A Horse That Wore Snow Shoes

Mr. Brown had to go to his camp at Pine Tree Valley, which is in the midst of the mountains in California.

His men were cutting down the giant trees, and piling them in readiness for the Spring freshet, or floods of the river, when the snows melted. Then they would slide them down the mountain sides to the little villages below.

There was a great deal of snow on the mountains, and Mr. Brown knew it would be hard work climbing to the camp, but Lady Gray was strong, and used to it.

Lady Gray was Mr. Brown's pet horse, and carried him everywhere. She was always happy when her master was in the saddle.

But to-day the snow was very deep and soon Mr. Brown had to get off, throw away the saddle, and lead her. They had to stop very often, and lean against the trees and rocks for support, while they rested and regained their breath.

In places the snow was so deep and soft, that they sank above their knees. Late in the afternoon they reached the camp nearly exhausted, and it was several days before they were able to return.

The snow was still deep and Mr. Brown knew he must go back on snow-shoes, but he was afraid Lady Gray would have to be left behind.

Finally one of the men suggested making her some snow-shoes. They cut four round pieces of board, twelve inches across, and fastened them on with rope. Lady Gray seemed to understand what they were for and tried very hard to walk in them.

She was very awkward at first and could hardly stand up, but by practicing a little every day she was soon able to manage nicely.

So Mr. Brown and Lady Gray both returned on snow-shoes,and how every one did laugh when they saw them.But Lady Gray never could have done it if she had not tried.

With the Snow, comes Death;

She ran inside the gates and began to make it towards the front door when she caught site of her parents outside by the winter  conservertory in the snow garden. 
They too were just sitting there looking very worried indeed.
She ran up the steps and joined them on the wall, quite out of breath. 
Her father was holding something in his hand. "Mum, Dad I have something to tell you that can't wait a moment." Misti said grabbing hold of her father's arm. "Careful child," He said gently, "Look!"
He held out his hand towards her. There in the palm of her father's hand sat a snow Sprite, usually by this time of the year the snow had gone and the young sprites were safely back in there caves in the Silvan mountain hibernating and getting their strenth back for the next winter.
Her white gown would have changed to gold as she and her sisters took out the winter and bought in the Spring.
They would be replaced with the Spring Sprites, who would arrive and usher the spring in.
 King Silvan placed the tiny sprite on a little cushion made from the velvet off the antlers of the forest deer. 
He sighed deeply “Its no good, they just don’t seem to have any strength left, they are growing weaker as each mornings wakes, if only we knew what it was that was making them so unable to leave, where is all this snow coming from?"
Misti stood by her mother's side as the king gently covered the creature with a piece of warm fur.
 “Daddy are they dying because the snow is still here and it's March?” she said impatiently. “Yes, my dear I do believe they are, for some reason they have lost the will to live.
“Then will you listen to me please, I think we know the reason why." Misti could take no more she burst into tears and blurted out all of what had happen in the  woods."
Misti sniffed. "Daddy, Mummy I need you to come with me, now, quick if we dont go now he will die, I know he will. 
The princess followed by her mum and dad went down the steps.
"But what I don't understand is how come I have got an Aunt and cousin that I didn't even know about?
Queen Sereni  sat down in the library, her eyes growing wider and wider as Misti related more of her story.
"But we must hurry Mummy, he's been trapped there for at least a month, and he is your nephew so come on." Impatiently Misti jumped to her feet.
Queen Sereni reached for her heavy boots and began to put them on. "You are certain of all this Misti?" the Queen whispered.
“If he is your Aunt Gildan’s son, he, all of us are in terrible danger.But she would never have sent him here, not in the winter time." 
She looked at the king, "Is it at all possible that she could have forgotten the curse, Silvan? Surely not, she answered herself. King Silvan sat down on his chair; his face was ashen and his hands began to shake.
"Now I don't understand any of this and it is all very  intriguing but we really do have to get over there and help him, curses you'll be talking about wizards and witches next, but I'll start with do I or don't I have a cousin called Gely? And could we talk about it on the way to the woods.” Misti just couldn’t help it, she began to cry again, everything seemed to be going to slow. 
Soon it would be dark and then there would be nothing they could do.
She felt her mothers arms encircle her waist.
 “Come, come little one, don’t cry, wipe away your tears and let's go and get your cousin out of the ice. I will tell you all there is to know as we get some warmer clothes on, it has turned very cold again and it's no good us going over there and freezing to death before we've found him again."

             The three of them got up and put there warm coats and hats on, they left the palace and walked quickly out of the gates and towards the woods.       
"Right were to start, at the beginning I think. It happened many years ago when my sister, your Aunt Gildan and I were very young.
It was time for myself and your father to be married and the palace was becoming very crowded with guests from all over the realms. One of them a young wizard called Pocca, to this day no one is certain where he came from but there he was on the Silver Mountain in the palace.
Within days he had he met and fallen in love with Gildan, but she was already in love with  Godron, the crowned prince of the  Golden Mountains. Your aunt did explain to pocca that  she was in love with Godron but he wouldnt listen to her, and so on the night of my wedding to your mum, Gildan and Godron left for the Golden Mountains.”
The King started to walk quicker , as the snow began to fall heavier. "Sereni, I will have to go faster dear, this snow is going to cover any trace of the pool." He began to run towards the woods.
Queen Sereni continued to tell Misti the story.
"Well when Pocca found out that Gildan had gone, he flew into a furious rage, and it was while he was in this rage that he placed a curse on the Silver Mountains, that should Gildan or any of her family ever cross over into our border,"
 Queen Sereni stopped to remove some snow off her face, she bent down and kissed Misti on her forhead. "Go on mummy what
“Well this is the strange thing, darling, three weeks after Pocca left to go back to the mountains, there was a huge avalanche and everyone thought he had died and his curse had died with him. Yet saying that no one has been brave enough to venture over the border in the winter time.”  She shook her head.
“Obviously we were wrong, we decided never to let either you or Gely meet till after his thirteeenth birthday.” Misti just stood there open mouthed, "and it is my birthday in a couple of weeks and mummy, mummy Gely said when he came into the woods it was spring and had been for over a month.
Could that be when the curse came about, and if it is then we really must hurry for winter will stay forever,  Oh Mummy if that happens then we will surely be doomed for we will all freeze to death, we must try and talk to Gely, find out what happened in the woods,  oh come on mum we must tell dad, we have to find a way to make spring come and fast, the longer happened to this wizard, is he still on the mountain?” Misti asked. the curse is on us, the harder it will be to break it.”                        

 

Peacocks and Sprites            

       The icicles were still hanging there like glass stalactites frozen solid to the branches again by the cold air. Furls of ice had built up around the trees and looked like waves of ice, very beautiful but also frightening.  Misti pointed to the icicle that held the Gely prisoner and King Silvan wrapped the hot fur around it.
Immediatly it began to thaw, a pool began to form on the ground and it wasn't long before Prince Gely's image appeared before them.

Misti put her old cape onto the snow and knelt on it staring into the pool as it grew bigger.
 “Just a little more Daddy and I’ll be able to see all of him."
Everyone held their breath, as the image of the Prince grew stronger. “Whatever you say Misti, say it fast, we can’t take the chance of the icicle melting to much in case the prince melts away with it.”
King Silvan said quietly as though they were trying to keep his image a secret.
Queen Sereni sat down by her daughter’s side. "Hello Aunt Sereni, my goodness you look as pretty as your picture.” Prince Gely winked at his aunt.  The queen sat there in utter amazement.
 Misti put her finger to her lips. “Gel listen, I want you to think very hard as to what you were doing in the last few minutes before you were caught in the icicle. It is very important, we don’t know how much time we have left before we could all be destroyed.
So don't say anything unless it's to answer a question,  please Gel?" A tear fell from Misti's eye and splashed into the pool. For a moment the image vanished, Misti let out a short scream.
“Oh don’t go, not again,” she shouted but it was all right; as the ripples ceased Gely was still there, smiling back at her. “I wont even try to guess what is going on but I do realise that the sooner we find out what happened to me the better, so here goes.” Gely closed his eyes.
“Right I had been walking through the woods for about thirty minutes, it was a beautiful spring day, several white rabbits dashed across my path and I watched as they ran into their burrows.
They seemed a little frightened.

            It was then I saw the Peacocks,  the white one seemed a lot stronger than the others. He started pushing the other birds out of the way so that he could get to me, he was really beautiful with a beautiful white plume on his head whereas all the others had purple ones." “Are you sure it was a peacock? I wonder if it could have been Pocca in disguise, remember he is a wizard. Maybe he wasn’t killed in the avalanche?
What if he managed to escape and has been living in our woods all this time in the form of a peacock?”
The Queen put her hands to her mouth to smother a cry. “That means he is probably still here, right now watching us, oh Silvan what are we going to do?”
 “What happened next Gely?” King Silvan asked , all the time he was watching the icicle. 
"I was watching the peacocks in front of me I forgot to watch my back, and as I told Misti, he came up behind me. I felt a sharp pain in my side and then  blackness.
I woke up today and there was your beautiful daughter smiling down at me.” he smiled at Misti.
Silvan took his cloak off the icicle and put it round his shoulders. “I have to leave you for a while, there.” he said putting the cloak around his own shoulders.
“You two stay here with the Prince, try not to let the water freeze over, I must find this white peacock as soon as possible, I feel he is around here  somewhere.” The King turned and walked towards the woods, there was a sharp cry and he stood there looking at the big Oak tree.
There, underneath its snow-laden  branches was the White Peacock himself.
“I suppose you’re feeling very proud of yourself Pocca.”  He shouted at the Wizard.
The peacock walked slowly towards the King, he looked so grand, yet so very, very evil. 
“It's obvious you didn’t die in the avalanche after all then Pocca?" Silvan said  glancing over to where his wife and daughter sat on the ground. 
Pocca followed his eyes. “ Oh look who we have here, I see you’ve brought the family out with you, I would have left my wife and child at home in these dangerous times." He said moving closer to the where Silvan was standing.  "I really do think they would have been safer in the Palace." The Wizard said with a sneer in his voice, "I have been waiting for this moment for many years, and I am not letting it pass..
“Don’t you talk to my father like that?" yelled Misti. “ Why didn’t you die in the avalanche, just go away and leave us alone and set my cousin free right away you bully."
 “Well, well, well little one, you seem to have the same fiery spirit your Aunt Gildan had when she was your age.” He started to walked towards Misti, “maybe I should put out your fire and let you join your cousin in the ice pool?” 
“Don't you come another step closer Poccca, you know quite well why Gildan  couldn't marry you, she didn't love you, she was in love with Godron.
Just stay away from my daughter and my family.” The Queen shouted, moving between the Pocca and Misti.  “Don’t you dare come a step closer or I'll wring your neck yself?”
“Do you mean like this?” Pocca said with a laugh, and in a flash, he had disappeared only to re-appeared standing besides Misti and the pool.
“ Get away from them?” Sereni shouted again. “Why have you come here, what do  you want from us?” she looked towards her husband who seemed powerless to do anything it was as if he had been frozen to the spot.....

             Nobody had been watching the sky above the palace, quite suddenly the sky began to get dark as  hundreds of the little Snow Sprites had left the snow garden and were flying directly towards the  Wizard.
They hovered just above where he was standing, then the Elder sister of the Sprites waved her hand, this was the signal they were waiting for. 
The Sprites began to wail, it was the most fearful noise that Misti had ever heard. She put her hands over her ears trying to keep out the dreadful sound. The sister sprites seemed to fall to the ground like a giant white cape, but as they did so, they swooped on to one of the melting icicles.

The Elder Sprite smiled at Queen Sereni,  she waved her hand again, and once again the wail began, only this time it sounded joyful not mournful.  
The white cape of snow sprites lifted again and they were flying as fast as they could back to the safety of the Snow Garden. Misti watched as the sprites flew over the glass fence and into the garden.  “I think they are safe now Mummy,” she said smiling. “will they  be alright now Daddy?”  Her father nodded his head, she  sat down heavily on the ground by Gely's pool, her face went completely white.
She then screamed and began to sob loudly.“He’s gone Mummy, he’s not here any more.”  She looked up into her mothers face, they both stared down into the pool, there was no sign of Gely anywhere. 
The icicles had melted, only pools of water lay everywhere.
“Where is he, where is he," she cried, "I don’t even remember which one he was in.” She bent down over the pool she thought Gely had been trapped in, it was empty.  She had only known him for a short time; she had never touched him or felt the warmth of his hands in hers.
The Princess lay there sobbing her heart felt as if it were breaking in two, her tears fell into the pool, which formed little ripples on the surface. 
She was crying so much she didn’t see the image of Gely start to form in the water.
As each teardrop fell a little more of Gely appeared  above the water, till he was there, standing before her, very wet but very alive and smiling.
He reached out and touched her hand.  “Don’t cry, Misti” he whispered, “please don’t cry.” Misti looked up into the sparkling blue eyes of Gely.  “Your here," she sighed,  "I haven’t lost you afterall."
He looked so wonderful standing there, his hands holding hers and she knew in her heart that this would be the Elfin Prince that one day she would marry. 

 Copyright Reserved /January 2007   Diddily Dee Dot