Manifest Destiny: America from the Bottom Up - 44 - Licking, MO - Night with the Mare

I left Salem at about 2:00 pm on 12/6. I stopped by WalMart and bought two large sandwiches--enough to last two days if necessary, and filled my Camelbak with water.

I cranked out about 8 miles (of the 25) on the way south toward Licking, MO, on Route 32, before realizing I needed to find my sleep spot. I had passed by so many fields that I wondered if a wooded spot would even come up over the horizon.

Finally, the woods appeared on both sides of the road and I felt hopeful. Unfortunately, both sides were fenced, but the right side was pretty poorly maintained. I saw no "No Trespassing" signs. I'd reached a spot where the top line of barbed wire was missing. There was only one section like this and I thought I'd take advantage while I could.

Waiting until there were cars in either direction, I ran across the street and gently scooted over it, making sure that my testicles wouldn't be left behind.

As soon as I was over I heard a car coming toward me and I ran in and hid behind a tree that was much too small to block me, but thankfully the driver was oblivious. I stood there for a moment surveying the whole situation around me. And when I looked over toward the southern side of the woods I saw a large white object.

At first I thought it was a man. Then it moved slowly. I reassessed and looked more closely. Was it a white sheet hanging from a branch? No... I gulped, fully on my guard, and walked toward it. So strange... What could it be?

When I was within about 15 feet, I sudden realized... I saw the north end of a very large, south facing, horse. IOW, her buttocks and tail. And, it was obvious it was a she.

She pulled her head up from chewing on something just enough to see me standing there, then returned to what she was doing. She was unconcerned that I was in her personal space, which was reassuring. All kinds of questions entered my mind: What was this horse doing in the woods? Don't horses live in fields? Had she escaped? Were there more horses in here?

Well, regardless of the answers to these and many secondary questions that came up, I needed to set up camp, and the light under an already-dark and overcast sky was fading very quickly. I walked in perpendicularly away from the road, further and further. I was keyed up and could feel every hair on my head tingling; every nerve was extra sensitive.

I traveled further and further in, keeping a close eye on my compass and listening for the sound of cars to keep my orientation straight. I heard the horse snort way back behind me.

The leaves around certain trees were well-disturbed. I knew the horse had kicked them up, running around the tree. It just added more mystery. I started to have the very strong impression that this horse had been living there for at least a few days. I don't know very much about horses. I was pretty sure they liked grass more than dead leaves and bark. I started to feel some serious sympathy for this large lady.

I looked for the ideal tree to hitch my tent to, one that would have very few roots, branches or rocks in the direction the tent would lay. As I searched, I heard the horse slowly walk along the edge of the fence, toward the north side of the woods. I assumed that she must be on her way back to the adjacent field and I was glad she knew it was dark and time to go home.

I couldn't find a good spot, and continued looking, eventually doubling back and crossing to the south side of the woods, across a small dried up brook. I was disappointed to find even more stones in that part of the woods. I had to get my ass in gear or set-up would have been pretty challenging in the pitch dark.

I found a tree and walked around it several times, kicking the baseball-sized rocks out of the way. There were more and larger rocks under them, so I filled in the in-between cracks with leaves, stamping them down until the broke up and then reapplying new ones. Eventually I had a good four foot by seven foot area fairly well leveled.

Rolling out the tent seemed to bridge the bumps I could cover and when I had the sleeping bag out it took care of the rest of the rack edges. It was dark now. I was fairly tired from the walk, and not feeling very well emotionally. I had to leave Salem without knowing whether I would have money in the next week, worried about transfer times to my other account if money would show up at PayPal, a bit depressed about having to be without any source of major transportation for the next month or so, and genuinely sick of the overcast and rainy weather.

It was with all of this on my mind that I crawled in to the tent and laid my head down. I remembered that I had half of a half of pint of whiskey from a few days before, and fished it out of the bottom of my pack. It was VERY nice to take a few nips. It gave me the sleepy feeling I need to eventually drift off. And, as I have reported so many times before, I began to dream...

I was sitting with my dad in an old mill he had bought, for some reason. We were getting along well and talking about some business ideas we'd both been pondering. It was very vivid. I asked him if I could use the little skiff tied up to the dock outside along the river mouth that led to the bay beyond. I think we were in Yarmouth. As I rowed close to the shore, I saw a buoy and around it swam a bunch of rather small brown seals. One of them was caught in the anchor line and the others were trying to free it. I rowed over and pulled the line up, freeing the flipper of the trapped animal, who was elated and gave me a happy bark before swimming away with his friends.

I turned the little boat around and headed back to the mill. The sun came out at the last moment of the day (presumably it was evening), and I yelled to my dad that it was nice to see the sun for once.
I docked up and went back inside. We talked more about these business ideas and I told him that it would be great to have an industry that would perform all the tasks from production, to manufacture, to distribution, to retail sales all at once. He agreed (uncharacteristically, I might add). Then things began to change.

Other people showed up and began to smoke something from a large crack-like pipe (one that has no bowl, is heated from below to vaporize it and a rush hole at the top). My dad (who did not imbibe, though I had the feeling that these younger people were his friends) didn't seem to be himself any more. The feeling became evil in the room. They tried to get me to take a hit but I refused. They became more and ore persistent, eventually shoving the pipe in my face and trying to hold me down. I heard a "clump, clump!, clump!!" on the floor and felt the vibrations.

I had to get out of there, and escaped through a large wooden door into the driveway. I ran over to my dad's GMC van but someone clicked a key chain button inside the mill that the the vehicle's doors locked. As I headed down a grassy field away from the driveway the clumping became quite pronounced.

I woke up suddenly to the realization I was in the woods. And the horse was running by just out of sight from the opening of the tent. My heart was pounding and I sat as still as possible to hear what was going on.

The horse settled down and only its foot falls in the damp leaves were apparent at that point. I calmed down and finished my tiny amount of whiskey. This all was giving a new meaning to the term "night mare." It was night, I was trying to sleep and a mare was trotting around me.

I couldn't possibly think of a stranger situation to be in. There I was in Missouri, on a strange quest, on some farmer's woodland with a trapped horse. THEN I heard the first coyotes I've heard yet on this journey. They were pretty far off, but a chill ran through me. And, it was only 8:15 pm...
After some time, everything had become more peaceful again. The horse was way over near the thicker part of the treeline. I got sleepy again and fell into a dreamless state of unconsciousness. I must have needed the sleep since the next time I awoke was at 2:10 am. The coyotes were closer now, but still not in the same area as me and my horse. She was not to be heard. I felt so bad that she might be trapped in this strange place, with no way to get to her field and back home--seemingly forgotten about. At least she will be remembered by me. I pray she is reunited with her owner.........