[1]Little Jean was clearly awestruck from the sunset as she was still talking about it the following morning.
Cracker had found a small outcrop near the peak with some nestled trees that perfectly fit the small herd for the night. They had to sleep close to each other as the wind picked up at some point, but they all got a pretty good amount of rest considering their location.
Breeze and
Sunshine entertained little Jean, as Cracker and
Miss went over their travel plans. They regrouped and let the others know that they would be descending down the small mountain and into the valley below. Miss stated that they would be going slower today since going downhill is much harder on everyone's legs, and everyone agreed.
Cracker found somewhat of a trail soon after they started their descent, which certainly felt better than traversing on the larger rocks. Cracker and Jean led the family down the rest of the mountain, with Jean setting the pace. While the group was taking a breather, little Jean seemed to vanish from view. Miss was the first to notice and frantically started to call out her name. Jean poked her head out of some nearby shrubbery excitedly exclaiming that she had found a snake. Miss quickly reprimanded her and quickly got her away from the shrubbery that this snake was apparently in. Breeze was curious and went over to try and get a glimpse of it, and it turned out to just be a snake skin. Cracker was unsure how his foal was so curious and unaware of danger, until he realized that he was the same way, perhaps even worse, when he was her age.
They reached the bottom of the mountain pretty quickly with no casualties. They grazed for a while under the late morning sun and drank out of a nearby stream to get their strength up to continue their journey through the wide valley. Miss and Sunshine pointed out how beautiful the warm shades of flowers were while Jean was frolicking in them like there was no tomorrow. Breeze was busy teasing Cracker about how much energy little Jean has, saying that he also used to have fun. Over time, the sun fell in the sky, and once it touched the horizon, Cracker led the herd to a patch of trees to rest.
[2]There was a distraught mother who brought her puppies:
Snow,
Star,
Robin,
Spirit,
Bright,
Glee,
Polar, and
Yule, in multiple open cloth wrappings, to the group of friendly travelers that the peppermint horses ran into. She gasped, saying she needed help, as she was falling terribly ill and her partner had gone missing. The puppies were given to a surrogate mother and seemed to be healthy, while the mother was given some medicine. The mother survived, but due to the medicine she could not nurse her pups again, as it would poison their weak immune systems. She received immense comfort from the group, but knowing her mate was still out there somewhere, she ultimately made the heavy decision to leave her pups in the wonderful care they were in now, and search for her beloved. She graciously thanked everyone and they wished her well on her travels. It was unclear on if she was returning.
The puppies noticed a shift in warmth, but that was all, since their eyes weren't open yet due to them being so young. The group decided to raise them, and then send them off on their journey once they have grown, with their parents if they return.
