Seto looked around for at least a clump of grass somewhere, it would be difficult getting used to his new diet, but he had to eat something. Seto lowered his head putting weight on his favored foot. He winced and his head shot up. Carefully Seto tried again, this time balancing himself where he didn't have to hurt it. He sighed and nuzzled his hurt foot and took a mouthfull of the fresh grass. He chewed on it and then swallowed hard. He shook his head, now he had a bad taste in his mouth, Seto stamped his other front hoof and took another reluctant mouthfull. Again he chewed slowly and swallowed. By the time he had eaten a few more bites he began to get used to the foul taste of the damp grass. Seto stopped eating, although he was still very hungry and went to go walk around, he neeeded to know where he was so he could get out of there. Seto was still shaky from the traumitizing trailer ride. He shook his head trying to drown out the terrible memories. Still he felt lost and frightened. Seto barged his way through a few mares until he was facing the corral gate. He saw a cabin with a light on and three men standing outside smoking. Seto curled his lip intaking the foul stench. They were talking and laughing a few were pointing at the corral Seto was in. Seto pricked his ears trying to hear what they were saying. There was one who was standing still. He had long blonde hair and a mustache, he also wore a black jacket and jeans like the others did. He stood watching the corral with his cold gray eyes.
"Well, I say we did a good job today, boys," the man muttered and sneered at Seto. Seto pawed the ground angrily, he didn't like this man at all, but what excatly was he planning to do with them.
"That stud is gonna make double what we usually have, hasn't been another horse with that much meat in a long time," he cackled "Nope, no in a long, long time,"
"Ya' think he's pure mustang, Caleb?" asked a tall red-headed, freckled kid who looked about thirteen.
"Of course he is, you don't see Quarter Horses runnin' around in thw wild do ya' Sam?" asked Caleb glaring at the boy. Seto strained his ears trying to listen closer to what they were saying. Seto still didn't understand what was going on.
"He'll fill three whole bags , I bet you five dollars he will!" said Sam pointing to the black stallion. Seto neighed and bucked in annoyance, he didn't like were this conversation was going. It sounded like a plan to kill him for dog food. Seto shuddered looking at his delicate hide. He would hate to feel a sharp dagger pierce it.
Seto didn't want to be near anyone anymore, he wanted to go home! Badly! He bellowed to the other horses, biting them and swearing to them in Horse (this is only a figure of speech; not to say that he was really swearing, it just sounded like it). They ran away from him, neighing and rolling their eyes as if to say Sheesh, someone needs an attitude adgjustment.
Seto finally, after driving off several rebellious two year olds, got peace to himself. He stood with a hind foot cocked back (he could finally balance himself on his hurt foot) and hung his head low. He was hungry and tired, but most of all he was infuriated. It was too bad to he didn't have the energy left in him to break-out. His legs and chest were sore and he was sticky with sweat. Seto felt like lying down to sleep, but he wouldn't dare. He wasn't sure when those rustlers were going to decided to turn him into glue or dog food or whatever they said. He closed his eyes but his mind was flooded with terrifying memories of the past day and nightmares of running constantly into blackness. His last comforting thought was that Mokuba was safe and that was all that mattered. He sighed and neighed mournfully into the mountains where he hoped Mokuba would hear his brother calling for him.
"Rae, I don't think there's anything we can do about it, Honey," Mrs. Gilliland said at the table that night for supper. Rae looked at her plate. She could barely eat, she thought about the poor mustangs trapped in that small corral, probably hungry and thirsty...
"Cheer up honey," Rae's father Mat, said noticing Rae hadn't touched her food.
"I just wish, I could do something," Rae mummbled "There were tiny little foals and a big black stallion,"
"Rae, your not getting another stallion, Rex was enough trouble before we gelded him and he was just a Saddlebred, let alone a mustang that's never seen people before," said Mrs. Gilliland knowing what her daughter was thinking.
"Come on Mom!" Rae begged "He's so beautiful, I want to save him, those men will kill me if they found out I was just...setting him free,"
"Rae, the Bureau will deal with this and you won't have to worry about the mustangs anymore," her father said, his statment meaning that his word was final.
Rae sighed. She knew that last time she got a stallion that he was just too much for her to handle, but that was a long time ago, now she was old enough to handle one just like him. Rae opened her mouth to speak, but her father's warning glare told her that nothing she said would work. Rae took a mouthful of broccoli and chewed it slowly. She wished that she had done something before this all happened. But she knew that her parents knew best and that they had had more experiance with horses than she. Rae glanced at her mother.
"They had cute, tiny little foals, Mom," said Rae, grinning slightly.
"Good one, Rae," said Mrs. Gilliland.
Rae sighed and got out of her seat "I'm not very hungry," she muttered and walked up to her room. Rae laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling wondering what the horses were doing or thinking right now. She looked at a beautiful photograph of a black Arabian stallion running through a feild of wild flowers. His coat was so black it looked blue. Rae thought the photo as her guardian angel because whenever she looked at it, it always made her feel safe and loved. It reminded her of the mustang she had seen. Her heart began to break as she thought of what would happen. She stifled a sob and rubbed her hand over her eyes that were filled with tears. She picked up a stuffed horse and hugged it quickly before tossing it back onto the floor.
Every single thing in Rae's room had something to do with horses. Her bedspread had wild horses galloping across it and a mural of a mare and her colt was painted on one of her walls. Photos and portraits of horses decorated every wall of her room. Another one of her personal favorites was a photo that lay by her bedside with her, as a 9 year old, mounted on a pony at her first horse show. She had won second place, but she thought that the red ribbon looked better on her pinto pony, Milky Way than the blue anyway. Her mother and had laughed herself to tears when little Rae had told her that.
Rae smiled at the memory. She liked rememberin what it was like before they moved to Nevada. They had lived in Kentucky, with a high class show jumping farm and several beautiful and talented horses. Rae had learned everything about horses there. She loved the rolling green pastures, the thousands and thousands of horse associated activities there were to do, and being homeschooled with her mother. But after a terrible disease swept the farm and it's beloved horses. The Gilliland family were forced to sell their famr and move to another place. Nevada had seemed, to Rae's father, a great place to start over. Rae didn't realize she was leaving so much behind until she had to give up her high class show jumping life and turn to just pleasure riding in the mountains.
Rae sighed thinking about the black stallion again. If she had stayed in Kentucky, he would have been dead by now. She slightly regreted hating the Western life, at least she got to see wild horses and still have horses at home. Rae realized that she was luckier than she ever had been. But it would be nice to go back to the old shows she used to go to. She imagined herself atop the black stallion jumping effortlessly over oxers and water spreds and bull finches and galloping over the beautiful Kentucky blue grass in the morning during the Lexington Cup: the most prestigious three day event in the world. It was too bad she couldn't ride in it now, if only she had stayed long enough she would have even made it to the Olympics. But none of the horses she had now were potiential jumpers or in good shape for competing. They were just trail horses, merely fit for traveling the rugged Rocky Mountains, canyons, and creeks. Rae had dreamed of seeing all those things once, but now it seemed boring to even think about it. She longed for the thrill and adrenaline of the stadium jumping ring and the crowd cheering as she and her horse flew over jump after jump. She closed her eyes and tried to remember a more exciting moment.
There was a knock at her bedroom door and Rae was roused from her day dreams.
"Come in," Rae said. Mrs. Gilliland poked her head into her daughter's room. She looked at the pictures and model horses that decorated Rae's room, pretending to admire them before she said anything.
"Your father called the Bureau of Land Managment and they'll take care of the problem A.S.A.P.," Mrs. Gilliland said and she gave a slight smile.
"I was just thinking about Kentucky and what my friends are probably doing now," Rae looked at the picture on her desk. Her mother knew that she was talking about the horses on their old farm.
"I miss them too, Rae, but it was the best thing for us. We can't run a business with sick animals, it just doesn't work that way, if a horse is not in the condition to compete, we can't make money and if we can't make money to feed the horses, than how are we going to feed ourselves?" Mrs. Gilliland asked.
Rae nodded, she had already heard this conversation before. The last time she heard it was when she had accidentaly overfed a horse. It had not gotten sick, but her father had warned her about wasting feed on precious horses. She had felt guilty but learned from it, this time it was harder to take. She had not given up just one measly horse, she had given up her life.
"I want that stallion," said Rae "If you'll just give me a chance, I want that stallion. I want to train him to be the best and I want to go everywhere with him, because I know, just by looking at him, that he can make it to the top,"
"Rae, your father said no, and that's final," Mrs. Gilliland said "If there was a certain reason that the horse could come here, I'm sure he would have said yes, but this is a wild stallion! Not some riding school pony,"
Rae sighed, she had had enough. She understood this already, she just needed the chance to prove that she could do something a little more advanced than she had been doing. Rae's mother turned to leave and before she shut the door behind her she said "You know we're trying to protect you,"
A loud earsplitting noise rang in Seto's ears and he woke suddenly. The sun was barely rising in the sky. The stallion snorted curiously at the other horses. A few were looking longingly at a barrel of hay that was placed before the cattle pen. The noise had been one of the young horses banging on the metal gate trying to get to the hay.
Seto whinnied sharply at the horse that had made all the ruckus and tryed to go back to sleep again. But the horses had became too excited to quiet down. Annyed Seto shook his head and barrel through the group of mares crowding the corral gate. Seto chased them away and looked through the bars. The man and boy from the previous night were feeding the white faced Hereford cattle, that Seto knew would be going to the same destination as he if he didn't get out of there in time. Seto began to feel nervous and helpless again. He had to find a way out of here, he began to panic. He whinnied anxiously and shook his head several times as if to shake off water. Sweat began forming on his flanks and he paced in circles, whinnying and pawing the ground. His hunger made things worse and he began to feel weak. A sharp pince on his hindquarters made him whirl around, his ears pinned back. The same colt that had banged on the gate was standing behind him, playfully nipping him. Seto nickered a warning and then turned away but the horse kept pestering him. The colt looked about four years old, that meant the next year he would be a full grown stallion and it looked like he was practicing for his big debut. That was when Seto gave him a run for his money.
Seto neighed and faced the colt, trying to look intimidating by showing his teeth and snaking his head towards him. The colt mimiced Seto, he squealed and reared up on his hindlegs. Seto had had enough, now he was mad! The blacks tallion reared up, towering above the younger horse. The colt layed his ears back and battered his front hooves. Seto, with such speed and force, hit the colt square in the chest with a strike of his hoof. The colt screamed in pain and fell over backwards. The colt got up, dust and blood ran down his chest and legs. Seto had left a pretty nasty gash in the colt's breast. The colt groaned in pain and left the stallion alone.
Seto sighed, he was glad there were no other stallion there. He couldn't risk an injury like the colt had suffered. Then he would definitily be destroyed. The blaring of sirens startled the horses into a panic. Seto was probably the only one who didn't think he could go through walls and crash into the corral walls. Police cars entered the area. Caleb and Sam looked terrified and ran into the little shack that they stayed in. Several police officers got out of the cars. One looked like a cowboy with a big Stenson hat, work boots on, and jeans. Behind the police cars was a van and a trailor that said UNITED STATES BUREAU OF LANDMANAGMENT on the side of it. A woman dressed in a business-like outfit and a girl who looked a little bit older than Mokuba stepped out of the van. The girl had dark brown hair and blue eyes just like Seto did. She looked nervous and at the same time triumphant. The police officers barged into the house and brought out three men. Seto pricked his ears in excitment. This would be his chance to be set free.
Seto heard the men arguing with the officers, but the cowboy, (who was obviously the sherrif in town) said nothing but examined them with his cold eyes as if he was trying to fish out their lies. The girl had left the women and walked over to the corral gate. She looked at Seto with her blue eyes and leaned against the gate. Seto turned away from her, he didn't want to bother with another human until he was at home. The girl clicked her tongue and held out her hand which was holding oats.
Seto sniffed the oats from the wind, but refused to go near her. He merely gave a stubborn grunt and walked away from her leaving the humans to themselves. Seto felt more relaxed now that he knew he would soon be rescued. He watched the girl out of the corner of his eye. She looked about 15 judging by her height and was obviously eager to see him. She had a strong of resemblance of Mokuba, and the thought of his worried brother at home made him shiver with guilt. His heart couldn't resist at least going nearer to her, to at least see what she wanted.
Seto turned around pretending to sense something and then pricked his ears at the girl with the oats. He nickered hungrily, maybe trying a little oats wouldn't be so bad, at least it would last him until he became human again. Seto lowered his head, his soft brown eyes never leaving the girl's blue ones. The stallion walked over until he was almost close enough to touch her with his muzzle. He sniffed the oats in her hand. When he made sure it wasn't poison, he nibbled some of the grain.
Seto was amazed at how good the sweet molasses covered pellets tasted. It was better than he thought. He savored the sweet taste before emptying the girl's hand. Seto whickered with pleasure and sniffed the girl's hand again. He wanted more!
The girl smiled at him and then laughed, startling the stallion before her. Seto threw his head up and backed away in alarm without realizing how more fearful and aware he had become ever since he became a horse. The girl's laugh ceased into a warm smile. Seto saw a glint of happiness in the girl's eyes, she wanted to be friends with Seto. Seto returned to the gate, this time he stood close enough where she could touch him. She reached out to touch his sleek black neck but he turned away from her. He still didn't trust her all that much.
The girl spoke softly "Hey, pretty boy," said the girl "I'm Rae," she said and giggled again as Seto twitched an ear in her direction. Seto tossed his head out of joy and cantered a full circle around the corral, before returning to her.
"I'm going to take you home, boy," said Rae "I'm sure you'll be happier there,"
Seto nodded and gave a horsey whistle. This girl would set him free and he would go home and see his brother again, but the constant question that ran through his mind was, would he ever be human again? He would save the answer for later, right now he was eager to get out of the cramped corral and to be able to run again.
The officers had taken care of the rustlers and the police cars drove away from the clearing. Seto was relieved that they were gone and looked at the white van that remained in the yard. Seto knew the BLM rounded up wild horses and a certain time of the year and stationed them at a place where people could adopt them (he had learned that from a brochure). Seto looked at the white trailor, wondering how all the horses were going to fit into it. It had to be at least a six horse trailor and there were more than six horses in the pen. What was going on? The sense of security that Seto had had before had faded and he began to feel nervous again. Even Rae's soothing words didn't comfort him.
The woman from earlier was accompanied by two men that Seto had not noticed before. They had riding clothes on and led two small saddle horses. "Get the ones that look more vulnerable and that big black stallion, check them all for brands and chips," the lady said and the men mounted their steeds and slowly entered the corral. All the horses cowered in fear at the back at the man astride the horses. Seto tensed, ready to flee, never taking his eyes off of the men. One of them muttered something to the other and their horses broke into a gallop. Seto exploded dashing around the corral avoiding the lasso's they weilded in their hands. Seto saw the colt he had fought earlier fall to the ground when a rope had wrapped around his neck.
The colt bleated in terror and was dragged away from the heard. And into the trailor. Seto heard the colt whinnying in fear. The other man caught a skinny mare and easily loaded her with the terrified colt. Seto's adrenaline was rushing and fire was in his heart, he wasn't going to let these men catch him. After succesfully catching five horses, it was Seto's turn to be trailored both cow horses charged him their riders twirling the ropes in their hands.
Seto neighed defiantly and ran away before they could get close enough. Seto faced them, accepting their challenge, and their fight began. The men tried again, their horses blocking Seto's every move until finally he was cornered. It wasn't long before Seto felt the rope slap around his neck. He stopped short and reared on his hindlegs, battering his front hooves like clubs. The rope barely kept Seto from falling over backwards and he landed sqarely on his hurt leg. He groaned in pain as he landed and nursed his foot. He felt the rope tug on his neck. He jerked his head back, fighting and leaning on the rope, but the cattle horses leaned into Seto's weight and they were all too much for him.
Seto wasn't giving up to quickly, he faught and twisted in the air as the riders dragged him out of the corral. As he exited, Seto broke into a frantic fit of bucks and kicks fighting with all his heart. Finally, with a flexible toss of his neck he flung the rope off and almost instantly rocketed into a full gallop, bound for home.
Rae gasped as the stallion raced away from the clearing, upsetting the cattle in the neighboring feild. Rae needed to think fast, she looked at one of the cow horses. "Excuse me," she said and shoved one of the men off their horses. The man landed lightly on the ground and before he could protest, Rae had pushed her horse into a gallop after the black stallion.
