When the wagon stopped I could smell of something getting burned. It was stinking in my nose, it smelled bloody so I thought it could be meat being cooked, I wasn't sure. I peeked out from the wagon, cold rain drops fell on my muzzle; it was raining. In the dark I saw light from a big house, some meters away. It was a huge mansion there in the dark, servants were standing at the doorway; they have must come out to greet their lord. I saw the fat lord get off the front of the wagon and walked into the house. I almost felt warmth when I saw the light from the windows, I suddenly thought about my mother's warm body which always kept me warm at cold nights and I felt sadness made my heart black. The wagon started to move again with a jerk so I almost fell over, it moved from the light of the mansion. I saw another light in the dark; it was from a small candle. A young man stood affront of a dark stable with a burning candle in his hand, seems have been waiting for them. He wore brown leather clothes; shirt and pants, with black boots and a black belt. His hair was red of what I could see in the faint light from the candle. He looked young, somewhere after twenty years; he was smiling.
"So, the lord found a young stallion he liked, huh, ol' Sam?"
The voice hade the characteristic of a grownup human male, but hade still some light tunes in it.
"Yeah, that little bugger screamed a long way since we left that farm, but now he's quite."
This time it was an old dark voice, by the voice and that the red haired man called him old Sam I thought that the unknown coachman was an old one.
The red haired man walked to the wagon and I, surprisingly stood still when he lifted me down carefully. He smelled also warm dry hay and herbals, he smelled friendly to me.
"Common, little chap.
Let's get inside so you can get something to eat and than you can
rest for the night." The red haired man said to me with a calm
voice while putting a rope around my neck carefully.
I felt I
could trust him and I followed willingly into the stable. I could see
at least twenty horses, some gave faint neighs to greet me and some
just kept quite. The stable was warm and hade a comfy smell. It
smelled hay and other horses. The red haired man brought me to one of
boxes; it looked huge for me, but was the right size for me while I
continue to grow.
"You alright, little chap." The red haired man said and patted on my head.
Something told me that I will be happy with this man; something told me that he was a kindhearted person. Rest of that night I felt calm and I almost forgot my mum. Just a long calm night with the wind silently singing in the tree tops outside.
"I know what I can call you, little chap." The red haired man said and grinned to me.
"I will call you Wishmaster. Because I think my wish to train a fine horse has come true."
My short life as the horse Wishmaster was… what to say… quite calmly.
The red haired man took me out for walks in the land around, cleaned me and gave me food. He even let me be with other young stallion outside on the field, I felt like a real horse, free and strong to run over the plains anytime I wanted.
I even found out that the red haired man hade a small family. A wife, who I got founded to because she always game me some bread, one daughter that was beautiful as a rare flower and a son who had inherit his father's proud appearance. Those kids used to ride on my back when their father took me out for walks in the forest. To hear them giggle and talking to me was music in my ear, I never could see that foals of humans could be such fun. And all the sweets, ho ho, I would have rolled if their mother didn't stop them to give me too much bread, carrots and apples. The lord over the mansion, the one who bought me wasn't so interested in me right now, because I was still an inexperienced horse who couldn't yet have a rider on my back. But I didn't mind, because my family was the red haired man's family, my own personal herd that I loved a lot and they loved me back.
By time when I was four the red haired man started to put something he called a kapson my head, it was of leather and attached to my head around my nose and to behind my ears, together with a kimblewick in my mouth. On the piece on my nose it was three rings and he attached the reins on the two on the sides. I got confused first, but than I understood what he wanted me to do with this task. I felt how I started to carry my body, working with my hind legs, lifting my backbone and bending my neck into a natural proud holding. We worked on this on the both turns in a circle and than started trotting. I felt how my body became stronger and stronger, making my natural steps even stronger, even prouder. The months came and went and than he put a strange object on my back, I think it was called a saddle. I got scared first, but the red haired man calmed me down, I knew he would never harm me.
We did than our small tasks with the strange object on my back so in the end I didn't mind to have that "saddle" on my back, I was five then and haven't yet gotten a rider on my back. The red haired man did many other tasks with me; he didn't teach me, just told me to do the things I already know. Stand on my hind legs in balance, trot on the place, trot to the side from left and right and even changing gallop steps.
Than one day, when we were at the riding arena with clouds watching down from the sky, he took me to stand next to a stub. A stub that hade once a mighty tree that have been cut down a long time ago. I didn't know what to think, why were we standing here?
With calm and patient smile the red haired man swung up onto my back. I got startled first, but I felt it didn't feel so bad to have him onto my back, he wasn't heavy at all.
He told me to go forward and I did go forward. It surprised me that even he didn't stand next to me I felt like we were one; we almost danced to the music of the wind.
I felt how my muscles worked in this dance we did and I saw in the corner of my eye that people looked at us, but I didn't care, it was just me and him in this world we were in. That was my sixth year of my life and one of the happiest memory I have. Just I and he in this dance; which I knew it would be a start of a lifelong friendship.
Or at least so I hoped that time. Because one day… they came.
