A horse that falls will eventually become a forgotten runner – and the memories that the feather flip showed me next confirmed it.

"No, no, it's useless for me to keep this horse, it's so thin that it doesn't even have meat, and it doesn't seem to be able to pull the goods. The man with the cigarette in his mouth said, "Don't talk about making money, it's good if you can't post it upside down." ”

"I don't want your money for this horse," a well-dressed young man pulled out a slip from his pocket, "and it should be a gift for these goods." ”

The man stomped the cigarette butt under his feet and took the order.

"Do you think that if you give me more goods, I will agree to this kind of loss-making business? Let me tell you, if a horse cannot run on the field, it is no different from waste, and it is better to slaughter it..."

"You read that right, it's the price on the list. The young man said with a smirk.

"Is this the horse that fell in the ring?" the man seemed unwilling to believe the young man's words.

"It's like a fake. ”

The man struggled for a while, then left to make a phone call, and after a few minutes, he returned to Flip Feather and looked left and right, "If it's really what is written on the list, it doesn't matter if I bring this horse back." ”

"Well, let's sign it. The young man took out a document from his bag this time, "The condition is to take this horse to a place where people can't find it, as it says on this." ”

Where to find it... I wondered in my heart, where is the place where people can't find it?

Suddenly, I changed places.

"I always feel that there is something wrong here," it was a woman who spoke, and it seemed that she should have been the wife of the man who had just bought the feather, "selling us so many cows at such a cheap price, just so that you could kill this horse?"

Killed... It turns out that this is where people can't find it.

The man was silent, smoking as if he was about to bite off a cigarette.

"If it's really a horse that can't be cured, why do we have to run so far to find you, and we already have horses. The woman looked at the feather and said worriedly, "Many of the people who are keen on horse racing are big shots, don't accidentally mess with anyone..."

It seems that the place I see now is far away from the place where the racetrack is.

"Don't say it. The man interrupted his wife, "It's not as complicated as you think, you go out first, I'll be alone with this horse for a while." ”

The woman wanted to say something, but seeing the man's expression, she walked out of the stable with interest.

"The young man who sold me was the owner of the champion horse. "He used shady means to win the championship in order to win his horse - just like you can see." ”

"What about your master?" I asked, "or what about your rider?"

"He was also very badly injured. "Losing the race almost ruined his family, and his family was going to sell me to someone else in order to treat him, and of course, I think his family simply wanted him not to participate in this dangerous sport, but how could a thin winding horse that fell and limped in the ring sell for a good price?"

"So, the winner bought you?" I asked.

"Well, it's still a high price, with his prize money for winning the championship. "My original rider's family didn't expect me to sell for such a price, and almost gratitiously accepted the winner's request to buy me, so they didn't care what that person wanted to do." ”

“... However, you also said that the horse that fell down could not win the championship again, and there was no threat to him. ”

"If it's an ordinary horse, then this statement is true, I'm not an ordinary horse. There was a hint of pride in Flip Feather's tone.

“... How could he possibly know that you weren't an ordinary horse, could he sense youkai too?" I asked, "in that case, he should have bought you and helped him win more races, wouldn't he..."

"If only there were people who could sense youkai, I would be able to live a little more comfortably. "The champion winner, bah, it should be said that the person with no quality, he doesn't know what the unqualified fortune teller told him, saying that everything he does will be known to the world, and he will lose to his former opponent again, and the boy with no quality is probably also weak-hearted, so he didn't hesitate to run so far and spend a high price to find someone to solve me." ”

"Fortune teller?" I was a little confused, "what is this and what..."

"I also learned from my later master that he was the cattle farmer who was asked to slaughter me," said Flip Feather, "but that's all I know, and I don't know what it is, and it doesn't matter." ”

"So, your new owner hasn't delivered on what he promised the champion. I said, "He left you." ”

"He didn't intend to keep me," said Feather, "and I don't have that much charisma." ”

No sooner had he finished his sentence than a child's voice appeared in the stable.

"Dad, is this your new horse?" is a boy, who looks like he should be the son of a cow man.

"Why are you here?" puzzled the surprise on the man's face, who was hesitating about something with a knife in his hand.

"Listen to my mother, you bought a new horse. "She also said..."

"Whatever you want, no. There was some helplessness in the man's words, even a little cautious, "I promised the man who sold us the cow to end the life of this horse." He paused, "He sold the cow to us at a very cheap price." ”

The boy was deflated.

"Actually, I don't want to, horses should be creatures galloping in heaven and earth, and they shouldn't end their lives in this way. The man patted the feathered back and put down the dagger, as if to comfort his son, "But it can't run anymore, if the horse can't race, it's not far from death, it's better to let it end its life early, and not so painful." ”

"What if it could still run?" cried the boy as if he had found a treasure.

The man was stunned for a moment, "Child, it's impossible." ”

"What if?" the boy still didn't give up, "Mom said I could give it a try!"

"Well," the man sighed after a long moment, "if you really think so, try it, and if it still limps like this in a week's time, then I must end its life." ”

The boy cheered and hugged the feathers taller than him.

......

"Why do you want to let him down, knowing that the horse is not going to run again? In the room, the man said to his wife.

"It's rare to see him so interested in one thing. The man's wife said, "For the first time since that fire, he wants to do something, so let him go." ”

"When he finds out that the horse really can't run, I'm afraid he will close himself off even more. The man said.

"It's better than being silent all the time, and for some reason, I always feel that this horse will restore him to the way he used to be. ”

"How is it possible," said the man, "that child who left in the fire will not come back." ”

Children in the fire... What's going on? I have more and more questions in my mind.

It is said that the boy had an inseparable playmate when he was very young, when the boy's father was not a cattle breeder, but a large farmer, and one day the boy accidentally discovered that his partner's father often beat him, and even refused to give him food, and locked him in the storehouse, as a friend, the boy often went to the storehouse to secretly give food to his partner, and his partner told him that his dream was to become a rider, and the boy said that his dream was to inherit the family farm. The sound of feathering rang in my ears again.

"What happened to the fire?" I asked anxiously.

"Later one winter, when the boy was again locked up in the storehouse by his father, and it was said that it was very cold, and when the locked child was cold and hungry, my little master, oh the boy who left me, came to the storehouse again, and brought him buns, and a small coal stove to keep warm, and that night the coal stove accidentally set the storehouse on fire. "My little master's companion did not escape from the fire, and later the coal stove of the little master's house was found in the ashes. ”

“.....”

"Compensating for the loss turned the farmer into a cattle breeder in debt, and my little master thought that everything was his fault, whether it was a friend's accident or a family's poverty, it was his own fault, so he closed himself off, said no more words, and had no interest in anything. Feather said.

“... Where's the boy's little friend?"

"It is said that the father, who often beats his children, is not sad at all, because the dead child is not his biological child at all, but an adopted child. He even happily accepted all the indemnities," said Feather, "and here, there is one more thing... Well, it should be a relatively coincidental thing, I really have a fate with this family. ”

"What?" I asked.

"Do you remember the time I fell in the ring, my former master?" said Flip Feather.

"Well, that rider. You say that the rider's family sold you for a high price to a champion winner, who in turn sold you to your little master's father. ”

"The rider who fell, I guess he won't be able to get up in his life...", "The rider's biological father is the man who often beats my little master's best friend." ”

“... Huh?"

"According to my little master, when his dead friend was first adopted, his adoptive father, who was my previous master's father, was still very kind to him, but it all ended with the birth of his adoptive father's own son. Feather said.

“... What should I say," I said, "should I say the world is too small, or..."

"It should be said that evil is rewarded with evil. "The man who abused the child would never have imagined that his own son would have the same dream as his deceased adopted son, and he could not have imagined that his own son would one day fall off my back, and I would come to my little master's house, which has been devastated since helping his adopted son." Of course, I didn't know that until much later. ”

The sound of feathers echoing in my ears, and I looked at everything it remembered, and I couldn't say a word.

"Yes, it's like this! Run, run!" the boy's voice sounded outside the window.

The husband and wife in the room looked at each other for a moment and walked out of the room one after another.

Under the sunset, the boy's face was covered with sweat and he kept clapping his palms.

"You're great! Run, you must run!" shouted the boy, laughing loudly.

I saw a limp feather in a strange posture, it bent its neck, raised its front hooves again and again, and looked like a turkey jumping, but this did not affect it to run faster and faster, faster and faster, and the boy followed behind it and ran as well.

"Look, he's running, he's really running," the husband and wife, who looked at the boy and the horse, wept silently.

(End of chapter)