PonyTales
and Poems

Rainbow's Ghost

by Catherine Martin

I was lost and it was raining.

Miserable and furious with myself, I sat down on a rotting log and shivered, looking around at the dense bushland.

"Stupid", I muttered, thinking now of how angry and upset I'd been as I stormed out of camp away from my friends and the campsite. It had been such a trivial matter, but an argument had erupted and now here I was stranded all alone.

Or was I? A soft whinney broke into my thoughts and I looked up, expecting to see one of my friends on their horses, coming to find me. Instead I saw a bay gelding of about 15 hands, a well worn stock saddle on his back. As he stood there, the misty rain falling about him, his brown eyes seemded to look right through me, compelling me to mount.

Following what seemed to be unspoken orders from the horse, I mounted and gathered up the reins. Unaided, he started picking his own trail through the scrub.

I let the reins hang loose as he didn't seem to need any guidance and besides, I didn't know my way back anyway!

The stock saddle was comfortable as I sat ducking my head at times and pushing branches aside to avoid being knocked out of the saddle. To my untrained eyes there appearded to be no trail at all, just the usual ferns, trees, and old stumps of the bush. To reassure myself, I patted the horse's warm neck and spoke softly to him. He responded with a flicker of an ear and broke into a trot.

Up ahead a shape gradually revealed itself to be a small hut. A wooden lean-to, like those built in the olden days. At the door the horse neighed and pawed at the ground. Then he turned his head toward me and again those eyes seemed to compel me, this time to dismount.

I was startled by the old man standing in the doorway. I hadn't expected anyone to be there and begun explaining my situation, and how I'd ended up here. I turned to find my rescuer, the bay horse, gone. It was as if he'd totally vanished.

"Come inside youngster," the old man said kindly."You look like you need a mug of warm tea."

Over a boiling hot mug of black tea, I listened as he spoke of 'Rainbow' his bay gelding who used to hunt out lost people in the bush. He'd always bring them back to the hut where the old man would care for them until they were fit to return home. A message would be sent to say that they were safe.

"Yes and when Rainbow went, I stopped my work. Now his ghost has taken over. Good old Rainbow has never let me down yet," the old man mused, his eyes dreamy, lost in memories.

The next day I was back in camp, Rainbow having returned and taken me back to the edge of our campsite. When I dismounted, he'd gone, just as quickly as before. I sent a silent 'thankyou' to him as I walked towards camp to be greeted with cries of relief.

By now the ranger had been sent for, and he too was relieved to see me. I told them my story of being saved by Rainbow and the old man, but my friends thought I'd been dreaming.

"No, it's true alright", said the ranger. It wasn't the first time a lost person had come back telling of being saved by the bay gelding.
"Funny thing that old man living out there all alone," I said.
"What old man?" said the ranger. "He and old Rainbow are both long gone. Both ghosts, but still out there for lost souls in need of help. I guess they'll be there forever."

The next day I took them in search of the hut and finally came across it empty, and cob webby. Obviously it hadn't been lived in for years. I couldn't believe it a sIthought of the old man and my mug of hot tea and Rainbow.

"Thankyou, both of you," I said standing there in the empty hut. I knew then that whenever they were needed, Rainbow and his master would re-appear once more. Working together to save yet another life.

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