Midnight

by Anna Dove

  They reached the barn door. A long bolt was drawn across the wooden front. Haley immediately smelled the strong scent of horses and hay as Elizabeth quietly slid open the bolt, being careful not to scrape it on the metal loop in which it rested. Elizabeth pulled open the door, and she and Haley entered noiselessly, while Carlos stayed outside to keep watch.

  There was an open space in the roof where a panel was missing, and moonlight streamed into the stable. Ten or twelve horse stalls lined the sides, and Haley could tell they were occupied. Turning to the first on her left, she peered over the slats. In the dim light she could make out the shape of a tall, lean thoroughbred. She unlocked the slatted stall and slipped inside.

  Its nose reached out curiously, and Haley greeted it by blowing softly and shortly into its nostrils. Her hand cupped the soft skin under its muzzle and she felt the hot breath on her arm. She slipped her hand up to its neck and calmly stroked its side. The horse did not appear to mind. It stood quietly, not bothered or afraid, but rather nonchalant. There was something comforting about the strength and calm exhibited by the giant animal.

  “Haley!”

  It was Elizabeth.

  “Yes?”

  “I have mine, and one for Carlos. There’s a lead rope and halter on the inside of the stall door. Put it on, let’s go before anyone wakes up.”

  “No saddles?”

  “Too heavy and too loud.”

  Haley reached out and took the lead rope and halter, and slipped it over the ears and head of her thoroughbred. “C’mon, let’s go, my friend. We have a long trip in front of us.”

  The horse hesitated, nickered, and then followed as Haley tugged slightly on the lead rope. It followed her out into the yard, its hooves clip-clopping loudly on the barn floor. The three guided their mounts quickly and quietly to the side of the barn that blocked the view from the house.

  Elizabeth swung up easily onto her horse’s back. He was an Arabian mix and was short and muscular, making an easy mount. Carlos, who had only ridden as a child, had to use Haley’s knee as a mounting block, but sat resolutely on his Palomino once he had gotten up. Haley placed her hands on the thoroughbred’s back and jumped, pushing up with her arm strength and sliding onto the back of her mount. Hers was taller than the other two, and slimmer.

  Haley looked up to the stars. She found the Big Dipper again and followed the line extending from the top two stars in the handle until she found the North Star. It shone bright in the starlit sky. Never before had any of them been witness to so many stars. The Milky Way stretched clearly in an arc. The lack of manmade light illuminated the heavens, reminiscent of two hundred years prior.

  There was a sound behind them--a door opening on its hinges. Without a word, they dug their heels into the sides of the animals and raced towards the edge of the woods. Suddenly, Haley realized that they had forgotten about the fence. They would have to jump.

  A shout came from behind them, from near the house, a loud male voice, and then a horrible crack that split the air as someone fired a shotgun. Haley glanced back at the others, who continued on, the horse hooves pounding the earth. The man must have missed, but it could not be long before his second shot. She clenched her teeth as the fence neared rapidly. Two white boards across, probably four feet tall in all. Leaning forward, she lifted herself slightly off the back of the horse, clenching her legs tightly to its sides. She held onto the base of the mane and braced herself.

  Up, went the front legs, extending the long body of the animal, and for a moment they were suspended splendidly in the air, as if she was riding Pegasus through the heavens, and then down with a jolt and Haley quickly locked her arms against the horse’s neck to keep herself from catapulting over its head. The thoroughbred continued on in his long canter, and as Haley regained her balance she looked back; Elizabeth had cleared the fence and was gaining on her, and Carlos was up--over--down--Haley’s heart dropped as her friend seemed as if he would fall, but after clinging for dear life with all appendages to his steed, regained his seat and quickly shot up the hill towards her. She breathed a sigh of relief, and as a second crack split the quiet night air, they topped the hill and sped out of view of the farmhouse.

  The pounding of the horse’ hooves sounded below them as they followed the edge of the woods northwards. Over hills they cantered, staying close to the trees where the shadows blocked the light of the moon. For twenty minutes, they did not stop, passing darkened house after darkened house. An eerie stillness hung in the windows and the doorways. No lights, no humming of generators, only the terrible calm.

  Haley shivered. She felt the smooth muscles of her thoroughbred, built for racing, flex and release with the pattern of the canter, and found comfort in the movement. It was a flowing, graceful motion, and she pictured him at Churchill Downs in the Kentucky Derby. Surrounded by high spirited young racers and tiny jockeys they pranced, and then, the gates open, and they’re off! Past millions of dollars in bets and fascinators and seersucker suits they race, the dust billowing up around them. The sun beats down but they do not feel the heat--all sounds and sights and feelings have vanished, for it is only them and the dust and the finish line. Halfway there. She holds his reins tight, but he pushes against them, longing to lengthen his neck and his stride and show the other racers his metal. The dust billows and the corner turns again. Not too soon, not too soon--NOW! She releases, leans forward, and he shoots away like a bullet, gasping for length with each stride. One horse ahead of them, they near, they are inside, they are tied. Last corner. They round the corner. Neck and neck, like greyhounds they race sleekly. She urges him. He pulls ahead, they cross--they have won!

  A small creek appears in the moonlight, and Haley awakened again to reality. Pulling the lead rope, she slowed her horse, and the others, just behind her, came to a stop at the bank of the creek. The horses breathed hard for a moment before dropping their heads to nibble at the young grass by the water’s edge.

  “I’m so sorry,” said Elizabeth. “I didn’t remember the farmhouse being that close to the stable.”

  “We were almost shot,” said Carlos. “Fuck. You’ve got to remember me better next time.”

  “That was not her fault,” retorted Haley quickly. “It’s thanks to her that we even have these horses.”

  “I just mean,” said Carlos, “that this is no game. And I have not grown up riding, and I don’t ride as well as you. You have to remember that. This was the first time I jumped, the first time I’ve even done more than ride at a walking pace. You two are racing ahead and leaving me behind, and that’s not how this should work. I’m doing my best, I’m staying afloat, but we need to stay together, and I happen to lack these particular skills. I will learn them, and quickly, but please, don’t forget that I am a beginner.”

  “I’m sorry,” replied Elizabeth, and Haley nodded. “You’re right. We will be careful--and not just this--we have to think of this entire trek with that in mind. No one will be left behind.”

  After a brief rest, they continued on, letting the horses walk. The moonlight illuminated the wood’s edge and reflected in a silver sheen off the dewy grass. Bareback they plodded northeastward, and Haley sat comfortably, her weight evenly distributed. The horses’ hooves sounded regularly and soothingly on the ground. Haley held onto the base of the horse’s ample mane, as well as clutching the lead rope.

  On horseback they stopped every twenty to thirty minutes, straining their ears for any abnormal sounds, but heard nothing new. All was silent; there hung in the air a tenseness.

  It was well into the early hours of the morning when Elizabeth rode up next to Haley.

  “I’m exhausted. It might be a good idea to get a few hours’ sleep and then assess where we are in the morning. I can barely keep my eyes open.”

  “Me too,” agreed Haley, and Carlos rode up beside Elizabeth.

  “I’ll stand watch for the first two hours, then you each can take an hour and a half or so,” he added.

  They turn
ed their horses and entered the wood, but did not pass far into it before they halted and dismounted. A few large oaks clustered around, interspersed with small saplings, bushes and ferns. They tied the lead ropes to sapling trees, drank water and ate quickly, and then while Carlos sat at the base of an oak, the women laid down on the ferns.

  It was not comfortable; sticks protruded at rude angles and Haley turned over on her back, trying to ease into sleep. She looked upwards and saw the blanket of leaves, through which an occasional star would twinkle. There was a definite chill in the air now, left over from a cold winter. As she watched the outlines of the leaves shift and sway, her eyes drooped shut.

  The first hints of gray began to appear at the horizon, rising up from where the earth met the sky in slow persistence. The stars, so brilliant in a sky blacker than coal with no earthly light to hinder, now began to sleepily fade, disappearing with the breath of the dawn. Like a creeping tide, the gray spread upwards, onwards, until the trees became visible in the predawn mist. Birds began to twitter. A rust breasted robin flitted from the branch it sat on to the ground and back. Wakened from a fitful slumber by the chirping, Haley looked up and saw an array of small birds lining the treetops, singing to each other with gaiety, ushering in the first signs of the morning. She watched them absently, and as the gray lightened to color with the dawning of the sun, the blues and greens and reds and browns of the birds’ chests, wings, crests, and tails flashed and fluttered among the whispering leaves in the sycamores, maples and oaks. Laying with her head propped on the pile of leaves she had bundled, she lifted one arm, and with her fingers pretended to touch the creatures. As she did, lost in thought, the rays of the sun pierced the morning sky, highlighting golden bases of cumulus clouds and painting hues of pastel pink, orange and deep, beautiful blue.

  There was a rustling beside her, and Carlos opened his eyes, gazing for a few moments at the color, looking quite lost. Elizabeth sat to his right. A quick realization overcame his expression and he breathed deeply, his brow furrowing.

  “Let’s go,” he said softly.

  And Haley realized that they had survived their first night, and she took a deep breath.

  13. East

  “Scared is what you're feeling. Brave is what you're doing.”

  ― Emma Donoghue, Room

  Sitting on the ground under a tall oak, Haley chewed dry crackers and peanuts for lunch. They had now been travelling for two full days, riding on horseback through woods and fields. From the farm in Forest Heights they all had ridden northeast, crossing above the Joint Base Andrews into the Westphalia Estates, a heavily wooded area. From here, they decided to set their course due east until they encountered the Chesapeake Bay, and then to turn north until they had reached Annapolis.

  Haley’s muscles were cramped and sore from riding, especially the insides of her thighs, which burned as the muscles complained of the exertion. She had not ridden regularly for a few years, and although the movements came back to her quite naturally, still her muscles were not quite adjusted. She stretched out her legs, reaching for her toes, feeling the pull of her back and thighs.

  The sun burned bright above her and her companions, casting short patterns of light in the spaces that the trees could not reach. Gracefully drooping violets had pushed up from the soil below in an expansive sunlit patch, where the decomposing leaves of the previous fall created rich nutrients for the flowers to root. Haley plucked handfuls of the stems and flowers to eat. They tasted slightly bitter but wonderfully fresh after two days of canned and preserved food.

  “I propose that we ride for a few more hours, and then tonight let’s actually set up a place to sleep and try to make hot food. We should be rationing our dry food anyway.”

  “Hot food? You mean hunt?” asked Carlos.

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve never done that before.”

  “Then you watch the horses and materials and Elizabeth and I will do it.”

  “Fine with me.”

  In the past two days, they had not encountered a single human being. Birds, foxes, rabbits abounded, and they passed a few empty cars if their path took them across a highway, or a dark-windowed house if they neared a residential area; but there had been no human interaction the further they ventured from the city. This actually made them feel much safer, and as they began to relax, they were able to think more clearly and focus on the tasks at hand, such as navigating. They had slept on the ground with their horses tied to nearby trees, one person taking watch every three hours, which afforded the others six full hours of sleep, plenty for their adrenaline--racked bodies.

  They mounted presently, after finishing their break for lunch, and rode eastwards. All of them had settled into riding very well, their weight distributed evenly in the dip of the horses’ backs. They did not converse much, preferring to use their ears for any potential danger. Haley kept her eyes on the tail of Elizabeth’s horse in front of her, as they plodded on eastwards towards the Bay.

  Towards early evening, they came to the Patuxent River, a mild flowing river that empties into the Chesapeake. They stopped at its banks, pondering what to do next.

  “We can go north until we find a bridge,” suggested Elizabeth, watching the gentle current.

  “I think that’s too dangerous,” replied Carlos, shaking his head. “Bridges are for highways, highways have higher congestion of cars and are near people.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “Swim it,” said Haley.

  “Are you crazy?” responded Elizabeth. “What about the horses, and our supplies and firearms?”

  “Firearms can get wet, you know that,” responded Haley. “And we will put the supplies on the horses and swim them across. Look, it can’t be more than thirty feet deep in the middle, and we can wade out a good portion of it. It’s our safest option.”

  They all watched the river, its current drifting by, and tried to mentally estimate this task.

  “I think I agree,” said Carlos. “I think it will be fine.”

  Haley dismounted, and the others followed suit. She took the pack from her waist and strapped it around the horse’s neck with the supplies facing upwards. While the horse did not seem particularly enthralled with the arrangements, it did not rear or buck and after a few minutes of nervous movement, capitulated calmly. Haley took its lead rope and stepped into the river, and after a bit of persuasion, the animal followed her.

  Out they waded, and about one third of the way across, Haley began to swim, as did her horse. She stayed by its head, speaking soft words to it, holding the lead rope in her left hand. The animal swam as all horses do, its neck thrusting against the water, its body and feet churning underneath. Haley kept an even breaststroke, and only realized that they had reached the shallows when the horse suddenly appeared to be in contact with ground, and then upon testing the depth, Haley found that it was no more that four feet deep. She continued on with the horse, and they waded side by side out of the river and onto the opposite bank. Looking back, Haley saw that Carlos and Elizabeth and their horses had also reached the shallows and were now coming up towards the bank.

  They let the horses graze for a moment, untying the packs, and the three humans sat down dripping on the grassy bank leading up to Lothian Woods, breathing a little heavily.

  “It can’t be much longer now until we reach the Chesapeake,” said Haley. “What if we set up a camp here, sleep for a bit, and continue on in the dark? I’m very hungry and tired and I don’t know how much longer I will be able to go.”

  The others agreed, and while Carlos built a fire and a little shelter for sleeping, Haley and Elizabeth went to look for food to add to their packaged supplies, climbing the bank into the woods and breaking twigs as they passed to mark their trail back. They stepped quietly, their guns loaded, looking for game.

  Birds twittered above them in the treetops and they heard the scurrying of squirrels, but no small animals came into sight. The evening sunlight filtered through the l
eaves, and they knew that they would have to go back before long.

  Coming upon a pond, they both froze in their tracks. There, swimming peacefully on the water, were a flock of Canadian geese.

  “Let’s see if we can get them to come to us,” said Haley, an idea springing to her head, and Elizabeth glanced at her in skepticism.

  “What do you mean?”

  Haley pulled a pack of crackers from her pocket and slowly approached the lake. The geese did not seem to mind very much, although they moved casually a few feet further from the bank, paddling around each other gracefully. Haley crouched down at the edge of the water, and breaking off a piece of cracker, tossed it fifteen feet away from her.

  This caught the birds’ attention, and they flocked to it, the winner grabbing the piece from the water with a long, eager neck. Haley tossed more crumbs, one by one, and inch by inch the birds neared. They were eight feet away now, seven, six, within tantalizing distance but too far to capture, and besides, they still regarded her warily, watching her every move.

  Now they dared to retrieve pieces five feet away. A few shy ones hung back, unwilling to take the risk, but the braver ones came closer and closer with every crumb. Haley continued to toss the crumbs.

  At last, the crumbs fell just barely at arm’s reach. Haley waited as the bravest of all the geese came forward, eyed her with its black beady eyes, and then reached out its neck to scoop the crumb from the water’s surface.

  In a flash, she grabbed its neck, and immediately there was a mass of honking and wings and splashes from the entire flock. The captured goose gave a great lurch, and Haley, caught off balance by its weight and strength, fell into the shallows. The water was no more than a foot deep, and she soon recovered herself, coming up to her knees and then her feet and dragging up the goose, flapping and writhing, behind her. Elizabeth could not help but laugh a little at the spectacle; Haley was dripping wet again but victorious with their dinner in tow.