3/5/2009
16
L’Orage
l’Orage
was a horse trained for war. She was an Arabian, bred and
drilled to the battlefield. She was trained to kill and to the tactics
of combat. She was a European’s horse. Paul could tell by her
carriage and by the saddle scars on her flanks. Only one type
of European warrior had found his way into the wilds of Tunisia:
l’Orage had to be a Frenchman’s horse. Paul guessed that,
but his confirmation came when he first stood before her, wondering
himself if she would strike him before he could speak. His
single word was French, and with that single word, he knew she
answered to only one tongue—French. Not to the Tunisian or
Berber or Arabic her previous masters unsuccessfully tried,
only
to French. In combat after combat, she proved herself to be, by
far, one of the finest horses in the Legion stables.