Chapter 4: In Which I Am The Laughing Stock
I didn't sleep well that night. All I could think about was a two-legged splitting open my head and examining the insides. When I did sleep, I dreamt of the poor yearling in Yorkshire.
I was awaked to the harsh cry of the rooster at dawn and the clopping of heavy hooves and squelching of mud. I poked my head out of my door and stared down the hall. A big grey stallion was standing in the middle of the g, hooked up to the walls by his halter. He was standing proud, head high and feet together, chest puffed out, as Jacob loaded the saddle onto his broad back. Master stood behind, examining the squat round man as he brushed the grey's tail out.
"What's going on?" I whispered to Dale.
"The Master's just got the call," Dale replied excitedly. "He's leaving, and taking Venture with him."
"What call?" I asked. "Who's Venture?" I wrinkled my nose. I tend to do that when I'm confused or otherwise distraught. I was both.
"He's going to war!" Chip said, turning his small head to me. "As for Venture, that's him. The massive grey. He's born and bred a warhorse. They say his great-great-great-and-so-on-grand-sire carried Napoleon into battle!"
"That's right! I heard them say it!" Dale enforced, nodding his shaggy head.
"War? Like...heard war? Did someone steal his mare?" And just for good measure, I added, "Who's Napoleon?"
"I suppose you could say that…if land was a mare and the brown-skins stallions," Dale said ponderously.
"What?" I asked. "Who're the brown-skins?"
"Don't waste your breath on him boys. He's just an ignorant feral," Ruby said, craning her neck in our direction.
I growled at her; I saw a cougar do it once when I was little and it scared the heck out of me. I figured it would have the same effect on her. It did.
She took a step back and defiantly looked away with a little "humph."
"I dislike her," I said softly.
"She's all right when you get to know her," Chip said lightly.
"You're good to go, sir," Jacob said, giving Venture a pat on the neck. I turned my attention back to them. "The best of luck to yeh, an' come home safe an' sound an' very soon."
Master chuckled lightly. "Thank you, Jacob. Thank you, Paul," he said, giving each man a nod and pulling himself into the broad saddle. "I'm off then – "
"Father wait!"
Everyone stopped as a wet and bedraggled little-ish body came shooting through the door.
"Take me with you!" he demanded, brushing wet hair out of his eyes. "I'm sixteen! I can handle my self in a fight! I never miss with a pistol! I ride better than half the men in the cavalry! I can do it, father, I can! You know I can!"
Master sighed. "You're still young, Jeremy."
"I'm sixteen!"
"Two years shy of being a man! You hardly have a beard, son!"
"I
SHAVE!" he shouted. "Let me go with you! I can help!"
"When
you are a man, Jeremy, then you can come. War is no place for boys."
"I am not a boy," Jeremy said, his words dripping with acid.
"Prove it to me. Turn this mustang into a horse fit for the cavalry. Then you will be a man."
My ears pricked forward. "What, me? In a war?" I asked.
Venture craned his neck around for the first time, looked at me, and snorted a laugh. "The day that scrawny little nobody sees the front lines is the day I retire! It's impossible!"
I didn't know whether to be relieved or offended, so I just huffed and ignored him. I heard Ruby laugh her lady-like chuckle and felt my cheeks get hot.
"You just wait!" I snapped. "I'm gonna be the best carnival horse…"
"Cavalry horse," Dale corrected quietly.
"…cavalry horse you've ever seen!"
Venture and Ruby laughed so loudly the human-people turned and looked at them, wondering what was going on. A few other horses joined in as well, some of them laughing just as loud, some giving sarcastic titters, and some laughing because they had nothing better to do. It got to me just the same, though. And if I've inherited something from my father, it's his determination and hard headedness…probably his pride too.
"Just wait," I sneered.
"I'll do it," Jeremy said. "I'll turn him into a war horse. I'll ride that sorry mule into battle even if it kills me, I swear it!"
"Hey!" I snapped. "I'm on your side!"
Jeremy stormed out.
"He's in too much of a hurry to grow up," Master said, shaking his head. He dug his heels into Venture's white stomach. The big grey looked at me, laughed, and disappeared out the stable door into the cold, damp morning.
Then and there I made up my mind to be the best cavalry horse to ever live, whether "my human" believed it or not.
