RED DEER'S CHILDRENS ADVENTURES ( PART NINE )

The sky was starting to cloud over, no longer white
fluffy clouds, but grey and dark. It had not rained
for a long time, but now you could smell the damp,
cooler air of a thunderstorm, somewhere off in the
distance... it was a welcome break from the heat,
that had hung around... for many days and nights.

Two Feathers did not ride Swift as Wind fast, the
horse was no longer able to keep the fast pace, that he was accustomed to... due to his injured leg.

The horse seemed to be heading for the Canyons,
they were incredibly vast, almost overwhelming. He
could not understand why the horse would lead him
here? He had only been to the Canyons a couple of
times in his life, a man could get lost and die
in the maze of rock formations, that went on for
miles and miles. 'Why would Red Deer be so far away from the camp?' he thought to himself. Then
another thought crossed his mind, 'supposing the
horse was picking up the wrong scent?'

He dismounted the horse and started to walk. A
sudden wind started to whip up dust around him, it
was so strange, one minute it was calm... the next
this gust appeared from nowhere.

Two Feathers looked towards home, wondering if he
should turn back. Swift as Wind was becoming
agitated with the wind, everything seemed to be
swirling around him. He took hold of the horse's
rope trying to calm him down, this was going to be a real bad dust storm he thought, 'I must find
shelter.'

Two Feathers tried not to panic, he pushed forward,
towards some rocks... holding his arm across his face, he could hardly see where he was going.

He climbed across some rocks and found a large crevice, big enough for himself and the horse.
Climbing down was hard going, it was quite steep
and he kept slipping. The horse complained as he
almost slipped down into the bottom. But finally
they reached the base of the opening.

Crouching down, he watched as the wind swirled
above them, all he could do was to sit it out.

To be continued ..............