Chapter 30

The Healing Process

My life was in danger.

For days I lay unconscious, senseless - between our world and the after life. Not completely dead, but not alive either. I had dreams, visions of different kinds. My whole body felt so hot and my head hurt, my eyes burned like fire. At times, I would hear and even feel the sweet and gentle caresses of Little Creek. His comforting whispers in my ears would come and go away like a soft Summer's breeze. I didn't even think if it was real or not...but it was so comforting and always peaceful. I felt at ease whenever I heard his voice.

There were often times when I'd see my parents. A strong black and white painted stallion, whom I could only hope was my father. He reared in the midst of dark clouds, calling and neighing for me, his blue eyes flashing with greatness. Next to him, pranced the free-spirited and splashy colored, beautiful mare. Her gentle nickers reached to my ears and I recognized them instantly. It was my darling mother!

The two of them trotted up in the bright blue sky, calling for me to come to them. But every time I tried to move towards where their heavenly light shone, a voice of Little Creek would stop me in my tracks.

"My girl. Stay with me. Stay with me." His voice echoing over and over in my subconscious.

Sometimes, my mind would replay that horrible day when Spirit and I flew down from the waterfall and into the dark depths of that cold, bitter water. My beloved stallion's protests and screams of anguish as he was ripped away from me and captured by men, would torment me in a haunting manner. My body would shudder at those miserable memories and I would begin to whimper.

But then again, the sweet and tranquil voice of my human would calm me down and his gentle strokes on my body, relaxed me.

This uncertainty of my subconscious continued for...who knows how long. The exact same visions and dreams, the same sensations and feelings. My fight with death kept raging on for days.

Whenever I'd hear the musical calls of my parents, their heavenly features in the bright golden sunlight, my only desire was to be with them. However, the voice of my human and the distant image of Spirit would always appear as shadows of obstacles that stopped me from nearing my parents.

At one point, I did manage to get close to my dear sire and dam. They were shining like the sun and the moon, they looked so magical and wonderful. A near sight of them was enough to bring me comfort of a lifetime. I followed after them as they led the way towards the brightest sky. I wanted to fly like them. Be rid of my earthly pain once and for all.

But my father turned his regal head around. "No, my daughter. Your time has not come yet." He stood in front of me, his blue eyes sparkling like stars. He didn't allow me to take a step forward.

"You have great many things to accomplish." Sweetly spoke my darling dam, her splashy coat illuminated by the heavenly glory. "Your destiny has not yet revealed itself."

I watched in puzzlement as slowly both of my parents began to fade into the bright light.

"Stay strong." They encouraged me in unison and then, they disappeared.

Suddenly I felt like I could awake again. In fact, after such a long struggle, my eyes finally cooperated with me and fluttered open lazily. A blurry light from the campfire was the first thing that struck me. Shifting my eyes from the burning sensation, I noticed a young woman from our village standing over me. She was gently bandaging my shoulder. She met my gaze and smiled, but I was too weak to do anything else and soon drifted off to sleep.

The next day, when I forced my blue eyes to open wide, I could at last feel alive once more.

I had survived.

My head no longer pounded, my body didn't sweat and my eyes no longer burned in agony. Sighing softly, I didn't move from my lying position instead began to slowly observe my surroundings. I was in a teepee tent of my two-legged friends. Underneath me was a huge blanket of buffalo fur that kept my body warm and cozy. In the corner was a big wooden basket and in it were placed all sorts of medicine bottles and delicate materials.

A morning sunlight peeked into the tent and I raised my head up cautiously. Just then, I felt that same, old, sharp pain in my right shoulder sting me and I let out yelp.

I shifted my gaze at the wounded area and noticed that my shoulder was covered up in a white material. It felt a little uncomfortable especially, when I tried to move. But something deep down told me that it was all for my own good.

Soon I heard noises approaching my tent and my ears perked forward in alertness. In no time, the same two-legged female who had bandaged my shoulder appeared and next to her stood another girl but her youthful appearance gave away that she was still a child.

Upon noticing that I was awake, they smiled and cheered happily. The pleasant woman neared me and slowly began to pet my neck. She moved her hands down to inspect my wound but I twitched and shied away from her touch.

"Hey, it's okay girl. I won't hurt you." She spoke calmly and softly. The young girl also came up to me and took a seat to where my head lay. She gently touched my nose and gave it an assuring rub.

As I eased up a bit more, the woman started to change my bandages slowly and gently while the young girl gave me delicious treats. Dried apples and small pieces of carrots were exactly what I needed on my empty stomach.

"There." Finished the woman as she stood up. "All done."

"Is she allowed to go outside?" Asked the young girl and sweetly brushed my cheek with her small hand.

"Of course. Little Creek said that as soon as she would feel better, she could." The woman answered and motioned for me to get up if I wanted to. She gently klicked her tongue and the young girl helped me push up my body. I forced myself to raise my legs and soon was once again standing up.

"Good as new!" The girl said in excitement.

"Go sweet Rain," The woman spoke kindly as she led me out of the tent. "Get some fresh air, but remember to go ease on yourself. You're not fully healed yet." She warned me cautiously and gave me a final stroke on the neck, before walking away together with the young girl.

There was lots of snow everywhere around territory as the wind howled. And I also noticed that we were in a different place. This wasn't the same village.

The people were the same...although they weren't as many as before. In fact, most of them were gone. Only women, children and elders were present. I could detect some men scattered here and there but our warriors were not in sight. My eyes darkened as I remembered that terrifying attack and the raging battle we had gone through. I observed how the most of the humans were now rebuilding the teepee tents and slowly settling in.

Women and children had gathered around a small campfire to keep warm. The same young woman and the little girl who had released me outside had joined the gathering as well. The chief of Lakota was not in sight but one of the elders stood up and prayed to the Great Spirit for the fallen warriors and the great chief himself.

My heart fell as I realized that most of the people I knew and admired had passed away.

I slowly walked around in the field and noticed that the horses...my very own kind were gone too. Only six elderly horses were standing by the tents, their heads lowered as they rested. Where was Wind? Dawn? Great Conquest? Blossom? River? Midnight?

Tears began to build in my eyes and my heart seemed to fail. There were many attacks on our village in the past but none were this brutal and with so much loss.

I was about to turn back and get closer to humans when I spotted Silver Moon with her yearling colt trotting towards me.

"Oh Rain! You're feeling better." The mare exclaimed in relief as she came up to me. "We were so worried about you."

Her colt nickered at me in excitement and his eyes lit up.

Personally, I too was very relieved to see some of my friends unharmed. "I'm doing alright. A lot better actually." I forced a smile as Silver Moon and I exchanged a warm greeting.

But I was also anxious to know what happened to others and most importantly, where was Little Creek? Why was he absent? The way the woman from earlier spoke about him didn't seem like he was dead or hurt. So where was he then?

Before Silver Moon could say anything, I decided to question her about everything I wanted to know. "Please tell me," I began in a panicky voice. "Where are the other horses? I only see those six elderly ones that I hadn't seen before and you and your colt. Where is Great Conquest, Dawn, Wind?"

The beautiful mare's face fell and her countenance darkened. "Oh Rain..." she nickered quietly.

"What going on?" I exclaimed, my patience wearing thin.

"You just got better. I don't want to worry you." Silver Moon retorted, tossing her forelock from her eyes.

"Your silence is worrying me." I stated firmly.

The mare looked sheepishly at her bright young colt and then took a deep breath. "When we were attacked so suddenly, my owner didn't have time to react and was murdered on the spot."

A shudder ran down my spine. I knew her caring and kind human. He was a middle-aged man with a lot of charisma. A true definition of kindness...poor, poor man. I continued listening, partly curious and partly afraid of what horrors I might hear next.

"I panicked and the only thing on my mind was to save my colt. The humans were also escaping together with some of the other horses. I decided to follow their lead and soon those who had managed to get away were all gathered together. We were later joined by other escaping tribe's horses." She cocked her head towards elderly horses that were resting by the tents.

"As for our friends...I found out later from the two-leggeds that the young and strong horses were all captured by the cavalry men. I'm not sure what might become of them but the word is that those vile men are using our kind to torturously drag a huge, black monster towards where they'll direct them...with pain and whips of course. Oh Rain..." Silver Moon whimpered in fear as she nuzzled her yearling, who was shaking in fright at these revelations. "...I'm afraid whoever is sent there...might never return."

I tried my best to remain composed but my heart beat fast and hard against my chest. "What about Little Creek?" I said, tears were building up in my eyes yet I refused to shed them.

"Your human was by your side all these past few days. He wasn't giving up and firmly believed you'd survive." Silver Moon continued, her voice much calmer and collected. "Yesterday, when your fever finally broke, he decided to leave you in good hands and immediately went to find the wild Mustang."

Spirit! I had forgotten all about my beloved stallion!

My blue eyes grew wide at that. "What? Spirit?" I gasped.

"Yes." Silver Moon nodded stoically. "It's more than likely that the young, strong, brave stallion like Spirit was captured and taken away to the same place where our other friends had been sent. At least your human was very sure about it and is determined to bring him back to repay him his debt. I heard the Mustang courageously saved the both of you."

Now I could no longer keep my composure and the tears fell from my blue eyes. "Yes, we owe him our life. My Spirit..." I sobbed weakly. "He was ripped away from me and captured in front of my eyes."

"I'm so sorry, Rain." Silver Moon comforted with a small nuzzle. "I didn't know that."

"Oh, this is horrible." I cried and the mare pulled me into a hug.

"Let's hope for the best." She whispered softly.

"Spirit is the strongest stallion on earth!" Exclaimed the yearling colt. "He'll be fine!"

His dam giggled at her son's optimistic exclamation. "You're right." She agreed with him and then gazed back at me. "And your human is quite swift and smart too. I believe they'll return to you safe and sound."

The words of the mother and son calmed and eased me up. I couldn't help but smile at the two. "Thank you. I truly hope you're both right."

Despite all the hardships, I was extremely grateful to have them by my side. I didn't know how I'd handle this situation if it weren't for Silver Moon and her yearling's optimism.

"Come, let's get you to rest for a little while." The wise mare suggested as she slowly led the way towards the human camp. I gazed up at the grey sky, snowflakes had begun to gently fall and I silently prayed for Little Creek and Spirit's safety.

Share your thoughts! It's always interesting for me to read what my followers are thinking. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and now I wish you all a Happy New Year!