Serpent Lake to the town of agua fria rode a stranger one fine day

a whoop -- loud as a gunshot over the trickle of the stream -- was all val knew before hooves (and a set of familiar feet) thundered towards him.

val froze, ingesting the the report of hoofbeats too late. a russet form sped into view, followed by two lookalike shadows. he had time to flinch and that was it; the first maneuvered past, having spotted him in the reeds. the second sprung with a grunt upright in the air to avoid him. the third, having neither x-ray vision to see through her friends or the presence of mind to take into account why her leader might have shied, bowled clear into val with a resounding smack.

he was splendidly sidelined, laid out in the mud without so much as a gasp of shock. meanwhile the pitterpatter of hooves faded away, with or without their pursuer.