Part 5
The halter slid off Onyx’s nose before Tomas could bring the crownpiece over his ears.
Judith saw it happen through the stable opening as she followed the six men carrying the casket. Tomas had approached as he always did. This time the horse had backed into the stall corner, neck high, ears aimed at the house.
“Just a second,” Tomas called.
The men stopped and changed their grips. A handle creaked.
Onyx surged forward. Tomas caught the halter for an instant, then the horse threw his head and pulled it free. A loose strap swung beneath his jaw.
Kirk shut the solid lower door. Tomas fastened the upper half and stepped out of reach. He told Kirk to shift the other horses down the aisle. Then the outside doors closed, and Judith could see no more.
Vivian waited a moment, watching the stable. At last she nodded to the bearers.
The path to the ridge was a quarter mile. Judith walked between her children behind the pine box. Every few steps the men adjusted to one another, and the casket rose and fell slightly.
She kept thinking about turning Daniel’s shoulder in the bedroom. The same body was moving ahead of her now, carried by people who had eaten at their table.
The earth beside his parents’ markers was undisturbed. It would stay that way until permission came. Monday, Vivian had said.
A heavy crash sounded behind them.
Seth turned first. Judith took another step before realizing the men had slowed.
The second crash carried farther. Someone shouted from the yard.
Later, Tomas would tell her how the old jamb had split around a hinge and the upper latch had torn loose beneath Onyx’s forefeet. Part of the stall door came down into the aisle. Kirk caught at the dangling strap and missed.
The outer stable doors still held. Onyx drove his shoulder into them. Tomas lifted the ground bolt rather than watch him injure himself against the timber.
Judith saw the horse come around the equipment shed at a gallop.
Tomas and Kirk ran behind him. The halter strap slapped his neck. For a few strides he moved with the reach and power she remembered from his youth.
“Clear out!” Kirk shouted. “Let him through!”
Vivian pointed to the grass beside the stones.
“Set Daniel down. Together.”
One bearer nearly released his handle too soon. The others steadied the box until it rested flat.
A neighbor planted himself in Onyx’s path, arms spread. Another man started to join him.
“Don’t crowd him!” Tomas called.
Judith caught the second man’s sleeve.
“His left eye. He can’t judge you there. Move over.”
People began backing away, pulling spouses and friends with them. Onyx came through the space they left, shortened his stride, and slid to a stop beside the casket.
He was breathing hard. Foam darkened the corners of his mouth.
His muzzle traveled along the lid from the foot toward the place above Daniel’s chest. He drew air close to the pine, lifted his head, and pawed once at the ground.
Vivian looked toward Tomas.
He was already approaching from the horse’s good side, a rope ready between his hands.
“Easy, old man,” Tomas said. “Come off there. Come to me.”
Onyx looked at him, then pressed his nose to the lid again. One hoof rasped over the wood and left a raw scrape.
Judith stepped forward.
Lydia caught her hand.
“He wants Daniel,” Judith said.
“Stay with me.”
“He doesn’t know where he’s gone.”
“Mom, look at his feet. You can’t go in there.”
The next strike landed squarely on the lid.
A woman cried out. The casket shifted on the grass under a second blow, and several mourners started down the path toward their trucks.
Judith pulled against Lydia’s grip. She could picture Daniel taking a rope, turning his body aside, making himself quiet until a frightened horse could think. But Daniel was beneath the wood. She could see the coat collar they had straightened, the small rough place Seth had touched, and the pale marks appearing under the horse’s hooves.
Seth went to Tomas.
“Give me something to do.”
Tomas opened the rope wider. “Stay where he can see you. Don’t cross in front.”
Kirk came around with another lead. The three men spread out without putting themselves between Onyx and the box. Seth kept glancing at Tomas’s hands.
Onyx reared.
Judith saw the white mark on his forehead rise above their heads. Then both forefeet came down near the middle of the lid.
The crack carried across the ridge.
A man who had helped carry Daniel turned and ran. Others followed, some down the track and some toward the trees. Lydia flinched so hard her hand dragged Judith’s arm, but she didn’t let go.
Vivian crouched near the head of the casket, trying to see beneath the horse’s chest without coming within reach of a hoof.
Tomas threw the rope over Onyx’s neck. Before he could gather it, another strike split a board along its length. The broken end lifted beneath a hoof and ripped free of two screws.
Judith could see darkness through the lid.
Then Onyx stopped.
His feet stayed still while his flanks worked. He lowered his head into the opening. Seth stood holding a loop of rope that had gone slack.
Down the slope, the people who had fled were calling for the others to get away.
A thin sound came from close to the box.
Judith looked at Onyx’s legs, searching for an injury. She thought he had cut himself on the broken wood. Then she noticed Vivian had stopped moving.
The horse raised his nose from the gap.
The sound came again.
Lydia’s fingers loosened. Judith heard a breath catch, wet and strained, followed by a human cry.
The cry came from inside the casket…
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