Chapter Eight

The race

Gordon whispered into Buffus's ear. "Come on Buffus after everything we went through yesterday you don't want to embarrass us now."

Buffus just snorted.

"If you haven't noticed they're all mounted. If you don't let me mount up they're gonna think they're better than us."

Another snort from Buffus.

"Douglas is gonna think his horse is stronger than you."

Buffus grunted and laid down to allow Gordon to mount up easier.

"Nice one Buffus you've already out done them." Gordon said as he got on.

Buffus grunted again and started to mosey on down the others followed behind.

Douglas trotted his horse up next to Gordon. "I don't know about you, but I want to get there" he said while looking down at Gordon.

"Buffus is getting up to speed" Gordon said while staring straight ahead. The idea of having to look up at Douglas didn't sit well

with him, even if it was only a couple of inches.

"Well, while he's getting up to speed, I'll be getting up to speed. Hyah!" Douglas and his faithful steed took off.

Gordon was impressed with Douglas's stallion and not only with his speed but by his size too. He looked like he could support Gordon and all his gear. Egan and Natalie trotted their horses up next to Buffus.

Egan was at eye level with Gordon and Natalie was still shorter.

"Wow Shadow's fast." Natalie said.

"Is that the name of Douglas's horse?" Gordon asked.

"Yep, but he's right it'll take forever to get there at this rate. Can Buffus go faster?" She asked him.

"That's up to him" Gordon answered. "What do you think Buffus. Do you want everyone to think you're slow as a turtle?"

Buffus bellowed in response then charged down the road nearly throwing Gordon off.

"Well it looks like Buffus can be fast if he wants to." Egan said surprised by the burst of speed.

"I think he's catching up to Douglas." Natalie responded. "Come on Alicia we don't want to be turtles" Natalie told her mare before riding off after them.

"Errr…. Let's go…" Egan had just recently bought the mare. He hadn't yet named her and he was unsure of her speed. She bolted down the road.

000

"Haha. At least I've got the fastest mount." Douglas chuckled to himself as he pulled on the reins to slow Shadow down so the others could catch up.

He looked back and Buffus blasted by him with Gordon holding on for dear life. Natalie and Egan weren't far behind.

"Alright Shadow, you're the ultimate horse, show them what you're made of!" Douglas shouted.

Shadow responded by taking off after Buffus. He was quickly up to speed, but he wasn't catching up. Nyah nyah nyah nyah Shadow thought (Roughly translated that means: no buffamoo is gonna out race me!). Shadow shifted into another gear and began to accelerate to speeds faster than ever.

000

Egan was almost caught up with Natalie. Wow this horse is fast I need to give her a name to suit such speed. Sonic?.. No that's a boy name. Maybe Speedy? No too easy.

His mare jumped over something in the road and he almost fell off. Whoa… The name can wait I better pay attention to the road. He looked up and realized he catching up to Natalie.

It feels good to have the wind in my hair. It's been awhile since I've had Alicia at a good run. Natalie thought to herself. But Douglas and Gordon are pulling away. She heard Egan passing on her right. She looked over at him.

"Don't you know your supposed to pass on the left!"

"Oh no I didn't…" Egan said surprised.

"Ya it's a rule of the road, so pass on the left." Natalie told him with a straight face.

"OK" Egan slowed his horse, got back behind her and moved to the left side.

Sucker! Men can be so gullible sometimes. Natalie thought as Egan slowed; she urged her horse to go faster when he was behind her. "Haya!"

"Hey!" Egan yelled as she pulled him. Darn. Why am I so gullible? He thought to himself as he lightly kicked his mare's sides to go faster.

000

Gordon had gained a better hold of Buffus and felt like he had some kind of control. He peeked behind him at his bags and gear,which was still intact, and relaxed a little. Gordon was worried all the jolting would shake something loose but everything was secured tight. He glanced back behind him to see how far ahead he was.

Douglas wasn't too far back and seemed to be catching up. Natalie and Egan were falling farther back little by little. Gordon looked ahead and could see the Crossings up ahead.

The Crossings was the local name for the last cross road to the border. If they continued going south they'd be heading straight for the Sechs empire, east would lead them further inland, and west would keep them along the coast.

Gordon had originally planned on continuing south, but he decided they would head west towards the town Salty Harbor. He didn't want to take Natalie and Egan towards danger, though he was thinking about enlisting Douglas for his mission.

"We're stopping at the Crossings Buffus." Gordon told his buffamoo. He gave a light tug on the reins to slow Buffus.

Buffus didn't respond he just continued his charge.

"Buffus?" Gordon pulled on the reins a little harder. Buffus started to slow for Gordon, but then he could hear Shadow catching up. Buffus must have heard it too because he picked up speed again.

000

At this point Douglas was no longer in control of Shadow, even though he thought he was. He was really just holding on and thinking.

Buffus is faster than I thought, but Shadow is catching up. Where is Gordon going anyway? I figured we would turn west…

Hey what's he yelling about?

000

Buffus shot right through the Crossings Gordon yelling for him to stop the whole time.

"STOP! PLEASE STOP! DARN IT BUFFUS STOP RIGHT NOW!" Gordon screamed at the top of his lungs. He then yanked on the reins hard.

Buffus turned left towards some bushes growing on the side of the road. He then came to a sudden halt and bucked his rear end. Gordon front flipped through the air before crash landing in the brush.

Shadow shot right past Buffus even though Douglas was trying to stop him. He ran another thirty feet or more before Douglas got him slowed down and turned back around. They then ran to Gordon's aid.

"Gordon! Are you alright?" Douglas yelled as he jumped off Shadow.

"Ya… I think so, but I could use a hand getting up." Gordon replied while sticking his gauntlet covered hand up out of the brush. Douglas grabbed his hand and pulled him up back up on his feet.

Natalie and Egan showed up riding side by side.

"What happened?" Asked Natalie as she got off her horse.

"Gordon got thrown off by Buffus" Douglas said with a snicker.

"What!? Are you OK? She asked looking at Gordon.

"I'm fine thankfully my armor broke my fall" said Gordon. He turned toward his buffamoo. Buffus and Shadow were staring each other down and they were stamping the ground. "Douglas we might have a problem".

Douglas turned and saw the were about to charge and he didn't have much confidence in Shadow going against a buffamoo. Plus Buffus had a nice set of horns and probably knew how to use 'em. Douglas started yelling at Shadow.

"Get away from that mad buffamoo Shadow before he horns you!" Douglas shouted.

"Buffus if you hurt him I'll end you immediately!" Gordon yelled. He then picked up a rock and threw it with effort. It was a long distance but it hit hard.

The rock hit him in the flank and it hurt. Buffus broke eye contact with Douglas's stallion and turned his attention towards his aggressor. It was his master! His own master; he should be helping not hindering! Buffus began to snort and grunt insults and curses about Gordon that were so nasty Shadow began to feel uncomfortable and backed away. That horse wanted nothing to do with that buffamoo. Buffus charged him.

Gordon seen the charge and planted his feet firmly, spread his arms, and braced himself. This might not go well… He thought to himself as Buffus charged him.

"Ahhh!" Douglas yelled as he got out of the way.

Buffus stopped short of running Gordon over and began to buck and thrash about. When he began to tire himself out and slowed Gordon seized the opportunity, literally. He grabbed the bull by the horns!

"Calm down Buff. Relax we're all peaceful." Gordon spoke softly to his buffamoo. "Now Buffus… I thought we were friends."

Buffus stopped moving and let out a quiet moo.

"I'm gonna let you go now. I hope you don't gouge me…" Gordon told Buffus.

Buffus didn't gouge him. In fact he took a step forward and butted his head against Gordon's chest affectionately. Gordon in response took off one of his gauntlets and ran his hand through Buffus's fur then he scratched behind the buffamoo's ears. Buffus mooed in pleasure.

"Come on Buffus we got a mission." Gordon led the way back towards the cross roads. The rest of the group was stunned. Gordon turned around and addressed them "are yall coming?". They slowly started to follow.

I hope everyone reading this is enjoying it so far.