Prologue
The air smelt fresh and clean of the mourning of that fateful day. Hardly a thing stirred. The rabbits were still asleep in their burrows and birds were still asleep in their nests. As the sun began to creep up over the horizon, the forest began to stir with life. A deer began to eat grass with her new fawn and a bird returned to his nest with a worm for his family.
The forest was peaceful and quiet. There was hardly any noise. The only thing that interrupted the quiet stillness of the morning was a girl riding on a big, beautiful white horse. The girl looked like a fairy princess on top of that delicate mare. The girl was looking intently at the ground as her horse moved quietly over the leaves and branches. She looked about 11 or 12 years of age with golden brown hair that shone in the sunlight and a light brown complexion of a person that spent a lot of time in the outdoors.
She and the horse moved as one, softly, slowly, soundlessly. She found what she was looking for and gently got off the horse and lifted her rifle up. The turkey in the bushes walked about, not knowing she was there. The girl took careful aim, she was about to fire when a huge boom and loud rumbles came from the mountain that the coal mine was in. The horse reared and the girl screamed with fright as the ground shook. Then all was very quiet and still again…..