When Grnadfather Journeys Into Winter (4 page)

Tayhua got a strange look in his eye. He
started climbing off the fence. "I think I've got me an idea."

Little Thunder looked worried. "Grandfather,
that horse doesn't look..." He stopped talking unable to say what he wanted to say for fear of
hurting Tayhua's feelings. "Maybe you shouldn't try to ride him because..."

Tayhua put his hands on his hips and stared
at his grandson with a fierce, angry pride. His shoulders went back and his back stiffened and
Little Thunder could tell that Tayhua was not pleased.

"I hope my grandson wasn't going to say
something about how I might get hurt and all that kind of nonsense, that scared-mouse
noise."

Little Thunder gulped. "After you finish
riding the horse down, can we get something to eat? I'm starving!"

Tayhua lit up like a Christmas tree in a
store window. Tayhua had said exactly the right thing. He smiled his biggest smile at his
grandson and made a hand gesture that said very plainly, "Everything is gonna be all
right."

Tayhua walked across the center of the
corral and went toward the white man who owned the horse. He placed himself directly in front of
Wilson Tanner, who stood leaning behind the corral rails. Tanner was chunkily built, with a body
that once might have been well muscled but now ran to fat. His western clothes were tailor-made
and the cigar he held clamped between his teeth was the expensive kind.

No more riders seemed willing to try riding
the big black stallion. The men held him against the fence once more, but no one had made a move
to climb the fence and get on the horse.

Tanner took the cigar out of his mouth. "Do
something for you, old man?"

"I want to ride your horse," said Tayhua
calmly.

Wilson Tanner ran his hand along the side of
his jaw, eyeing the old man with astonishment. He broke out in rude laughter.

"Whooooooeee!" said Tanner, slapping the leg
of his pants with his white stetson hat. "You can't be serious! That horse will throw you right
into the old-age home and halfway into next week!"

"I said I wanted to ride him," said Tayhua.
"It doesn't matter to the horse that I am old, why should it matter to you?"

"But..." Tanner began, hesitation evident in
his face. He didn't want anyone getting hurt, especially an old man. His horse was just too wild.
"That's a pretty wild horse there and I don't think..."

"I am pretty wild myself," said Tayhua with
a smile.

"I don't want to see anybody get hurt," said
Tanner, throwing away the stub of his cigar. "Don't you.."

"If a man wants to ride and you offered the
ride to anyone who wanted it, should not that man then ride?" said Tayhua, a determined look
settling on his face.

Tanner sighed. He took off his hat and wiped
the sweat off his forehead. He knew an irresistable force when he saw one. He laughed
unpleasantly and gave in. "Guess you got as much right to end up in traction as
anybody."

"Good," said Tayhua, not letting his anger
show in his voice.

"Five hundred dollars if you can ride him,"
said Tanner with an ironic smile. He didn't think there was any danger of paying out that
prize.

"I don't want the money."

Tanner's mother dropped open in surprise.
"What?"

"I said I don't want the money. You keep
your five hundred dollars. If I ride the horse down, I'll take the black stallion in place of the
cash."

Tanner was stunned. Of course, there was no
possibility that he would lose the horse. What amazed him was that the old man did not want the
money. With that much money he could have bought four horses. Tanner shook his head, not
understanding at all but willing to go along with it. "Sure, whatever you want. The money or the
horse, doesn't make a big of difference to me. Nobody can ride my stallion."

Tanner looked the old man in the eyes.
"Beats me why you'd want a horse like that. You could buy a pretty good horse with five hundred
dollars. Horse like that ain't good for anything but throwing blamed fools on their
tailbones."

Tayhua shrugged. "Maybe I'll use him to
knock buildings down."

Tanner hitched his hands in his belt.
"You're welcome to ride him. Just be careful, if you can. I wouldn't want you getting hurt just
'cause of..."

Tayhua frowned. The white man's concern was
making him angry. He was not an old woman to be worried over. He was a man.

"Enough has been said. I shall ride," said
Tayhua, cutting Tanner off. "I will win your horse from you.'

Tanner pointed. "You go over to the corral
and get ready to ride. I'll explain the details of this." With those words, he climbed over the
rails and stepped inside the corral. Wilson Tanner walked toward the center.

He raised his arms to get the crowd's
attention. When he had it, Tanner announced, "Last rider! I've found one more rider who wants to
get his pants dusted." There was a small laugh from the people around the corral.

"And this time, by special request, if the
rider stays on, he wants the horse instead of the money." Tanner left the corral.

In Tayhua's eyes, the white man did not
respect his old age. Tayhua felt that Tanner was secretly laughing at him, and it made him even
more fiercely determined now to ride the big black stallion.

Tayhua did not like to be reminded he was
old, that he should be careful. He felt his pride was being tested, his worthiness was being
disputed. The old man displayed his anger in the stubborn thrust of his shoulders. He was going
to ride that horse if he had to hold on with his teeth.

Little Thunder's mother ran up to the fence,
ready to scream at him, ready to pull him off the fence and stop this foolishness. The old man,
aware of her presence at his back, turned and gave her such a fierce stare that she backed off.
She held in the harsh words she had been about to say.

"I'm going to win this horse for my
grandson," said Tayhua. "A boy should have a good horse." There was a plea for dignity in his
words. By the tone of his voice, she knew Tayhua's honor was at stake. To the old man it was not
just a chance to ride, it was a chance to maintain his dignity as a human being. Wisely, Elk
Woman felt these things, and though hating the danger in it, she made herself step back, saying
none of the things she had at first meant to say.

Tayhua nodded at her. He knew she understood
his feelings and he smiled his thanks at her.

"Ride well," she said and she turned away so
that he would not see that the danger to him almost broke her heart.

"I'll try not to fall asleep," said Tayhua
with a grin.

The ranch hands holding Rolling Thunder
against the fence wished Tayhua luck. He nodded at them and slid down in the worn leather saddle.
He hooked his legs around the big black's body.

Tayhua could feel the powerful body twisting
and thrashing under him. Here was a horse with spirit! He felt as if he was mounting a coiled
spring. It was all the men could do to hold the horse against the corral rails.

Tayhua nodded. "Let'er rip!"

The men jumped away, dropping the gate.
Rolling Thunder pushed away from the fence like a black hurricane. The first jolt almost loosened
Tayhua's teeth. His hands bit into leather, his old arms strained. Grimly, he hung on.

Rolling Thunder wheeled, dove and rocketed
up again and again. The first savage lunge caught Tayhua off balance. His right leg flew up,
driiving his knee hard into his chest. The pain was harsh, almost intolerable, but Tayhua refused
to let go.

The leather reins cut cruelly into his
hands. His back and shoulders ached with the awful strain. Still he held on.

Rolling Thunder careened across the corral
like a ricochet from a high-powered rifle. Dimly Tayhua could see the people near the far side of
the corral fence back away as the big stallion neared the rails in one of his savage lunges. He
heard a roaring sound from the crowd as the stallion hit against the fence.

For a second, Tayhua glimpsed Tanner staring
at him with his mouth open and his eyes wide. The look of shock, of disbelief on Tanner's face,
pleased Tayhua. It gave him a little extra incentive. He was beginning to need it.

Tayhua was in danger of becoming seriously
ill. The savage jolts of Rolling Thunder were playing havoc with his insides. It felt as if his
ribs were tearing apart.

Rolling Thunder was letting loose with all
the savage cunning and brute strength of a wild animal. The stallion was plunging, sawfishing,
back-kicking and side-whirling. Still, somehow the old man hung on.

Tayhua just wrapped his legs tighter around
the stallion's sweaty, heaving sides. He felt as if every bone in his body was working loose, but
he would not let go.

The jolts were so hard that the blood burst
from Tayhua's nose and splattered him and Rolling Thunder like rain. Tayhua was past caring.
There was pain and holding on and those were the only two things he knew.

Together, horse and rider lunged near the
far side of the corral fence, causing several people on the top rail to dive for
safety.

Unable to shake off the stubborn old man by
bucking, Rolling Thunder made for the corral fence. Slamming his sweat-covered side into the
rails, the horse dragged Tayhua against the fence.

Tayhua gritted his teeth in pain as his one
leg rammed into the wooden rails. The hard wood ripped his pants and tore small chunks of flesh
from his leg.

Tayhua kicked hard with his free leg,
digging the heels of his boots into Rolling Thunder's sides. This only served to provoke the
horse even more.

Rolling Thunder jumped forward and ran.
People began backing away from the fence as the big black stallion wheeled in a tight circle
around the corral. Tayhua fought the stallion every step of the way. His arms were tired. And he
ached. The pain was terrible. His body was screaming for him to stop, but he would not
stop.

Rolling Thunder reared against the fence.
The fence rails buckled and broke with a crash. People scurried away like cackling
chickens.

Thrown off balance when the fence broke, the
big black stallion toppled sideways.

When Tayhua saw that they were going to
fall, he raised his down-side leg out from under the horse. He used it as a lever to keep the big
black horse from rolling over on him. It took every last ounce of muscle the old man could
muster. Somehow, even though the pain had brought tears to his eyes, the old man kept the horse
upright. Had he not been able to, the horse would have rolled completely over, pinning him under
horse and saddle.

Rolling Thunder threw his head up,
wild-eyed. Struggling mightily against the creature that clung to its back, it leaped up, legs
bruised from the hard rails. Tayhua wrapped his legs around the horse again as it rose up,
holding on for dear life.

On his feet once more, the horse bolted
through the break in the fence. Running blindly, he ran head-on into a water trough, which
overturned, water cascading every whichway.

Bucking and snorting, the horse lunged
toward the picnic tables loaded with food. Tayhua tried to turn him aside, but he did not have
the strength. The horse smashed headlong into them. The air exploded with overturned tables and
flying platters of food. Women scurried away, like pin feathers driven by a storm.

Dogs, asleep under the tables, began howling
and running around in confused circles. Men, women and children ran for cover, showered with a
spray of foodstuffs.

Rolling Thunder and his grim-faced rider
smashed past the overturned tables and bolted straight into a big tree. There was a solid crash,
a meaty thunk, as the frenzied horse, in his blind fury, rammed his head with great force into
the thick trunk of the tree.

Stunned by this unexpected turn, Tayhua lost
his grip on the reins and fell foward on the horse's neck. He could ride no more. He had lost the
strength to hold on.

But Rolling Thunder was finished, too. The
big sweat-drenched horse stood shaking under the tree, sides heaving. The stallion was spent. He
had been ridden down. His spirit had not been broken, but the fight in him was gone.

From this point on, Rolling Thunder would be
ready to learn to carry people on his back.

Tayhua lay across the big stallion's neck,
his face and chest covered with blood from his nose. His heart raced as if it were going to
burst. His chest rose and fell spasmodically.

His face was deathly pale.

Little Thunder and his mother raced to
Tayhua. The horse stood there, too spent to react to the strangers standing at his side. The
people around the corral were cheering. No one, in all of the years of the horse breakings, had
ever made a ride like that. No one.

In the coming years, Tayhua's people would
be telling the story of his magnificent ride.

Wilson Tanner pushed his way through the
crowd that was forming around the weary horse and rider. Tender, caring hands helped the old man
slide off the now gentled horse.

Tanner looked down at his boots and then
looked at the crowd. The people fell silent, aware that the white man was about to make another
speech. Tayhua stood weakly beside the horse, leaning against his heaving sides for support. His
face was contorted in pain.