STALKING HORSE
Chapter 2
The Winchesters prepare for the hunt …
xxxxx
The door to 'Harpers Saddlery' opened with a creak and a tinkle and the brothers were immediately hit by the overwhelming aroma, beloved of all equestrians, of new leather and saddle soap.
A wiry, weatherbeaten man; Harper, they presumed; greeted them economically.
"What can I do for you boys?"
Sam spoke up, "Er, we'd like to buy a bridle." He tailed off, his entire repertoire of equestrian technical terms exhausted.
"What sort?" asked Harper, gesturing to an entire wall hung with countless leather strappings and metal buckles; the sort of arrangement which in other environments would make Dean's eyes light up.
"One for a horse," said Dean in complete seriousness.
Harper gazed levelly at them. The look on his face said, "I've got a right pair here!"
"What kinda bit d'ya need?"
Dean stared at him, "all of it, of course!"
Harper sighed.
"I mean, what ya using it for? Racin', showin', schoolin'?"
Sam made an attempt to rescue the situation. "We're not ridin' the horse, we just want to lead him around. Nothing ambitious."
"Then you boys don't want a bridle, you want a halter."
"Uh, okay," came the stereo response.
xxxxx
A further two days of research had Sam bombarding Dean with a mind-boggling array of facts about the most likely location for their target; these things are shy and solitary, they are only active at dawn and twilight, they are attracted by certain plants, they are repelled by others, they can't stray too far from the water …
Sam eventually slammed the laptop shut and turned to Dean, "Right, we're looking for a secluded area away from the tourist trail, there'll probably be some kind of cave, it'll probably be surrounded by ferns, there might be an oak tree nearby, and it'll be very close to the edge of the lake".
Dean stared at him. "Not a lot to go on Sherlock …" he grunted.
xxxxx
"Dude", groaned Dean, "we've been traipsing round this lake for friggin' hours!" He sighed dramatically, "we must have done at least two circuits."
Sam pointedly ignored him and forged on ahead, clambering over rocks and spongy pads of moss, pushing low hanging branches out of his face.
"An' it's hours since I had a decent drink …"
Sam held the water bottle back for his brother to take. Dean caught up and took it without thanks, taking a long swig; he grimaced.
"Ah jeez … I said a DECENT drink!"
Sighing again, Dean resumed his unenthusiastic trudge.
A moment later, he barrelled straight into Sam's rock solid back. "Hey, man!" he snorted, "wanna let me know when you're planning on stoppin' and blockin' the path?"
Silence.
"Dude?" He glanced over Sam's motionless shoulder … and froze.
There in front of them was a small clearing inamongst the countless fir trees, it's floor carpeted with ferns. It looked out over the lake and was bordered on it's south side by a rocky outcrop which was fractured by a narrow grotto. The rocky outcrop was crowned by an oak sapling - possibly the only deciduous tree in sight.
The brothers stared until Dean broke the silence.
"Holy crap!"
xxxxx
The Winchesters settled down on the shore of the lake close to the clearing, "well it's about twilight" muttered Dean, rummaging in his pocket for a half-eaten chocolate bar; "if Mr Ed's going to show his face, he's better friggin' do it now!"
"If he doesn't, we'll have to stay here until dawn." replied Sam, unfolding the halter in readiness.
Dean scowled, "another reason why I'm going to kick his friggin' flea-bitten ass when I see him!"
xxxxx
Two hours later …
Dean breathed a puff of vapour into the cold night air. "It's freakin' freezing'!" he said, pulling his jacket tighter around him and shivering slightly. "I can't feel my ass any more - isn't there something softer than this damned log to sit on?"
"Dude," Sam turned to Dean, "will you give it a rest? You've done nothing but moan and complain this whole job!"
"Well," snorted Dean, "I don't do freakin' nature!" he cupped his hands and breathed into them, "it's cold, and uncomfortable, and dirty, and some crappy thing is always tryin' to bite you or sting you or ooze mucus on you."
Sam grinned, rolling his eyes; "jerk" he muttered, receiving a poke in the ear for his trouble.
xxxxx
Four hours later …
"Dude, that doesn't look anything like a flying horse!"
The Winchesters were passing the time trying to identify the constellations.
"If you turn and look at it from this angle," Sam craned his head grotesquely as if he was limbo dancing, "you can see it, look … there's it's neck and head and two front legs, see?"
Dean squinted, but didn't look convinced.
"Man, I'd love to know what the dude who decided that looked like a flying horse was trippin' on!"
xxxxx
Eight hours later …
Dean opened bleary eyes after a fitful nap to see the Sun appearing over the mountain peaks, bathing the whole lake in an ethereal dawn light; a light mist hugged the lake's shores, drifting lazily around the edge of the mirror-smooth water, coating everything it touched in a crystalline layer of sparkling dew.
Dean took in the sight and decided that maybe nature wasn't so bad after all.
He stretched out stiff cold joints, flinching as his protesting shoulders cracked and popped, and walked slowly down to the lake's edge.
The mist swirled around his ankles, muffling the crunch of his boots on the damp shale.
It was then that he saw it.
It stood in the water a short distance away from him, gazing at him with soft liquid eyes. It's coat of gunmetal grey had a satin sheen which glistened and shimmered with the Sun's light.
It's mane and forelock, as pale as ivory, ran continuously with water which trickled softly over it's dappled neck and chest, pattering into the water around it's strong, slender legs.
The two held each other's gaze; long, pale lashes swept over deep brown eyes; long dark lashes swept over deep green eyes.
It gave a soft huff and bowed it's head, pawing at the bed of the lake, the muscles of it's withers and back twitching and fluttering as it moved.
Dean stared. Rendered utterly insensible, his world shrank to this moment. There was no Sam, no Dad, no Impala; just him and this magical being in front of him.
The horse gave a soft snort and bowed it's head again, maintaining it's hypnotic gaze.
It was in that moment that Dean knew with sadness that even if he lived forever, he would never see such captivating beauty again.
Xxxxx
Tbc