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Vultures Circling -Part Two
We'd been travelling through the night and we needed a rest
The unmerciful sun was now rising above a red rocky crest
We headed for a large boulder that offered plenty of shade
Jenna was getting sick and delirious and she needed medical aid.
I knew we must keep moving and had about two days to go
But I couldn't risk my horse and mule so we travelled slow
I soaked a towel in cool water and put it on her forehead
And realised without that old-timers advice we'd both be dead.
I waited until sundown and gave my horse and mule water
Took off all my prospecting tools and placed them in a crater
I planned to take it in turns riding the horse, and then the mule
And with the welcome darkness approaching it was pleasantly cool.
I lifted Jenna carefully onto the horse and then I got up behind her
And hoped that my horse had the strength to maybe go a little faster
Things were going well and in a few hours we'd covered a lot of ground
The Great Basin is a forboding place and eerie, and there wasn't a sound.
In this inhospitable environment we seemed to be riding our luck
And a couple of minutes after thinking that was when disaster struck
The silence was broken with a loud crack and the mule started braying
I quickly turned around and saw in the pale light that he was swaying.
I dismounted and told Jenna to hold on to the saddle horn
And saw he'd broken his front leg and was looking forlorn
There was not a thing I could do and it made me full of dread
To prevent his suffering and a slow death, I shot him in the head.
I slowly got back up on my horse and we continued our journey
And I was thinking come hell or high water I'd get Jenna to safety
The bright sun was now rising in the east and there before my eyes
Was the Sierra Nevada mountain range looking majestic in sunrise.
We stopped for a couple of hours rest and then we moved on
And I knew about a days ride was the small town of Benton
We travelled for the rest of the day and all through the night
Then as night faded I saw spirals of smoke; a welcoming sight.
We arrived in Benton and I asked an old man where I'd find a doctor
He pointed down the street, and then I got Jenna down and carried her
I left her in the care of doctor and then checked into a nearby hotel
And felt relieved that we'd survived our ordeal, in that cauldron of hell.
I checked in on Jenna everyday and slowly she made a good recovery
Then after a week bought another mule and we continued our journey
Jenna told me all about her family and how she was now raring to go
To our final destination in the North West, the town of Sacramento.
We made good time and finally arrived in that bustling western town
I asked the local sherif who said he knew her uncle and he took us down
It was about a twenty minute ride out of town and Jenna was all excited
And when we arrived it was lovely to see Jenna and her family reunited.
I told her family about how I'd found her and how she'd managed to survive
The circling vultures and the gunshots and it's the reason why she's still alive
They insisted I stay for dinner and couldn't thank me enough for what I'd done
All that was on my mind was going back to retrieve my tools from under the hot sun.
(The link for the first part of the story is below)
https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/vultures_circling_1475862
Written 4th August 2022
Copyright ©
Tom Cunningham
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