Book Excerpt!

 I stood outside, saddled and waiting for the next rider. It was a strange time of the day for me to be going out, right in the middle of the afternoon, when the sun was at it hottest. I tossed my head, anxious for the next rider to appear.
     The stationmaster held my head in place until he saw the next rider coming up ahead on the horizon. I whinnied excitedly when I saw that it was Levi. The mochila was thrown onto my back and Levi jumped on after it, and off I charged like a runaway locomotive. There was no horse that could beat me when I had the mail, especially with Levi, my master and friend, riding.
     My head was up and so was my long tail as it flowed in the wind behind me. Levi leaned closer to my neck, gripping tight with is knees and letting my head free to do what I wanted with it. I knew where we had to go.
     Dust swirled up around my feet and choked Levi so that he put his kerchief over his mouth. I galloped up a sharp incline and then slid down a hill. No shying today. I wanted to get this run over with fast.
     I suddenly heard a strange noise, and threw my head up to see where it was coming from. Levi put his head up, too. I heard it again.
     "Yiiiii! Yiiiiii! Yii!" I twas some sort of strange holler, but I didn't see any people. I looked around myself, until all of the sudden I saw an Indian, racing bareback on a paint horse behind us and somewhat to the left of us. Yikes! He held a bow and arrow, and put the arrow in place before he let it spring toward us. It missed and Levi dug his heels into me.
     "Go Dusty go! We gotta get out of here!"
     Two more indians appeared, followed by three more. I didn't need any more prompting by Levi. I ran! My hooves pounded on the ground and my ears swept back, the whites of my eyes showed the fear in my heart. These Indians wanted the mail, and they wouldn't be afraid to kill to get it. People or horses.
     It didn't matter that the mail really had no value to them at all. They were curious about what was inside the pouches, it must be something very special and valuable. Why else would the white riders keep the mochila locked and always on the back of a galloping horse?
     A bronze-skinned brave moved out of the group and galloped closer to us. His horse easily caught up to us as their horses where fresh whereas I had already been running for a couple miles. He pulled out a knife and held it between his teeth for a minute while his hands pulled his horse's head closer to me. He then grabbed the knife and slashed it at Levi, but I quickly lunged ahead and he missed, cutting a hole in the mochila instead.
     Mail spilled out behind us. I didn't care. I hurdled over a rock and kept on running. The Indians pulled their horses around the rock, a brave one with a tall horse jumped over it. Arrows flew at us. The sun continued to beat down on my back, and my breath came in short bursts as I began to run out of substance. I was used to running, but not this fast at such a long distance.
     But the fear instinct was strong. I would run until my lungs burst if I had to. One Indian turned behind us and galloped up a small cliff. I ran into a little canyon, still following the trail. There only had to be a few more miles until we made it to the next station. We had to make it!
     But I suddenly slid to a stop when another Indian appeared, only feet in front of me! I gave a terrified whinny as the Indian let an arrow fly. It missed Levi but the arrow burrowed itself into my shoulder. The sudden stop threw Levi out of the saddle, and he land with a hard thump onto the ground ahead of me. Breathing hard, I whirled and ran back to the other station.
     The saddle was empty now, which made it easier for me. I ran even faster. But as I ran, my heart told me, "Stop! Stop! Go back for Levi!" but my head told me "Run! Run if you want to live!"
     I craned my head around to see the Indians binding Levi and throwing him onto the rump of another horse. The image immediately froze in my mind but my legs kept racing automatically and I could do nothing about it.


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How about it? Congratulations if you read all the way to the end! Got a screen-time headache yet?
     Please excuse all the typos. (But if they're really bad let me know) I'm writing here in my pajamas and I have to be at the Grocery store to work at 9:00! Go to go!
     Thanks for reading,
     Mattie

(will post a little more information later)