Illoura got up sluggishly; the pre-dawning waking her from her slumber. The stars were still up, but they were fading and there was a chill in the air. Birds were just beginning to sing their morning chorus and her heart warmed at the sound. The sights, sounds and scents of the bush invigorated her senses. This was freedom, and now she had earnt it for a second time. She wondered absently to herself how many other times she may have to earn it yet.

She had spent the night in a small, secluded glade and had woken up feeling refreshed and renewed. She was thinking about heading up to Lake Coopatamba, to frolic in those frigid waters under the hot Summer sun. If one had freedom, one should enjoy it, not mope around as a half being.

She did not necessarily feel like going to find Wilgee; she was still partially annoyed that the other creamy mare had run off on her. No; she was going to wander, and learn more of the bush, just like her ancestor Thowra and her grandsire Baringa. Stupid silver brumbies were captured; one who did not know how to hide themselves in the bush. She was not one of them, and had no intention of being captured in her life. Although, some situations were inevitable, but she vowed to herself that she would live out her final days in the High Country, and would do whatever necessary to ensure this.

She was just mounting the ridge that over looked the huts. She had wanted to wake up earlier, but supposed the men weren’t up yet, since they seemed to like staying in their huts well after the sun had risen. The black stallion from yesterday was standing in his yard with a grey colt. All was well then. She let out one last teasing call to him before trotting happily over the ridge and away.

Oh how she loved the beauty of the bush. The remnants of a fine mist hung over the gullies and hillocks she was trotting over. Everything looked so serene; so peaceful. Were she not so close to the men’s huts, she would have called out again; informing the whole High Country of her freedom. But as she did not particularly want to start a man hunt, with a whole herd of perusers on her tail, she restrained herself.

And then the sun emerged over the horizon. The surrounding countryside was bathed in golden luminescence; with the mist creating a sea of gold and droplets of dew brought into sharp relief, like thousands of glittering golden diamonds. Illoura felt her breath catch at the majesty being displayed, and cantered to the top of a grassy knoll before pulling herself up into an elegant half rear; and saluted all that was the wild untamed beauty being displayed. She stood poised there; balancing on her hind legs, a pale Silver filly turned to molten gold in the rays of the sun.

All of a sudden the bush was alive with movement, and a bay mare carrying a human on her back burst from the bushes. Illoura had not noticed their presence because the bird’s beautiful voices had stoped her from hearing their approach, and she had been too busy marvelling in the glory of the moment that she had just been experiencing. But that was gone now; and adrenaline pumped through her veins. She sprang away, using her rear as a prop, and the rope the human had thrown at her fell short. She was startled to see that it was actually the same female man from last night, except now she rode a different horse. With a parting squeal, she raced off again, as fast as her legs would carry her, before she could recoil her rope.

Illoura shot back over the open ground and back the way she had come. A million plans to escape were running through her head at this point. The one that seemed to stick was somehow getting the mare to unseat her rider, or tire her out by running up and down as many hills as possible. It was a bit of a shame that she was showing this human that little hidden ridge that over looked the huts, but it was unavoidable. Knowing there was only a short drop below a certain point, Illoura made a flying leap right off the edge, stumbled slightly on landing but kept going. No human in their right mind would try and attempt that jump; especially without knowing about the little hidden landing spot. They might land on the rocky promontories that were jutted randomly along the ridge, and that would be the end of them. The mare and her rider were just going to have to go the long way around.

She slowed down at the bottom to a trot to enable herself to navigate around the men’s huts without disturbing them. She loped over to the paddock that contained the colt and the black stallion with her tail and head held high and nickered a friendly enough greeting to them both. How terrible it would be to be confined to such a small space!

“I saw you run yesterday,” she called out to the big strong black. Usually she didn’t converse with stallions; but she was prepared to make an exception here and there. She completely ignored the colt, knowing that he wouldn’t create so much of a fuss. “You know that you’re strong enough; you should try and jump out,” she said in a flirtatious voice; knowing that if he attempted and succeeded, he might try and follow her, but she could lose him easily enough surely. But if he did get out; the human would surely forget about her and go for the stallion, especially if he was at least partially trained. But then there was a crashing and thudding from behind her and Illoura knew that if was time for her to take her leave. With one last flick of her tail, she raced off down Dead Horse Gap and towards Dead Horse Creek.

Illoura slowed her pace as much as she dared to stop her from getting tired too early on. The woman on the bay mare may have been chasing for as long as she had been running, but the buckskin stallion on her heels was fresh, and needed to be tired out as well. The question was; how was she going to do that without exhausting herself? She couldn’t go back the way she had come, not with them this close on her tail. Going up the open hill would be foolish as well, so Illoura headed straight for the trees, slackening her pace just enough to let them think they were gaining on her, as well as preserving her energy. It was nearly impossible for me to get a clear shot at a horse with their ropes amongst the tree trunks, so Illoura knew that she needed to stay in cover for as long as possible.

Instead of going up and over Dead Horse Ridge, perhaps she could go around it instead. There were plenty of trees to dodge in, even if the did slow her down. And it left her plenty of escape options and little nooks and crannies for her to disappear into if she was hard pressed. Really, she should have swung right around on her haunches and headed down that wide stretch of valleys that leads to the Brindle Bull, but that place now harboured sour memories for her and she had no wish to revisit them any time soon. So she put her head down and charged her way through a little tunnel of scrub; trying to put as much distance between herself and the humans with their ropes.