They were trying to break me again.
I could see the sweat break out on their foreheads when I looked at them and feel their fear when they saw that distinct mischievous glint in my eyes.
Why they hadn't sentenced me to death yet I will never know. Maybe they were fearful of what I would do and the chances I would take to be free once more.
Who had thought that one mare could be so wild, so free? I could feel my neck curling and my eyes burning with rage every time I though of how theses two-legged people had taken me away from my heard when I was just a filly.
I used to be part of the Cimarron herd, when I was young. Delilah was my dam, my sire was Strider. I felt proud then, daughter of the herd leader. But now? I don't even think they remember me.
I heard that Strider had had another foal, a colt this time, with the mare Esperanza. I had felt betrayed when I had found out by a new horse, but the feeling was mutual as I came back to the reality of my own situation.
My white mane and tail still lay long and untouched, unlike all of the other horses'. I also failed to have the US brand on my backside, or horseshoes. I was still a proud silver mare.
My name was just as my coat: Silver. You can imagine how simple that name is compared to other horses that come into the Calvary's base in the West. Most of the horses brought in used to be wild or Indian horses.
I was tied to the post again after they finished attempting to break me. Every time these people tried to break me, and, inevitably failed, I was tied to the post, meant to go three days without water or food. I had learned early that I could just chew the ropes off or slip them over my head, but I figured I might as well be a good girl until I finally got free.
Okay. Not really.
It was more of a façade of being tame, because the moment one of those two-legged things got on my back it was hell for them. Every one of them would fall off of my back sooner or later. It was especially interesting to watch the newcomers try to ride me.
But today was different. They brought a new horse in, a horse that didn't have the same bland colors as all of the others. It was a fiery buckskin stallion.
The stallion was bucking and rearing as the soldiers brought him in. It kind of reminded me of when I had first arrived here, although then I had just been a small and mostly harmless filly.
I watched as Murphy, the groomer and farrier for this military base, attempted to turn this horse into one of the others. Murphy's eyes was still slightly swollen from the last time he tried to crop off my mane and tail.
It seemed as though this horse was giving him a hard time too. The stallion broke his hand, gave him a fresh black eye, kicked him in the butt, kicked him in the chest and head butted him when Murphy tried to give him a brand mark. I laughed at this because I too had done that many times.
Once they were done with that, one of the younger soldiers that wasn't so scared of me as the others were, came up and moved me out from within the corral and to the outer post farther away from the water. I watched as they saddled and bridled the mustang stallion, who very much disliked the bit. I watched them try to break this stallion as well, but like me, the riders kept on flying off with every turn they took.
With every chuckle or sound that escaped my mouth the boy holding me would give a jerk to the make-shift halter and I would nip at him. Eventually, he decided to stop.
When the stallion had bucked off the last rider, he charged the gate. All of the soldiers except for one, the colonel, backed away in fear.
"Tie this horse to the post. No food or water, three days." The colonel said as one of his soldiers walked up to the stallion and led him to the post.
When most of the two-legged had cleared and the stallion was un-tacked and bound to the post, the person holding me took me over and tied me to the other side.
The stallion snorted and stamped his hoof angrily.
"Not in the mood for company I see." I nickered to him, good-naturedly.
Instead of giving me an answer for what I said before, he said, "How can you deal with them?" It came out with venom dripping off of every word.
"Do I look like I deal with them? I'm tied to this post too, bud." He shook his head wildly, as if trying to clear his thoughts.
"Who are you?" He asked me.
"That depends. Who are you?" I answered his question with a question.
"My name is Spirit of the Cimarron. My sire was Strider, my dam Esperanza." He said quickly and proudly with his head held high.
I held my head as high as him playfully, and said, "My name is Silver of Nowhere, my sire was Strider of the Cimarron, my dam Delilah." I tried to match his tone when I said it and gained a look from him before what I said sunk in.
"Your sire was Strider?" He asked.
"Yes, and apparently you are Daddy's next little foal." I said with angst. I had never forgiven my father for letting me be taken by the humans.
"You have no right to mock me, Silver. I am now leader of the herd." He said, giving me a look that said he didn't understand me.
"That makes me half leader. I am, of course, your half-sister." I fluttered my eye lashes at him and widened my eyes innocently.
He didn't answer, just grunted.
"So how'd you end up here, Stallion?" I asked refusing to use his given name.
"That is none of your business."
"Okay, then I'll tell you how I ended up here." I stated in a nicker. "Well, me and my dam were grazing just a little too far away from the herd and that was when the humans captured us. I was about two months old. No one remembers me or my mother anymore, I bet you. Well anyway, my mom put p a big fight and they eventually killed her, but not me thought, because I was just a little filly then." I said that last part mockingly. I might have been a filly, but I was a hell of a strong filly.
"You have really been itching for someone to talk to, haven't you?" He asked raising an eyebrow.
"Look, dude, this place is goddamned boring! Of course I wanted someone to talk to. All of the other horses are a lot older than me and always chastise me for not being nicer to the two-legged…things!" I finally burst out in a roar.
"Temper." He said.
"Look whose talking. I saw you when they were trying to break you." We lapsed into silence for a long time before Spirit said anything.
"My mother, Esperanza, warned me not to look for the fire that I saw across the prairie. I should have listened to her. I ran and ran and ran from the humans but I couldn't lead them to the herd, so I gave up my freedom instead." He hung his head low, eyes filling with sorrow.
"That was very noble of you. I guess you got that part of dad." His story saddened me but not just because his dam was still living but also because I knew what it was like to lose your freedom so suddenly that you didn't even know what happened to you.
"You have his wild side though. I don't think I would be able to keep going after how long you've been here."
"I'm not that much older than you. Maybe a few months at the most." Silence came over us again, but was shattered by the sound of the colonel ordering an Indian boy to be tied to the post just outside of the corral, where I had been tied before.
After the soldiers had him secured, the boy turned to look at us and he beckoned. This is when the relationship in me and Spirit showed. At the exact same moment we both turned around and snorted at the boy.
I stole a glance at Spirit and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged.
"You know, I think there's a little trick that you might enjoy. I'll teach you after the sun goes down." I said vaguely.
"What kind of trick?" He asked suspiciously. "And why after dark?"
"Oh I think you'll understand when the time comes." I nickered to him and flicked my tail. He shook his head.
As it turns out, the time was coming fast. In less than a half-hour the sun was down and all of the soldiers were asleep.
"Now, why did we have to wait until dark for this little…demonstration?" Spirit asked somewhat irritably.
"Because the humans wouldn't want to see us get out." I nickered mischievously.
That spiked Spirit's interest. It seemed as though I could feel his heart rate increase at the thought of gaining his freedom once again. If he could only imagine how much I wanted it too.
I pitched my ears forward at just the slightest angle and pulled my head down. The make-shift bridal slid effortlessly from my face and hung limp against post, allowing people to see the white star on my forehead.
Spirit was more than too eager to give it a go and ended up pitching his ears forward to much and the bridal caught as he pulled on his head.
"Put your ears back more." I said, amusement catching in my voice. He stomped his hoof and tried again, and this time the bridal slid off of his ears and down his face then hung next to mine.
I caught the sight of the Indian boy watching us, a half smile on his face.
I ignored him and walked to the back of the corral and started galloping towards the gate. I pushed with all of my might a few feet away and landed silently on the other side. I nodded silently to Spirit as he followed suit.
I looked back at the Indian boy as he turned and hooted like an owl into the night and was answered by a piercing howl. At the sound of it, I was sure that we were going to get caught as I had many times before.
But no one woke up. No seemed to notice at all.
Something silver was flung through the air and landed at the Indian's feet. He picked it up with his foot, put it in his mouth then his shoulder and from there moved it into his bound hands.
As he cut the ropes on his wrists I feared that he would come after us, try to stop us. But instead he walked by us as I watched him warily. He walked straight for the stables housing all of the other horses here. He undid the latch and let them run free.
I ran for the gate, feeling my heart speed in my chest at the thought that I might actually be able to get away this time. The Indian ran over to the door after us and undid the latch as he had on the stable doors.
As the thick doors opened and I saw the free land for the first time in three years I felt a smile grow on my face as I ran out of there as fast as I could. I could hear the other horses hooves after me and felt the thrill of leading a herd.
When we were far enough away me and many other horses, including Spirit, let out a shrill whinny full of joy, pure ecstasy.
I was free.