Blaze

Erin thought it was a large rock at first, jutting out of the boggy mud on March Fen. She never noticed one that far out on the bog before. In all the sketches she had drawn of the misty terrain it was in none of them. But as she stood on the stony path, squinting at it it moved. Erin blinked unsure whether her eyes were playing tricks or if it was just the way the sunlight hit the water around it. It was so far in the distance she wasn't sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her. But the next time it moved it was unmistakeable.
"Hello. Is there anybody there?" she said.
A gentle, whimpering whiny filtered through the air.
"My god, it's a horse," Erin spluttered. Without a second thought she dropped her bag and her sketch pad and gingerly navigated her way across the soft bog, feeling for firmer mounds to step on and hoping she wouldn't succumb to a similar fate.
She knew there were Konik ponies on the Fen. She had seen them before and even sketched one once; a placid creature with a black blaze down its tawny face. When she finished her sketch the pony approached and gave her and the picture a lick with its long, meaty tongue, a stamp of approval, Erin had thought.
As she neared the stricken animal she realised it was the same one she had drawn.Her heart poured with pity.
"Hey Blaze," Erin said softly as she crouched down on a firm mound by the horse's head.
From what Erin could see the horse had been stuck for some time. Its efforts to wiggle free dug it deeper into the jaws of the mud. It's legs were completely submerged along with most of its body. All that stood proud of the bog was the rise of its rump, its withers, head and neck. It was caked in black mud and so exhausted it could barely raise its head.
"D'you remember me, girl?"
The horse whinnied and snorted heavy breaths that blew bubbles in a pocket of water by its head.
Erin looked deeply into her eyes and saw death; that black, glassy void, bereft of fear and of hope. She horse had given up. But Erin hadn't.
"I'll get you out, girl," she said and stroked the Konik's coarse, matted mane. She shuffled to her feet to get help but the horse suddenly thrashed against the bog's grip. It threw its head back and jerked its body from side to side, trying to claw its way out.
"It's okay, girl," Erin said, reaching out her hands. "Calm down. Just stay calm. I'm not leaving you. I promise. I need to get help."
She stroked Blaze's face and soon the horse was calm again and resting the weight of its head against her. Erin struggled to hold it up and so gently laid it on a grassy lump.
"I promise I'll be back," she said and bounded across the bog, praying every footfall was sound.
Despite the expanse of March Fen she didn't have to run far. She spotted a young couple walking their black and white Collie on the same stony path and breathlessly told them what she had found. They both sped back toward the village of March promising to fetch help.
Erin returned to her patient, scooping up her bag and sketch pad on route, and was greeted with a laboured whinney. She ruffled the horse's forelock and reached into her bag.
"You must be hungry now, surely," she said and plucked out an apple. "You're probably too tired to bite into this so I'll do it for you."
Erin took a the largest bite from the apple that she could, spat it out and handed it to Blaze. At first she only nibbled at the offering, but it seemed that once she got a taste for it she wanted more and more.
"See, you're already getting your strength back," Erin said with a smile. "How about mints? Horses like mints don't they."
Erin reached into her bag again and peeled a few from a packet. Blaze devoured them.
"You'll have fresher breath than me soon, you keep eating these," she joked as Blaze snorted into her hand, searching for more.
"You'll be alright, girl," Erin said as she offered Blaze more mints. "You know why? Because Koniks are hardy horses. You guys can fight and scuffle and bite and scratch and you know what, you recover from your injuries far quicker than any other type of horse. So you see I know you can recover from this."
No sooner had Erin said it than a twenty strong team of rescuers sped up the path in Land Rovers and fire engines towards her and Blaze.
Erin stood up and waved her arms about. "We here, we're over here," she cried.
Within minutes the Fen Warden, Firefighters, vets, concerned villagers and the couple with the dog were trudging across the bog.
Erin scuttled back to let the adults get to work but Blaze wasn't happy. She started to thrash about again and craned her neck round looking for Erin.
"I think she's gotten attached to you," said the vet as she tried to assess Blaze's condition. "Would you mind calming her down a bit for me?"
Erin returned to Blaze's side and stroked her face whilst the vet listened to the horse's heart.
"She's still got a strong heart beat," the vet announced with relief.
"Can we get some rope over here?" yelled one of the firefighters to his crew on the path.
Erin watched on as leather straps and chains were unravelled from the fire engine. The Fen Warden slipped a headcollar to Blaze's head and clipped the rope to it.
"I have an air tank with me as well," the Warden said to the fire fighters.
"What's that for?" Erin asked as the Warden pulled a small canister, like a mini fire extinguisher, and a pipe from his back pack.
"It's to blow some air down into the mud to break the seal round her legs," he said and connected the device up. "Right I'm ready. Once I've blown air into the mud pull, hard."
As the Warden shuffled round to Blaze's rear, Blaze craned her head round and neighed.
"It's okay, Blaze. They're helping you get out," Erin said. She climbed to her feet and grabbed onto the rope, ready to haul her friend out of the myre.
After a serious of loud plops that created large bubbles on the surface of the mud, everyone started to heave against the rope. Erin could see in Blaze's eyes that she knew what was happening and wasn't surprised by Blaze's efforts to help. The more everyone pulled the more Blaze shuffled and wiggled herself free. Inch by inch Blaze emerged from the sticky bog to the delight of everyone. Erin was so excited by the progress she ignored the rope burns on her hands and the ache of her arms. She just digging her feet into the soft, grassy bog and straining on the rope. After half an hour of tugging Blaze slide out of the cold, wetness that gripped her. At first she was fragile. She flailed her legs about, trying to right herself and after a moment or two of getting her breath back she rolled onto her belly and hauled herself up onto all fours.
Everyone cheered and clapped, but no-one was more delighted with the result than Erin. She threw her arms round Blaze and gave her the biggest hug.
"I told you you'd be alright," she said.