The Wolf You Feed
Chapter 4
Morgan whined. A low quiet noise that came out through his pink nose as his tail beat a steady rhythm against the ground. Rowan was being as gentle as she could as she checked the dog's bandage. Now that the sun was up and there was more light she could see a lot better than she had been able to the night before. The dog was going to be fine. But Morgan needed rest. And that presented a problem. They needed to leave. To track the herd of wild horses that took Molly before the animals got too far or the rain that was threatening came and washed their tracks away.
"I can stay here with the dogs," Enid offered. The idea had been dismissed the first time she offered. But no one had come up with a better plan yet. Now that the sun was up, they were losing time arguing about it. Daryl glanced at Rowan again. She stared back, narrowing her eyes and giving him the look he knew meant she was going to be stubborn.
"Molly will come to me if I call her," Rowan reminded him again. She didn't want to start an argument with Daryl on top of everything else that was going on. But there was no way she was staying here with Enid and the dogs. She would go crazy staying here. She had to look for Molly.
Daryl took a deep breath in and blew the air out through his nose, snorting like a dragon. He glanced at Carl. The boy shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Daryl. Rowan and Enid were also staring at him. Waiting for him to decide what was about to happen. Daryl felt weighted down with the unfamiliar pressure. It started the first day they were on the road. The small group had to make a decision about which way to go to cross a river. After they talked over the possibilites, Carl, Enid and Rowan just stood there staring at him. It had taken Daryl a moment before he even realized what was going on. They were wating for him to tell them what to do.
All Daryl's life he had someone around to tell him what to do. His parents. His brother. Later on it was Rick. Hershel and Carol when Rick was taking his farming break. Even Beth. When Daryl was alone with her after the prison fell she had been the one that decided where they were going and what they were doing. At his home in Alexandria, Rowan's father ran the roost. Not that the man was bossy or demanding. But he was in charge. Alexandria itself was run by Rick and Deanna. If they needed something done, Daryl was happy to do it, but he had no interest in assuming any control over the town.
Out here on the road it was different. Daryl had to make the hard decisions. He was doing his best, but it still felt like he was wearing a shoe that didn't fit him right. If anything happened to Rowan or the kids, Carl and Enid still felt like kids in his mind, it would be all on him. His fault. It was his responsibility to keep them safe. And now the damn horse had run off and Morgan was hurt and he felt like it was all his fault.
"Are you coming with us or staying here?," Daryl asked Carl. The boy looked in the direction the horses had gone and then looked back at his girlfriend, twisting a piece of his hair between his fingers.
"Go," Enid told him, "Tank can stay with me and I have my rifle. I'll be fine." She gestured towards Rowan and Daryl. "They could use your help getting Molly back." If they needed to surround the herd of horses, three people would be better than two. Carl lifted his head, jerking his chin at Daryl. He was going.
They left most of their things at the campsite with Enid, taking only weapons and a days worth of food and water. Rowan brought Molly's harness and tossed an extra riding blanket over Comet's back. Carl hugged Enid tight against his chest. She pressed her lips against his neck and squeezed back. Then she sat down next to Morgan and got a firm grip on Tank's collar. Rowan had told the dog very firmly that he was to stay with Enid. But the girl knew better than to trust that the dog would listen. As soon as Rowan got out of sight, he would start throwing a regular fit, trying to chase her down. And Daryl didn't want Tank with them. He was afraid the big dog might spook the horses and make them run.
Like Daryl had guessed the night before, the large group of horses left a well trampled trail that was easy to follow. Carl and Rowan might have been able to follow the horses by themselves without his expert help, it was so obvious which way they had gone. They travelled for about an hour before Daryl was sure they were getting close. The droppings the horses were leaving behind were looking fresher. Carl was up on Comet's back, keeping a lookout for not only horses, but anything else that might be coming their way.
The area surrounding them was starting to feel less like woods and more like a residential area that had just overgrown after the turn. Rowan was careful to observe the surrounding area. Things that looked familiar but yet unfamilar at the same time kept catching her eye. She thought they had another day or two on the road, at least, but now she was starting to think they were closer to her old home than she realized. But when they emerged from the woods and she caught sight of the bridge she knew for sure.
Her community, along with several surrounding communities, saved money for three years to build that bridge. Rowan had donated the money from an entire litter of puppies she sold. And she had given up visiting her father one summer so she could help her mother's womens group run a booth at the famers market to raise more money.
The bridge went up over the highway. But it was not for cars to drive on. It was for the animals. So they would be able to get to one side of the forest to the other without being run over. The leaders of her community had not been able to prevent the highway from being run straight through their land, so they organized the building of the bridge instead.
Rowan frowned, edging closer to Daryl for the comfort that he gave her. What was left of the bridge was a sad sight. It was overgrown with vines. The middle had colapsed or maybe even been blown up for some reason. It was hard to tell. But down near the bottom, Rowan saw something that made her face light up in a smile. Molly. The herd of horses was grazing in the open area down near the bottom of the bridge. Rowan flung into Daryl's arms, kissing him full on the mouth in her excitement. Carl swung down off Comet's back and just for good measure, Rowan flung her arms around him as well.
Daryl stuck one finger in his mouth and then held up it up above his head, testing to see which way the wind was blowing. If the horses caught smell of them, they would probably bolt, and that was the last thing he wanted now that they had finally found them.
"You stay here on this side of them with Comet," Daryl told her. "Get as close as you can and then whistle for Molly." He knew Rowan would be able to get close to the animals. There was something about her that animals seemed to like. She might have been able to do it alone, but with Comet to disguise her scent, she would be able to get even closer. He and Carl were going to sneak around to the other side of the herd just in case they ran. "We are going around the other side, try to box them in." Rowan nodded. Daryl motioned to Carl and they both took off back into the woods. She could see the top of Daryl's head bobbing around for a moment and then the forest swallowed him up.
Rowan held Comet's reigns, moving slowly. Any time she saw the horses look up, she let Comet stop and graze. Horses didn't graze if there was danger around. She knew the sight of him eating would put the other animals at ease. As they got closer and closer, Rowan could feel the excitement building inside her. She could see Molly. They were almost there. When she thought she as close as she was going to be able to get, she put her fingers to her mouth and whistled for her horse. This was a special whistle, the one she used only to call Molly. The one that meant food and special treats to the black horse.
Several horse heads popped up at the sudden noise, but none faster than the ink black one with the white streak down the muzzle. Molly shook her head around and started off in the direction the whistle had come from. Rowan fought the urge to whistle again and hurry her up. Keeping hold of Comet's reigns, she stepped out and reached her hand out to her horse. Her fingers brushed across the soft fur above Molly's nose. Then she was hugging the horse to her, feeling Molly's knee come up and press into her lower back to pull her closer.
Rowan pulled her bag down off one shoulder to get Molly's harness out. She was looking down into her bag and didn't see the large grey and white stallion charging in her direction until it was too late. The big horse shoved in front of Molly, pushing her back and away. Then he reared up, sounding a loud challenge. He snorted and pounded his hooves into the ground, then reared up again.
The second challenge was more than Comet could take. Comet was much younger and not nearly as filled out as the larger stallion. But he reared up anyway, ready to fight. Rowan tried to keep hold of his reigns, but the leather ripped through her hands, forcing her to let go in order to prevent being severly rope burned. She fell back onto her butt on the ground and crab crawled away backwards to keep from being trampled. The stallion charged at Comet, forcing the smaller horse to back off. Then he corralled Molly back towards the herd, nipping at her flanks.
Rowan let off a shrill noise, snorting air through her nose much like the horses had just been doing. She had the sudden urge to call that big dumb horse every dirty word she knew, a list that had increased significantly since she had started living with Daryl. "So rude!," she finally announced with another high pitched squeak of irritation and a stomp of her foot. The sight of that big stallion biting at poor Molly and forcing her to go with him really rubbed Rowan the wrong way.
Rowan brushed herself off and called Comet back to her. She got ahold of his reigns. He had bucked off the riding blankets and she pulled him along with her as she moved to retrieve them. "Should have bit that big bully horse," she muttered to Comet. "Wish Daryl would shoot that dumb horse with his bow," Rowan grumbled. She didn't really mean that last part, but she was starting to think shooting the herd stallion might be the only way to get Molly back.
Rowan grabbed the riding blankets, getting ready to toss them over Comet's back. Suddenly she froze. Dropping the blankets, she looked around. A terrifying chill creeped up her back. Her eyes were wide, and she glanced around quickly to try and find the sorce of the danger she knew was coming. But there was nothing in the woods behind her. Not even a single walker.
Rowan took a breath, trying to calm herself. She turned back to the horses, looking to see how far away Molly was. That was when she saw it. Smoke. Lots of smoke. She must have smelled it before she saw it. That's what scared her. Rowan was confused. She looked around, trying to figure out where the fire was coming from. Daryl and Carl would not have set it without telling her, but they were the only people around as far as she knew.
The smoke wasn't just scaring Rowan. It was also frightening the large herd of horses. They were starting to group together, tighter. And they were moving towards the bridge. Rowan heard voices then, human voices that she didn't recgonize. People were hooting and hollering. Rowan couldn't understand what they were doing until she saw someone on the far side of the clearing waving a torch. She gasped, her hand coming up to grip the crystal around her neck for comfort. These people. They were trying to cause a stampede. They were trying to make the horses run up the bridge and off the drop off. And Molly was in the middle of the frightened herd.
Rowan grabbed the blonde hair of Comet's mane and swung herself up onto his back. She kicked him hard in the sides and held on tight, sending him charging towards the herd. Rowan yelled as loud as she could, trying to make the horses move out of her way. She was trying to keep control of Comet, but she didn't ride the animal very often and he wasn't used to her signals the way Molly was. They were being carried along in the sea of churning horses, straight towards the drop off.
