Six days later

August 6th

July was over and the month of August had rolled in over the Western Front, bringing with it more sunshine and heat. Reports of a heat wave sweeping across some areas of the front had been confirmed but this lovely summer weather was not going to deter both sides from fighting each other. After all, this was a war and with both sides locked in trench warfare, neither was going to give very easily, even if there was weather that was perfect for the summer.

In the village behind the British frontline west of Thiepval in the Somme sector, it was the last day for several squads of their time off the front before they were to be sent back, so they were going to make the most of it. Some were resting by the lake or playing football whilst others were enjoying a drink with some liquor they had managed to liberate from the village's pub, and they were enjoying it greatly, just so they could make up for one more free day before they were to go back into the daily routine of trying to survive in the harsh conditions of the trenches.

However, for two men, today there was no chance of rest.

Running up one of the main cobbled roads was Wally and Albert. For the past six days, they had searching every part of this village and the surrounding areas for Albert's horse, Joey. They had gone to the stables every day to check and see if he was there or asked anyone that was there if they knew where he was, they had searched every building from huts to corner shops to the town hall. They had even spent the whole of yesterday searching the fields and nearby woods that surrounded the village for any sign of Albert, but all to no avail.

It was beginning to take It's toll on Albert. He was worried about Joey and even though Wally had kept on reassuring him that they would eventually find him, he knew as well that it was beginning to get hopeless. They had searched everywhere for the horse and yet had come up with nothing. Even Albert was beginning to think that they would never find Joey.

That was until about ten minutes ago.

Even though they had been to the stable countless times over the past six days, they were still going there, hoping that Joey would be there, or at least somewhere who knew where he was, but they were thinking the negative and believed that they would find nothing or no one there, but they were wrong. When they arrived, they met the soldier that Wally had talked with when he had seen Joey in the stables and he had told them that Joey had been taken to one of the military stables camps outside the village in one of the nearby fields, having being brought back there earlier this morning after being used for delivering supplies. Upon hearing this, the two had legged it from the stables, ignoring the soldier's shouts of the reason why the horse was there.

The two turned left into another cobbled street that led to the edge of the village. A few soldiers walking along the side of the road or resting in the nearby buildings shouted to them but they ignored them and ran on, determined to get to that station quickly.

When they reached the end of the road, they stopped and found themselves staring at a wide expanse of green, a field. About two hundred feet away was a small hill. It was as if they were travellers about to leave one country that was ruled by man to another that was ruled by Mother Nature.

(breath)…(breath)…"Wh-where did-(breath) that sol-(breath)-dier say the cavalry-(breath)-camp was?" Wally choked out between his gasps for breath as he leaned over slightly, resting his hands on his knees to hold himself up.

"Across this field, about a quarter of a mile away," Albert replied, having not broken a sweat, which just showed how strong people were when they were determined to look for something that really meant to them.

Wally took a deep breath and stood up straight. "Alright, let's go," he said, and they ran off across the field.

Five minutes later

The cavalry base outside the village was just a few tents with a small pen where the horses would be taken to and kept until needed. At the moment, there were about five horses there, three of them were black horses and the other two were brown horses. A few officers were about in the camp, either sitting in their tents or laying down on the ground, warming up with the heat of the Sun.

Then, an officer, who looked about twenty five with short red hair and a small moustache, laying down near the edge of the cavalry camp looked up to see two soldiers running towards them.

"What the…?" he said as he sat up and watched them approach. He stood up from the ground. "Oi, what are you two doin' here?" he asked the two soldiers as they came to a halt in front of them.

"We-(breath)-we're looking-(breath)-for-(breath)-a horse," Wally replied through his gasps for breath.

"Well, there's a lot of horses in the army, mate," the officer told him. "How can you be sure the one you're looking for here. Besides, you two shouldn't be 'ere. Your army men, not cavalry officers."

"We know that," Albert said. "Look, someone at the village nearby told us that there's a horse here, a new one that got taken from the Germans a while ago, and I need to find him, so can I please have a look at your horses,"

The officer stared at him for a moment before he heaved a heavy sigh.

"Alright, but 'urry up," he told them. "You'll get yourselves and me into trouble. Go on,"

Albert thanked the officer and he and Wally ran over to the pen like children going to see animals at the zoo. When they reached the pen, they climbed over the fence and walked among the horses. They were wall eating the grass, but one of the, one of the brown ones, was snorting loudly as if it were trying to sneeze. Albert ignored this brown horse as it did not have a white stripe going down It's face, but turned his attention to the other one, which had It's head down at the ground, eating away at the grass.

"Wally," Albert whispered. "I think I've found him."

It had to be Joey. He was brown, had whiteness around his hooves and there was even a white stripe going down the animal's face. This had to be him! Albert ran over to the horse and it looked at him, bringing It's head up from the ground. Albert placed a hand on the horse's snout and leaned forward slightly. Wally watched as Albert examined the creature.

"Well, is it him?" Wally asked after a few seconds.

Albert turned to face him, his face filled with sadness and defeat. He sighed.

"No, the white stripe's too thin. It's not him," he replied.

Wally sighed and walked over to Albert and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Well, I guess we'll just have to face the fact he's no longer in this area, Albert," he said to him. "I'm sorry,"

Albert nodded slightly. Wally was right, but he did not want to believe it. Joey had to be here, he had to! They had searched everywhere in this sector of the front and had not found him, but he just had to be here. I mean, the soldier at the village had told them he was here earlier on this morning, so he had to be here!

"Are you two done?" the officer who they had spoken to asked them in an annoyed voice.

Wally sighed. "C'mon, let's go,"

"Wait," Albert interjected. He walked past Wally and climbed over to the fence over to the officer; Wally followed.

"I need to ask you something," Albert said when he reached the officer, who sighed. This was getting on his nerves.

"What is it now?" he asked in a voice that clearly sounded he wanted them to go away.

"Was there another horse with a white stripe going down his face in this camp this morning?" Albert asked the officer.

"Well how the bloody Hell should I know?" the officer replied. "What do I look like, their mothers?" he added sarcastically.

"Well, can you go ask someone, please?"

The officer sighed and rubbed his hand down the front of his face. This was getting on his nerves and he was really close to losing his temper, but he kept his cool.

"Right, wait here," the officer said to them and he walked off over to another officer, who was also about twenty five but was slightly shorter than the other officer and had blonde hair, that was standing outside his tent, checking his sword, which was the main weapon for a cavalry soldier. Wally and Albert watched the officer say something to him and lead him over to them. "These two need your help," the first officer told the other officer when they reached Albert and Wally.

"Alright, what do you two need?" he asked them.

"Was there another horse here earlier on today with a white stripe going down his face?" Albert asked.

The officer placed one hand on his chin for a second and thought hard. Was there another horse here with a white stripe on It's face? Ah, yes there was!

"Yep, I remember," the officer told them. "The only other horse with a white stripe has been taken out on a reconnaissance mission with a load of other horses and their riders. Apparently, It's to do with something planned for about a week's time,"

"You two happy now?" the other officer asked them. Wally and Albert, deciding it was best not to push their luck in staying here, nodded. "Right, now bugger off!"

They did so, but as they walked away from the cavalry camp, Albert sighed.

"I thought we were gonna find him here, Wally," he said.

Wally placed a hand on Albert's shoulder. "Yeah, so did I," he replied. "But he's still in this area, so we don't have to worry about him getting lost or captured,"

Albert nodded a little. Wally was right. Maybe they did not find Joey, but at least they knew he was still in this area and by the sounds of what the officer in the camp had told them, he was most likely to stay here for a while. Hopefully, they would get him then.

However, as the two walked up the side of the hill, Albert turned his head to face Wally.

Hey, Wally? What do think that officer meant by something being planned?" he asked.