ell, it turned out that Rocky had been trained at the honor farm all winter and spring to be a pack horse and he was ready to get out and do his job. Finally, at the end of May, he and some of his friends, including Skylark, were picked up and moved to their new home at the Meteetsee Forest Service Ranger Station. There had not been much of a snow pack that winter, the spring had been warm and dry, so trail work could begin at the lower elevations in the mountains earlier than usual.

Soon all involved settled into a comfortable routine. Before sun-up the horses were fed, brushed, and on their way to the trailhead in a nice, open, stock trailer. There they were loaded with shovels, axes and saws, and led up the trail until they came to the work site for the day. Then they mostly stood around for the rest of the day while the men cleared blow-downs, filled in holes, and rerouted the trail around badly eroded areas. Rocky was fascinated by the way the men could improve and clear the trail, and he liked to stand behind his man and look over his shoulder to watch him work. He never had to be tied up, and never gave anyone any trouble. The best part of the day, however, as far as he was concerned, was lunch. The horses all had feed bags filled with a small amount of oats, but the men also gave any leftovers from their sandwiches, and such, to whichever horses would eat them, always being careful not to give them anything that would hurt them. Rocky's man sometimes gave him part of the crust on the peanut butter sandwiches, which Rocky liked a lot after he learned to scrape the peanut butter off his tongue with his teeth, and wash it down with a sip of coffee. But mostly his man just gave him carrot ends or an apple core, because his man knew that peanut butter and coffee were not really good for horses. And in this manner, much trail work was accomplished throughout the early summer, with everyone back at the ranger station by dark

As the work on the trail progressed, however, and the snow continued to melt, the walk to and from the work site took more and more time out of the work day. Then one morning at the trailhead, the men loaded more gear than usual onto the horses for the long walk to the work site. That night the men set up tents, and the horses were staked out in the grassy meadows near the camp. Rocky didn't know it at the time, but he was about to camp out for the rest of the summer. Click here to see pictures of Rocky and his friends in grassy meadows in the wilderness.

So the long summer days were spent in pleasant work moving the tools to the work site or in moving camp ever higher into the wilderness or grazing and lying around. At night the horses were picketed to a high-line tied between trees near the tents. Rocky didn't always sleep well in the trees because he could sometimes hear and smell the other animals of the forest, and sometimes he smelled bears and mountain lions. He figured he could trust his man to protect him, but he remained cautious and tried not to imagine that the tree shadows contained lurking beasts waiting to leap out at him. And sometimes the nights were so cold that he wished he could be closer to the campfire. After all, he had completely shed out his winter coat, and wasn't exactly prepared for the cold temperatures at 10.000 feet. He was well fed, however, and his man always rubbed him down and cooled him out before tying him up or letting him have a drink from one of the ever present, ice cold creeks, so he was hopeful that he wouldn't catch cold.

As the summer progressed, moreover, the nights grew warmer and Rocky was getting used to the high mountain wilderness. He loved the lush meadows with all the many varieties of grasses and wild flowers he had never tasted before. They weren't dried out and dusty tasting like the grasses on the windswept prairie. And once in a while he would come across patches of tiny, wild strawberries which he especially relished.

He still had trouble sleeping on the nights the moon was full, as the shadows were particularly sharp and he couldn't stop imagining that they contained lurking predators. Sometimes he just couldn't stop himself from letting out an anxious whinny. But since Skylark was usually tied up near to him, she would nicker back to him in a comforting tone and tell him to relax, and he would be reassured. But then he would remember that Skylark had been captured with her mother as a foal, and had not been as fully educated and alerted to the many dangers of the wild as much as he had, so then he would begin to worry all over again.

And so, one especially warm night, as the full moon rose high into the sky around midnight, Rocky was wide-awake. He was watching the shadows while smelling a tree branch where an elk had recently rubbed the velvet off his antlers and left a curious smell. He was hoping it wouldn't be a long day coming up, because he knew he probably wouldn't get much sleep, especially as the wind was picking up and making the tree shadows move. Even worse, he noticed that clouds were forming and creating even more shadows as they raced across the sky in the bright moonlight. Soon the clouds became so dark and menacing that they completely blotted out the moon, and there were no more shadows. But Rocky was not comforted, because he knew that what was coming was worse than scary shadows. The wind began to blow harder, and with one particularly heavy gust, a lightening bolt streaked across the sky. The clap of thunder that followed was so loud it hurt his ears as it echoed across the small valley he was in. "Oh great," he said to Skylark, who was now fully awake beside him. "Now its going to rain and here we are tied up under trees that will drip on us all night, long after the rain stops." Just then, the lightening struck again, so close it made their hair tingle with electricity, and the thunder seemed to shake the ground. Rocky couldn't help himself, and began to whinny and whinny. By now all the horses were fully awake and nervously pulling at their tethers. They all braced themselves for the deluge that they expected would come momentarily, but as the minutes ticked by, only a few sprinkles came. Gradually the thunder and lightening moved away, and even though the wind blew harder for a while as it moved behind the passing storm, after a while all was fairly calm again.

Finally, the moon shone brightly again, and with the cooler, gentle breezes, most of the horses went back to sleep. Rocky, by now, was so tired that even he started to doze off. Just as he was almost asleep, however, he began to smell something alarming. Was it smoke? Yes, it was definitely smoke! He didn't want to alarm Skylark and the others unnecessarily, so he tried to think if it could be the campfire. But just then, Skylark who apparently wasn't asleep as he had thought, spoke up, and seemed to be reading his thoughts as she said, "No, its not the campfire. The men are always careful to make sure it's completely out before they go to bed. Look over there! Across the clearing!" As he looked, there was a small gust of wind and he could see tiny flames shoot up all along a branch of a dead, fallen tree. It had probably been struck by the same bolt of lightening that had made their hair tingle, and now it was on fire.

If Rocky and Skylark had been untied, they would have simply galloped away to a safer place. But here they were, tied up and dependent upon their men for their safety and well- being. So, Rocky began to whinny and whinny in an effort to wake them up. But perhaps the men were too used to his whinnying at night when the moon was full, because no one stirred inside the tents. "Skylark," he cried, "you have to whinny too". And by now all the other horses were also awake, and so alarmed at the flames spreading across the dead tree that they all began to whinny and tug frantically at their ropes. Rocky figured that they could break free of the high-line if they all pulled in unison. Then they could just run to safety across the creek. But Rocky also wanted his man to be safe, and so he just started whinnying louder, and urged the others to do so, too. After all, the men had shovels and axes they could fight the fire with, and the creek was close by where they could get water to put on it. If only they would wake up! Just then..

(Oh, oh, someone just turned on the barn light! I have to go, so I'll finish uploading B. Zoodie's notes later. If they see a mouse in the office, they'll get a new barn cat, and the last one was hard to get rid of. Signing off now, this has been R. Mouse)

READ HOW ROCKY SAVES THE DAY IN CHAPTER 4!

OR

        I DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS - I'VE BEEN HERE LONG ENOUGH!