36The horse awoke with a start. Loud cracks alerted him that humans were nearby. The horse blinked and watched a bird tumbling from the sky, but the creature was far away and disappeared before hitting the ground.
The horse stood, gingerly testing his back leg. The ache remained, but the sting of the open wound had subsided. The sheep had roused itself, as well, and looked up at the horse with dark, expectant eyes. Both animals were hungry. The horse, which required much more fuel than the smaller animal, almost desperately so.
He shook his head, dark mane flying, and snorted. Then he scanned the landscape. In the distance, a cultivated field spread not too far from the riverside. Though the horse did not see color the way a human might, he could discern that the patch of ground differed
