A/N: Welcome to my new one-shot for Phantom Stallion, Finale. Now, as you may have guessed from the title, this really isn't a happy one-shot. This is the final meeting between Sam and the Phantom, a plot idea that has been rolling around in my head since I read the last book. I am very disappointed the series is over, but I know that it does continue in Phantom Stallion: Wild Horse Island. But anyway, on with the story.
Disclaimer: This is Terri Farley's. And the quote on the outside is from Romeo and Juliet, which belongs to Shakespeare.
For the Phantom,
there is only one girl.
For Sam,
there is only one horse.
Tagline of the Phantom Stallion series
Finale
Twenty year-old Samantha Forster crept out of the silent house at midnight, hushing Blaze, who merely yawned and went back to sleep. At nine, Blaze was getting up there in years, and his favorite pastime these days was to sleep. But for some reason, Sam did not share the collie's lethargy.
Something had called her out on this particular night. She had slept like a log until she had awakened with a jolt from some dream that had pushed her out of bed and down the stairs, a dream she could no longer remember or identify.
It was a still night, and in five years, the La Charla hadn't changed, still babbling away. The full moon danced upon the silver shadows in the water, and Sam wandered down to the water's edge, staring across to the wild side of the river as she had on numerous nights for the last seven years.
This was her last night in River Bend Ranch, for at twenty, she could no longer live at home. Sam didn't look much different than she had a thirteen; her auburn hair was a little longer and pulled back in a ponytail, and she had filled out with womanly curves, but her spirit was still as free as the horses she loved.
Sam stared at the water and let her mind drift away. She had finished college, and she was going to start her own ranch tomorrow, with her new husband, Jake Ely. Her father had given her a few horses—Ace, of course, and Tempest—to get their horse ranch started. Sam was excited, but there was one part of her life that was still missing.
The Phantom.
Sam hadn't seen the legendary stallion since a night two years ago, when he had appeared the night she left for college. The pure white stallion seemed to have an uncanny knack of knowing when she needed him most. And right now, she needed him.
A low nicker startled Sam, and she looked up in surprise, drawing in a sharp breath as she watched a horse-like silver shape float towards her. Barely daring to believe it, she got to her feet, watching as her horse approached her from the wild side of the river.
At ten, the Phantom was approaching old age for a wild mustang, and Same was surprised the stallion had lived this long without being killed, with all the numerous scrapes they'd escaped from over the years. Even after the stallion's hidden valley was proclaimed theirs, Sam had refused to let her father brand the mustang herd. It would be like imprisoning them, and after seeing the way Dark Sunshine longed for her home, Sam refused to do that to her horse.
The Phantom approached at a steady trot, but every movement betrayed his age. He was still the silver stallion she remembered, but he favored his left hind leg, and he limped slightly. He still stood straight and strong, but his dark eyes had a glazed look to them, as if he was going blind, and his silver muzzle was going gray with age.
Sam slipped into the water, ignoring the cool water as it rushed around her legs, her heart beating painfully in her chest. It seared her soul to see her beloved horse betrayed by his age and exiled from the herd he had led so faithfully because he could no longer keep up. He may not be the king of the mustangs, but Sam would always seem him as the flashing silver mustang leader he was in his prime.
"Hey, Zanzibar," She crooned, holding out her right wrist, offering the horsehair bracelet, woven from his own mane, for him to sniff. The Phantom pranced regally into the water, showing a spark of his youth, and she laughed softly.
"Still playing, buddy?" The stallion snorted in reply, and lipped the bracelet softly, taking in her scent along with it. He rubbed his nose against her shoulder; he had become more tolerant to touch as his body betrayed him.
Flinging her arms around his neck, Sam blinked back tears as she felt him sigh heavily and relax. With a sinking feeling she wanted to deny but couldn't, she knew that it was the last time she would see him.
The final goodbye. And she had to make it count.
"Is this goodbye, Zanzibar?" She asked, choking back the tears that rose in her throat. The stallion snorted, ruffling her hair, and bobbed his head. She had seen him do it too many times to mistake it as anything but agreement.
Letting the tears run down her cheeks, Sam buried her face in his long mane, letting the rough silkiness of it gently wipe her tears away as the wind blew it. The stallion stood still, seeming to understand what was happening, and then, like always, he decided when it should end.
Snorting, he backed up, his hooves connecting with the smooth pebbles of the river bottom and slipping slightly before finding solid ground. His dark eyes connected with her light ones, and a multitude of feeling passed between them.
Lifting a hand, Sam wiped away the tears that hadn't fallen, refusing to let her last few precious seconds with the Phantom be blurred by tears. Backing up so she too was on solid ground, she watched as the Phantom turned away from her.
The silver stallion seemed to glow in the moonlight, and to her slightly blurred gaze, it seemed as if he had grown wings as he reared, his head dark against the bright halo of the moon, and it seemed for a moment as if he would fly.
But then he was back to earth, an old majestic stallion who had made his last journey. He turned back to Sam, and it seemed for a moment as if he was about to speak.
"Goodbye, Zanzibar." Sam whispered it, and the wind whipped it away to pass the stallion's ear, which twitched as it heard the voice of the only human he had ever trusted, a ghost slipping away in the night.
Seeming satisfied that what he had come here to do was done, the stallion turned, and as if gathering up the last of his strength, he began to gallop.
To Sam, it was if the years had fallen away, and it was as if she was watching the stallion gallop away from her after that first meeting, when he was in his prime and the wild king of the Calico Mountains. She watched him well after he was gone, well after the tears had blurred her vision again and fallen, well after she could no longer see the winged stallion from her dreams.
She knew she would never see him again, that he had come to say goodbye.
Years later, even after the River Bend Ranch had changed hands and names, two things remained: one, the small river by the house, whose name remained La Charla, and a small marble stone, a memorial that rested on the banks.
The stone bore a small inscription, and to many, it made no sense.
Blackie.
Zanzibar.
The Phantom.
Known by many names,
Beloved by many,
You loved only one
To the very end.
To those who did understand the inscription, that was all they ever needed.
A/N: Sad, isn't it? I almost started crying myself, but that's because I'm a sap. Anyway, please tell me what you thought by reviewing, and no flames please!