Chapter 11 – A New Task
"Dinner sir?" I tried to hide my surprise and embarrassment.
"Yes, tonight in my quarters, I hope it is not too rash of me, but I find one cannot have a decent conversation with soldiers mulling around you." He smiled once more and I was again caught off guard.
"Of course sir, I look forward to it." I smiled back and dipped my head slightly, feeling my cheeks flush red.
I heard a soft chuckle before he patted Jesse once again and walked away, I stood there for a second, watching after him, not quite knowing what to make of all this.
After lunch, I was called down to the corral for some breaking exercises., the little chestnut mustang that had accompanied Bailey was dragged out from her pen, kicking up a huge fuss as Bailey called comfort to her from over the wall.
She squealed and lurched about as she was brought into the chute, her eyes wide and her nostrils flared, within moments, the soldiers had wrestled her into it. It was so small a horse could not do anything but go up, but soldiers stood on the rungs of the fence and kept her down as they saddled her up. Putting the bit in was another matter, the soldiers couldn't afford to have their tack broken, any breaks they had had to be repaired by their blacksmith, who also acted as a leathersmith. Supplies took a long time to reach us here so if a horse is going crazy it will be tied down to save any damage.
They instead grabbed her by the ears and pulled her head up as another soldier reached through the bars and grabbed one of her front legs, holding it tight into her chest so she couldn't move. Yet another soldier reached in and grabbed her jaw, forcing his thumb into the indent in her gums where the bit sits, pushing her mouth open, as soon as she opened it, some more soldiers rammed the bit into her mouth and pulled the bridle straps tight before she could even try to object.
It wasn't the nicest way, but I had to admire the strict, harsh but not cruel and quick methods they used to save time as the threat of battle was ever imminent. The filly tossed her head in upset and kicked out as the soldiers released her; she spat at the ground as the taste of metal hit her tongue again and again and drove her into a frenzy. Before she had time to think, a soldier landed on her back and the chute opened. She rammed herself into the gate as it swung open, almost losing her footing and scraping one knee along the floor.
I winced as I watched her tongue loll out of the side of her mouth as she scrambled up and loosed an almighty buck, the soldier yanked on her mouth as she did and she squealed again, rearing and bucking with all her might. Once he had found his seat he let go of the reins with his crop hand and hit her on the flanks after each buck, letting her know that every time she did she would be punished, she tossed her head again and again before standing up and pawing at the ground in anguish, her breathing becoming laboured although she had only been out for a few minutes.
The soldier urged her on with wicked spurs and she dived head first into a bronco fit, he laughed at her as she tried her best to dislodge him but she was getting weaker by the second. They chose this time of day for breaking so the horses got tired out in the heat quicker to save killing them through exhaustion in an attempt to break them. Once she hit the ground from an impressive fly buck she went up, but at the same time she hit the soldier in the face with her head, dazed the soldier fell back in the saddle and pulled her on top of him. She flipped over with a squeal and kicked out her legs from underneath her in a ditch attempt to stay upright. She crashed down on top of him and didn't get up again.
Four soldiers ran into the corral from different sides, grabbing the filly's legs and rolling her off of the soldier who coughed up blood before passing out. The filly scrabbled about in the dirt trying to get up but the soldiers pinned her down whilst others came in and carried the unconscious man out, she kicked out and you could see something was wrong. I ran into the corral before anyone could stop me and as I got closer I could see blood on her hind leg. Panic rose up in me and I ordered the men to sit on her, a split second of shocked faces before they realised the danger and set about following my orders. They sat and lay across her and I asked for rope, someone came up behind me and pressed it into my hand, I didn't even thank them as I bound her front legs together then connected them to her head, pulling it tight into her chest to stop her using her head as a weight to swing herself up.
Once she was bound I had a couple of soldiers get off her and secure her free back leg so she couldn't hurt me. I ran my hand through the blood until I heard a muted squeal as I found the issue. Relief poured through me as I found a half broken spur embedded in her stifle, I shouted for some sort of padding/cloth to stem the blood then once I had it, yanked the spur from her leg and tossed it aside. Pushing the cloth into her wound I shouted over my shoulder.
"It's not broken! She is fine!" The soldiers cheered, though whether it was out of compassion or not wanting to lose a commodity to the army I didn't know.
The blood stopped very easily and the wound was deep, but not damaging. She barely limped as we got her up, she would be sore, but nothing else.
As we pulled the subdued and tired filly to the gate the Colonel and Corporal came over to me.
They opened the gate and the Colonel spoke.
"The Corporal and many other of my men have asked that the mustangs we got from the roundup be left to your care Miss Chase, it would mean you would oversee everything that is done to them, be up all night with them if you need to be and your duty would be only to them. Any spare time you have will be very limited; do you think this is a fair thing to ask?"
Though he spoke with all the force of a military man among his peers, his eyes stayed soft as the realization of what he was asking dawned upon me.
"Yes sir!" I stood up straighter and had to push the words out of my mouth before they became a jumbled mess.
"Good, I expect them to be broken in without hesitation, though this filly may be left until you deem her ready to work, we cannot afford horses without legs in this army." He smiled ever so slightly and put his hand on my shoulder.
"I leave them to you now; I hope I have not asked too much. We don't often take mares here for obvious reasons but the wranglers insisted we take her for half the price so we did."
"No sir, thank you sir!" I dipped my head and bit back the urge to drop the mare and fling my arms around him in joy.
He stepped back and let us lead the filly to a tie post under the ramparts on her own own, she would need to be left to herself for a couple of days at the least. Being in with the others could risk further injury to her or them if they accidentally touched her wound and she lashed out.
I had her tied up tight for 24 hours so she did not lie down and let her leg stiffen and then went to the other mustangs. The twins had come out of their shells dramatically in the past few days, as had Bailey but they were making better progress. I knew what I had to do but was at a loss to say it aloud.
I motioned for a soldier to come over and asked him to gather some men. The twins had to be gelded and put in with the other army horses, only high ranking army officials got to keep their mounts entire. A horse whose mind isn't on the job at hand is a dangerous one.
