by Chris Bowen

Created on: September 09, 2007

The mid-day sun was bright in the sky; However the wind from the northwest made it a bitterly cold day. It was the kind of cold that robbed the breath from a man and made him long for a fire. The area was barren, not a tree for miles and the lonely bush not big enough to stop a breath much less a northern like this.
The lone rider was a site in his buffalo hide coat bundled tight about him and his hat down low. The wind found every little crevice though and the man was cold to his soul. The coat and buffalo chaps helped but nothing aside from being set on fire could push this cold from a man. The rider only looked up from time to time to make sure his horse was keeping the path he set the horse upon. Every time his face came up the wind hit his exposed skin like a thousand needles and it felt as though the skin was being stripped from face.

The man spoke softly to his horse through chapped lips, "Only a few more miles boy and those trees yonder aughta give us a break from this damnable wind." The man ducked his chin low again and trusted to the horse to get them to the tree line and a break from this wind that froze a mans soul.
The horse walked on without a sign of hearing the man, the man knew the horse was tough, maybe even tougher than he was. The horse walked on as though it was a summer afternoon and there was no bitter cold wind trying to rob them both of their last breaths. The rider didn't worry about either of their fates for they had been through much worse together and pulled through. This tough old horse had saved his tough hide more than once and he had save the horse a time or two. No longer were they rider and horse, but now they were friends who could count on the other when help was needed.
Soon the wind lessened, the rider looked up to see the trees a few hundred yards ahead. As they made the tree line the wind all but died away. They still got a gust from time to time but nothing like they had endured for the last several hours. As they moved along they both caught the whiff of smoke and both came to attention. They both knew that smoke meant fire and fire meant warmth, but they also knew that sometimes it meant trouble also. They both moved on with caution and eventually a cabin with a small barn came into view through the Forrest.
They stood there in silence watching the place for nearly an hour with no sign of life accept the light in the cabin. The man lead the horse around the place and came up to the barn from the other side and

• 1
• 2
• 3
• ...
• 51
• Next Page >>