Out of the Loop [Tingy]

[Tiggs]

Having one friend in the entire world – Quinja had come to the decision – was not entirely a good thing. Sure, you shared everything, explored together and had lots of laughs, but when they were busy with their family, you were alone. Quinja’s family were gone, drifted away after the death of their stallion, her father. She had no mother, no aunt, no siblings, and no aforementioned father. Quinja was alone in a herd of many.

Castelle of course was a great friend, but she was entirely distracted by the arrival of a baby sister, and although Quinja was welcome to join in the fun on many occasions, she felt like an intruder. Being the same age, Quinja and Castelle had a lot in common. They were almost sisters, except for the simple fact that they were not; a fact made clear by the leader of the herd, Tingara. Oh sure, he was nice, but he did not show her the affection he paid his own daughters. Quinja sometimes wished he had been her father, because now she would not feel so out of place.

At two years old, she was in limbo between foalhood and marehood. She didn’t socialise with the yearlings much – they kept to themselves and their siblings – and she was too young to have a real conversation with the adult mares. They still treated her like a foal. It was as if there was a circle around the herd, and Quinja looked on from the outside.

She stood now on the edge of the herd, grazing half-heartedly to the sounds of playing foals and proud parents. Her ears flickered, and her heart swelled with hope every time a game came near but she was never invited. She sighed and grazed away from the herd. When she next looked back, she could barely hear the shrieks and laughter. She’d made it almost to the end of the valley. The blue-grey roan looked wistfully over her shoulder, wishing she felt contentment rather than emptiness.

She turned her pale face to the country beyond. She and Castelle had scoped out a lot of the area surrounding the herd on their little adventures, but there was so much more! The horizon rose, Mount Kosciusko and the Ramsheads grey shadows in the distance. Were her mother and aunt out there now? Grazing together as a family? She regretted staying here now. She should have left with them. But at the time, Bindaree and Boorana had been here, and there was always fun and adventure – not the intermittent type there was now.

Quinja sighed, staring up at the High Country, her limbs almost shaking with the desire to explore it all. She did not even hear the hoofbeats behind her, and it was only by chance that she caught a glimpse of the dark stallion as he neared her. Tingara! She felt a flush of guilt. She dropped her head and nickered an apology. “I’m sorry, Sir, I did not mean to stray. I’ll come back to the herd at once.” She rushed the words out, never looking directly at him. She had a healthy dose of respect for the stallion who had taken her in; she should have thought how she’d scorn his hospitality by leaving without a word. It was rude – and Tingara had never been anything of the sort towards her.