Show aw belicka te LICKA L I 1 C K 4 A J MARY afar Y OHARA 0 H ARA ai j fill A THE STORY stony so go FAB Teny earold ken Al Laughlin given MI an opportunity t boom a any yari yearling in colt on his farn am lly ayt wyoming wyoma all ranch pie ks the on filly of a loco m mar a r named rocket hit his choice merely ad addi d to his fathers at heri an anger ger which li is site already ad y roused by the 9 act t that ken has ha failed ailed his school work and and has bai shown no BO sense ot of responsibility it was wa kens keni mother who finally persuaded penna ded captain mclaughlin ln that having the colt might be good for or ken and the change in him has hai pro proved d she was wai right but bat flicki the buy y r a togas to be captured caught once she he escapes and li Is caught again to ken ihei wonderful wonder tul to ln hei just plain loco now cont continue laus with the story CHAPTER X mindful that she had clawed her way out when she was corralee corr aled be fore mclaughlin ln determined to keep her in the main corral into which the stable door opened it had eight Ight foot ft walls of aspen poles L the rest of the yearlings yearnings year lings must be maneu maneuvered v ered away from her now that the fog had gone the sun wa was s scorching and horses and men alike were soaked with sweat before the chasing was over and one after the other the yearlings yearnings year lings had been driven into the other corral and blicka was alone she knew that her solitude meant danger and that she was singled 0 out u t for some special disaster she ran an frantically to the high fence through which she could s see ee the other ponies standing and reared and clawed at the poles she screamed whirled circled the corral first in one direction and then the other and while mclaughlin ln and ross were discussing the advisability of roping her she suddenly espied the dark hole which was the open upper half of the stable door and dove through it mclaughlin rushed to close it and she was caught safely imprisoned in the stable but when they went up after dinner there was no cucka in the barn one of the windows above the manger manger was broken and the manger was full 0 of f pieces of glass staring at it mclaughlin ln gave a short laugh he looked at ken she climbed chinned into the manger see stood on the feed box beat the glass out with her front hoofs and J climbed through w the window opened into the six root foot pasture near it wa was 5 a wa gon I 1 of hay when they went around the back of the stable to see where she had gone they found her be C tween the stable and the hay wagon W eating at their approach she leaped a way away then headed east across the pasture it if she ashes 1 I s like her mother said rob shell go right through the wire ay bet shell go over said gus the she bumps like a deer no N 0 horse can jump that said acla mclaughlin hughlin ken said nothing because he could not speak it was the most terrible moment of his life he watched blicka racing toward the eastern IB wire A few yards from it she swerved turned and raced diagonally south it turned her herl it turned herl cried K ken n almost sobbing it was the first sign of hope for blicka oh dad she has got sense she hasl has she hasl blicka turned again as she met the southern boundary of the pasture again at the northern she avoided the barn without abating anything of her whirlwind speed following a precise accurate calculation and turning each time on a dime she investigated every possibility then seeing that there was no hope she raced south towards the range where she had spent her life gather gathen cd wil herself and rose to the impossible leap each of the men watching had the impulse to cover his eyes and ken gave a howl of despair twenty yards of fence came down with her as she hurled hurle d herself k through caught on the upper I 1 strands she turned a cc complete somersault er sault landing on her back her four legs dragging the wires down on top of her and tangling herself in them beyond hope of escape T the he wire cursed mclaughlin it f I 1 could afford decent fences ken followed the men miserably as they walked to the filly they stood in a circle watching while she kicked and fought and thrashed until the wire was tightly wound and tangled about her piercing and I 1 t tearing her flesh and hide at last she was unconscious streams of blood run running ningon on her golden coat and pools of crimson widening on the grass beneath her with the wire cutters which gus always carried la in the hip pocket of we hg overalls ove raUs he cut the wire away and they drew her into the pasture repaired the fence placed hay a box of oats and a tub of water near her and called it a day 1 I doubt it if she pulls out of it said aid mclaughlin briefly but its just as well if it been this way it would have been another A loco horse worth a darn ken lay on the grass behind blicka one little brown hand was on her back smoothing it pressing softly caressing the other hand band supported his head bead his face hung bung over her his throat felt dry his lips were like paper after a long while he whispered 1 I mean to kill you folcka 11 he counted her wounds the two worst were a deep cut above the right rear hock and a long gash in her chest that ran down into the muscle of the foreleg besides those she was snagged with three cornered tears through which the flesh pushed out and laced with cuts and scratches with blood drying on them in rows of little black beads ken wondered if the two bad cuts ought to be sewn up he thought of doe doc hicks and then remembered what his dad had said you cost me money every time you turn around no gus might do it gus was pretty good at sewing up animals but dad said best thing of all is usually to let them alone they heal up the cut in Flick as hind leg was awfully deep he put his head down against her 11 and nd whispered again oh folcka I 1 mean to kill you G gus s came out to him carrying a can of black grease de boss tole me to put some of dis dig grease on de fillys cuts ken it helps heal lem em up together they went over her carefully e putting a smear of the grease wherever they could reach a wound gus stood looking down at the boy ayou think shell got get well gus she might ken I 1 seen plenty horses hurt as bad as dot and dey as good as ever dad said but kens voice tailed failed him when he remembered that his father had said she might as OF 0 V caught on the upper strands she turned a complete somersault well die because she was loco anyway the swede stood a moment his pale blue eyes transparent and spiritual looking kindly down at the boy then he went on down to the barn every trace of fog and mist had vanished and the sun was blazing hot sweltering ken got up to take a drink of water from the bucket left tor for blicka then carrying handfuls of water in his small cupped hands he poured it on her mouth folcka did not move and once again ken took his place behind her his hand on her neck his lips whispering to her after a while his head sank in exhaustion ha to the ground when evening came and nell had called ken and had taken him by the hand and led him away blicka still itil i lay without moving gently the darkness folded down over her everybody went out to see blicka right after breakfast and she s stood against the fence as tar far away from them as she could get while they dit discussed cussed her injuries and her points and whether she was more like banner or rocket every remark made about he her r went through ken as if it had been made about himself but he too wanted to get a verdict and said ashes got wonderful points she dad mclaughlin glared at ken youve bought her ken ashes signed sealed and delivered always choose them first set your heart on them buy them and study their points afterwards that way be a first rate horseman kens face got red and he looked away blicka as it if she felt the shame of bf her position arged herself weakly along the fence in one ofie direction then turned and went to in the other trying to escape 1 I think ashes a perfect little beauty said nell who was there in her riding clothes ready to give rumba her workout 1 I want her moved down to the calf pasture said mclaughlin theres shade there and grass and the running stream ot of water ill be needing this pasture for the be other horses but the calf pastures got only three strands of barbed wire said ken uneasily she might jump it and get away his father cast him one of his withering glances sav sh wont jump it ken she wont jump anything not for a long time yet besides said howard down there shell have company the calves and our colts with their mothers she wont be alone shell be alone all right as said id mclaughlin ln with a short laugh and ken remembered the remark about a loco horse always being a lone wolf sheu shell keep to herself well and ross went down to the tal stable at le to begin the work on the po polo I 1 0 N ponies 0 nies and the rest of them aspre spread put in a fan behind folcka and gently urged her toward the gate which gus had opened into the calf pasture she went a few steps at a time then stopped to rest with her head hanging weakly ken was glad fhe s ie was in the calf pasture it was here the boys trained their colte here that the cows grazed at night and the calves in the daytime e and it was nearer the house aiom the green from the terrace from kens window a great deal of the calf pasture could be seen and it comforted comforte d ken to think that blicka was close by even when he be with her after dinner the men were loading the four rodeo horses lady calico baldy and buck into the truck for mclaughlin ln to drive into cheyenne ken hurried to catch his father before the truck started and found him in the cab daal mclaughlin ln looked down we wella he barked could I 1 have a few forkfuls fork for fuls of hay for folcka she graze 1 I think she cant can t move around much being asked for hay was like be ing asked tor for his right eye me laughlina Laugh lins rule was never feed hay when theres there s green grass growing he roared 1 I told you you cost me money every time you turn around could I 1 dad repeated ken unflinchingly all right said in ln just tor for a few days he leaned out the window of the truck sh shout out ing ng tor for gus and ken dashed away ken carried the hay out to blicka on a pitchfork every step ha took for her was a joy when folcka saw him coming she tried to run away and ken said oh no blicka dont don t run away dont be afraid ot of me I 1 am ken and this is hay you like it blicka come and get some hay he stood some distance off having placed the hay near the tub of water and presently folcka came limping back smelled at it and began to eat ken lay with his elbow on the ground and his head propped on his hand looking at blicka now and then she would raise her head he knew she was better her wounds were not bleeding today they were swollen and where the flesh had been pink and wet yesterday today it was darker and dry the scabs were forming howard was doing his colts for him today too ken hated to leave blicka even for an hour at milking time tim went down to the cowburn cow barn carrying the milk palls pails the broncobuster bronco buster as usual k was with him walking stiffly on his high heels his thin legs in their pale blue jeans so bowed that a dog could have run through them they made a detour into the call calf pasture to take a look at the filly ill be doggoned said ross calmly with no expression at all on his small face ashes beginning to look right pert he sat down on a rock took out his cigarette papers and a bag of bull durham and expertly rolled himself a cigarette tim stood there with two milk pails on each arm and the usual surprised grin on his comical irish face well kennie he said how bow do you like trained eursin nurs ln all right said ken shame when I 1 seen her go for that fence continued tim 1 I t really believe shed she d try it then I 1 aez to crazy people you cn lock up in asylums crazy horses you gotta let kill themselves ken slowly lifted his head and stared at tims dark red grinning face suddenly all the odds and ends of thought which had confused him came clear in his mind loco it just loco the way you said oh youre nuts it meant wrong in the head bead luria lunatic tic asYl asylums urns crazy people folcka right horror want through him like zig of lightning she sure is a wild woman said ross seriously ken looked from tim to ross do you think ashes really the word that had always been so easy to say now stuck stick sti ck in his throat he brought it out with difficulty loco she sure is TO BE CONTINUED |