Wild Horses
A Spider Circus story
By Alice Nuttall
Copyright 2014 Alice Nuttall
Cover image copyright 2013 Emily Brady
The net rocked gently beneath her. Lizzie put her hands behind her head and gazed up at the ceiling of the tent. Motes of dust drifted down towards her, and she closed her eyes. It had been a long day, and this was the first moment of peace she’d had since dawn had broken that morning.
“Lizzie?”
Groaning, Lizzie sat up. Leaning in the tent doorway was a tall figure, her curly brown hair catching the light from outside.
Maria smiled up at her. “You busy?”
“What happens if I say no?” Lizzie said guardedly.
“I’m going out,” said Maria. “Thought you might like to come.”
“Depends,” Lizzie rolled to the edge of the safety net and swung down the scaffolding. “Does it involve heavy lifting?”
“No.”
“Grease?”
“No.”
“Loads of climbing”
“Nope,” The older girl held out her hand. “Coming?”
Lizzie smiled. “Why not?”
They slipped out of the air into a bustling crowd. Men, women and children pressed around them, dressed in jeans and plaid and tatty old T-shirts, leading sleepy horses who flicked their ears at the flies. The sun thumped down on Lizzie’s arms and shoulders, a stark change from the cool of the circus tent.
Despite the milling people, Lizzie didn’t feel crowded. The world around them was a vast, flat plain, covered in scrubby bushes and trees, with hazy mountains rising up in the far distance. The sky above was clear, bright blue, and as enormous as an upturned ocean. She was being jostled on all sides, but still she felt an overwhelming sense of space.
Someone chuckled, and Lizzie looked around to see a creased old man grinning at her. “Big sky we got here, uh?”
Smiling, Lizzie nodded. “Biggest I’ve seen.”
“You here for the show?”
“Um…” Whose show? Our show? Lizzie shot a desperate look at Maria.
The older girl nodded. “Yep. I’m riding.”
“Are you now?” The man tilted his head to one side. “Where’s your horse?”
“She’s on her way.”
The man raised his eyebrows. “Hope she gets here in time.”
“Oh, she will,” Maria touched Lizzie’s shoulder and led her through the crowd, towards a tumble of buildings that looked like a cross between a stables and an arena.
clustered around stalls with handpainted signs reading ‘Soda’, ‘Tacos’ and ‘Frybread’.
“Are you hungry?” Maria asked, noticing Lizzie staring.
“I’m always hungry.”
“Come on,” The older girl led the way towards the nearest stall, where a plump, middle-aged woman was frying dough in a huge pan. Maria bought two huge circles of bread, each the size of a dinnerplate, and handed one to Lizzie. “Careful, it’s hot.”
“You want something to drink, too?” the woman asked, indicating a cooler box filled with ice and cans.
“Yes, please,” Lizzie peered into the box. None of the logos on the cans were familiar, and she felt a strange pang of disappointment shoot through her stomach. Why was she sad? She’d known since landing that this wasn’t her world. But it had felt so close, and she’d just hoped. “Um…lemonade?”
“What?”
“Try a Zoosh,” Maria picked out a can that was a startling shade of pink and handed the woman a couple of coins.
“Don’t know that accent,” the woman remarked as she dropped the coins into a cashbox. “Where are you two from, uh?”
“Bucksberg,” Maria said. “Ever been there?”
The woman shook her head. “Nah, not me. Bucksberg? You come a long way to get here.”
Funny, that, Lizzie thought.
They walked away from the stall, and Maria nudged Lizzie. “Go and find a seat. I won’t be long.”
“Where are you going?”
Maria winked at her. “I have to see a man about a horse.”
Settling herself into one of the seats, Lizzie started picking at her frybread. It was crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and utterly delicious. The Zoosh, on the other hand, tasted like sugar and chemicals, but it was cold and wet, and perfect on a hot day like this one.
Sipping the drink, she gazed down at the bank of seats, watching the clusters of people as they sat and chatted. What was this supposed to be, then? Some kind of farm show?
There was a thunder of footsteps, and two small, dark-haired girls raced along the row of seats in front of her, laughing. One had a towel tied around her shoulders, and it streamed out behind her as she ran.
The girls collapsed into the seats in front of Lizzie, giggling and shooting quick, mischievous glances at her. Grinning, she leaned on the back of the chair and looked down at them. “What’s going on, eh?”
“I’m magic!” the taller girl proclaimed.
“Why’s that?”
“Because I have a cape!”
Lizzie nodded. “Sounds fair to me.”
“Are you on your own?” the other girl asked.
“Nah, my friend is here, she’s just busy.”
“You can sit with us if you want,” The first girl shuffled to the side.
Lizzie smiled and climbed over the seat. “What are your names?”
“I’m Janie,” said the second girl. “This is Beth. She’s my cousin.”
“Hey, I’m an Elizabeth too. Only everyone calls me Lizzie,” Lizzie held out the can of Zoosh. “Want some?”
Janie took a swig from the can and passed it on to Beth. “My big sister and brother are riding today,” she said.
“That sounds good,” said Lizzie. “What kind of riding?”
“They’re doing the barrel racing.”
“What’s that?”
The two girls looked at each other with that special kind of contempt that only six-year-olds can manage.
“You race around barrels,” Beth said kindly. “On a horse.”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Lizzie said, smiling.
“Why is your hair like that?” Beth pointed at her dreadlocks.
“ ‘Cos I want it to be.”
“Are you from far away?” said Janie.
“Oh – yeah, um-” What was it Maria had said? Lizzie tried to think back. What was the name?
The two girls stared expectantly at her, but before they could ask any more awkward questions, there were yells and applause from the rest of the crowd. Down in the arena, two men were pulling a gate open.
“It’s the roping!” Beth tugged at Lizzie’s hand and pointed as a calf sprinted out across the dirt. Racing behind it was a young man on a piebald horse, a length of rope coiled in his hands.
The man whirled the rope around his head, then, with a flick of his arm, sent it snaking through the air.
A loop dropped around the calf’s neck, and the rope snapped tight. The man slid off the horse’s back, dropped the calf to the ground and whipped another length of rope around its legs.
Lizzie blinked, a piece of frybread halfway to her mouth. The whole thing had taken a matter of seconds. “That was amazing,” she said.
Janie made a snorting sound. “My brother is better.”
“Didn’t you say he was doing the barrel racing?”
“He’s better at that too.”
“I bet he is,” Lizzie leaned forward in her seat as the men moved back to the gate. “Maria’s missing a good show.”
The other ropers were even faster than the first, if that were possible. After that came the barrel racers, we
aving loops and twists across the arena. Lizzie and the girls cheered when Janie’s sister and brother galloped on, coming away with first and second place.
“I told you they were the best,” Janie said proudly.
Lizzie nodded. “You were right.”
“Here’s where you got to!”
Lizzie looked around. An elderly woman was making her way along the line of seats, her face creased in a grin.
“Nana!” Beth leapt to her feet. The old woman held out her arms, and the little girl ran into them, Janie hot on her heels.
Settling into a seat, the two girls on either side, the woman smiled at Lizzie. “You friends with that new girl?”
“Maria?” Lizzie nodded. “Yeah, she brought me here. You’ve seen her?”
“She riding today?”
“That’s what she does,” Lizzie stared down towards the pens. There was no sign of Maria. “If she brings her horses, anyway.”
Janie tugged on the old lady’s sleeve. “Nana, it’s the ride!”
There was a bustling down in the arena, a larger group of men gathering outside one of the pens. Lizzie peered forwards, and her breath caught in her throat.
Inside the pen was a huge black horse. The creature danced backwards and forwards, tossing its head and letting out long, high whinnies as the men tried to hold it back.
Lizzie felt her stomach flip. In a moment, she was back in a forest a world away, sprawled on her back as an enormous creature reared over her, its teeth bared, its eyes mad.
It wasn’t the same. This horse was different, not warped, not wrong. But when she looked at it, the creature in the forest was all she could see.
“Are you all right?” Beth whispered.
“Huh?” Lizzie blinked, coming back to the present. Down below, a young man was climbing onto the horse’s back. The gate swung open, and the group of men let go.
The horse shot forwards, bucking and kicking like a demon. Clinging to the saddle with one hand, the man raised the other above his head, while the crowd whooped and roared.
Rearing, the horse pulled away to the side. The man slipped and fell, landing in the dirt with a thud. The horse cantered away around the arena, wheeling away from the group of men as they rushed forwards to catch it.
Eventually, the team managed to wrestle the animal back into its pen, and another rider stepped up. This one lasted barely three seconds.
Janie snorted. “That was pathetic.”
“You could do better?” Nana said, nudging her in the ribs.
“They’re going again!” Beth called.
Down in the pen, a slim figure swung itself onto the back of the horse. Even from the other side of the arena, Lizzie recognised the patched brown overalls and the thundercloud of black hair.
“That’s her!” Lizzie leaned forwards in her seat. “That’s Maria!”
The gate opened. The team let go of the ropes.
The horse exploded out of the pen, tearing across the arena. Maria clung to its back, crouching low over the horse’s neck, one arm stretched out to the side. The animal bucked and kicked, but Maria stuck like a limpet.
Nana nodded. “She’s good, that one.”
“Just you watch her,” Lizzie said with a grin.
Tucking her arm behind her back, Maria leaned forwards. She curled herself towards the horse’s head, reaching forward with the other arm, and pinched the animal’s top lip.
Shaking her head, Nana gave a low chuckle. “Clever girl.”
“What’s she doing?” Beth asked, puzzled.
Lizzie shrugged. “Beats me.”
The horse had been twirling, kicking, bucking, but suddenly it seemed to slouch. It trailed to a walk, then stopped completely. Its ears drooped, and its head began to dip.
The crowd sat in silence as Maria slid off the animal’s back and stroked its cheek. Lizzie could see her lips moving, although she couldn’t hear what was being said.
Over by the pen, almost as an afterthought, one of the men rang a bell. Smiling, Maria waved to the crowd, then turned and walked out of the arena.
The horse followed at her heels.
“Come on,” Lizzie said, as the two of them – or rather, the three of them – walked across the prairie. “That was magic, wasn’t it?”
“Nope.”
They’d left Janie, Beth and Nana behind at the frybread stand. The girls had fired non-stop questions at Maria from the moment they’d met by the pens, and it had taken a lot of evasion and an eventual bribe of doughnuts to shake them off.
“Some kind of tech, then?”
“What kind of tech?”
“I dunno, something that…makes a noise only horses can hear…”
Maria gave her a baffled look.
“All right, it was just a thought,” Lizzie kicked at a stone. “What was it, then?”
“Just biology,” said Maria. “There’s no trick to it. Grab a horse on the top lip, it calms them right down.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Lizzie gave her a sideways glance. “Even that one in the forest?”
Maria paused. “Well. Maybe not that one.”
The horse nudged her in the shoulder. Smiling, Maria reached back and scratched its ears. “Anyway, this looks like the place.”
“For what?”
“Our lift home,” Maria checked her watch. “Nearly six o’ clock. Perfect.”
Lizzie opened her mouth, but before she could ask the question, there was a shiver in the air. Out of nothing stepped Jack, his peacock-blue coat standing out in bright contrast to the deep browns and greens of the prairie.
He gave the two of them a broad, vague smile, and nodded towards the horse. “So, it went well, then?”
“Better than that,” Maria slapped the horse on its shoulder. “Let’s get him home.”
Stepping forward, Jack placed a hand on the side of the horse’s neck. He looked at Lizzie. “Come on. I know it’s nice here, but you can always come back.”
Smiling, Lizzie reached out and touched the velvety skin of its nose. The horse flicked its ears whuffled into the palm of her hand.
The world flowed away, and with barely a jolt, they were back at the circus. The horse flinched and stamped at the ground, but Maria was there in an instant, stroking its cheek and whispering quietly.
“I’m going to get him settled,” Maria started walking towards the pens, the horse following just behind her. “Coming, Lizzie?”
Lizzie shrugged, glancing over towards the tents. “I dunno, I might have to work…”
“Francis said he had some washers for you to sort,” Jack said in a helpful voice.
“Sorry, I’ve got to help Maria with the horse,” Lizzie turned on her heel and trotted after Maria.
“Francis will make you do something even more boring if you don’t go,” Maria pointed out.
“Yes, but it won’t be now.”
“Fair enough.”
They stopped at an empty pen, far away from the other horses. “Won’t he be lonely?” Lizzie asked, as Maria opened the gate.
“That’s sort of the point, at the moment,” Maria slapped the horse on the backside, and it ambled away across the grass. “He’ll make a good stud horse, but I’m not looking to breed from any of my girls just yet.”
Lizzie leaned on the fence. “What are you going to call him?”
“Dunno,” Maria closed and latched the gate. “Do you have any ideas?”
“All I can think of is Zoosh.”
“That’s rubbish.”
“I know,” Lizzie watched as the horse started munching away at the grass. “He’s certainly calmed down.”
“Well, I’m a very calming influence.”
“Hey, that could work,” Lizzie said, as a thought struck her.
“What, Calm? That’s worse than Zoosh.”
“No, not calm,” said Lizzie. “Serenity.”
“Hmm,” Maria thought for a few moments. “I like it.
Serenity it is.”
“It’s lost on you, though,” Lizzie grumbled. “Remind me to invite you to sci-fi night. When Damien and I finally get it organised.”
Maria grinned. “Do you really want me there with you and Damien?”
“Shut up.”
Chuckling, Maria leaned on the fence next to her. Together, they watched the horse’s shadow spread across the ground as the sun began to set.
For more free stories, try Footloose, a comic written by Alice Nuttall and drawn by Emily Brady, featuring faeries, werewolves, pirates, and the ancient and noble martial art of kung shoe.
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