A HORSE CALLED SPIRIT

There is nothing better than beautiful horses to take kids off to dreamland.  And that’s what Julia and Jack’s momma said when she tucked them off to bed with a kiss and a hug.

Pretty soon both kids were fast asleep, they’d been playing hard that day and were tired, Jack had been fishing in the lake and Julia and her mom had been playing games and talking about horses----it was time for a good night’s sleep.

But just as Julia dozed off to sleep land she began to see a beautiful field full of wonderful cattle, cows, and their baby calves. This is like something that Jack and I would see on a TV show, she thought.

There were mountains behind the big meadow and a beautiful river running through it.  She might be dreaming, but what a dream---suddenly a nice man appeared wearing a cowboy hat and blue jeans and he had a cowboy’s scarf around his neck.

He rode a big grey horse and galloping right behind him were the two prettiest horses Julia had ever seen. “Whoa, Tarter,” the cowboy shouted to his horse.  And when the big grey horse stopped the two beautiful horses behind him stopped. Then the cowboy turned and talked to the great silver horse and the big black steed.

“Now Spirit and Black Jack, I want you to stay with these cows and their baby calves, we’ve had some rustling in these parts lately and we don’t want any bad guys taking our cows and calves, do we?” the cowboy said.

Spirit whinnied and stomped her front hooves. Black Jack did the same. Both horses nodded and then whinnied again.

Julia almost awoke from her dream. “Wait a minute, I’m Spirit, I always wanted to be Spirit and Black Jack, that horse is my older brother, Jack. We’re a horse family, she thought.

And then she watched the cowboy turn his big grey horse and as he rode away, he shouted over his shoulder, “Now remember you two, you have some cattle and calves to watch. If any bad guys come to take them, chase them away, come into the ranch house and whinny and I’ll come running!”

Julia couldn’t believe it, a beautiful silver horse and its name was Spirit that was the name that she always thought she’d have if she were a horse. And she knew that Jack would like to be Black Jack, named after the card game that their daddy’s parents loved to play in Las Vegas.

She was sleeping soundly now but in her dream very wide awake. Spirit and Black Jack, brother and sister, stood on a beautiful little hillside, the moon was shining bright and they could see the cows and their calves below them sleeping it the big field.  “The little ones are staying close to their mommas,” Spirit thought.

Black Jack whinnied. It was as though he could read his sister’s mind.

A cool breeze blew up off the river and Spirit could see the baby calves getting closer to their mommas for warmth. Julia, still dreaming, crawled deeper under her covers, after all she WAS Spirit and it was getting chilly.

The two handsome horses stood watch for several hours, both nodding occasionally getting a minute or two of sleep. Spirit knew that they had a job to do and so did Black Jack.

Later that night the full bright moon slipped behind a bank of dark clouds and suddenly the field below the two horses was as black as when Julia and Jack’s momma and dada, turned off their bedroom lights.

The two horses looked but the cows and the calves were lost under the clouds that had suddenly filled the sky. Maybe it’s going to rain, Spirit thought.  Black Jack whinnied, he thought the same.

And then, just as Spirit thought it might be a good idea to trot down to the cattle just to make sure they were safe, both horses heard the sound of a door slam on a truck. They looked and listened. But the clouds weren’t moving, the moonlight was blocked, they couldn’t see a thing.

Then came the slam of a gate at the other side of the meadow and the sound of a truck’s engine. Spirit looked at Black Jack; he looked back at her and whinnied, this time a very quiet, a soft Whinny.

A cow bellowed, a calf cried, another cow bellowed.

They needed help. And with that the two horses were off and running, racing down the hill and into the field full of cows and calves. Now, the clouds moved slightly and in front of them in the moonlight, Spirit could see two men---they had beards and mustaches and wore dirty cowboy hats. One was throwing ropes around a momma cow; the other was dragging a baby calf off toward a ramp on the back of their truck.

Somehow, Spirit and Black Jack managed to surprise the two rustlers because when the clouds moved again and the moon lit the field these crooks looked up and saw the two horses charging their way.

“Let the calf and the cow go free, we’ll steal these horses,” the one cowboy crook said. And they threw their ropes and lassoed Spirit and Black Jack around their necks. As they tightened the ropes one of the bad guys said, “These are two real beauties, they’ll bring a nice price at the horse auction.”

There was a problem for the rustlers, this was their unlucky night.  They had roped the wrong brother and sister horses.  As they led them to the truck to load them up the ramp Spirit looked at Black Jack and Black Jack looked back at her and instead of trying to slip out of the crooks’ lassos they charged the bad guys, ran straight at them.  Spirit loved the look on the face of the criminal as he tumbled backwards. Black Jack took his startled roper and knocked him sideways. Both men went flying along the ground tumbling over and over in the dirt.

As the nasty rustlers came to a stop when they bounced into the truck, Spirit and Black Jack heard the siren wailing in the distance. And then it was louder and they could see the blue light.

Behind them they heard hoof beats and when they turned they saw their good friend the cowboy on the big grey horse, he was riding full speed through the cattle headed their way. Now the police car was pulling up and one of the officers said, “You two, don’t move, we have a special place for you tonight, it’s called jail!” 

Then the nice cowboy jumped off his big grey and patted Spirit and Black Jack.  “I knew you two could do it but when I saw those clouds cover the moon, I just knew it would be a good night for rustling cattle.”

Then the policeman stepped forward and said, “These two horses did more than knock these two guys silly. They just caught the DOOLEY BOYS, the biggest cattle rustlers in these parts. If you don’t mind, I’d like to send a newspaper reporter out to get their pictures for the Sunday paper.”

“That would be fine,” the nice cowboy said, “These two deserve it, they’re heroes!”

Spirit and Black Jack rubbed each other’s noses and then trotted off behind the big grey horse and their owner. They were headed to their barn for a nice bale of hay and a good night’s sleep.

“We make a pretty good brother and sister team,” Spirit thought.

Black Jack whinnied, it may have just been a dream but it was like he could read his sister’s mind.