The half drawn curtain moved and a pair of small brown eyes peeked from behind it out the huge double sash window. Outside, the car had pulled up and parked in the front of the old abandoned house. The huge ranch house hadn't been lived in since the 60's when the last of the cattle had been sold off.  At one time the ranch had seen as many as 8,000 head of cattle, raised and sold over the course of a year. It sat on a knoll overlooking a vast piece of land that stretched as far as the horizon.  The land had been sold to a Hollywood Director who tried to turn it into a dude ranch but that had lasted only a year.  The Director had been filming westerns and had grand ideas to turn the ranch into a working movie set where he could film and offset some of the expense by continuing the cattle business and having some of the wealthy Hollywood types come out to stay on a "working ranch!"   Unfortunately, the wealthy had other ideas about what constituted a ranch experience worth paying big money for.

         There were still a few buildings on the property.  The two story ranch house, a large barn with some abandoned equipment and hay still in the loft, a bunk house, a storage shed and a small cabin and a large corral that was in disrepair. There was also a large pond that had been dug as a source of water for the ranch.  This was needed for both the humans and the cattle.  Without a continuous source of water neither the humans nor the animals would survive long.  Not in this hot dry climate!  The occasional rains that inundated the area replenished the pond from time to time and the dry periods evaporated the water in between.  Now there were mule deer, jackrabbits, coyotes and the occasional mountain lion that used the pond as their watering hole.  Not far from the pond was a rock outcropping that made for a natural shelter for many of the animals.

        During the past few years a few houses that had been built within a couple miles of the ranch but very few people ventured far enough to see the ranch house and buildings. It was that far from civilization and required a long walk or bike ride over some rough terrain. Marty had made this trip a number of times and was very familiar with the buildings and pond as well as the rock outcroppings a few hundred yards behind the main house.  He and a few friends occasionally made treks to the ranch and spent the day there playing and hiding and sometimes swimming in the pond.  His parents had no idea that Marty would ever consider walking as far as they did to spend time there. This day was particularly hot and dry when Marty left home and made his way alone to the ranch.  After more than 2 hours he arrived to find something he had never imagined. Marty just stood and stared.  There, to his amazement, was a thing of beauty standing by the pond.  Marty had seen the occasional rabbit and even deer off in the distance.  But there before him was a horse. Not just any horse.  It was big and it was white and it looked to be wild.  And, even though Marty didn't really have much experience with horses, he could tell it was male.  A big, wild stallion.  

            Marty stood, unable to move, and stared while the horse drank from the pond.  After drinking, the large white stallion looked up and sniffed the air and it was then that he noticed Marty across the pond from him.  The stallion pawed the ground and snorted twice but didn't make any effort to come around the pond to inspect further.  Marty was now aware of the fact that maybe this large wild animal could come after him and he had no idea what he would do if it did.  After all, Marty didn't really look much like a predator, being only six years old. Marty made his way to the ranch house and went in.  He had brought a sandwich and a water bottle in a day pack and decided it was time to eat.  He was also feeling tired and decided to lie down for just a few minutes.  He chose the only solid piece of furniture in the big house, a love seat, After his long trek and the excitement from his encounter with the stallion by the pond, it wasn't long before he was fast asleep. 

        Marty woke in the evening not long before sunset.  He hadn't taken time to look around the ranch and now he was curious as to what else there might be in some of the other buildings.  He thought there might be enough time to see it quickly before he set out to return home.  He went into the bunk house and looked around and found a well worn cowboy hat that had been left there.  This looked to be then only thing  of value, and though it was big, he put it on and tipped it back so he could see. Marty then made his way to the big barn.  It was then that he heard the sound and as it was getting on towards dusk he was becoming a little scared of what would be making the kind of noise he heard.  Suddenly, the large white stallion made his way out of the open barn door and stopped.  He stared right at Marty!  Now Marty was beginning to worry.  He was starting to shake and didn't think he could make it back to the house before the big stallion would be able to get him and maybe stomp on him.  Marty began to slowly back towards the house.  

         Marty made it all the way to the porch all the while staring the white stallion down.  And he felt a big relief in having made it that far without the big horse running him down.  Now he noticed the sky was turning a bright pink to the west.  He hadn't realized it was quite so late.  He thought he could make his way home but he certainly didn't want to try to make it home in the dark.  For the first time he became scared.  He made his way back into the house he knew it would be very dark before long and he decided to explore the house to see if there was a place to hide until morning.  He made his way up the stairs and found a large room with three large windows overlooking the front porch. He hadn't been in the room long when he noticed it was beginning to become very dark outside and as he looked out the window he noticed a bright light in the distance.  The light seemed to be getting brighter and he noticed it seemed to also be getting closer.  Then it dawned on him that the light wasn't just one light, but two.  It was a car.  And that worried him more than the stallion.  Maybe it was someone that might hurt him.  It was definitely a car and it had more than just the headlights.  It had a brighter light that shined upon the front of the house and made it brighter than sunlight.  Marty stood to the side of the window and peeked out from behind the half drawn curtain.
 
         Marty was shaking he was so scared.  Then he heard his name being called.  It wasn't a voice he recognized.  Who could it be and how did they know he was here?  He then went to the top of the stairs and looked down as the door opened.  A light shined in his eyes and the sheriff stood just inside the door.  "Hey! Are you Marty?"  He got no response but he made his way up the stairs and took Marty by the hand.   "There are a whole lot of people out looking for you and your mom and dad are worried sick," he said. 

        After a long ride home in the sheriff's car, with the flashing lights on, Marty saw his mom and dad out in front of his house.  He had never been so glad to see them in his life.  As soon as he got out of the car he gave them a big hug and looked at both of them.  "I saw a huge white horse!" he blurted out!  Both his mom and dad looked at him in surprise.  The sheriff was standing there and said "Well, that's pretty exciting."  His mom looked at the sheriff and said "He's never talked before. I can't believe it!"