The Horse Healer

By Stephen ONeill

Philoh and Ely return in another thrilling quest, seeking the mythic, shape-shifting Horse Healer to rescue their Grove from a life-threatening epidemic. Meet the fantastic characters: Greytooth Grizzelfurr, staunch ally and guide; Tag, the wicked Snowlion King, bent on malice, and Xorana, the beautiful and mystical Horse Healer. Follow our heroes to The Gates to the North where suspense, action, and adventure await!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stephen ONeill
• Release date: Nov 19, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301959402

Stephen ONeill

My life is not exciting; my stories are. Besides writing, I like to cook, play guitar, and oil paint (all my cover-art is done by me). FYI: all my proceeds from "An Unlikely Friend" will be going to Sandy relief.

Book preview

The Horse Healer

By S.J.ONeill

Copyright 2012 S.J.ONeill

Smashwords Edition

License Notes

creativecommons.org

Table of Contents

One—The Crossing

Two—Directions

Three—The Vale

Four—The Path

Five—Tag

Six—Greytooth

Seven—A Grizzelfurr’s Tale

Eight—A Foggy Day

Nine—Claw Rift

Ten—Littlenight

Eleven—Three Plans

Twelve—The Surprise

Thirteen—Reunion And Council

Fourteen—Out Of The Mountains

Fifteen—A Rare Appointment

Sixteen—The Horse Healer

Seventeen—Flight

Eighteen—The Healing

The Horse Healer

The Crossing

The tree that lay across the Rushing Water had been there for as long as Philoh could remember, it had been struck by lightning many seasons before he was born. One end of the trunk was a dark, charred devestation; it lay next to its mangled, rotting stump. Opposite the burnt ruin, withered branches reached like long, ancient fingers into the murky, swirling whirling Rushing Water, barely touching the far bank. No squirrel from the Grove had ever crossed the Rushing Water this way before, in fact, no squirrel had ever crossed the Rushing Water, except for the two hero squirrels, Philoh, and Ely. They had gone on an incredible adventure years before, to rescue Ely’s sister Belle, after the Two-Leggers had captured her.

Why do we have to come this way? asked Ely, Why can’t we go by the way of the Falling Water like we did before?"

Because that’s at least a three-day journey, and we are in too much of a hurry, we must reach the horses before they begin their stamping and tramping on their march. We must find out if the legend of the Horse Healer is really true.

Once again, Ely knew Philoh was right, but he was still frightened (Ely was not a strong swimmer). To get to the other side would be a daunting and hazardous feat for the two friends.

Normally, squirrels have no difficulty scampering up trees and jumping from branch to branch, it is generally the best way for them to get around. But those trees are solidly rooted in the good Mother Earth, not scarily toppled over into some of the angrier parts of the Rushing Water. One slip could send them into the churning foam, to be swept away and never heard from again.

But the two squirrels had no choice, they must journey this way if they were to help their families and friends.

Philoh went first, and as he leapt out onto the ragged, lifeless elm, he got a sudden shiver, as squirrels do not like to touch dead trees, for the spirit of the tree has departed. The living spirit of a tree is the main reason that a squirrel might choose to live in it. It is the reason that squirrels and trees have been friends since the beginning of the world. However, some trees have spirits that are hostile, and are not friendly, and will allow no squirrels to live in them. Philoh had a sense that this tree, even though long dead, had been an especially unpleasant one. He gathered his courage, and in a dozen or so well placed jumps, he was safely on the opposite bank.

Ely’s heart was pounding in his ears, and he could not move.

Philoh shouted over the loud, Rushing Water, Come on Ely! We have to do this! Please! It wasn’t that hard! Just pick the branches furthest from the water, and then you’ll be over! Think of the little ones! Now, Ely now!

Ely was frozen with fear, but he began to think about the terrible, tragic events happening in the lovely sylvan Grove where he and Philoh lived.

It had started with the end of Summerseason.

*~*~*~*~*

Both Philoh’s and Ely’s families were lucky, so far they had been spared.

But others were not so lucky.

No one knew how the sickness had begun, or exactly who first came down with it, but within a few days many of the very young, the babies, and an almost equal number of the very old, the elder ones, were quite ill.

Old Doc Bristlewise was unable to do much at all. He had been doctor to all the squirrels in the Grove for as far back as anyone could remember, but this sickness was something new; he had never seen anything like it. He was stumped, and said so.

I just don’t understand why there are so many sick; the young, and the old. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if I can help, he said to Ely one evening. Squirrels are a hardy lot, and it’s not very often I have two patients at once, now it seems half the Grove is ailing! I don’t know how long they can last.

I wish there was something I could do Doc, said Ely earnestly.

I know you do Ely, and I’ve tried all the cures I know of, but nothing seems to work. We need some kind of miracle.

Old Doc Bristlewise was the wisest, and kindliest old squirrel Ely knew, and it pained him to see the Doc so helpless. He also knew that if they didn’t find that miracle(although Ely didn’t really know just exactly what a miracle was), the poor squirrels in the beautiful, peaceful Grove were in deep trouble.

We’ll find a way Doc! Don’t you worry! We’ll get that miracle! Ely shouted after the disheartened doctor, but he couldn’t be sure if he had heard.

So Ely went to his favorite thinking spot, the Mushroom Knoll.

Deep in the forest, a clearing in the trees rose to a low hill, and at the top, in the center of this knoll, was a large round stone; smooth, almost shiny, and Sun-bleached a snowy white. The stone looked as if maybe a gigantic hen had left her huge egg buried about halfway deep in the crest of the hill. The Mushroom Knoll got its name, not from the stone, but from the hundreds upon hundreds of many colored and, differently sized mushrooms that grew all over the hillside.

It was here that, just as the Sun cast lengthening shadows on her way to slumber, Philoh arrived to find his best friend, Ely.

I thought I’d find you here, said Philoh, your mother said that you didn’t come home for dinner, and you rarely miss a meal, so I figured you must be thinking, or worried, or both.

Both, I’ve been thinking on a miracle, and worrying about everything else, said Ely quietly. And then in a wave of emotion, he broke, Even Old Doc Bristlewise doesn’t know what to do Philoh! Everybody’s getting sick! All the elder ones, and the babies Philoh! What about the little babies! Ely was now very close to tears, and Philoh had only once seen his friend so upset, and it distressed him, but he put on a brave face.

Old Doc Bristlewise is the smartest squirrel in the Grove, Philoh stated, he’ll think of something Ely, please don’t worry so much.

But what if he doesn’t, Philoh? What if there’s nothing he can do? Ely’s eyes were shining with tears.

It was killing Philoh to see Ely so badly shaken, and so, before he knew what he was saying, he gushed, We’ll do something Ely! We’ll do something! We’ll . . . We . . . Philoh couldn’t think what to do, but he so desperately wanted to help calm his friend, he just blurted out the first thing he could think of.We’ll go and find the Horse Healer!

He couldn’t believe he’d said it.

Ely stopped crying and looked at Philoh in disbelief.

Could we really?

Then Ely paused, and looked suspiciously at his friend. Wait a minute I thought you didn’t believe in that legend stuff.

Philoh didn’t believe in the myths and legends his grandfather had told him and Ely when they were little, but he knew Ely favored in one in particular, because it was so fantastic.

The legend of the Horse Healer.

Philoh’s Gramps had told them a tale of a mystical form-changing creature that roamed amongst the great wild horse herds on the far Northern Plains. This animal was rumored to be the last of its kind, and it possessed many strange and wonderful abilities. It was told that whichever herd the Horse Healer traveled with held no ills. All were healthy and without disease. But no squirrel had ever seen the Horse