The summer air was thick and warm, and thus Pilar had not done as much exploring lately as she would have liked. The heat made her lethargic, and she found that even wading into the ocean did not provide for much relief. It was only the wind sweeping over her lithe frame that brought her reprieve. She grins as Kasabian suggested a trip to the Paradise, knowing full well she would see Dia there—and maybe the stallion she mentioned too, Şahin.

“Sure! Though I may have already done that for you too,” she grinned playfully, recalling her first conversation with Dia. When he continued on to the topic of his leg, Pilar tilts her head sideways a bit. She had always been conscious of Kasabian’s limp, though she would have never labeled him as ‘crippled.’ It seemed an odd word for a stallion like him. Her thoughts drifted back to an older stallion from her Marwari herd—he had been deaf and mute, and he was such a bitter old man, resentful of the world and his luck within it. Pilar had always pitied him, despite her grandmother’s chiding words. Pitying the crippled does nothing for them, she explained once.

“Beat me in a race eh? You sure about that?” Pilar retorted impishly as he leaned into her. She had always thought of herself as a decently speedy, though admittedly she had never seen Kasabian run.

“And I have to say, I have been wondering. Is it a good story?”


pilar

photo © Sally Mann