No one knows if this story is real. It’s been told a thousand times but never written down before now. The versions I have heard are all similar. I mean no disrespect to the tellers of old, and hope that this version is close to the truth.
One of the first explorers of the west was a young man named Caleb Jones. He had heard of the dangers that lurked under the western sky. But he believed the was something out there worth finding. His father was an explorer too. Came to America and left much of his wealth behind in the old country. Caleb’s father told young Caleb it wasn’t enough to come here. Someone needed to find out what was out there.
As he approached his 16th birthday, young Caleb headed west.
Caleb saddled up his favorite steed, and with a month’s provisions, he headed into the morning sun. Caleb knew how important it would be to have a good companion on his journey. Phoenix had been his horse since birth, a complicated process that almost killed the mare. Phoenix was positioned incorrectly and was born sickly. There was no experienced doctor available. Caleb helped to birth Phoenix … and nursed both mare and foal back to health.
They spent hours together. When the young pony fell into the river, Caleb jumped into the water and pulled Phoenix to safety. As a yearling, Phoenix was already an amazing creature, large and powerful, faster than any horse folks in that small Virginia town had ever seen.
For weeks upon weeks he rode, through valleys, over mountains, across rivers and streams. He hunted and fished, traded with the native peoples, learned their ways, their languages, gained their trust. After many months, Caleb came to the edge of a vast wasteland, sand beyond anything he could see.
The elders of a local tribe warned him against crossing the great hot space, told him of hunting parties that went into the desert, never to return.
But Caleb was fearless.
Three weeks went by as he prepared. He learned much about the desert from his new friends. And he met a pretty young girl named Kateri. They spent time together. She begged him to not cross the desert. Caleb felt he had to make that journey, to see what lay beyond the great hot space.
The tribe gave him provisions and animal skins to carry water. Kateri gave him a blanket she had made for him. Kateri watched as three young men rode with him out into the desert. As night approached, those three young men returned to their encampment along the river.
The elders argued amongst them selves about Caleb’s fate. Would he die in the desert? Would he come to his senses and returned to them?
Days and weeks and months went by with no sign of Caleb. On three occasions, hunting parties rode into the desert as far as they dared. Caleb was not to be found. Kateri feared the worse.
On the third day of the third month of the third year since Caleb went into the desert, Kateri was washing clothes at the river before sunrise. On the other side, in the twilight she could see an emaciated horse drinking from the creek that flowed into the river. The horse looked familiar.
And then she saw it.
The blanket she had given Caleb was wrapped around the horse’s neck. It was Phoenix. He had returned. But Caleb was nowhere to be seen. Kateri went crying to her father, the chief of the tribe. She showed him the horse across the river, pointing to the blanket she had given Caleb.
Although it had been three years, with little chance that Caleb was still alive out there in the desert, a search party was organized. Half a dozen young men mounted every horse in the tribe and started across the river toward Phoenix, who was munching grass along the river bank.
When Phoenix saw them coming, he turned and headed back into the desert. Six brave young men on horseback followed. No matter how fast the young men rode, they could not catch Phoenix, who stayed within their sight up ahead, as though leading them to Caleb.
They rode all day, deep in to the desert. When night came, the horses were exhausted and needed rest, but Phoenix sped on, going faster and faster into the darkness. The young men gave up the chase. They would never catch up with Phoenix. They made camp. And at sunrise they headed back toward the river.
The elders and the people of the tribe slowly began to forget about Caleb, except for the young girl, who had fallen in love with him.
Time went by. Kateri mourned the loss of Caleb.
Then, on the third day of the third month of the third year since Phoenix had returned to them, Kateri, a striking young woman now, was down by the river before sunrise, something she did each day, whether or not she had clothing to wash. She sat on the bank looking across the other side, as she did every morning. But on this morning, her patience paid off.
On the other side of the river, standing beside the small creek, drinking his fill of the cool water … there was Phoenix, the blanket still wrapped around his neck.
This time Kateri did not run crying to her father. Instead, she slipped into the cold water and swam across. The current was strong. She climbed out on the other side, shivering and tired. Phoenix was still there. Now, he was watching her.
She approached cautiously, not knowing how Phoenix might react to her.
“Where is Caleb?” She asked softly.
Phoenix let out a billowing sound and rose up on his hind legs. Kateri was frightened. But Phoenix calmed down and walked over to her, nudging her with his nose. She looked into those dark eyes and saw pain. She understood that.
“Can you take me to Caleb?” The horse shook his head is though saying yes. He turned his enormous body and faced it toward the desert.
“Then let’s go. Take me to my love.” She began walking, but Phoenix would not move, sounding off, causing her to stop. Kateri understood. She walked back to Phoenix, and with one move she mounted onto his back.
Phoenix stood there for a moment, as though waiting for something.
Kateri grabbed the reins, tightened her legs around the muscular body and whispered, “Take me to Caleb.”
She looked back toward the river and saw her father standing there, shouting to her. She stopped for a moment. Kateri could not hear what her father was saying over the roar of the rushing water. But she knew. She waved to him, turned back, squeezed her legs, and clucked quietly. In a few moments, with an excited Kateri hanging on, Phoenix galloped off into the desert.