Show r 71 7 1 W HU THE STORY THUS FAR Flick as colt loot long overdue la Is born on the goose bar r such ranch high la in the noc klei its if 12 year old alil owner ken mclaughlin Is 13 startled to we see that it is white and to so a throw back to the abe albino a wild stallion that 1 to the grandsire crand grand of blicka the colt Is named thunderhead Tb but Is commonly tomm only known as a the goblin ken reveals that lt its tire sirs Is a appalachian a black racing stud owned by charles sargent million site alie owner of a neighboring ranch gob un ita grows TOWS quickly alter being put pot oo on the range and soon overtakes tho the older colts in development and size fie II 11 becomes a sort of mascot to banner following ollow loE the bit big stallion and learning all he can the other colts treat him CHAPTER VUI VM crickets Cricket sl exclaimed gus luk fit at dot colt buckl bucki the goblin tied himself in a knot his bis nose and four hoofs bunched twisted and bounced stiff legged three feet off the ground its the bronc in him said rob disgustedly hell never make a race horse unless he gets over that P race horse the word went through ken like a flame did his father really believe then as he himself believed gus walked along the trough pouring oats from a bucket the other colts jammed around him scrimmaging with each other burying their noses in the trough robs harsh voice rose reprimanding them he liked good manners in his horses here you fel lawsl dowst cut that at his voice goblin stopped bucking looked around shook himself then realizing that he was missing something rushed to the trough he forced himself through the crowd biting and kicking stuck his nose in and took a mouthful of the oats then he whirled away to the fence and stood there mouthing the oats thinking it all over that night across the vast expanse of the snows flattened under the bright moonlight ken rode blicka bareback up the saddle back and down the length of it looking for the brood mares he went very slowly to make it last longer he had played a trick on his father he had kept bucka in the stable instead of sending her with banner just so that he could ride her out alone that night and ski back it fooled rob he had looked at his son hard until ken had to drop his eyes but after all he had said he could go far down the ridge ken found the mares inky black shadows against the whiteness banner came sweeping out to get blicka ken dropped his skis to the ground dismounted and removed the bridle it took goblin only one night to learn that something of the utmost importance had come into his life oats here was an experience that touched his very soul what independence pen dence dencel 1 no need to go following and begging behind his mother 1 no need to paw and scrape at the snow for a few mouthfuls mouth fuls of dried grassl grass here was belly beliy filling heat and strength and deliciousness spread down the long center trough in the corral once last night and now again in the morning what a strange foreign altogether seductive taste he mouthed and crunched it in delight and if any other colt jostled him he was quick and vicious with his teeth A loop of rope fell softly and surprisingly singly over his head drew taught and pulled at him he reacted like a bomb exploding the boys had halter broken him in the tall fall but since then the pride and kingliness of the mountains and the freedom of the wind and the rhythm of the plains and the strength of toe the storms had poured into him his spirit was enlarged and annealed not for him to be tamely tied and led about the fight was on two hours later sweating hatless and nursing one hand which had been bruised by a twist of the rope rob said 1 I guess hes licked well leave him to think it over lucky to have got through that without killing him godl what power they were all in the corral rob and nell gus and ken the goblin worn out at last successfully halt haltered ered but now freed from the snubbing post and the tie rope was panting shaking his head to free it of the halter and the trailing rope suddenly Y he eared pawing at the side of his face ahl ah it was a short explosive cry from rob the colt had thrust his foreleg through the cheek strap of the halter and it was caught so that he could not withdraw it ken started to run to him stand still ordered rob if he be blows up now and falls over hell break that leg ken groaned the colt standing on three legs shuddered and grunted plenty of sense muttered rob look at him iles hes thinking he knows hes got to be helped the terror of the colt showed only in his eyes he looked at rob at gus at nell and at ken then carefully on three legs he began to cross the corral going toward nell each plunge of his body jerked his head down his foreleg flapped helplessly close to hla his eye come boy come Goblin Ill fix it t for you nells voice was en cou raging rob and ken held their breath reaching her the colt halted bent his head and endured it trembling while nell took his foreleg in her hand she was obliged to unstrap the halter when the colt felt the sudden release and his leg touched solid ground he stood heaving froth dripping from his mouth nell put her hands on both sides of his head As once before he leaned against her his face hidden resting and comforted well go said rob to ken shell do the rest hes accepted her for an hour nell played with the colt she put his halter on an and off ff she rubbed him dry with a sack all that he had learned before came back to him now he gave her his trust he ate from her hands he looked into her eyes she was goodness like the oats like shelter like warmth she was for him she was his mother at supper before they drove ken back to school ken asked his father do you think hell ever be tall Z am 11 V 1 X something called to the goblin 1 I fancy so that albino must have been over sixteen hands a whale of a horse and goblin throws back to him hell probably develop in in the same way albino might have started with short legs too well then if he grows tall maybe he can be a racer after all rob bent his stern stem blue gaze on his small son dont count your chickens before they are hatched ken dropped his eyes no sir early in may came the last bi big g snowstorm falling failing on the barren brown earth in that wrapping of snow there must have been a magical mothering heat for when the sun peeled it off the world was green for the colts the greengrass meant that school was over they were freed of their nursemaid and curry combs and halters and tie ropes and were put out on the saddle saddie back again and now they were the yearlings yearnings year lings and the band of year lings of the summer before were the two year olds banner and his brood mares were no longer on the upland on april first rob had put them in the fenced meadow below castle rock here was less exposure for the heavy mares and any early foals that might be dropped late spring storms were dangerous to the new newborn born besides with breeding season approaching banner would have his eye out for new mares and up on saddle back there were young mares his daughters who with the spring would be coming in heat the stallion even from five miles away if he was not under fence would seek them out an and d force them into his band ile he might fight with and kill some or of the young stallions goblin tasted his first greengrass babyhood was over he had no mother needed none he needed not even a trough of oats and the care of men the whole world under his feet was delicious to eat and his for the taking and for the first time in his life he was really and completely free not even a piebald granny to demand obedience of him there is no such speed on the range as the speed of the yearlings yearnings year lings running like deer on the crests and ridges no such wild irresponsible prankish fun such flinging of small bodies across ravines such races on the straightaways such tossing of heads such frisking of heels A yearl yearling ipg has little weight to carry he is all long piston like legs ragged hair and wide nervous eyes he learns to jump all natural obstacles he learns the fre free e gallop down the steep mountainside learns to pick his way at top speed over stony ground studded with shrubs and badger holes he is always out doing himself surmounting difficulties he never met before for gobic there was more than fun and freedom galloping over the greengrass on the saddle back be ck with the first breath he drew standing alone on a rise of ground looking south a new personality entered into him and it was so keen an excitement that his body tingled it filled him to bursting with heat and power and fierceness it drove him he began investigating the range the goblin no longer scrabbled his legs stretched out with a long powerful clutch the pasterns pa sterns bounced him a little at each step so that he went as if on springs he trotted tirelessly the length of the saddle back goblin climbed the peaks to stand as banner had so often stood his nostrils tremulous for every scent that came his ears so alertly pricked that they caught sounds from miles away facing the ranch as banner was wont to do the same quivering ran through goblin at the sight and the scent of it it was neu nell the re rembrance mem brance of her hands touching gg him gently untangling the strap from his foreleg quieting him with her voice then when it was all over the way he had rested his face hidden against her shutting out the confusion and fear the way her being there holding him had for the moment ended all his striving and violence nell and the oats nell and the oats and the ranch and the hay mangers where he had found shelter and food in the winter storms his heart had been won half his heart the other half I 1 his quivering ceased he turned away and searched the plains and the high mountains to the south his nostrils flared tremulous for wind messages from colorado from the jagged peaks of the buckhorn hills from the high plateaus that lay beyond them he faced the ranch and immediately the trembling began A long cry reached him faint with the distance just rob shouting to gus then a dog barking but the sounds went shuddering through him making him plunge and prance as if about to rush down the hill then with a grunt and sudden twist of his body he turned again the air today was so crystal clear that the buckhorn hills etching their fantastic outlines against the deep blue of the sky displayed a variety of rugged detail the soft breeze came sweet and wild and perfumed and strange I 1 it was all strange and incomprehensible hen sible the fierce desire within him to leave the ranch that he loved and seek out those far and unknown places but it happens sometimes even to human beings that they are propelled in the direction of their destiny without conscious understanding of what is happening something called to the goblin he answered with a loud neigh and flung himself down the slope leveling off he fell into his long springing trot his head high his nose pointing up taking the way toward the open country and the buckhorn hills once nce the yearlings yearnings year lings were out on grass there was no regular inspection of them during the summer if anyone chanced to be riding on the saddle back a report would be brought home as to their condition and growth any changes of coloring or appearance whether the band was split or whether it had disappeared altogether which would mean that they were feasting in one of the little ravines of the mountainside and that the next day would see them out in the open again but it happened that the very day after goblins departure the boys came home irom school the first thing they did was to fling themselves on horseback and ride out to see the yearlings yearnings year lings the goblin in particular and after a thorough afternoons er search returned and reported him missing everyone hunted for him rob drove the car to the neighbor neighboring ring ranches and made inquiries he posted a notice at the post office the ranch itself was combed from end to end for it was possible that the goblin with a precocious and unseemly interest in mares might have joined one of the older bands but at the end of a week rob gave up and the work of the ranch went on as usual he said shortly that the colt would turn up again he had run away he would come back horses always did once oriented they returned to the place of their birth ken was stupefied with grief all winter long he had been thinking of the goblin of being with him of beginning his training with the money he had been able to save from his allowance he had bought a stop watch before he left laramie his fingers found it almost unconsciously smooth and round and cool there in the little pocket of his pants beneath his belt to touch it even had been exciting as 29 full of promise as a dinner bell now it was like a dead thing cold and heavy when he went to bed at night he be invented fantasies of what might have happened to the colt the earth might have giyen way beneath his feet as he leaped a ravine and then a tall fall a broken leg lying there dying dead by now and the coyotes and crew crawling ling things eating him A clump of shrubs could have hidden the corpse so easily and how many thousands of such shrubs there were on the ranch that had happened to dixie a year ago they had found the skeleton six months later TO BE CONTINUED |