Mountain Bred

Atop a snow and pine-clad ridge in the heart of the Snowy Mountains, two rearing Brumbies engage in ferocious combat. Reagent, a pale stocky horse, closes its teeth around the throat of the dark brown stallion in a savage bite. Will, a young stockman, and Douglas, with a scarf covering his face, ride along a broken mountain path on the lookout for an escaped Brumby. They recall how during the Antarctic expedition, a horse could survive for months on a ration of meat, and that’s when they encounter Reagent standing over the bloody carcass of the stallion, tearing a strip of flesh from its ribcage. They turn to flee, but Reagent buries its teeth in Will’s shoulder and yanks him backwards. Douglas cracks his stockwhip to distract the crazed beast before grabbing Will and leaping off the edge of a bank in a daring escape. Will refuses to believe the monster they encountered was Reagent, while Douglas, with the scarf fallen from his frostbite-ravaged face and gripping a small skinning knife, turns towards Will. He explains that out there on the ice, on the brink of starvation, they got a taste of their own kind and there was no turning back!