The Horses Rejoice: The Horses Know Book 2 (The Horses Know Trilogy)

by Lynn Mann

  That makes sense. How do you know that when I don’t?

  I told you once that time in a linear form is a fabrication of the human mind. Events are perceived to be occurring one after the other when in truth they occur simultaneously. Everything has happened and yet is all still to come. Accept that this is the case and you will know both the past and the future.

  It was like trying to stop sand from falling through my fingers. I could grasp grains of what Infinity had told me for a second at a time and almost, my mind understood before my humanity reordered my thoughts of time back into a linear format and I had to begin again.

  For now merely accept the truth. Your mind is sufficiently open that as it settles within you your perception will begin to change without struggle, Infinity advised me and I instantly accepted her counsel.

  As I lay down to sleep that night, sure that I would find it without issue after the exertions of the day, I checked in with Infinity and then with Flame. Infinity was grazing peacefully, much the same as when I had left her. Flame, however, was not. In my weariness, I hadn’t taken account of the fact that she’d been withdrawn ever since our experiences with the wild herd and was now even more so. She was frustrated. The collective consciousness of the horses called for her to make the last small change to her stifle joint that would bring her to soundness and allow her to follow the pathway that was now clear before her. She wanted to be carried along with the achievements of all of the other horses, but there was still a small piece of fear within her of which she couldn’t find a way to let go.

  As her frustration grew, I tried to think of a way I could help her. She knew exactly how her stifle joint should move and exactly how her fear was stopping her from being able to move it so. That much, Infinity and I had been able to help her with, but now I was at a loss.

  The softest, most gentle tendril of love and hope touched Flame and then instantly withdrew. Fitt! The thread that I had seen stretched between her and Flame, so thin, so tenuous that I wouldn’t have noticed it had I not caught Fitt sending a tendril of interest along it to Flame weeks before, became more definite.

  We must observe only, Infinity advised me and instantly, I withdrew to the very edge of Flame’s mind and made myself small and silent.

  Flame knew instantly who had touched her and fear stabbed through her. It was all I could do not to send light to her or go to her in person to reassure her that she was in no danger, but I knew that Infinity was right. This was up to Flame. I waited for Fitt to extend herself towards Flame again, but she did not.

  Despite the fear that wanted to swamp her, Flame remained centred, paying attention to her soul and observing the knowledge that had been within her for so long. She pondered for a while and then she made her decision. She followed the thread that had always been there, linking her to Fitt but unnoticed until Fitt had recognised it and given it significance. Fitt was waiting for her and as soon as their minds touched in mutual recognition, the thread burst into life and solidified, reaffirming an agreement made long ago by the souls of my warm-hearted mare and my Kindred friend; they would help each other to balance aspects of themselves in this incarnation and propel forward the evolution of three species in the process.

  I felt Fitt’s excitement as she welcomed the touch of Flame’s mind on her own and then I reeled as a whole world of information was transferred between the two of them in no more than a second. I realised how far ahead of me Fitt was in the use of her Awareness, that she could touch minds with another – even one of a different species – and relate so completely and so immediately that the level of communication I had just witnessed was possible.

  Flame’s fear didn’t subside, in fact I felt her terror as the weight of her destiny became immediate and real for her; Flame would accept a Kindred Bond-Partner.

  I was in awe of the perfection of it all. Everything wanted to find balance. In having a Kindred on her back, Flame would revisit the situation that had caused her so much pain and terror, giving her the opportunity to feel everything she must feel in order to clear the last of her fear and be able to achieve soundness. And then Flame and Fitt would work together to achieve perfect balance. Flame would add her experience to the horses’ collective consciousness and Fitt would be the first Kindred Horse-Bonded, her position cemented by what she had achieved with her horse, and the first solid link between the Kindred and human races.

  I sent a huge wave of love to my brave, beautiful Flame. She would be Fitt’s Bond-Partner, but she would always hold a very special place in my heart.

  I will look after her as you have. I will ensure that her destiny is fulfilled and my own along with it. My friend, I thank you for listening to your soul and befriending me. Thanks to you and all you have brought with you, the way in front of me is clear. Fitt’s words arrived in my mind so gently that it was as if they had always been there, just waiting for me to notice them. I smiled as I realised that according to the non-linear nature of time, they always had been.

  I sent my love to Fitt by way of reply even as I felt Flame gather her strength and resolve and leave our group to go to her. I bit my lip as a tear rolled down my cheek. Flame would follow the thread that linked her to Fitt and then she would face her worst nightmare. She would triumph though, I knew she would. She was brave, strong and determined and Fitt was on her side. They would find their way forward together and then, when they were ready, they would find us again.

  The Kindred Elder placed her touch on my mind, ever so carefully so as not to alert Fitt. I felt her keenness to keep abreast of the situation with Fitt and Flame through her contact with me and – for reasons that she kept from me – without Fitt knowing that she was being monitored. Was this the beginning of trust between the Elder and me? I wondered to myself, careful not to make it a question to her. To my surprise, she allowed me to know that it may be a small beginning.

  I drifted off into a restless sleep and dreamt that I limped across the plains in the moonlight. I had left behind the security of my herd and I was feeling scared and vulnerable. I followed the thread that bound me and pulled me towards my worst fear and my biggest hope. I walked for hours, alert to every sound and scent that snagged on my senses, and quietly watchful for predators in my Awareness. Several times, I ran from sounds that I couldn’t immediately place, only to discover that my concerns were groundless. When hunger bade me stop to graze in the moonlight, I snatched at the course grasses, unable to relax as I continued to scan my surroundings with all of my senses. My agreement with the one I sought pulled at me through the thread that linked us, adding to my discomfort. When I scented water, I diverted from my path in order to find it and the pulling at my mind intensified, only relenting once I was once more travelling towards its source.

  I caught the scent of wild cat only moments before I felt his stare. He was sleepy; I had woken him with the sound of my hoofbeats in the still night. He decided he was hungry enough to waken completely. I was hunted. My lame hind leg guaranteed that my transition into a wild, flat-out gallop was ungainly and lacking in power, but my panic drove my hooves to pound the ground ferociously as I sought to escape. I heard the wild cat break his cover and launch after me and all thoughts fled my mind as my senses focused purely on my predator and my flight. I felt him getting closer at an impossible rate and then I heard the soft thumping of his feet just behind me. I could feel his hunger and his delight for the kill that he knew he would make. Even as I waited to feel the weight of him landing on my back, terror wouldn’t let me give in but drove me on. I drew level with a large outcrop of rock as a shadow launched itself towards me.

  I sat bolt upright, screaming. I got to my feet and tried to kick myself out of my bedding as Holly reached me and grabbed hold of my arms. ‘Amarilla, are you awake? You are. What’s the matter? Oh, thunder and lightning, Flame!’

  ‘I need to get to her, need to help...’

  Knowing that it must be too late, knowing what they would surely discover, I felt the others who w
ere able reach out to Flame.

  ‘Well that won’t have helped her hind leg, she’s overstretched herself,’ said Marvel.

  Flame flooded my mind once more and she was galloping. She couldn’t still be here, surely? She couldn’t have escaped the wild cat? Yet she was definitely still galloping. She was exhausted and she was slowing, but she was alive! I searched her mind and watched again as the shadow launched itself into the air, but instead of being brought down, Flame had galloped on to the sound of yowling from the wild cat, first in anger and disbelief and then with pain. Abruptly, the yowls had ended.

  ‘FITT!’ I yelled out with relief. ‘It was Fitt whose shadow I saw, she saved Flame, oh thank the light!’

  I bent double, put my hands on my knees and tried to slow my breathing, to calm down. Infinity’s love wound its way through me, helping instantly.

  I was Aware of Fitt extending love and a warm welcome to Flame along the thread they shared, even as she held the wild cat down whilst his soul fled his body.

  Flame came to a standstill in the moonlight, running with sweat, her sides heaving. She looked back towards where she knew Fitt to be. She didn’t see her as Fitt. She saw her as kin to the one who had tried to kill her. She saw her as the soul with whom she had, eons ago, made an agreement. She saw her as the first flower to bloom in a meadow full of thistles. She saw her as the one who would both challenge and complete her. She saw her as her Bond-Partner.

  Flame broke into her ungainly trot and then into a tired canter. When she neared Fitt, she slowed to a walk and then a halt. She dropped her head to graze as Fitt butchered the wild cat.

  ‘Well that was almost as dramatic as when you were tugged by Infinity,’ said Rowena, yawning. ‘In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that Fitt has outdone you. Saving your Bond-Partner from being savaged by a wild animal has to beat running yourself to exhaustion and collapsing in a heap like you did.’

  I managed a grin. ‘Sorry for waking you all,’ I said and felt my bottom lip begin to quiver. ‘And I’m sorry, but I need to cry. Flame’s brave but she’s so scared. She’s been through so much and she still has so much to do and on top of it all, she had to go through being hunted again and I feel so far away from her, so helpless, I know I shouldn’t feel like this but I’m just so...’

  ‘Human,’ said Rowena, wrapping her arms around me, ‘and when you actually allow yourself to get a good night’s sleep, you’ll be able to see things as they really are again and you’ll be fine. Fitt saving Flame from the wild cat has meant that their bonding has been given a headstart as well as giving Fitt some decent meals and giving the other wild cats pause to consider whether hunting horses is worth the risk of being taken down themselves. As a very good friend of mine is fond of saying, everything happens as it should. Back to bed now, Am, actually on second thoughts, wait a second. Holly, can you sort Am’s bedding out? She’s been tying it in knots. That’s better, come on now, Am, into bed and I don’t want to hear anything from you until morning. Let go of everything you think you are responsible for and just sleep.’

  I was lowered into my bedding and as Infinity once more enfolded me in her nurturing energy, sleep found me.

  I was wet, I realised as I woke the next morning. I rubbed my eyes open and sat up to see that the camp was deserted, apart from Aleks, who was sitting across the fire from me. He grinned.

  ‘I told them you’d want to be woken, that you wouldn’t appreciate waking up sopping wet, but I was shouted down,’ he said. ‘Actually, when I say shouted down, I mean frowned at, gesticulated at and told in stern, hushed tones to lower my voice so as not to wake you.’

  ‘Rowena managed to speak in hushed tones?’ I said, trying to separate myself from my wet, tangled bedding.

  ‘Nope, Rowena did the frowning and gesticulating. It was Marvel who threatened me with banishment if I woke you.’

  ‘Banishment? Aleks you know we’d never cast you out,’

  ‘Of course I know that and Marvel knows I know, he was just trying to shut me up so you could sleep.’

  ‘Where are they all now?’

  ‘Far enough away for their weather-singing not to disturb you. They’re worried about you,’ said Aleks.

  ‘They’re weather-singing? For this amount of drizzle? It’s hardly worth it,’ I said.

  ‘They’re not trying to get rid of it, they’re trying to amplify it,’ said Aleks. ‘Sonja’s been concerned about the lack of rain the plains have been experiencing this year and now that she has a good amount of cloud to work with, she’s intent on squeezing as much moisture out of them as possible. She’s been a Weather-Singer for too long to be able to ignore a situation that could do with help. The pregnant mares and those who are suckling foals will benefit hugely if the grass greens up.’

  ‘And the others are adding to their experience of weather-singing by helping her. You weren’t tempted to join them?’ I asked.

  Aleks shook his head. ‘No. I’ll learn to multiskill at some point, but for now I need to focus on Nexus and me.’

  I nodded. ‘You’re so close to finding your way Aleks, especially now that Nexus has found hers, and when you do, everything will be so much easier for you.’

  ‘In my saner moments, I know that, but I can’t seem to keep my thoughts together for long enough to process what’s been happening, what it means for Nexus and me and how I can make use of it. When we were with the wild herd yesterday, when I saw the foals moving as one with their mothers, not copying them but moving as if one consciousness operated through both of them simultaneously, it was as if the sun came out from behind the clouds and everything was clear to me. And now I can’t remember what it was that was clear to me. When Nexus showed me how she made the final adjustments to get to where she has, I was ecstatic. It was so easy for her and I knew, just for a split second, that it would be easy for me, and now I can’t remember how I could possibly have thought it would be.’

  I finally managed to extricate myself from the wet tangle of my bedding. I went over to Aleks and knelt down in front of him. ‘What happened with the foals and with Nexus touched you so deeply that your fear was pushed to one side and you were able to hear your soul. Now you’re allowing your fear to seep back in and it’s cutting you off from what you know. If you allow it to build, it will cut you off from Nexus again, too. You have to try to hold your fear to one side. Please try, Aleks?’

  He shook his head, sadly. ‘I don’t think I can. The others told me what happened to Flame last night and I almost passed out at the thought of it. We’re surrounded by danger and it could take Nexus and me at any time.’

  ‘But Flame is still alive. It’s true that in choosing to leave us to go and face her fear, she had yet another trauma, but it helped her to be where she needs to be, doing what she needs to do.’

  ‘I don’t have her courage,’ said Aleks. ‘I could never make the choices that she’s made.’

  ‘You’ve already made one of them. Flame has pushed herself out of her comfort zone in order to fulfil her destiny and that’s exactly the choice you made when you decided to travel with us. You’ve already done the hard part, Aleks, you’ve pushed yourself away from what’s easy and into what’s hard. All you need to do now is to choose different thoughts. You can dwell on your fears, on your need for comfort and absence of worry or you can focus on Nexus, her love for you, what she’s achieved, what you can achieve with her if you’ll let yourself, and then you’ll realise that comfort and security are beliefs and nothing more.’

  Aleks opened his eyes and looked into my own. ‘It’s not that easy,’ he said.

  ‘It can be if you choose it to be.’

  Aleks looked away. I stood up. ‘I’m going to get changed into dry clothes. Could you help me to string the waterproof sheets up in the trees, so we have somewhere to shelter when the real rain comes?’ I asked.

  Aleks nodded. I sighed inwardly, knowing that I couldn’t spare him from what was to come, but knowing that I’d tried. I shook m
y head and blinked. For a second, I’d known what was in his future, as if it had already happened. I tried to remember what it was that I’d glimpsed, but my mind was blank.

  When you attempt to grasp the future you merely reinforce it as a linear concept and render it invisible, Infinity informed me. Allow yourself to merely know what you know without awarding it much attention.

  I shouldn’t pay attention to the future when I get glimpses of it?

  No more than to the present else it will serve only to act as a distraction from what we do.

  I couldn’t help feeling a little frustrated; being able to know the future was intriguing.

  You demonstrate the danger. Merely knowing that seeing the future is now possible for you is providing enough of a distraction from the present that you fail to notice those who would have your help, I was told.

  Who? Oh. As soon as I asked the question, I was Aware of the closest of the herds of wild horses moving steadily in our direction, following the sense of us that they had picked up from the horses we had helped the previous day. I was also Aware that Rowena, Marvel, Holly and Sonja knew of the situation even as they and Vickery sang the drizzle into rain that was steadily becoming heavier, as did Justin, who urged Gas on as he cantered through pastureland.

  As Aleks and I hurriedly strung up waterproof sheets to make a shelter for all of us, my mind flickered towards Flame and Fitt and I knew that Flame grazed while Fitt slept curled up on the ground nearby. We all had roles to play in the here and now. I understood Infinity’s counsel.

  All you need do is trust yourself, she told me. If you need to know something then you will know it.

  I know there’s heavy rain coming and I’m hungry, I thought to myself as much as to Infinity and was unsurprised when she returned her attention to her grazing.

  Sixteen

  Courage

  Once the rain started, it seemed as though it would never stop. Aleks and I had managed to hang up our waterproof sheets before it really came down and with the new camp fire that Marvel got going at the edge of our shelter, we were able to cook and make tea, so for the first time in ages, all of us were content just to rest and relax – except for Aleks who either sat and moaned, paced back and forth, or dashed out to check on Nexus, despite reassurance from all of us and Nexus that there were no wild cats in the vicinity.