Dilutes and Roans

July 19, 2025
"I think it's called a cold cast resin" Grace explained. "The boss asked if we could keep it just for a day or two while she rearranges some stuff to make room for him."

"He's big!" Skye exclaimed. "Have you noticed they keep getting bigger?"

"And heavier. This one's solid cast on a permanent, solid base. The two of us barely got him on the table."

"She does love her duns and buckskins" Skye said, glancing around the room.

July 26
Summer seemed to be slipping by so quickly. California buckwheat signaled the season's turning point; by summer's end the flowers would be rust-colored, and so numerous as to give their hue to the landscape.

Skye put the camera in the hood of her shirt. It was awkward, but it worked. The girls had headed toward Mustang Rock first, but there were hikers crawling all over it. There wouldn't be any wildies there.

They waited for sound, movement, birds stirring. A cool breeze confronted them. Then Lousin whispered "Three o clock."

Skye looked toward noon and saw something. Maybe Lousin didn't have an old-fashioned clock.

Then Skye looked to three o clock. Raised the camera. Held the shutter button down.

"Who is THAT?" Anahit whispered.

"I don't know!" Skye whispered back. "We saw him once, a long time ago. He came busting out of the rocks and ran off and we never saw him again!"

Back to twelve o clock. Horses emerged from the rocks. The breeze blew the scent of the girls toward the wildies. Tussled the mane and tail of a pale colored mare with four white socks and a bit of a blaze. And a darker horse followed.

"Smoke Signals!" Anahit whispered excitedly.

"Who is the light horse Skye?" Lousin said quietly. The girls strained to get a better view as Skye took shot after shot. Finally Skye answered. "I've never seen her before."

All of the horses moved toward open ground, and toward each other, the girls trying to move silently and unobtrusively along the rocks to keep them in sight, Skye taking pictures, then pausing to look, then taking more pictures.

They watched silently. Smoke Signals bore the scars of countless battles. Anything could happen.

There was posturing, snorts, grunts, a squeal. Head tossing. Ultimately, the big pinto stallion took a few steps back. And that was it. Drama over. The three horses moved off, loosely together, and out of sight.

Mountain mahogany glowed in the day's last light.

"Do you keep a journal, or a record of all the horses?" Anahit asked.

"Well, not really" Skye answered. "We have to go back through our pictures and the boss's pictures sometimes. But there weren't that many horses to start with. Two stallions. And then four. And then five. Then mares started showing up...I didn't think we'd ever see more horses than we could count off the top of our heads."

"That was amazing" Lousin added.

With the camera in her hood, Skye had a little trouble looking up. But she was pretty sure Grace would have said these were not natural clouds. Skye let it go, favoring the excitement of seeing new horses as a way to recall the day.

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