Blazing the Trail (Sunshine & Shadow Book 5) (5 page)

“Come on,” April’s dad
whispered.

They stepped forward,
keeping their horses quiet and calm. Through the trees they could see a small
clearing that had been flattened. They could hear the thunderous sound of
hoof-beats ahead.

“Come on!” April’s dad
shouted, spurring his horse into a full gallop.

The horses jumped through
the deep snow and were soon sweating and breathing heavily. The team could
still hear the thunder in front of them, but it was getting farther away.

“Dad!” April called.
“Dad, stop! We’re never gonna catch them!”

She slowed Chinook and
the team followed suit.

“April!” her dad
complained.

“It’s true! You think a
bunch of saddle horses are gonna catch up to a mustang herd?”

April’s dad shook his
head in disappointment. He gritted his teeth. “We were so close! Dammit!”

Caleb patted his boss on
the shoulder. “We’ll find ‘em again, boss.”

A horse whinnied from
April’s right. She looked at Kip. He shook his head; it hadn’t come from
Charger. April looked past him, into the forest, and noticed the brush there
was disturbed; the herd had moved through the trees too.

“How many are there?”
April wondered out loud.

The whinny sounded again
and her eyes opened wide. She put her finger to her lips and urged Chinook
forward. The horse was reluctant to go. April looked down at her horse and
pressed the issue. Finally, he began to move.

April walked through the
snow alone, gesturing to everyone else to stay put. She approached the tree
line, and Chinook stopped.

She nudged him gently.

He didn’t move.

She dug her heels into
his sides.

He still didn’t move.

“Come on!” April
murmured. She slapped her hand over her mouth. She hadn’t meant to say anything
out loud.

The noise in the trees
started up again, this time desperate. The animal sounded like it was dying. It
was snorting and whinnying, grunting as it thrashed about in the brush. April
could hear twigs snapping and the impact of a hoof against a solid object, like
a tree. She peered into the thick forest, wishing she could see clearer.

She turned around and
gestured to Kip. He approached her quietly. April knew Charger would go
forward, and Chinook would follow. They stepped through the trees as quietly as
they could; wincing every time the horses snapped a branch. Both saddle horses
had their ears pricked forward and the mustang in the trees was continuing on
with his racket.

They turned a corner,
weaving around a large group of dense willow trees and could suddenly see what
was making all the noise.

A grey mustang was
standing in a small clearing, sweating hard. When she saw April and Kip, she
froze, her nostrils flared, as she scented the air. April was stunned. It
wasn’t usual for a wild horse to stand its ground when confronted by humans,
even if they were on horseback. Then April could see why the horse wasn’t
moving.

Her eyes travelled down
its front leg to where its hoof was supposed to be. The hoof was invisible,
hidden behind a thick array of broken branches, snow, and the unmistakable
steel jaw of a closed bear trap.

April gasped, covering
her mouth.

“Kip...” she murmured.

“I see it.”

Kip softly, but deftly,
unwound his lasso from his saddle horn and arranged the coils in his left hand.
Charger stood still, his ears pinned on the mustang.

“It’s a mare,” Kip said,
quietly. “She’s pregnant.”

“Oh my God,” April said.

Kip swung the rope over
his head; once, twice, three times. He let the loop go, watching it sail
through the air and land over the mare’s neck, resting on her shoulders. The
horse flinched but didn’t move. Eyes glued to the mustang, Kip began to slowly
gather the lariat length. The noose tightened around the mare’s neck and as it
became snug, she threw herself down into a giant buck, lifting up on her hind
legs and heaving her body away from Charger. Kip dallied on his horn and held
on, as the smaller mare began to tire. The trap chain was buried deep in the
ground, stopping the prey from dragging the trap and escaping from the hunter.
She swung around on the chain, trying to pull it loose.

“Easy girl. Easy,” Kip
said. His voice was soothing and April could see the effect it had on the
mustang. Her head dropped slightly and she heaved a sigh, breathing heavily.

“How far along do you
think she is?” April asked, speaking as softly as she could.

“Pretty much ready to
drop.”

“How are we going to get
her loose?”

“Go get your dad.”

April looked at him
sharply. “No...He’ll kill her, Kip. You know he will!”

Kip frowned. “April,” he
said, a warning tone in his voice. “Go get your dad.”

“But...”

“I won’t let him hurt her,
okay, but I am not letting
you
crouch by her to cut the chain!”

“But we can’t get her
back even if we cut the chain. She can’t travel with the trap still on.”

Kip gritted his teeth.
“Just go get your dad!”

April turned Chinook
around to face the meadow and spurred him on. She could hear Kip speaking
softly to the mare. April bit back tears; the mustang must be so scared. April
spotted her dad and the rest of the group gathered by the edge of the meadow.
She hurried to them, feeling the chill bite into her cheeks as the wind hit her
face, making her eyes water.

“Dad...” she breathed.
“Dad, there’s a mustang...in a bear trap...Kip roped her...She’s really hurt...”

April’s dad looked
towards where Kip was and nodded to Caleb. He ordered Hailey and Adam to stay
put in the clearing, and then he and Caleb followed April into the forest. As
the mustang appeared around the willows, Caleb swore under his breath.

“What?” April muttered.
“I told you there was a mustang.”

“Her leg,” Caleb said
through his teeth, obviously seeing the work they had ahead of them. “Boss...”
he began.

April’s dad shook his
head. He looked at April.

“Alright, you guys see
that button on the right hand side of the jaws?”

April squinted her eyes.
They were too far away.

Her dad nodded to Caleb.
“Caleb, I need you to rope her, too, and then you boys put tension from either
side, keeping her as still as possible.”

“What are you gonna do?”
April asked her dad.

“I’m gonna step on the
trap, to release it. Now she’s gonna try and bolt as soon as she’s free so you
boys need to be ready.”

“No way she’s gonna let
you that close, boss. She’ll kill you before you take a step toward her.”

“She’s not mean!” April
defended the animal.

“She’s wild!” Caleb
countered. “She doesn’t have to be mean.”

“She’s not wild,” April’s
dad spoke up. “She’s freeze branded. I’d bet anything she’s one of Danny’s
mares that got taken by the mustang herd a couple of years ago. You remember?”
He looked at April.

She nodded. “Yeah, four of
them disappeared, right? Just before Danny passed away.”

“Five. Two greys, a roan,
a black and a bay. Once we get her to the ranch I’ll call Linda and see what
she wants us to do with her. Should be able to confirm the brand then, too.”

He nodded to Caleb, who
moved forward, pulling his lasso loose from his saddle. Caleb and Kip were both
very adept at roping, and before she knew it, the mare had a second loop around
her neck. The boys backed up in different directions, holding the mare steady.

“So she’s not a mustang?”
April asked her dad.

“Oh she’s a mustang
alright,” her dad replied. “Danny got most of his breeding stock from that
mustang truck that rolled through town at Christmas six years ago.”

“Why would he want
mustang breeding stock? Aren’t there enough of ‘em already?” Kip piped up,
wrestling with Charger, who was getting antsy.

“He was crossing them
with his quarter horse stud, trying to breed the perfect working horse; at
least that’s what the flier at the gas station said. It makes sense. But I
always knew they would get snatched up some day. Mustangs have a funny way of
finding their own kind,” he said, dismounting from his horse and handing the
reins to April.

“What makes sense?”

“Breeding mustangs and
quarter horses. Think about it; you get all the durability of the mustang
blood, with the look and attitude of the quarter horses.”

April nodded. “Like
Chinook.”

“Or you get a bull-headed
hunk of muscle that wants to kill you...” Kip looked at April pointedly. “Also
like Chinook.”

She stuck her tongue out
at him, feeling her heart flutter at his joviality.

Her dad stepped forward,
slowly.

“Easy girl,” he murmured.
“You’re alright now. We’ll get ya out of this nasty thing.”

The horse leaned away
from him, locked in place by the trap attached to her leg and the ropes of the two
cowboys. She eyed April’s dad suspiciously, waiting for him to move. When he
didn’t, April could almost see the wheels in her head turning. She was
thoroughly feral, after being in the wild with the mustangs for over two years.
She was ready to fight for her life, April could see it.

“Easy,” her dad said
again.

The trap chain was about
six feet long, but the button was on the trap itself, forcing him to have to
get within six inches of the angry horse. Stepping closer, he accidently
touched the chain and the metal made a noise. The mare jumped, spinning her
haunches towards him and tucking her tail tight into her buttocks.

“Dad!” April said.

Her dad backed up swiftly
as the horse kicked out with both back feet, angry, terrified.

“Dammit. Almost.”

“Dad, you can’t! She’s
not gonna let you get close again.”

“I have to try!” Her dad
silenced her with a look and April bit her tongue. She wanted to scream out, to
stop him, because she could see the survival instinct in the mustang’s eyes and
she knew she wasn’t going to let Simon Cooper approach.

She kicked out again, her
ears pinned flat to her head, sounding more like a wolf than a horse.

April’s dad cursed.

“Dad.” As he turned
around, April continued, “Let me try.”

He shook his head
adamantly as Kip echoed him. “Absolutely not,” they said together.

“She’ll see me as less of
a threat. She’ll let me close.”

Kip leaned forward on his
horse. “Seriously, April, do you have a death wish? You’ve been putting
yourself in unnecessary danger a lot lately.”

April knew he was
referring to her late night bareback ride. “Shut up, Kip,” she snapped.

He gritted his teeth at
her tenacity but stayed silent.

April could see her dad
was considering it and she didn’t give him a chance to deny her the
opportunity. She dismounted Chinook and handed both reins to her dad. He looked
shocked but let her walk slowly towards the mustang.

The mustang pricked up
her ears, watching April intently. She didn’t look frightened; she looked
suspicious. April took another step.

She began to sing
quietly, the same song that calmed Chinook down. Focusing on putting one foot
in front of the other, she kept her chin down and made sure not to make eye
contact with the horse. She was almost to the trap now, and with one final
step, she was beside her. Leaning forward, careful not to spook the mustang, she
picked up her foot and let it hover over the metal.

“One hard stomp, April,”
Kip murmured. “It’ll spook her but she’ll be free, and we can hold her.”

“Then you run, April,”
her dad said from behind her.

April’s eyes were glued
on the mustang. The horse’s nostrils were flared but her eyes were calm. April
could see the intelligence in them. She continued with the last verse of her
song and on the final word, stepped with all her weight onto the release of the
trap. The jaws sprung open and the mare leapt into the air. She swung her hind
end towards April and tucked her tail.

“April! Run!” Kip
shouted, waving his arm.

April’s eyes were still
glued on the mustang. She stumbled backwards a few steps, and then lost her
footing on the icy ground. She felt her backside hit the snow and her eyes
widened. She was now on the ground in front of a feral mustang.

And the horse was in
pain, and angry.

Kip and Caleb were
shouting, trying to divert the mare’s attention but all April could hear was
the sound of the animal’s breathing. She was just as afraid as April was. April
could hear it in the labored catch of her deep sighs. She was tasting the air,
waiting to see from which direction the next attack would come.

“April, get up!” Her dad
was shouting from behind her.