"It ain't much farther now, Jay," the girl said, stroking the side of the bay mustang. "Just a lit'le farther."
The mustang, Jay, snorted apprehensively.
Jay was a good sized mustang, and quite hardy at that. He was wonderful at following the trails of cows, as if he could scent them down the path. He was excellent at traversing over rocky terrain, and seemed to slip through boulders in the fashion of a cougar.
Jay was smart when rounding up the cattle- perhaps a little too smart. He often took over during cattle-runs, but had never failed to herd them once.
"O'er the ridge now, boy," the girl, Layla, said. She gently nudged him in the direction by tugging the reins, but the stallion stubbornly pulled his head and thrust out at a faster pace.
Sighing, she clung to the saddle and kept a firm grip on the reins.
As Layla had asked, Jay began to make his way to the ridge. This consisted of large, piled up boulders in a good pile- the northern fence bordered that end.
Layla's dad had said, a long time ago, those boulders had been dislodged from the top of the mountain from an earthquake, and tumbled down to form the ridge. Layla wasn't quite sure about that, but it was clear they were old. Lichen and moss covered the tops, while large grooves and chunks were cut into the sides.
Jay had reached the bottom of the ridge now, and he paused to examine his surroundings. Choosing a small path inside two tremendous boulders, he slipped in.
Layla tucked her legs in as she felt the rock scrape on either side of her, before gripping Jay's reins more tightly.
Already she could see they were coming to a dead end, but Jay was not to be discouraged. Reaching the very end, Jay veered sharply left where a small rockwork stepping stones reached to the top of one of the boulders- he leaned heavily to the left as he clambered up the sides. Layla clung on tight.
Finally, after tremendous strain and clambering, Jay reached the top of the boulder. The other side, including the fence, still wasn't visible from their point.
Layla sighed when she didn't see the red calf- her dad had sent her to find one of the cattle's calves, which went missing a few days ago.
Jay proceeded to the far side of the boulder, which led to a slightly smaller boulder. A gap was in between them- it didn't take Jay any problem to leap straight across.
Clambering down the side of the next boulder, which had patchworks leading down, Jay finally reached the northern fence.
As soon as his hooves hit the ground, he reeled back with a startled snort and whirled to stare into the darker depths of the corner of the boulders.
A rank scent filled the air, but the smell of death was stronger. The buzzing of flies, and the dark lump of a carcass was hidden in the depths of the cave.
Layla slipped off Jay and forced the stallion to follow her close enough to make out what the creature was- it was the calf.
"Cougar got 'im," she sighed, knowing her dad wouldn't be pleased.
Getting back on Jay, she led the stallion to the northern fence, to follow it down back to the house.
They had gone no more than two feet when an agitated cry arose from the hills past the fence, outside the fence.... and nearby a torn part of the barbed wire fence feet in front of them.