Early Morning

[Stephen Colly]

”Stephen….Stephen come on.” his father’s voice was heard, shouting up the stairs, Stephen was lying in his bed, he was on leave finally and had plucked up the courage to come home. His father had been in a mood with him ever since he had come back, his mother had tried to be kind but it hadn’t worked.

Stephen got slowly out of bed, rubbing his eyes, no light came into the bedroom, it must be before sunrise…The footsteps of his father were becoming louder and louder and they were now approaching his bedroom door, his father, angry faced came in.

”Get up.” his father said in a gruff voice, pulling the boy out of the bed, ”Get dressed and come down stairs, fields need ploughing.”
Stephen glared at his father, ”They’d be done quicker with two horses father.” he muttered, his father looked a round, shaking his head and walked out of the room.

Stephen quickly got dressed in his old farm clothes; he hadn’t worn these for a whole year, he trooped down the stairs, grabbing a piece of bread and heading out into the yard, the early morning air, the sun was just rising over the fields, spreading light onto the land that was un touched by war.
Stephen walked over to the horses’ stables, where his horse Joey had once been, now there was only one – Old Zoey – a big shire horse who had been with the family for years. Just because Stephen was in the army now, didn’t get him out of work, his father said that it needed to be done and as Stephen was around, he would have to chip in like old times.

”Hey old girl.” he said, speaking quietly to the horse, his father was nowhere to be seen. He came into her stable, feeling her over for any sores and cuts, his father had never been good at looking after the horses.

[Niamh Dunlevy]

OOC - I don't have a horse in my inventory yet, so technically, I don't think I could use Drummer. Therefore, I have invented an excuse as to why he is not being ridden.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Drum...c'mon Drum, geth up..."

This was just as bad as Christmastime, when Drummer's front right hoof had gotten severely infected from an injury to the frog. However, that which had afflicted him was more serious this time - Drummer had somehow run spooked himself and run into a barbed-wire fence a few days before. There were no other towns around, and Niamh had been forced to stitch up her horse as best as she could; no antiseptic, nothing to clean the wounds with.

Needless to say, it didn't work.

Drummer lay on his side, breathing heavily, the sown-up gashes on his exposed right flank angry and swollen. Niamh had spent the last half-hour trying to get him to his feet, but it was no use. Sighing shakily, she wiped a few tears away that had fallen, then walked over to the great stallion's head and got down one knee.

"Drum...c'mon boy, you can'th end like t'is..." the Pavee murmured, gently stroking the side of the horse's face. "Drummer, please...we're only a kilomethre from t'e nearesth town, you can make ith..."

The horse nickered pathetically, eyes filled with pain as they looked up at the young woman. Niamh let out a choking sob, then shakily patted Drummer on his cheek.

"I...I know, Drummer, ith...ith hurths...I kn-know."

If Drummer was to live, then Niamh would have to run into town and find a veterinarian. It was risky, though; the last time she'd been around these parts, somebody had recognized her and started up the whole "Gypsy-thief-witch" thing again. Her Horse-Brother needed her, though, and Drummer had been too good to her for her to let him down now.

He'd been vulnerable, but there was no other choice. Niamh gave him one last pat on the head, smiling reassuringly.

"I'll be back, Drummer. Waith here."

The horse whinnied as she began to run, and she felt her heartstrings pulled at like never before. If she wasn't fast, then Drum would be dead within God knows how long...or worse, stolen or killed by some passerby. She had to be fast...

[Stephen Colly]

The whinny of a horse could be heard from near by, Stephen glanced up, he walked to the stable door, looking out but saw nothing. "Must be hearing Joey eh." he said to Zoey who was eating hay on the floor of the stall.

"You're a good girl Zoey, that you are." Stephen said, his Devon accent was coming back to him as he spoke, whistling and humming to himself like in the old days, he began to clean out the stall, moving the straw that was clean on to the banks and getting at the underneath muck. After he had done this, he put a halter on the old mare, and led her out of the stall, talking to her as he went.

"I've been to war Zoe, I've seen hundreds of horses killed..." he muttered, tying the horse out in the yard which was coming ever lighter and began to brush at her coat, humming to himself as he worked. He heard again the whinny and looked up, looking around in the semi-darkness. "Hello?" he shouted out.
The whinny had gone, Stephen shrugged, feeling sure he had been hearing things. He went into the tack room where the plough harness was kept, putting the collar and ploughing reins onto Zoey, patting her. "Father's gone into the town, at this early in the morning I hear you ask! Ha, yeah, mother says he never looks after the animals any more, but you have me for a few more days Zoey, I'll look after you."

[Niamh Dunlevy]

"Hello?"

Niamh stiffened, her mismatched eyes widening as the call echoed out from somewhere nearby. Her head whipped to and fro, trying to find the source of the sound, her heart pounding wildly. It was a voice, all right...a younger-sounding man's voice...

"HELLO?!" the Pavee shrieked back, her hand cupped over her mouth to project the sound. "HELLO?! IS T'ERE ANYONE OUT T'ERE?!!"

She had only been jogging for twenty minutes, and if she was right, then the town was still another thirty away. Drummer was living on borrowed time; there was no doubt in Niamh's mind that blood poisoning had already begun to take over. Her Horse-Brother weak and wounded and exposed, it was such a horrible thought...

"HELLO?!!"

[Stephen Colly]

"HELLO?! HELLO?! IS T'ERE ANYONE OUT T'ERE?!! HELLO?!!"

Stephen jumped as he heard a voice echoing back at him through the darkness. ”YEAH, SOMEONE’S HERE.” he shouted, putting a hand on Zoey’s neck to reassure her, he could see a figure coming towards him, he stepped towards the girl who looked panic stricken.

”You there?” he asked as he walked, his arms out stretched to feel his way, ah yes…he felt a pair of shoulders, he pulled the figure into the light, and stared down at the face of a little girl who looked like she hadn’t seen a bath in weeks, the poor girl looked awful.

”Bloody Hell.” Stephen said, squinting at her, ”You look awful.” he glanced back at Zoey who was waiting patiently, ready to go out to plough. He turned and came over to the horse, patting her neck and soothing her, ”We found someone Zoey.” he said to the horse, smiling and then looking over at the girl.

[Niamh Dunlevy]

"Ineedsomehelpbecausemyhorseissickandhecan'thmoveand t'ere'sabigbunchofgashesinhissideandhe'sreallysickandhe's lyingdownandIneedsomeonetohelpmemovehimorhe'llDIE!!"

Niamh wheezed, taking in a deep breath after blurting out what turned out to be one extremely long string of words. She hadn't bothered to fight back when she was pulled into the light - the man in front of her was a farmer, and he was hitching up a horse to plow. Surely he would have some idea on how to move a wounded draft horse that weighed almost as much as a pickup truck...

"So...yeah..." the girl breathed, blinking a couple of times. "...Could you please help? I can't...can't get him on his feet. I haven't been able to get anyone to see him for days."

[Stephen Colly]

Stephen stared in slight horror at the girl who was by now rambling out words left, right and centre to him, he didn’t get what the hell she was saying. ”Calm down.” he muttered, he re-said her sentence in his brain, then understood. ”Oh right.” he said, biting his lip, now feeling sorry for the girl. ”Help?” he glanced over at Zoey, and then back to the girl.

”I could help…” he began to say, then thought about what his father would say, ”Father is going to kill me.” he muttered more to himself than she, ”What’s exactly wrong with him?” he asked, ”Where is he, is he near here?” he asked the girl, smiling a friendly smile and moving his hair that had fallen over his eyes away from them. If Stephen could tempt the horse to stand, then they could walk it slowly back to the farm and get someone to look at him there.

He patted Zoey’s neck as he waited for an answer.

[Niamh Dunlevy]

"Thwenty minuthes down t'e road," Niamh said quickly, pointing in the general direction from where she came. "He ran intho a barbed wire fence couple of days back, buth I wasn'th near any thowns, so he couldn'th geth looked at. I sthithched it up, but ith's all swollen and red, and he's sick. I've been thrying to find a place for him for days."

This was the one thing she liked about farmers - their hospitality. Although there were plenty out there willing to drive the Pavee off their land, this one seemed like he would be able to help. After all, horses were excellent at judging one's character, and by the way the Shire was standing so calmly near the man, Niamh had a good feeling she could trust him.

"I really, really, really need your help," Niamh pleaded, looking at the farmer with puppy-dog eyes. "I'm sorry to bug you so early, but he's noth even thrying anymore..."

[Stephen Colly]

Twenty minutes! She had run all that way! The horse had run into a barbed wire fence…ouch, the poor horse sounded very sick and ill. Stephen didn’t like to hear about horses being ill, he hated seeing the pain in the animals eyes as they lay in the mud…in France…their eyes staring up, pleading to be saved and in the end nearly all where shot.
”I understand you need help.” Stephen said, how though? How to get a large horse to a town when it was in the middle of nowhere by the sounds of things.

A figure came towards them and Stephen stiffened, it was his father, returning from the town. He pushed past the girl and grabbed Stephen’s collar, startling the horse as he spoke. ”WHY AREN’T YOU OUT IN THE FIELDS?” he said, his voice thick with drink, (the landlord of the pub gave him a free drink when ever he came up there), ”YOU MEANT TO BE PLOUGHING THE FIELDS WITH THE HORSE.”

”Father!” Stephen said, pushing him a way, ”Leave me alone, I will do when I’m ready, if I wasn’t here then you would have to do it! Now this girl is in need of help.” he said, pointing.
”YOU HELP HER! I’M GOING INSIDE.” he slapped Stephen’s face, laughing and pushed past Zoey off to the house where his mother was just coming out of, his mother had heard the noise and was now coming over, her eyes full of worry as she saw the girl and her expression then turned to shock. ”Stephen…you been fighting with him….who are you?” he asked the girl, staring at her through the darkness. His mother wore a piny and a flowery dress which smelled of baking.

[Niamh Dunlevy]

"WHY AREN'T YOU OUT IN THE FIELDS?!"

Oh dear God.

Not...not him...

Niamh held her breath as the man came close, grabbing the younger-looking man by his shirt. The familiar drunk pulled him aside, the smell of liquor heavy on his breath, and Niamh flinched back. If memory served her correctly, then this man had been one of the drunks who had thrown a full bottle of beer at her head the last time she'd been in town. Then again, almost all the local drunks seemed to act and look the same: shabby, uncaring, uncivilized, reeking of weeks of body odour...

"Father!" cried the younger man, causing the girl to raise her eyebrows, "leave me alone, I will do when I’m ready, if I wasn’t here then you would have to do it! Now this girl is in need of help.”

The drunk seemed displeased at this fact. "YOU HELP HER! I'M GOING INSIDE!" he bellowed, storming away and doing what he said he was going to do. Niamh took another step back, wondering if he was going to call the police over...

"Stephen...you been fighting with him...who are you?"

It took a moment for it to register in Niamh's head that the question was directed towards her. Her strangely-coloured eyes - one a fierce amber, the other a modest brown - were slightly fearful, but the Pavee's tone was even (if not slightly shaky) as she spoke.

"N-Niamh Mairi Dunlevy, ma'am," said the Irish Traveller. "M-my horse fell ill and I can'th geth him tho move off t'e side of t'e road. I was merely searching for someone tho help me geth him intho thown and tho someone before t'e worst happened. I didna mean tha disthurb anyone here, ma'am."

[Stephen Colly]

”She speaks with a strange accent and look at her eyes Stephen dear.” his mother said, rather too loudly.
”Mother!” Stephen said, annoyed and horrified about how rude she was too this young girl who either of them had never met before today. ”As she said, she needs help with her horse.”

His mother put her hands on Stephen’s shoulders and looked down at Nimph. ”Please mother, I can handle it.” Stephen muttered, moving a way from his mother and began to take the collar off Zoey, ”I’ll get my saddle and we can ride over to see your horse.” he said to the girl, taking his saddle from the wrack and coming back, it was Joey’s old saddle, he stared at it for a second, remembering then shook his head and lifted it up onto Zoey’s back, he grabbed his flat cap from just inside the barn and came back, mounting Zoey who was now more awake than ever and gave a hand to the girl, ”Mother, if father comes asking, say I’ve gone to town.” Stephen said to his mother who was now going back towards the house, Zoey’s ears pricked up and she startled as she heard a door slam, ”Ssh.” Stephen muttered to her, patting her neck.

His mother had gone inside, muttering to herself.

[Niamh Dunlevy]

”She speaks with a strange accent and look at her eyes Stephen dear.”

Niamh's face turned a bright shade of red without her realizing it. As if she was ashamed by her eyes, she let them fall, and her hands nervously squeezed themselves together. There was a short quarrel between the mother and child, it seemed, although Niamh didn't bother to pay any attention -

And a horse nickered.

Niamh's head snapped up to see a hand reaching towards her, the man - "Stephen", he was called - now on his beast of burden and ready to go. Niamh blinked for a moment, then accepted his hand, mounting the beautiful Shire with practiced ease.

"Just keep goin' down t'e road," the girl said.

[Stephen Colly]

"Just keep goin' down t'e road,”

Stephen smiled, and nodded, kicking the horse into a canter, they cantered off down the track which led to the road in time. ”Hold on.” Stephen said, looking back at her, feeling her hands cling around his waist, he was surprised at how fast Zoey was going, she was normally used for just ploughing the fields at a steady walk for hours on end, not cantering and Stephen loved it how he felt the horse gather speed as it went on.

They finally reached the road, the sun was now up quite high in the sky so Stephen could see around, he saw a horse lying down on the ground, Zoey nickered at it, he heard the horse nicker back. Kicking Zoey on, they trotted over to the creature.
It was a big horse, looked around 17 hands, Stephen jumped off his horse, tying the animal to the gate post so she could eat grass.

”Hey boy.” Stephen bent down next to the animal, looking him over, his hoof looked swollen and sore, running a hand slowly down to where the animal was injured, and Stephen noticed the injury that so many horses had had out in France. ”Seen many cases of this type of injury in France.” he spoke to the girl, stroking the animal, ”Barbed wire you say? Looks like he has an infection in his hoof, I can’t do much about it, but a veterinary can definitely…” Stephen stood up, dusting off his hands and putting them on his hips, thinking.

[Niamh Dunlevy]

The horse had a lovely gait. Not many people rode the big horses, the Pavee found; many of them would stiffen up after the first twenty minutes of riding, nearly doing the splits if they didn't ride up near the shoulders. This man, however, seemed to be a natural. He kept himself from sliding down into the middle of the animal's back, and his balance was remarkable. Niamh wondered if he rode often.

Within about the same amount of time it took for Niamh to run to the farm, the pair came to where the Pavee had left Drummer. The stallion lifted his head, nickering at the Shire when she called to him, but flattened his ears a little when Stephen came close. Luckily, Niamh was there to hurry around and stroke the horse's muzzle, keeping him calm while Stephen inspected the animal's wounds.

”Seen many cases of this type of injury in France. Barbed wire you say? Looks like he has an infection in his hoof, I can’t do much about it, but a veterinary can definitely…”

"His hoof?" the girl asked disbelievingly, her eyebrows once more going up. She slowly moved around to see what Stephen was talking about, and to her disgust, he was right; not only was Drummer wounded from the right hip down to the knee, but the hoof had somehow been injured as well. Niamh swore, then slapped herself in the face.

"Almighthy God, I am an idioth..." the woman growled, rubbing her face. "I complethely missed t'at..."

[Stephen Colly]

Stephen glanced down at the animal, he realized that it’s whole leg from the hip was wondered, bloody bared wire. ”My father had horses like this back in the Great War, they got caught up in barbed wire, they all had to be shot cause they were tangled up, thank god your one got free.” Stephen muttered, stroking the horse’s neck.

”You missed it?” he said turning to her, raising an eyebrow, ”I see…I suppose it’s hard if you don’t know what to look for, always check the hooves before checking anything else, nine times out of ten, the hoof will be the source of the problem.” the soldier then realized what he was saying, ”but of course, it’s your horse; you can do what ever you like with him.” he said, smiling.

He glanced around, what to do now? There was only one thing and that was to get this horse to a veterinary as soon as possible.
”You wait here with your horse, I’ll ride into town and get someone.” he said, standing up and walking over to Zoey, unwrapping the reins from the gate post and mounting her.
”I’ll be back soon.” he said, kicking Zoey who sprang into a trot and he trotted off down the road.

Thankfully, the road wasn’t too far from the town, it was about half an hour or so on horse back and less in a car. Stephen arrived just as the town was waking up, he had been here many times on market days mostly and when he was a child to ring the bells in the village, but now there were blacked out windows and air raid shelters everywhere.
He trotted down the high street, reaching the vets house, the man was just coming out. ”Ah, Stephen Colly or should I say Private Stephen Colly!” the vet said, smiling up at the young man, ”You found your horse yet Steve?” he asked.

Stephen shook his head, remembering Joey but he had more important matters. ”Sir, there is a horse down the road, about half an hour, its really bad, please come. The girl looks almost ready to burst into tears any minute, she seems to care a lot about it.”
The vet nodded, ”I was just going out so my cart is ready; I’ll be round in just a minute.” he disappeared and then came round the back, now in his cart drawn by a beautiful bay mare.

The two set off down the road at a slowly speed then Stephen had gone, they clip-clopped down the road, both horses’ heads held high, looking around them.
”Hear you are sir.” Stephen said as they rounded the bend, now in sight of the horse and girl.