A few months later, the matriarch had been chased out by a younger, fitter female, Apollo, and so she had to run further to escape. One day, as she was galloping away for what seemed like the hundreth time, it came to her that if she jumped off the path the female may turn back and leave her; she dived into the undergrowth, still going. She couldn’t hear any noise so she stopped. She heard hoofbeats and shyed away from them, following an unmarked path, stumbling over logs and down holes in her attempt to evade the horse behind. After a while, Apollo evidently thought she had gone far enough and turned back. Promise decided it would be better to wait awhile, so the female didn’t realize she was following and chase her again. Eventually she caught her breath and stood up groggily, looking around to find hoofprints so she could return to the herd. There were none. She wheeled round, looking for any sign of an imprint in the soft floor but the ground was even, she crumpled to the ground in pity.
She was lost.