Wild Inside

Brian Jones

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ISBN: 978-1-57733-256-5, 242 pp., 5 x 8, paperback, $16.95
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"Wild Inside is a wonderful adventure which brought out my young girl self. I had to be wild with horses, my first Love ever." Sarah Silverheels-Kelder, dance educator and founder of Quilenchottin (The People's) Seed Farm

Other books by Brian Jones:

The passion of the human spirit is most unique when left untamed.

Wild Inside is the story of four children amidst a world of wild horses. Set in a sparsely inhabited, yet strangely compelling ­region of northeastern California, Oregon, and Nevada—Wild Inside is alive with bands of wild horses who roam the hills and valleys like tribes of displaced Native Americans.

The story pulses with excitement and danger, as the horses compete with cattle ranches for the sparse range-land at the end of the high desert, while rustlers stalk and capture them at night.

Through these trials, like Knights of the Round Table, several bands of horses come together in a common dream. By respecting each other as equals, they unite and steer the destiny of their herds away from the encroaching ranchers.

Wild Inside encourages us to find that “wild part of ourselves”—to let go of what others think about us, to discover our own place in the world, and to become who we are truly meant to be.

Fast-paced and yet philosophical, Wild Inside leads us on a journey we all must take to find our true selves.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. To The Wild
2. Corrina, Corrina
3. Middle of the Road
4. Captain Jack
5. Belle
6. The Magic Studio
7. North by East
8. The Gift
9. Sattley
10. Honey Lake
11. The Moon Began to Melt
12. A Desperate Crossing
13. A Foot in Both Worlds
14. Coming into the Country
15. Thieves in the Night
16. Walks a Lot
17. Clipped Wings
18. Wild Carrots
19. Giant Leaps of Logic
20. Mugwort
21. A Map of My Soul
22. The One
23. Creative Bliss
24. Medicine Lake
25. Walk Away
26. Familiar, Yet Original
27. In High Places
28. Welcome to My Dream
29. Durango
30. Most Unlikely
31. A Meeting Under the Moon
32. Clifford Would Not Be Happy
33. I Will Find a Way Back
34. One Enchanted Morning
35. A Complete Circle
Epilogue

Excerpt

What was it like out there? How would it feel to run as far as my legs could carry me without fences blocking my way? My mother and father had been born out there. They were wild mustangs, raised in the mountainous fields and meadows. They had eaten wild grasses until their bellies were full; they had drunk from clear streams and rivers. My mother and father had run at full gallop under the stars on moonlit nights. They had known security in secret valleys hidden within the forests and canyons. They had been real horses.

When I knew them, they were barnyard animals, eating the hay the ranch owner provided, and drinking water from a plastic trough. I knew there had to be more to life than just this.

Kaiyu gazed around at the ranch, his eyes curious and searching.

I used to think I saw the wild, when my sire Chief gained a momentary feeling of freedom with a short burst of speed across the pasture. I tasted it when the winter rains filled the dry creek bed with fresh water. I felt it when the coyotes howled and my mother, Gaia, circled me and my two brothers close for our protection. I could hear the wild world in the screech of a hawk as it flew overhead. In my blood, the world of our ancestors, the wild mustangs, was searching for a way to express itself.

The little filly stepped closer to Kaiyu. Did you say your sire was named Chief?

Kaiyu looked at her. He was. My mother was Gaia, and my two brothers are Black Lightning and Bandit.

He continued. There were too many colts. Chief began to drive me away. In the wild I would go gather my own mares and start my own herd, but where was I to go? We were surrounded by fences. He bit me and threw his hooves in the air. It was time for me to go, but I could not leave.

So I stayed at the far end of the pasture. More and more I fed by myself and only came close at night, for protection.

That is why I was alone on the day of the fire. I heard Chief whinny a warning to me.

Kaiyu! Come with us. Get away from the flames! He was inviting me back to the herd as he led the others away from the fast moving grass fire. My first reaction was to run to the protection of my family, but as I looked around, I quickly realized that the fire was between us.

The filly cringed with fear. Oh no. How awful. What did you do?

I turned away and galloped to the corner of the pasture. I came very close to the fence but would not touch it. I hated the shock of that fence and feared it almost as much as the fire.

The owner and his family were running out to fight the fire, but it was spreading fast. I was cornered. The fire was burning in my direction and the wind was blowing smoke directly toward me. I circled, looking for a way out. I called to my family for help.

Black Lightning broke from the herd and galloped back toward me also looking for an escape route. Finding no way around or through the flames, Black Lightning cantered a short distance away and stood helplessly watching as the situation worsened.

The owner beat at the fire with a shovel while his young son tried to roll out hoses. The daughter cried when she saw the fearful predicament I was faced with. I was feeling that overwhelming need to run, to escape, to get far, far away.

I circled again and again looking for a way out. The smoke was getting so thick it was becoming hard to breath. I had to get away. It was now or never; life or death.

So I jumped. With three quick steps and a powerful lunge I leaped over the fence. I cleared it easily. Then I just kept running, as fast as I could. Away from the flames and smoke, away from the fence, away from everything I had ever known.

Pelican Pond, 2011


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