It didn't look very far, I think. My brown feathers rustle softly in the hot wind.
"It doesn't look very far," whispers Babs beside me.
And I see no dogs loose in the terrain, so it is possible that...
"...we might just make it!" peeps my friend, patting her feathered hands together.
I turn and place a firm wing around her beak. "Hush now, Babs!" I warn. "We cant be seen or heard, or we'll never get out of here."
The tan-colored chicken nods, mumbling under my grasp. I let her go and she apologizes. Turning back to the open, barren landscape, I spot a hiding place; bushes! "come on!" I say quickly, snatching her wing in mine. We run out from behind the broken wagon and shuffle the dusty roads with our large feet. As we near the other side of the road, I hear Babs calling my name.
"Ginger, Ginger!" she cries. "I can't run as fast as you, you know!"
I sigh and turn around, running back for her, flapping my fightless wings to gain speed.
My dumb gray horse is a slow sickly beast; it plodes through the earth as slow as hell. I've been hunting for deer for awhile, but all I've came across are armidilo and skunks- they fetch a high price, but i'm lookin' for food I can cook on the spot- like goat, or boar, or-...
What's that...?
I pull my horse into a stop from its lazy walk and take out my springfield rifle. Putting my eye to it, I see two chickens; a brown one, and a fat tan one.
"Looks like its my lucky day." I say with a crooked grin. I pat dumb horse on it's side, then aim for the fat hen, and fire.
Babs vanishes right before my eyes; I squack out in terror and throw myself away from the dusty air. In the sky, I see Babs' feathers falling to the earth, but no Babs. I follow the feathers to the ground, and it is then I notice the mass of blood and the ruined bits and pieces of my beloved friend. But maybe she is still there...
"Babs...?" I say quietly. A feather lands on my beak, coated in her blood. I scream.
I aim my gun again for the smaller hen, and fire once, catching the chicken right in it's screamin' head- which blows off and lands about thirty feet away, I'm guessing. It wont make much of a meal, but it will do...
I dismount and walk towards the two corpeses, tilting my hat towards the bloodied ground so the sun wont blind me. Then I hear a short bark somewhere close. Looking up over my shoulder, I see a hungry-looking orange fox with a light-colored belly. It sure would make a nice pelt...
When I saw thah human, I nearly had a panick attack! I was following the scent of blo'd- that's all! I di'n't expect someone to be waitin' for me, but he shouldn't be such a bother. He's just one wee man- me, the Tod, will 'ave no problem with this bloke!
I creep forward towards the two little hens to claim them as my own, then I hear a sound i've always dreaded to hear with me own ears- the sound of a guwn bein' clicked, all ready to fire the black dots into my body, like Death comin' for me on wee lit'le fleas!
My lips rise up over my sharp teeth and I let out a growl. I will run as soon as I get the chance to snatch up one of those bloody hens I've been stalkin'-
One shot was all it took. That little fox wasted too much time staring at me, and now it's dead. I walk over to the fox and skin it first, then move over to the chickens and pluck off a few feathers to sell to the Mexicans.
Rising to my feet, I look down one road, then the other. A crow caws above me, so I look up.
"Are you sure you know where you're going, Jeremy?" cries Mrs. Frisby for the tenth time. Mice have never put much trust in me- but of all mice in the world, Mrs. Frisby should know that I have the best tracking of all other crows! So i tell her like it is;
"Of course," I answer with a light caw. "I always know where I'm going. You say, "I want to go to the rats," so I take you to the rats! No doubt a about it, miss! You will get there before the sunsets."
"Oh, I know that, Jeremy," comes the soft voice of the mouse, who holds onto my back by strings- by strings!- arranged much like a saddle. "I just dont recognize this place, that's all..."
I open my beak to reply with some witty comment- when all of my insides feels like they've exploded inside me! There was a loud noise before the pain, and I feel myself going down to the ground, the rush of air deafening my ears- I want to stop- but oh, I can't stop! I can't even see!
"Jeremy!" Mrs. Frisby is shouting my name! She is afraid! I-
The crow lands dead at my feet, and I can't say i'm very happy with it. The bird is so messed up that I can only take one feather. I look up and notice my horse has wandered off ahead of me. Instead of whistling for it, I walk forward- I feel something break under my foot, and raise it up to look. It's a brown bloody mess now, but it was just a mouse. No value in a dead mouse.
It really is my lucky day; in all but a few minutes, I've managed to kill off two chickens, a nice fox, and a crow. I whistle for my horse this time and it wanders back to me, snorting the dirt he must have breathed in while grazing on the dead grass.
I mount up the sickly gray horse and trot on down the road. "Go!" I tell the horse, digging my boots into it's side. The horse only neighs and slows down, so I try and keep the damn thing at a steady pace.
It was a shame that we had to leave the train in order to re-unite with Fivel- thogh I'm glad now that we did! Moma and Papa are lagging behind again; they shouldn't eat so much!
Ahead of us runs young Fivel, him with his Western wear; his cowboy boots and farmer's hat, and his twin toy pop-guns. We try and keep off the road, but something has caught his attention.
"What is it, Fivel?" I ask, running over.
"Don't wander off again, now, you two!" warns Papa behind us.
"Weee, woooooont!" Fivel and I sing out together. We giggle.
"So what is it?" I ask again.
Fivel moves out of the way, revealing a long four-inch-long golden casing of a rifle. Fivel's nose twitches, and he looks at me, saying, "I think it's a prison-cell for bad worms!" He hops around on his toes, tail swishing behind him as he makes a little play. "The bad worm gets jerked out of it's home- shoved into this prison- and is never. Seen. Again...!"
But I only laugh at him, and this makes him look angry at me.
"IThat's just a bullet casing," i explain. "Haven't you ever seen one before?" He shakes his head, and I laugh again. "i thought you were the expert with guns!" I say.
But this upsets Fivel further and he runs away, right into the middle of the road.
"Fivel, come on!" It's dangerous in the road... I try and calm him down, "I was jsut kidding!" I tell him, smiling reassuringly.
By now, Papa and Mama are standing on either side of me.
Papa's eyes grow huge and he swiftly cups his hands around his mouth and shouts, "Fivel! Get off of the road, son!"
But Fivel points at me instead. "not until she apologizes!"
Mama is frowning at me.
"But I didn't do anything!" I cry out angrily.
Papa looks terrorfied. He points and shouts, "S-s-something is c-coming!"
Mama and I look, then are unable to look away.
My horse steps on something; he snorts out irretibly and when we gets further away from whatever it is, i turn my head to look. Just another mouse.
I click at my horse with my tongue, and we plod along the road a little faster.
I come upon an old man sitting uptop alone on his brown horse, on the side of the road. He waves me over, so I come.
"Mister!" he calls over to me as I near him. "They're about to hang my wife! She ain't done nothing wrong! You gotta help me!"
Poor guy. "I'll help ya, friend." I tell him. As he starts to ride off, I follow on my dumb sickly gray horse. "Heh'yah!" I yell, kicking my horse.
"Giddy up!" cooes the other man.
My goal is to save this man's wife. For fame- not really for honor.
It's just another day out West.
Then... I see a horse. No...a stallion; it's a deep golden-yellow with a dark-brown mane. The breed? Possibly...a Kiger mustang. Looking down at this sickly piece of crap I'm riding, I really envy that horse's freedom; and I want it.
"You're on your own, mister." I tell the old guy I'm following.
As I ride closer to the stallion, it spots me and throws itself into the air, rearing, tossing its fancy mane in the air. It's challanging me. It seems it wants to be caught.
I pull out my lasso and hurry forward, arching my arm, ready to use it when I get close enough.
I ride over a hill, and what I see makes me really excited. I see not only that pretty stallion, but four other horses; a gray one, a light brown horse, and a mixed paint with a white mane.
Rain tosses her beautiful mane, her eyes laughing at me. She knows I brought that human over to follow us. It's all fun and games to me; I am a leader of this herd, and this is my way of showing how no man can tame a mighty beast such as myself.
Rain is also the only paint in the herd. It makes her a target for all the other males, but she is mine. She is my pride.
"Spirit!" Rain calls over to me, smiling. "I thought you were done teasing these cowboys?"
I tossed my own mane, and winked at her. "This guy was just too easy!" I called back. "He seems to abuse that poor gray horse back there; if we're able to get him off, then we can get the horse to join us!"
"All right, Spirit. Just be careful!" she turns and rides off with the others, who all seem to be laughing at me. We part ways slowly, the man is only following me, though. Just as I expected.
That stallion leaves the herd. Odd thing, unless it's trying to protect its mate or somethin'. Or maybe he knows I'm after him. Either way...
My boots dig into the sickly gray horse and I force it to ride past its limits. He rears up and kicks me off, sending me on the ground.
"Damn it..." I stand up slowly, blinking. To my surprise, that stallion is standing only ten feet away, watching me with...concern? Hah...right... "I dont believe horses have feelings," I told the animal, "So dont expect me to go easy on ya."
"I didn't." the stallion's eyes seem to say.
I smile, round up my lasso, and approach. Behind me, my sickly horse stands still as stone, not moving for whatever reason.
I run over to the stallion just as it turns away and runs off. But I'm faster. I throw my lasso with dead-eye accuracy, and it catches the horse around it's strong neck. Startled, the horse rises up on its hind legs and beats the air.