When Sally the septohorse had come from it's mother she looked too elongated. Her mother rejected her from the shock of her looks. It was the job of the muck-clearer William Redfleet to look after the septohorse and bring her into the world.
It had to be a secret. It had 7 backs in a long line, 7 heads and was much larger than any breed he'd seen before. If anyone found out about the horse with seven heads he would have been punished for witchcraft, so the beast never left his stable in the day.
Then in the middle of the night he would take Sally the septohouse out for a ride over the nearby pastures. At first she'd be a tricky customer. But then when she broke into a gallop she would move at a ferocious pace. She demolished fenches as she ran through them, galloped over stone walls and barely seemed to use her breath.
"Last orders please" growled Wendy, the weathered barmaid at the Crow and Crown pub. She jangled the bell and poured jugs of ale for the wrinkly swaying punters. She started clearing the empties to the kitchen while the regulars emptied themselves from the bar.
When she returned there was one old fogey in the corner whom she gave a big kick.
"This ain't your house! Gerrout of my pub!" she yelled.
The dazed bloke was waking up and swaggering out the pub while mumbling curse words under his breath. He walked out the back door, through the pub garden and down the alleyway. Then he caught a glimpse of it. A silhouette leaping out across the distance. It looked like a flying dragon against the the yellowy dusky horizon. Then it came back down.
He walked a little faster and wondered what sin the village commited to deserve this beast.
The morning faithfully rose like a blossom bud opening. The dew was settling over the fields with driplets on the floor and a steady morning sun was blazing away the mist.
Freddy Stobart was walking his dog down the orchards as he did every morning. Except he was scratching his temples. The new railway was taking his business away and his long distance horse carts would be disappearing if he wasn't careful. All the eggs, spuds, apples and wheat was going straight on the steam wagon, bypassing him entirely. His family would be in the workhouse before they knew it.
He scratched his head again, as his dog pulled him and almost tore his arm off.
"What now Graham?"
The dog was pulling vigorously towards and an enormous pile of muck. It was too big for a horse, but what kind of creature would come this way? The dog began to roll around in the pile.
"Graham! I've told you before you filthy bastard... get out of that now" he tugged on the lead the dog was wimpering but got over it quickly. He kept pulling his owner on.
Then they came to a big stone wall which had been hit by something large.
"Goodness grief, what happened here?" Big blocks of the dry stone wall had splintered off and it had left a great mess everywhere. Whatever it was, it was phenomenally large. Freddy shook himself and headed back to his shed and stables.
Meanwhile at home, William Redfleet was covered in scars and scratches across his limbs. Something last night had spooked Sally and he had been thrown off the 10 foot tall mother-of-all-horses. Worst of all he'd lost her. She'd gone off into the distance. She'd be back of course, but he'd spent hours looking for her and eventually just had to pray to our father in heaven that she would come back without much fuss. He drifted into some much needed sleep.
Tuesday was market day and the village was teeming with activity. The motley mix of traders would come from the surrounding villages and be selling all sorts of breads, apples and pears and whatever other goodies had been unloaded from the train that morning. The square was full of gossip. Who'd been rodgering who? Who's daughter was going to leave the village first? All the women were in their best dresses and were filling their baskets with what they could afford. They were so engrossed in their socialising that they didn't realise everyone else had just taken a sharp gasp of breath.
"The seven headed mutant has come to get us all!" screamed one old man fleeing back to his house and slamming the door. Panic ensued. Baskets were dropped. Screaming was heard. The traders filled up the own carriages and hurried to depart.
Sally was remarkably calm at the fuss. She trotted across the cobbles and found the stash of hay next to the town hall. She looked around and gobbled up what she could with her many mouths. She then proceeded across the square, eating all the produce that had been dropped on the floor. She'd never eaten so well in all her life, she had so much energy. Once her seven stomachs were full she realised she missed green fields and wanted to roam free.
The villagers gathered in the Crow and Crown, rapidly downing ale to deal with their overwhelm. Yes, they had seen it hadn't they? Maybe it was a punishment for their lack of worship. The church was very sparse on a Sunday and nobody was interested in that God malarkey anymore. They came up with increasingly far fetched theories and fears about why this heathen creature was sent and what would happen with it. Eventually they were drunk enough to not care too much.
Freddy Stobart was dipping his quill in the ink when it became clear that the sums simply didn't add up. He'd have to let a couple of his assistants go. He was sad because they were just a victim of circumstance. He wondered how he would break the news and ventured outside to the yard. Only a single cloud was in the sky and it blocked out the sunshine on Mr Stobart's workyard.
Suddenly the cloud lifted, the light shone through and he heard the sound of clopping hooves. Dust was being kicked up on his track. He wasn't expecting a delivery yet. The creature initially repulsed him, but then when he saw the speed it was achieving, the sound of shillings chinged through his head. He got one of the stable boys to feed her and he headed into town to present his idea.
The pub was full of the drunken masses, many half asleep in the afternoon heat.
"Ladies and not so gentle men. I think we can beat the railways... I have discovered the most fantastical creature that can move things at 7 times the rate of any horse you know"
"Not so fast" Wendy played with her moustache and the mole protruding from her chin. "Are you talking about that terrorising monsterrrrrr?"
"She's quite gentle soul really" replied Freddy
"Well... she's terrified us all day, why shouldn't we burn her at the stake?" said Wendy tilting her head and not blinking.
"It's quite simple. We can't help the body we're born into. Some of you lot are beautiful, some of us are less so. But we all have some good attributes and have to use them one way or another. This septohorse can help us all if we let her."
The villagers bubbled among themselves.
"But what if she decides that she's not going to be nice today. I think she smashed my wall - two guineas of damage right there" shouted one of the farmers rocking on his chair.
"If we don't scare her she won't cause too much damage. And you know what? If we don't use her, a few of you will be sacked because the railway will replace most of my business."
This caused a stir and it was time for Mr Stobart to make a rallying call.
"The choice is up to you. You run around like crazy hens and get stinking drunk and lose your jobs and panic about this horse, which'll scare her and make her demolish your homes. Or you get off your backsides and accept this strange creature and let her help us."
A cheer echoed from the pub and woke up William Redfleet. He got out of bed, the square was eerily quiet but the pub was abuzz with activity.
He asked what was going on then made his way to Mr Stobart who was now cooling down. He pulled the older man aside.
"Let me tell you about Sally..."
A few weeks later Sally was pulling articulated wagons from the village to the city. She would race along with crates full of eggs and boxes of late summer apples. And atop the creature was William riding her to where she needed to be.
