.

“You little—” he went on swearing at me.

I tried to get the guys away from him. When I pulled the rope out of a guy’s hand another guy grabbed me from behind and pulled me away. I elbowed him and ran towards the horses in a pen getting ready to be loaded up. No one was watching them so I opened the gate and let them out. Some ran for their lives, but others were scared and held back. I took out a carrot and encouraged them to come out of the pen. As soon as there was enough room for me to get behind them I took out my whip and hit them with it just enough to get them running away. I always carried my whip with me. Not to use it on them but for protection. Just in case one of them got a little mean.

I shut the gate, but the metal collided and made a loud bang. I turned around to see half the men running at me and the other half loading up my beautiful stallion, Freedom. His name is what he’s supposed to have. And what was sad was that I knew where he was going. He was being led to his death… Unless of course I had something to say about it.

* * * * * * * * * *

I traveled and crept through the twilight with only a flashlight for me to follow. I was around 8:00 pm. The darkness of the night didn’t fall until later because it was summer. My parents were already asleep and I had sneaked out. But it was for a good reason — it was to save a life.

Eventually I saw what I was looking for; a dim light in the shape of a square came from a small building window. I went up to it. I didn’t see anything, but I heard men talking, the sound of the TV and the clicking of bottles. I went quietly around to the back. It was very eerie. The horses looked black and mystical. They were just watching me. It was like they gave up. A door squeaked open and two men came out from the barn. It was hard to imagine what it looked like inside. I hid behind some hay bales. The two men started talking.

“Everything’s ready. When do you want to do it?” one of them said.

“Let’s go inside first,” the other one said.

“Hey, did you see the coat on that crazy stallion? Can’t wait to get my hands on that.” They continued and soon their voices faded away.

They were talking about Freedom. I stood up from behind the hay. I had to move fast. The men could come back out any minute. I got to the first pen and opened the gate. There were only two inside. One of them was about three years old, I guessed. He was first to get out of the pen. Up close I recognized him from Freedom’s herd. There were no more horses in the outside pens. The other horse was from Freedom’s herd, too. There were only two herds that lived in this part of Wyoming. I called the second group the Lemur herd. Not as in the primate, but as in ghost. In Latin that’s what it means. I called them that because they are usually never seen and they sometimes appear out of nowhere. There were only about seven in that herd now. Back a while ago there used to be hundreds of wild horses, but now with hunters and civilization growing their numbers are dropping.

I gently pushed the older horse out of the pen. They both didn’t go anywhere. My plan was to get them to follow Freedom. After all, he was there leader. It was about three miles back to their territory. They wouldn’t know where to go, so I’d have to ride Freedom, a horse that has never even seen a bridal. He could bolt or buck and the horses could go in different directions. It was dangerous and crazy, but it just might work.

It was time for me to go in the barn. That was the only other place Freedom could be. At the door I looked back. The horses were still there. I faced the door again and took a deep breath. The door creaked and groaned as I opened it and stepped inside. It felt like a haunted house. I kept waiting for something scary to jump out at me. But this whole place was scary. I didn’t get how people could do such a thing to a beautiful animal that didn’t want to hurt them.

I couldn’t see a thing. It was pitch black outside. I tried to shake off the feeling that someone was watching me. Then I realized someone was. And it was right in front of me. I saw the icy blue eyes that were filled with panic and anger, but could also be filled with mischief and love. It was Freedom.

“Oh boy… are you okay?” I said, petting him. He nickered softly. “Don’t worry — I’m gonna get you outta here,” I said.

I looked, or felt, around. I found a candle and matches. I struck a match and lit the candle. There were two pens, all rusty and dirty. There were lots of cabinets, a sink and a few tables. The pen Freedom was in was locked. I took a stone and tried to break the lock, but it wouldn’t budge. Frantic, I looked around. I saw a hammer and was just about to reach for it when the door opened. It was the two men, also with another guy.

“Well, well, well. What do you think you’re doing?” one of them said.

I didn’t know what to say.

“Cat got your tongue?” another said, and took a step towards me.

Behind me, Freedom screeched and reared, causing me to drop the candle right on a pile of hay. The fire was like dominos — it kept touching the next pile, and the next… soon the barn was nearly engulfed with flames.

The men ran. I heard engines start and trucks drive away. We had to get out of there.

I grabbed the hammer and swung as hard as I could. On the second try the lock broke. Freedom was panicking. I tried to calm him down. I kept coughing from the smoke. I grabbed his mane and with all my force pulled myself up on the huge mustang. “Come on boy, let’s get outta here,” I whispered. “GO!” I shouted, kicking him.

Freedom headed towards the door. We galloped out just as the barn collapsed. I whistled to the other two horses. Soon we were racing back to freedom.