Damsel – Page 5 – THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT HORSE trilogy

A River of Horsemen

River of Horsemen “A knot of men on foot clubbed their way forward and a horse wheeled away, falling against Targa and bringing her down. Meagan slid hard against the wooden wall, scraped between the wood and her struggling mare. Her arm fell free into open space, and she pulled herself off the pony and through the opening of a doorway.” – Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)

Sometime, somewhere on the plains of Central Asia …

The river of horsemen poured through the settlement. Meagan tried to pull Targa to the side to avoid a pileup ahead. She urged the mare toward a side path but the flow carried them beyond. Horses were coming in behind, overwhelming her. Bucking in the thickening brawl, Targa was pressed against a building. A knot of men on foot clubbed their way forward and a horse wheeled away, falling against Targa and bringing her down. Meagan slid hard against the wooden wall, scraped between the wood and her struggling mare. Her arm fell free into open space, and she pulled herself off the pony and through the opening of a doorway.

Inside, she watched the wall shudder with the weight of horses trapped against it. Meagan jumped away as one board splintered, then another. Backing behind a table, she heard a whimper and turned to see two children crouched under a crudely made chair. They were boys, hardly more than toddlers. Meagan made a move to comfort them but they flinched away, huddling tighter. She stopped, realizing that she was the enemy.

The wall was coming apart. A section bowed in. Beyond it Meagan saw her mare lying on her side, the top of her hindquarters trapped underneath another horse. Targa was kicking in her efforts to rise, but the mare could not move her head and lay helplessly whinnying.

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning first volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 191)

Book II: The Golden Spark is available! Book III announcements coming soon…

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#68- Horseback Nation

Mongolian Herd of Horses Whether hitting a goat skin in a game played like polo or running a spontaneous race, a serious edge underlay the fun. The nomads had given up their lives to the horse and in return had become superhuman. The people could survive for a time without food, but they could not survive without horses. – Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)

Sometime, somewhere on the plains…

It fascinated Meagan to watch the horses being summoned each morning. It was usually the same old man who called, and when he cupped his hands and blew his whistle, heads popped up throughout the ranging herd. Some horses came immediately; others took longer, snatching last mouthfuls of grass as they came.

Each band had its own call, and each foal was trained at its mother’s side as to which call was its own. Meagan practiced her camp’s whistle, imitating the low-to-high pitch. Targa was always one of the first to answer, coming with head high and nostrils flared, snapping impatiently at loafers moving too slowly.

Two things were always in demand: firewood and water. Meagan enjoyed the daily expeditions to hunt for supplies, conducted in slow gallops across vast stretches of plain. She soon found the landscape was not featureless as she had first thought, but rather too subtle for eyes accustomed to manmade structures. She began to notice undulations and colors in the emptiness, and to see the variety and richness of the plains.

Occasional puffs of dust appeared in the landscape, puffs that grew into riders wrapped up like mummies. These were messengers that galloped into and out of the horde, running from horizon to horizon, providing a lifeline of communication to the world. With growing respect, Meagan realized these were not mere wanderers but true nomads. This was a nation on horseback, a laughing, squabbling realm.

Whether hitting a goat skin in a game played like polo or running a spontaneous race, a serious edge underlay the fun. The nomads had given up their lives to the horse and in return had become superhuman. The people could survive for a time without food, but they could not survive without horses. Every rider groomed and fed his mount before taking his own meal, which include dried meat and barbeque, as well as fermented mare’s milk, something Meagan tasted only once.

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning first volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 188)

Book II: The Golden Spark is available! Book III announcements coming soon…

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#67- Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt): Targa

Sometime, somewhere on the plains…

A fall among these people was uncommon, particularly one from a standing mount. A crowd was gathering.

From where Meagan stood beside the pack animal, she could plainly see her former pony was in a sour mood from being abused during the argument and was not interested in being ridden. The best thing to do was find a treat for the mare and walk her out quietly. Instead, the man found a switch and laid it sharply along the mare’s side.

Seeing the mare’s ears lie back, Meagan almost felt sorry for the man. He did not have the opportunity to yank the reins again. As he held the rough leather straps, Targa struck, seizing the man under his arm. The man wrenched free and collapsed in the dirt, holding his side.

The second man came forward now, ready to claim his prize by default. The pony mare flattened her ears and swished her tail. The man lunged in and grasped her reins tightly. He looked at his audience to make sure they were observing the proper way to mount a troublesome horse, and lifted his leg an infinitesimal degree before Targa’s hind hoof struck his left calf. The man went down with a cry.

Another man started forward hesitantly. The pony cocked a leg in anticipation and the man stepped back into the crowd. Everyone turned to look at Meagan. The wake-up man gave her a short nod.

“Oh, sure. Now she’s mine.” When Meagan took a step, the mare shifted ominously. A field of spectator’s eyes waited expectantly …

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning first volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 186)

Book II: The Golden Spark is available! Book III announcements coming soon…

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#66- Only a Verb, or at best a Noun

MEAGAN FELT HERSELF floating. I must be moving again, she half-dreamed. To somewhere else, another time … maybe I am home. Home! … A fly landed on her nose. It was a horrible disappointment to open her eyes and see people sitting on their mats beside lines of tied horses. – Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)

MEAGAN FELT HERSELF floating. I must be moving again, she half-dreamed. To somewhere else, another time … maybe I am home. Home!

A fly landed on her nose. It was a horrible disappointment to open her eyes and see people sitting on their mats beside lines of tied horses. She and the vast company had ridden the entire day and well into the night. Meagan tried to sit up, but pain shot through every muscle. She was sure she felt a twitch in her eyelids.

She sleepily watched two men arguing. Apparently there was a question of ownership of a certain pony, since both men gripped the animal’s reins and neither would let go. Each took turns yanking the bridle to illustrate his point until the pony soundly bit one of them. Meagan sat up at the man’s cry. The pony looked suddenly familiar.

Painfully she stood and marched up to the men. “Pardon me, but I think there is some mistake. This is my pony, Targa.”

A booming voice made Meagan jump. The bow-legged wake-up man was coming. For once she was happy to see him, for he knew the truth. She expected to be handed the reins; instead, the man led Meagan away by the sleeve to an ancient, decrepit pack pony. “Targ ha!” the man shouted. She had been unceremoniously reassigned to another horse. Disappointingly “Targa” was not even the pony’s name, but only a verb, or at best a noun.

Meagan felt reprimanded for imagining that she, a mere woman, could have claim over property desired by a man. She bent to greet her new horse, though “new” was a description hard to apply to the aged beast. “Are you the Great Horse?” she asked doubtfully. The animal bore her greeting with the interest he would have shown a bundle of sticks.