The Horse With No Name (Part 4)

Horse

He’d been walking all night. As best as Horse could recall, when they had started walking it was just past “evening grass,” but not quite to “grass on my side.” That was the part of the night when he would lie down next to some tasty grass and nibble it as he preparing to sleep. He knew that The Man With No Name had funny names for times, but “7pm” and “9pm” were terrible names.

Humans were strange though, especially this one, so he just put up with the antics. Besides, Horse had this one place on his back where the hair always tangled, but Master knew how to brush it "juuuust right!" He was a good master. Normally, he gave Horse more details about the plan when they went on missions though.

Blondie was still draped over Horse’s back, but he wasn’t moving much. Horse thought that maybe he was just really tired from the long trip that day… but then again, Horse had done all the work. Blondie would just sit back there acting like he was working hard. And he’d do that funny walk when he’d get off to “take a break.” His legs would bow out and he’d sort of wobble. Horse snorted to himself in amusement. Ha ha ha, humans can’t even walk right!

Something was off though. A few “hours” ago, when Horse accidentally ran Blondie’s head into a tree… Blondie didn’t say a word about it! Normally, a horse could get in trouble for something like that, but apparently it was Horse’s lucky night. He nodded in self-assurance that things were fine. He picked up his head a little more, and almost pranced as he continued his journey toward his sugar! Er… destination. Yeah, that’s it, destination!

Just Before Morning Grass

Horse didn’t normally like to wake up early, but when he did, he preferred to have a little snack before starting the day. Hauling a cowboy around was difficult work. Horse normally would have laughed at the puny size of humans, but after running most of the previous day and then walking all night, he was pooped. Actually, in all the excitement earlier, he had forgotten to do that. Since he was thinking about it, he just took care of it. He was sure that no one would mind.

Just as the Big Bright Ball’s light was peering over the mountains, Horse and his master arrived at the monastery. Horse could see Father “Sugar Cubes” inside the largest building with the pointy top. It looked like the Father was inspecting the dirt. Folding your hands together isn't a proper way to inspect dirt… or grass for that matter.

As they say, “sugar covers many sins,” so Horse would forgive the Father for his silly ways. When the Father saw them, he came running. Excellent, he’s excited to see us too! But when the Father arrived, he didn’t reward Horse with any sugar; he just pulled master from Horse’s back and called one of the other men to help him take Blondie inside. The two of them strained as they picked him up by the shoulders and ankles and took him inside one of the smaller buildings.

That’s strange, normally they pet my nose… and give me sugar! Horse didn’t know what to do while he waited, but he knew he should stay close. If Blondie came out soon, Horse didn’t want to be gone; but he was also tired… and very hungry.

Fortunately, one of the other men in the brown robes had heard Father Sugar Cubes yelling and had come to see the cause of the commotion. He saw Horse standing there and led him to the stable. The man took the bag off Horse's back and set in the back of the stable. He gave Horse some fresh hay to eat, water to drink, and a nice place to lie down. Hay, it’s like dried grass. Not bad, just not as good as real grass.

With his belly full of “not-as-good-as-real-grass” and his mind full of thoughts of real grass, Horse drifted off into a well-deserved sleep. And as he slept, he dreamt of large, tasty sugar cubes.

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I hope you enjoyed Part 4 of The Man With No Name (featuring The Horse With No Name). If you missed any of the previous parts, you can find them here:

• Prologue
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

Image Sources 1 l 2

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