Midnight

 by Arabella W., age 15

The tall, black horse ran across the dusty plain, muscles rippling in the golden, evening sunlight. At first glance the gelding seemed young and strong, but if you looked closer you would notice that he was beginning to age, his back just slightly swaybacked, and his once coal-black muzzle was now speckled with grey.

But in Midnight’s mind he was still young, and he galloped like a colt. His rider, now perched securely on Midnight’s broad, bare back, didn’t notice the horses’ age either. They cantered over the field as if they were one.

Suddenly, breaking the perfect picture of harmony, Riley leapt from Midnights’ back, flipped through the air, and landed perfectly on two feet as his horse turned around and halted beside him.

A smile spread across Riley’s suntanned face as Midnight nudged him with his muzzle, both of them breathing hard.

‘’That was perfect, boy.’’ Riley whispered to the gelding. ‘’Let’s go home and get your dinner.’’

Reins coiled in one hand, Riley kept the other resting on his best friends’ mane as they walked home side by side in the fading light. As they walked, the scorching Arizona heat was melting away and Riley thought about his horse.

When he was younger, he dreamed of joining a circus with Midnight. They both loved trick riding and were good at it, but now he knew that although his horse was young at heart, years always catch up with even the strongest of horses. Midnight was still strong, but it wouldn’t be fair to make him work hard in the circus ring day after day.

He thought back to his stay at the Circle C Ranch. It was now five years since he’d left, but he remembered the time vividly. Once, one of the oldest horses on the ranch had to be shot. It seemed cruel, but Riley learned that day that sometimes it’s the best thing to do for the horse. The gelding was in pain and letting him live longer would only prolong his misery.

But Riley was sure that would never, ever happen to Midnight. Sure, he was a little older than the other horses at Fort Apache, but he was still strong. Somewhere in the back of his mind a tiny, terrifying voice told him that his beloved mount wasn’t going to live forever, but he held on fiercely to the fantasy that Midnight would never die.

********

‘’Riley! Where are you? Riley!’’

Riley’s head snapped up. He’d been brushing Midnight for almost an hour and Pa was probably wondering where he was. 

‘’Coming, Pa!’’ Riley hurriedly placed the brush on a nearby fence post and gave Midnight one last scratch before sprinting towards the direction of his father’s voice. He quickly changed his mind and walked instead though, as the hot sun glared down on him almost unbearably and made running an awful chore.

‘’There you are.’’ Pa said impatiently. ‘’Where have you been? I thought you were supposed to be working with those young mustangs!’’

Riley bit his lip. ‘’I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that Midnight – ‘’

‘’I know, I know. It’s always Midnight.’’ Suddenly he gave Riley a tired smile. ‘’I’m sorry for exploding like that. I get so jumpy when the Apaches are nearby. A ranch only a few miles away just had a whole herd stolen last week.’’

Riley turned pale. They’d been living at Fort Apache for a couple of years now and he had become used to the constant fear of the horse thieves, but it was always a fresh scare whenever they were successful in their raiding.

‘’Maybe I should stay up with the soldiers on watch tonight.’’ Riley suggested.

‘’No, don’t do that. You already work too hard. You’ll tire yourself out if you add in extra hours. Besides, the soldiers know what they’re doing.’’

‘’Yeah. I guess so.’’

‘’Well, get on with the Mustangs. And let’s try not to worry about the Apaches.’’

Riley nodded. Easier said than done…….

********

That night, Riley tossed and turned in his bed, unable to sleep. The Apaches had been around before. Riley was actually accustomed to them being nearby, but tonight something was different. Years later he would think back to this night, and realize just how much reason he had for worrying.

After Riley had been lying in bed for a few hours, he finally started to drop off to sleep. Suddenly, he heard a loud commotion outside, men yelling and horses whinnying. His feeling of dread suddenly increased, and he leapt to his feet.

Riley yanked on his boots and threw on some warmer clothes, then burst outside. He didn’t have to look to know what had happened. The Apaches had been here.

Through the dry, cracked ground he could feel the hoofbeats of his father and the other soldiers, as they galloped off in the distance after the thief on their horses. Riley could see in the moonlight that one of the yards had part of the fence down. There had been six horses in that paddock, including a tall, ageing black gelding.

Riley felt the blood drain from his face as his fears were confirmed.

Midnight, his own horse Midnight, was gone.

********

In a panic, Riley took one of the young Mustangs from the field, and buckled on a bridle as quickly as he could manage. With no time for a saddle, he leapt up on to the colt’s bare back and kicked him straight into a fast gallop. Riley felt a twinge of regret at he urged the young stallion on. He knew how bad it was to make a horse gallop flat-out without any sort of warm up, but he had no choice.

He had to get to Midnight.

The colt he was riding was strong, and in his panic at least Riley had enough sense to choose the fastest horse in the herd. Luckily he was young and unpredictable, or else one of the soldiers would have taken him. But no horse was too much for Riley, and as he galloped on, the colt was listening to his every move.

Finally they caught up with the soldiers.

‘’Pa!’’ Riley shouted, his voice cracking.

His father turned around in the saddle, surprised. He slowed his horse to a lope. ‘’Riley! What in blue blazes are you – ‘’ But then he stopped short. He must have seen the anguish in his sons’ hazel eyes, because compassion filled his own.

‘’All right, son. You can come with us. But it’s not going to be a pretty sight if we do catch up. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but that’s the way it is.’’

Riley nodded wordlessly, and both horses broke back into a breakneck gallop.

The thunder of the horses’ hooves echoed in Riley’s ears as he, his father and the rest of the troops galloped on their horses toward where the Apache had disappeared. Riley felt as if he was made of fire, he was so angry with the horse thief.

Midnight was his best friend. There had been times when his family weren’t around, and he’d had to leave friends behind every time his father moved posts. But Midnight, strong and steadfast, was always there no matter what. To lose him now seemed so cruel, so wrong.

‘’But God won’t let me lose him.’’ Riley whispered to himself as they galloped. But his heart was racing and he felt sick. Surely Midnight would be fine! He wished he could be certain.

They’d been riding hard for a long time now, and the horses would soon begin to tire. They would have to stop and let the horses rest before long. Suddenly, in the distance, Riley caught sight of horses galloping ahead of them. Some of the soldiers had seen it too, and shouts rang out as they decided how was best to approach the Apache.

Hope filled Riley’s heart as he saw the horses, but suddenly he realised that something was wrong. He could see six horses clearly in the moonlight, three bays, a chestnut, a grey, and the Apache’s own appaloosa. But no black gelding. While Riley was franticly trying to figure out why his horse wasn’t there, understanding washed over him as something caught his eye in the dim light.

It was Midnight, his beautiful Midnight, crumpled in a heap a stone’s throw away from them. A cry broke from Riley’s parched throat as he pulled the Mustang to a halt and leapt off, running toward Midnight. He dropped to his knees beside the gelding and gasped in horror.

Midnight’s beautiful black coat was soaked in mud and sweat. His sides heaved as he gasped for air, breaking Riley’s heart. Riley could see already that his horse had been run almost to death, and at his age he couldn’t keep up with the younger horses. So he had collapsed with no way to keep going, and that detestable Apache had left him there to die.

Riley heard hoofbeats behind him. He turned around and saw through tear-filled eyes that his father had sent the rest of the troop ahead, but had stayed behind with Riley and Midnight.

‘’Pa.’’ he choked out. ‘’We have to save him. Can’t you go find a wagon? Or something else, I don’t know, but I have to do something!’’

‘’Riley.’’ Pa’s voice was quiet but steady. ‘’There is nothing you can do. I think you know that.’’

‘’No!’’ It was getting harder and harder to get words out.

‘’Please, please give him a chance, I can save him! I don’t care how hard it is, I’ll work and work, I’ll spend every minute with him, just please give him a chance!’’ Riley begged his father with every reason he could come up with, until his voice gave out completely and he stopped talking.

‘’It’s your decision, son. Midnight is your horse. Just try to think of what’s best for him.’’

His father’s voice held so much sorrow that Riley let the tears fall. He kept stroking the sweaty, muddy neck of his beautiful horse and wondered how he could ever say goodbye, as his father kept his hand on Riley’s shoulder.

‘’I’m so sorry, Midnight. I never wanted you to suffer like this. You still have so much life left.’’

Riley leaned down so that only Midnight could hear him.

‘’I love you,’’ he whispered. ‘’You are the best friend I ever could have had and I will never forget you.’’

Midnight turned his noble head slightly so that his deep, kind eye was looking straight at Riley.

And Riley knew that his horse understood. He stood up and nodded at his father, and wordlessly told him his decision.

Pa nodded back, and silently handed his rifle to his son. Riley took it in a shaking hand and tried to aim it at the head of his trustworthy mount, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Midnight’s soulful eyes had an inexplicable peace in them, but Riley still couldn’t do it.

He handed it back to his father.

‘’I can’t.’’ It was all he could choke out.

So Pa did it for him.

Riley put his hands over his ears, but it didn’t do anything to block out the sickening sound. As soon as the sound of the bullet had stopped echoing he threw his arms around the neck of his now lifeless horse. Riley cried harder than he ever had in his life as he held on tightly to Midnight, because Riley knew that when he let go, he would never touch his beloved horse again.

Time passed as Riley cried himself out. It could have been hours, or it could have only been a few minutes. He had lost all sense of time as he grieved the life of Midnight.

When no more tears came, Riley stood up. He wiped the tears from his dusty face, mounted the Mustang and turned his back on being a little boy.

As Riley rode home beside his father in silence, a thought occurred to him. Midnight had left this world at the time of his namesake, in the middle of the night. At Midnight.    

********

The next day, Riley’s father put in for a transfer to Fort Yuma. Riley was grateful, as his Pa knew how hard it was to stay at Fort Apache now that Midnight was gone.

Over the next few weeks, Riley well and truly grew up. First he accepted what his Pa had done and forgave him, and after a while he even forgave the unknown Apache. It was hard, but it was what Jesus would have done.

And that was what mattered most to Riley.

Midnight left a hole in Riley’s heart. It healed over time, but the scar would always be there. Other horses became part of his life, some were very special and many of them patched up the hole. But there would never be another horse that would perfectly fit the Midnight-shaped hole in his heart.

Riley kept his promise to Midnight, and never forgot him.