Read Online The Smartest Horse in Texas (The Traherns #2) by Nancy Radke - Free Book Online Page A

go. The stars were showing by now, their brilliance
increasing as the night deepened. Starlight actually gives off enough light out
in the open for a horse to travel by, and there was a glow in the east, like a
small fire, that told me the moon would soon be a rising.
    Hero pulled on the reins, eager to go, and I remembered that the
filly had just come back into heat.
    I eased the reins and let him have his head. He turned west on
the trail headed toward the mountains, and I just let him go.
    She had a good start on us, but ever so often I’d check the trail.
Misty’s unshod hoof prints stood out atop all the others. Hero trotted fast, I
think faster than he’d ever gone before, and I just eased back in the saddle
and let him run under me.
    She had probably gotten a half-hour’s start on us, so I didn’t
look for her at first. After an hour or so, Hero nickered and started to
gallop. I could smell dust now, so knew we were closing in.
    More dust than a single horse would make. I topped a rise and
looked out over the flat prairie in front of us, now lit by the bright moon.
    There she was, surrounded by nine Indians.
    Were they helping her or had they captured her?
    The flat plain was a flood plain for the Brazos. I could see it
moving down the middle of the valley like a huge, wide snake.
    They were headed straight for it. Was it shallow enough to
cross?
    I urged Hero into a flat-out run, hoping we could reach them in
time.
    There. They’d seen me. Some were pointing at me while others
were going down the riverbank.
    As I drew close I could see that someone had built a two-horse
ferry. They were taking the horses across on this, Misty and Dawn included.
    I got to the river’s edge just as the last of them ferried
across. I looked at the rope system that had been set up. The ropes appeared
good and stout and I took hold of them to pull the ferry back over to my side.
    It was not to be. Laughing, they cut the ferry loose and let it
drift away on the river. Then they waved to me and rode away.
    Dawn hadn’t waved. She had looked at me, but hadn’t moved her
hands. I figured they were tied down.
    That river was flooding, carrying a huge volume of water. It was
not shallow nor was it tame.
    I dismounted and waited until the Indians had ridden off with
their prize. They figured I couldn’t cross here. Well, maybe not, but I would
die trying.
    I pulled off my boots and tied on my moccasins, then tied my
boots and guns to the saddle horn to keep them as dry as possible. I waited
while Hero’s breathing steadied down. I’d do Dawn no good, getting river
drowned.
    He pawed impatiently at the ground, so I climbed on and headed
him into the water.
    “Well, Hero, do you want that filly bad enough?”
    He leaped out and in with a big splash, then started swimming. I
kicked my feet out of the stirrups and slid off his tail, grabbing it and
hanging on, letting him pull me across. As soon as my weight was off him, his
back rose out of the water and he swam easily, strong, powerful strokes that
carried him out into the middle where the current was stronger.
    I watched upstream for logs or other debris, coming down on us,
but most floated so low I couldn’t see them until they hit us. We drifted
downstream as he swam, so he came out quite a ways down from where he entered.
He clambered up the bank, pulling me along with him, then shook like a big dog,
flinging water every which way.
    I looked back at that river. Those Indians probably figured I
was on my way home by now. They wouldn’t be expecting me.
    I dropped the reins on Hero and climbed further up the bank,
scouting ahead. It was still dark out, but the moon was full, so I could see
them as easily as they had spotted me earlier.
    They were riding out of the flood plain area and into the brush
beyond. I waited until I figured they’d all cleared it, then mounted Hero and
put him back into his trot.
    I slowed down as we reached the brush on the edge of the plain.
I didn’t