The Indian Girl

"Well hello, Nitika. Are you ready for a story today?" asked Gram Gram.

"Yes, I am Gram Gram," said Nitika.

"Well then, come up on my lap. Don't be shy, come on. Now I am going to tell you a story about an Indian girl named Mansi. Are you ready?" Gram Gram said.

"Yeah, alright," said Nitika.

"I got up early to find a place to catch my ride. I found some big rocks and long pieces of grass still wet with dew. I put the rocks up as a little wall one foot high. I lined the rocks with the long grass. I stationed myself next to a cliff where I knew my ride would go. I waited 10, 20, 30 minutes. Then I heard a rumble. Little rocks bounced on the ground, and I looked up to see a cloud of smoke and dust. Now I knew it was time to catch my ride."

"Here is came. Six or seven horses started passing me. I just threw my rope and pulled tight. I got one. I pulled and tied the rope to the edge of a rock. I noticed that I threw it a little late but that was okay. Phew! I was scared I'd throw it in the middle. That would have been bad because the rope would have snapped because of all the horses running against it. After the dust settled, I looked at the horse and what I saw was the most amazing thing in the world," said Gram Gram.

"Oh well, let me stop right there. I think before I go on I should introduce myself. I think that would be the right thing to do. Okay, hi. My name is Mansi. I have long, black hair with braids that are about two feet and six inches long. I have brown eyes and long eyelashes about a half inch long. I am 18 years old. I love flowers and adventurers. I also like challenges that are a little dangerous. I have very good skills like cooking, weaving, and being a filler, which is when the one of the boys get hurt, a girl can fill in. I can fill in for hunting and fishing."

"I was supposed to catch my ride when I was 14, but I was kept back because I could not get one my classes right. That class was hunting. It's funny that I fill in for hunting, too. Well, I could talk forever, but I would like to get back to the story."

"After the dust settled I looked at my horse and what I saw was the most amazing thing in the world. She had a body as white as snow. I saw a black diamond on her head. The diamond was a little different than just a diamond shape. At the top was a fan-like shape instead of a point. I called her Catori, which means spirit. Her nickname was Spirit. She was only two years old when I caught her. After that, it took a year to socialize her and then it was time to start training. Frist we I tide the rope to her. I walked her in circles around the wooden circle ring. I got her to trot and then to gallop around the circle. I decided to work with her two hours a day."

"It had been a week and I was now ready to begin to break her. I put my hand on her back and pressed down. She got a little bit uncomfortable but then became calm again. Then I leaned over and put my belly on top of her just like if I had leaned over to look at something. I dangled my arms on the other side. She was not so sure about this at all, so I just kept doing this same things including the rope exercises. I did this for four weeks."

"Then one day I climbed up on her. She stood still, I gave her a little kick, and she was off. She went into a full gallop. She was heading towards the village. I yelled 'help' and screamed as loud as I could. She would not listen to me at all. Luckily the chief's son heard me. He came out, grabbed his rope, and got on his horse, named Donovan which means dark warrior. Donovan was as black as night. He rode up behind me, and then the race was on, to Spirit, that is."

"We ran for a full mile. Donovan caught up to Spirit. The chief's son threw his rope, and the rope looped Spirits neck. When Donovan slowed down, the rope got tighter on Spirit, she reared up and I fell underneath her. She kicked me in the head and I was knocked out."

I remembered waking up and seeing the chief's son. He said, "Hey, are you okay?"

I said, "Yes."

"I am the chief's son," he said, "and my name is Cole, which means prince of red roses."

"My name is Mansi."

"Well, I think that is a pretty name," he replied, and I blushed. He was a tall man with black hair and blue eyes.

"The next morning Cole helped me with training. He told me he was going into the mountains with Donova. He asked if I would like to go with him. I said, "I would have to ask my Mama and Papa frist. I will go ask them right now! Mama, Papa, can I go with Cole on a ride? It's only for a few days."

"Well are you walking?"

"No, we are taking the horses."

"Okay then, when are you leaving?"

"We will go tomorrow. I am going to go tell Cole right away before I pack." I ran to Cole and he asked, "What are your parent's names?" I said, "my Papa's name is Kundun, which means pure gold, and my Mama's name is Mullai, which means flower with lovely fragrance." Then I said, "I will see you at dawn at the ring." I went home and packed for the trip.

"I woke up and said good-bye to my parents and headed to the ring. Cole was already there. He had hooked up my horse to his, and we were off! At frist we were trotting on some hills, then we slowed to a walk. We eventually came to a stream of water and stopped. He said, "we will camp here for the night." The stream provided fresh water for cooking. While Cole gathered wood for the fire, I prepared the ingredients for the stew. Earlier, we set up fishing lines. I checked them and we had two fish. He had the fire started and I started cooking. I made fish stew. After our meal we went to bed.

The next day we started again. We went through a forest and up and down mountains. We decided to camp at the bottom of two mountains. We ate the the fish stew again. Then we went to bed. We woke up to the sound of somthing moving. The sound came from the horses. We went out and saw some people trying to take them. We ran and grabbed the horses. They backed off and I said, "who are you?"

They said, "We are outlaws of this land."

"Well, what are you doing to our horses?"

"We were just trying to give them a run to see how fast they were, so we could make a trade or just buy them from you. So, how much are you asking for them 100, 150 or 200 dollars?"

"There's no price. They are not for sale."

One of the outlaws said, "WI'll a gun to your friend here change your mind?"

The other outlaw said, "Hey, boss, I thought you weren't supposed to talk to girls like that?"

"Well, you little want, will you shut up, you.........."

While they were arguing we jumped on our horses and ran. They saw us go. They got on their horses and started after us.

I asked Cole what do we do? The path spits in two. He said that I should go left and he will go right, so we did but they were still close behind. I was half way up when one of their horses got really close. Spirit did not like that at all, she kicked the horse in the head. All I heard was a big SMACK. I turned my head and the horse was shaking its head.

I got to the top and stopped. There was a ten foot jump. I had no place to go, so I turned around to run back but it was to late. They had me closed in.

One of them said, "Here horsey, horsey. Come on."

Spirit turned around and seemed to forget her fear. She ran and sailed through the air like she was a paper airplane. When she landed she turned around and reared up as if to say. "See ya, losers." I met up with Cole and we rode for a while. We camped and ate rice. The next day we rode again until it was dark. We camped again and had rice. But that night it started to rain and my blanket got wet. So we shared his blanket.

Soon we were home, and we told everyone the story. They were all so amazed and glad we were safe.

"That is the story named The Indian Girl. This is about how I met your grandpa. My name is Nitiki and the Spirit is still alive. She lives in the blood of your horse."

"You mean my horse is spirit's foal?"

"Yes, of course. You would be the only one I could trust."

"I love you."

"So do I. So do I."