~ A few days prior ~
Horse trudged along the lonely trail with his Master slumped across his back. Although Horse didn’t know the extent of what had happened, there was someone who knew. In the dark, high above the plains and hills of the barren landscape, a winged figure glided at lofty heights. From up there he saw almost everything that happened in the world below, even at night. From there he surveyed the actions of man and beast. He left the freedom of the skies only as he chose. He was a Crow.
Black as night and with the memory of an elephant, Crow blended perfectly with the dark skies when the sun had gone. He hadn’t forgotten a debt that he had long owed. The man to whom he owed the debt was lying hurt on the Horse below. The Horse looked tired and seemed a little lost. Without help, The Man With No Name could lose his life. Crow had once been in similar danger many years prior.
When Crow had been a baby, he had fallen out of his mother’s nest before he could fly. Without a way to get back into the nest, he had been in danger of dying from hunger or being eaten. He had been struggling to get back into the tree to be with his mother and siblings when a snake appeared. It coiled itself and was ready to strike. Suddenly, a “crack” pierced the air and the snake lay dead at Crow’s feet. The hunter had become dinner.
As Crow had begun to feast on the unexpected meal, he had seen a man on a large brown Horse riding away. Crow knew The Man had saved him. Crow never forgot a person, and the man who saved his life all those years ago wore the same hat and poncho as the unconscious man who lay on the Horse that night. Crow owed him a debt and intended to pay.
Crow knew from the “crack” he heard earlier that The Man had likely been shot. He knew what it could do to snakes, but thought that since The Man was bigger that he could survive. However, he would need more assistance than a Crow could give. Crow remembered there was a place where sick and hurt people would go and sometimes they would leave healed. He quickly made a plan to guide Horse in that direction.
Crow dropped from the skies and pulled up around Horse's eye-level a short distance in front of Horse. Crow flapped his wings and fluttered about, guiding Horse to turn a bit to the side. The Horse couldn’t see clearly since it was night, but he could see well enough to know to avoid the moving object. Once Crow had gotten Horse to make the adjustment in direction, he flew back into the sky. He did this again and again, any time that Horse started to veer off course. Horse was doing well, but he needed a bit of guidance from time to time. From up in the sky, Crow had the perspective to be able to encourage Horse to go the correct direction.
Just before dawn, as Horse was looking like he would give up, Crow saw that they were close to the building with the steeple. He dropped once more from the sky, came up from behind Horse and flew just over his head, then straight to the building in the distance. Horse’s eyes instinctively followed Crow, and Horse’s hooves followed his eyes. Shortly thereafter, Horse came to a stop in the yard of a monastery where some men rushed out and retrieved The Man from Horse’s back.
Crow knew that The Man would be safe. He turned to fly away and as he departed, he called out, “caaaaw caw.” To anyone listening, it almost sounded like he said, “Farewell, Friend.
Over the course of human history, many men have enjoyed the company of birds. Some men had falcons, some had hawks. The Man With No Name had a Crow. Crow’s name was Brian.
This installment was written in honor of my friend @briancourteau. He's an amazing person. He is fighting hard against cancer. He and his wife @lynncoyle1 are currently living in Mexico so they can enjoy their time together. If you think of it, please stop by Brian and Lynn's blogs and give them some words of encouragement.
I hope you enjoyed Part 4a of The Man With No Name (featuring The Crow With A Name). If you missed any of the previous parts, you can find them here:
Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
