As Jess rode on down a well beaten path away from Sean, confused thoughts muddled her brain. What on Earth was going on? This was far too odd, she just couldn't wrap her mind around what had happened. The only thing she could think of was that those two trees had somehow transported her here from Texas. That idea was unbelievable of course, there was no such thing as magic, right? "Right boy?" she asked Colorado. Colorado shook his head as if in acknowledgement. He might not have understood her words but he understood her tone. Jess pulled herself out of her stupor and looked around her. The wilderness could not have been more different from Texas. This place looked like it was much further north, with large pines and lots of shrubbery. She could hear birds twittering in the forest off to her sides, and the occasional squirrel or two scampered across her path. Colorado's nose flared as he tried to take in all the new smells and sounds. He was a Texas horse born and raised, and he had never been outside the ranch's property, let alone the state. Focusing now Jess realized how well Colorado was taking this. Suddenly she felt sorry for him, she had been worrying about what was going on and hadn't even thought about her horse. She quickly took stock of her surroundings. At fifteen years old, she had rarely been out of state save when they went on cattle drives, but that was the same route up to Montana every time. One time it had been to Mexico when she was eight to visit relatives, the other was to go hiking in the woods with her mother and father in Maine. They had taken a course in wilderness survival which, as she reflected now, was extremely different from her Texas wilderness survival courses. Jess noted how they were going slightly down-hill. Water flows down, she thought. The foliage was also very green. No lack of water here. Still nervous after her encounter at the inn, Jess decided that she should try and find a stream, which would most likely be off in the denser parts of the forest, but which way, right or left? Jess tried to figure out a way to tell. Suddenly a rabbit burst through the brush to her left, closely followed by a small fox. Colorado snorted and backed up a pace but didn't bolt. Jess was amazed to see that they were both soaking wet. She smiled to herself as they disappeared off into the woods to her right.
"Well boy, that as good a hint as any, isn't it?" she addressed her horse. The palomino snorted. "Come on then, she said." She nudged him off to the left treading carefully through the strange flora. Colorado tried snacking on the leaves and bushes as they pushed their way closer to the supposed stream. Jess smiled at her horse's behavior, Colorado had probably never seen this much green in one place. Finally after about ten minutes of riding, she could hear the sound of running water.
"Come on boy, right through here," she urged her horse through the remaining trees and was welcomed by the sight of a quickly-flowing river. Good, she thought, if it's flowing quickly, that means it's clean. She dismounted and pulled the reins over Colorado's head. She lead him over to the stream and let him drink. Standing and looking around her, she noticed that the shadows were getting longer. Glancing above the tree line she could just make out the tip of the sun.
"Guess we're camping here tonight pal," she told him. She wasn't too nervous, she had gone with Colorado on campouts before, it was a norm for them. In Texas they would ride for a couple miles, then make camp and gaze at the stars until the latest hours of the night. The only difference would be lots more trees and the lack of a tent. Suddenly she thought of her saddle bags. She moved over to Colorado's left side and tore open the small brown bag. Yes! There was a lead rope, a bottle of water, a couple granola bars, sunglasses, scissors, a body brush, extra rope, matches, bandages, and some disinfectant.
"This is great boy!" Jess exclaimed. No one in the Texas wilderness ever went anywhere without the necessities to survive the harsh wilderness of the desert. She mentally bashed herself though, remembering how her bedroll was on the back of Jonny's saddle, tied next to Jonny's bedroll. She hadn't liked the idea of letting him carry her bedroll but was prepared to do anything to get him off her case. "Ah well, this is still superb!" She tied the saddle bag closed again then went around to the front of her horse and took his bridle off. Clipping the lead rope to his halter she shrugged the bridle over her shoulder and walked him over to a tree. She spotted a good, firm-looking branch and deftly tied a quick release knot. She wondered for a moment if she should leave her saddle on, in case she had to get away quickly, then decided against it, Colorado had had it on all day and he was starting to lather. She unsaddled him and after unhooking the saddle bag, leaned it against another tree trunk. Hanging the saddle pad on the branch above the saddle to dry, she took the brush out of her saddlebag of gave him a good rub down. She whispered soothingly to him the entire time. She calmed down as she brushed. She hadn't realized how tense she had been. Colorado seemed to calm down too. A couple minutes into the rub down he stretched his head up towards the top of the branches. Jess was confused, why was her horse stretching? Then she realized he was trying to eat the leaves of the tree. She laughed and set her bush down. "You're always hungry aren't you boy?" she teased. Walking around the base of the trunk she caught sight of a low branch. She jumped up and grabbed hold of it, using her momentum to follow up and bend her elbows. She pulled herself up with ease, mentally thanking her father for all the times he had made her wrestle a calf down by herself. Her arms were strong and her feet sure-footed as she made her way up to the higher branches. She was about three quarters of the way up the tree when she turned and looked out over the countryside. Her breath caught in her throat as she gazed at the land below her. Farms peppered the hills and villages were clumped along the grassy fields. Roads and rivers twined along, like blue and brown snakes. She sighed, and for the umpteenth time wondered at how different these areas were, then turned around again to break off a branch, missing the small figure way below her seated upon a small horse, quietly making their way through the woods. Jess scrambled down and held the branch in front of Colorado's nose. He reached out with his lips and daintily grabbed the branch from her outstretched palm. Leaving her horse to chew contentedly, Jess ambled over to the shore of the stream. She cupped her hands and splashed some of the cool, refreshing water on her face. Trying to rub the dirt and grime off, she was startled by a loud snort from behind her. Colorado had finished his branch and was looking off into the woods. Turning his head towards Jess he snorted again.
"What, do you want another branch? Because I am not climbing up that tree again, mister, you go climb it yourself." Colorado snorted again and shook himself. Jess smiled and walked over to the saddle bags, quickly untying the laces. She pulled all of her supplies out, trying to sort them into piles. She chewed on the edge of her lip as she always did when she was confused, and absentmindedly swatted and the bugs that were starting to come out. "Blast," she frowned. "No bugs in Texas, that means no bug spray. Sorry boy," she said, not missing how Colorado was swishing his tail. "What do you think boy, should we make a fire?" Her horse didn't respond. "Ah well then, be that way," she stated, contemplating the pros and cons of the fire. She was hesitant because it was possible it would attract people, in fact it was probable. Plus when she fell asleep she would have to put it out so the whole forest didn't catch on fire, and she didn't have buckets or anything to carry river water. But the smoke would help with the bugs, and it would provide a sense of comfort. "A very, very small one maybe? But what if I waste the matches? Colorado you are no help at all." Jess sighed. "Maybe I should have just stayed at the inn. Aw who am I kidding, I wouldn't have lasted five more minutes in that place. Blast it, I wouldn't have lasted one minute. Not that my chances out here are that much better. Probably all sort of creatures out here at night. Wolves, bears, coons. Oh! Bears! Food, food, food! Rope? Here it is," she said triumphantly after searching through the bag. Slinging the rope through the fastenings of the saddlebag, she threw the rope up over the tallest limb she could reach of the tree and pulled, hoisting the bag up as far as she could make it go. Then she tied the end she was holding around the trunk of the tree.
"There we go. Don't want those bears eating our granola do we?" she addressed her horse. He snorted. "You my friend are a horse of few words, aren't you." She grinned and pressing her back up against the trunk of the tree, slid down to a sitting position. "There, the food's safe. 'Course now they'll just eat us." she said in a more depressed tone. Suddenly she felt all of the events of the day come crashing down on her. She put her face in her hands. "Oh Colorado, what did I do?" She could feel the pressure building up behind her eyes. Oh don't you dare cry Jessica McNally. Cowgirls don't cry. Cowgirls don't cry!
"Lord help me. I'm here lost in this god-forsaken land in... I don't even know where. I'm stuck here, for all I know. I have practically no supplies, no friends, no help coming, no money, and no place to stay. Great job Jess. Just a stellar job. Why don't I just give myself a pat on the back. And you know what Colorado, Jonny's probably happy right now, he probably thinks I got myself lost. He's probably telling daddy right now all the reasons i shouldn't be on the cattle drive. 'Girls aren't meant to work on ranches, girls aren't strong enough, girls can't wrestle the cattle, girls are too dumb. Lord I hope he gets fired, he makes me so mad." Jess was angry. She knew she wasn't really mad at Jonny. Somewhere deep in her consciousness she knew she was just mad and frustrated and Jonny was the first person she thought of to take it out on, but she didn't care. "Stupid Jonny, telling me what to do. Thinks I can't handle myself he does. It's all his fault." she surged to her feet without realizing it. She kicked the dirt, but it didn't make her feel any better. It didn't change anything. It was still creepy, dark forest dirt, not beautiful, sandy yellow Texas desert dirt. The pressure behind her eyes was too great now, and she could feel small trickles of wet inching down her face. "What if he was right? Huh Colorado, do you think he was right?" she trudged off, shuffling over to her horse, who now looked a bright fiery red, golden coat gleaming in the shades and hues of the sunset. Subconsciously she grabbed hold of his mane and pulled herself easily onto his bare back. She did it fluidly, she could ride bareback almost as well as she could ride with a saddle. Colorado turned his head to look at her, but other than that he kept still. He understood. Jess reached down and hugged her horse. Her wonderful beautiful horse. She stayed there for a little, drinking in his soothing touch. His smell of horse and dust. His dirty white mane. The monotonous breathing. When she sat up she was different. Her face was dry and there was a determined look set into her face. "Thank you boy." she muttered, then in a louder voice, to herself she said, "No more feeling sorry for myself. Cowgirls don't cry." Colorado shook his head enthusiastically, pawing the ground. She slid off his back and landed neatly on her feet. "Okay now where to sleep? Not by your tree, with those clunking hooves by my face all night? No thanks, and I'm not sleeping by that tree," she said pointing to the tree that the food was hanging from. Bear paws are worse than horse hooves. How about…" she walked around the small area looking for a good spot. "Here!" she said, looking down at a fallen tree. It was big and it had fallen just behind two others, making a rather tallish area protected on three sides. "Perfect!" she stated, kneeling down and inspecting the area. It was facing the river too, so she could see her horse. It was well and truly dark now, and as Jess lay down, her hand went down to hover comfortingly next to her pocket where her jackknife was. "'Night buddy," she whispered to her horse. As she lay on the grass, looking up at the sky, her last thought before drifting off into a deep sleep was, 'Different stars. How strange'.