Title -- Equus
Author -- KD
E-Mail address -- doek@rpi.edu
Rating -- G
Category -- X-File
Spoilers -- Pilot
Keywords -- Mulder/Scully friendship
Summary -- Mulder and Scully investigate a disappearance in the Berkshires, but their only witness is of the four-legged variety.

Disclaimer - Chris Carter owns the characters of Scully and Mulder, I'm just borrowing them for a while.

"Equus"

Lenox, Massachusetts
Saturday
1:46 PM

The young girl threw her head back and felt the warm glow of the sun on her face. The muted clip-clop of her horse's hooves on the dirt path was a reassuring sound. The fourteen year-old knew no greater joy than a trail ride on a glorious afternoon in the woods, and she was sure that her painted horse felt the same way. She knew that he loved to escape the barn and meander along the trail, and she was only too happy to oblige him.
Suddenly her contented thoughts were broken as her horse shied off the path. The gelding reared, and the girl tumbled off into the weeds on the side of the trail. The last thing she heard was the horse's terrified snorting as they were both engulfed by a piercing light . . .

Washington, D.C.
Monday
9:16 AM

"Morning, Mulder. Nice to see you drop in," Scully's tone of voice was less than friendly as her partner blew through the door into their office.
"Scully, I just..." Mulder searched for an explanation for his tardiness.
"Never mind. It's just as well you weren't here to receive our new assignment. You would have been bored to death. It seems that Skinner thinks we need to investigate a missing person's case."
"Missing person? That's it?" Mulder shoved a stack of papers aside on his desk to make room for the case file, and succeeded in also spilling a bag of sunflower seeds.
"Yeah, in Lenox, Massachusetts. A girl was riding a horse in the woods, and they both seem to have just disappeared. Vanished without a trace. They've been missing for two days."
"Seriously? Without a trace? Let me see that." Scully handed over the file. Mulder peered at its contents, which consisted of little more than photographs of the girl and the horse. "You never know, Scully, this could turn out to be interesting. Let's go to the Berkshires."

Lenox, Massachusetts
Monday
12:23 PM

Brian Avery looked up as a tall man in a black leather jacket and a redheaded woman entered the Lenox Police Station. The man's face was devoid of all emotion, and the woman's face . . .well, she was beautiful. They approached him, and the man flashed a badge.
"Agents Mulder and Scully, FBI."
"Sergeant Brian Avery, Lenox Police Department. We're certainly glad to have you along on this case, Agent Mulder, Agent Scully," he nodded in their direction. "We're a bit at a loss around here."
Scully spoke up, "What are the details of this case that make it so extraordinary? It sounded just like another missing person in the case summary."
Avery took a deep breath. "Two days ago, fourteen year-old Hannah Banks took a ride up into the hills, on a trail originating from the Mountain View Riding Stable, here in Lenox. Tom Foley runs the stable; he boards horses as well as giving riding lessons. Hannah was on one of his school horses - his name is Hawk, I believe," he mumbled the last part, looking through the case file. "Yeah, Hawk. I guess he's one of their most dependable mounts. Anyway, Hannah took a ride up, and never came down. It's been pouring rain around here for the past two days, so we've had a difficult time searching for her. But we've organized a party to go out this afternoon, lead by myself, made up of trained professionals. We'll be leaving from the stable. If you'd like to come with me," he ushered them out the door.
"Now, there is a bit of a tricky detail about this case, Agent Mulder, which, I guess, is why you specifically were called in. The night Hannah disappeared, there were several reports of people seeing lights in the sky. I mean, it could be nothing; a storm was coming, and it was probably just lightning." He got into his four-by-four, and motioned for the agents to follow behind in their rented Taurus.
Probably, Mulder mused.

Mountain View Riding Stable
1:56 PM

A man in a weathered oilskin jacket and worn western boots greeted them as they drove into the stableyard. He noticed as the woman looked in mild annoyance at the amount of mud on the ground.
At least they wore jeans and boots.
Sgt. Avery came up to him. "Hey Tom."
"Brian, it's good to see you again, although not under the circumstances."
"Tom Foley, I'd like to introduce Agents Mulder and Scully, from the FBI."
"Well, I didn't know there was a need for the government to be called in. Good afternoon."
"It looks like quite an operation you run here," Mulder glanced around at the twenty-some acres of paddocks and fields. There was a riding class in progress in one of the outdoor arenas.
"Yes, we have thirty-five stalls; twenty-eight boarders and seven of my own school horses. Well, six now. . ." he trailed off.
Avery broke in. "They're going to be joining us on the search this afternoon."
"Oh yes, I wanted to talk to you about that. How many men have we got?"
"I've got three men from the PD, plus two specialists from the search and rescue team. We've all got plenty experience at riding," Sgt. Avery answered him.
"Now, Agents Mulder and Scully, have either of you ever ridden a horse before?"
"Actually, I worked for one summer at a boarding stable on the Vineyard when I was a kid. Mostly I just mucked out stalls, but I got a chance to ride a little bit." Scully looked at her partner in surprise.
"Agent Scully?"
She turned her head. "Uh, apart from pony rides as a kid, I've never been on a horse."
"Well, you're going to have to get use to it quickly, because it's the fastest way up the mountain. It's also the only way we can follow the trail that Hannah took."
Scully looked up at Mulder, who just grinned at her.
Oh great.

They were waiting in the muddy stableyard when Tom rode out, leading two horses behind him. One was a bay, the other chestnut, and from Scully's point of view, they were absolutely enormous.
"Here you go, Agent Mulder," Tom handed Mulder the reins of the bay, and he swung up into the western saddle with ease. "Agent Scully." She dubiously took the reins of the chestnut, and stared at the back of the animal, which seemed miles above her.
"C'mon Scully, hop on!" Mulder was grinning at her from his saddle. The rest of the search party was mounted and ready to be on their way. She got up close and tried to get her foot in the stirrup. It was no use.
"Hang on a minute," Tom dismounted, and with an impatient look on his face, gave Scully a leg up. With one swift movement he had thrust her into the saddle, and quickly adjusted her stirrups, raising them several inches.
He returned to his own horse, a grey mare, and mounted. "Let's get this show on the road!" The other riders set off up the trail, and Tom rode up to the agents, "Now you two can follow me. Just keep the reins even, and keep your heels down." He pointed to the horses, "These guys know what they're doing."

An hour and a half later, they had reached a plateau in the hillside, and the end of the trail. They had seen nothing of Hannah, or her horse.
"What do you suggest now, Sgt. Avery?" Mulder looked impatient on the back of his bay mount.
"Well, we've ridden the straight trail, what we do now is fan out into the woods and make our way back down." He proceeded to divide the men into parties, and Mulder approached Scully.
"Nice ride out in the forest, eh Scully?"
She gave him a wry look, and shifted uncomfortably in the saddle. "What do you suppose happened to them? It seems difficult to get lost on such a well-groomed trail, and even if Hannah had fallen off, wouldn't the horse have gone back to the stable?"
"Most likely, unless something were preventing him from doing so."
"Like what? If they had been attacked by an animal, we would have seen a body, or a sign of a struggle."
Mulder was about to answer, but Tom approached them. "You two can come with me. . ."
Suddenly a neigh rang out through the woods. It was a horse's trumpeting call, deep and throaty, and it hadn't come from any of the searchers' horses.
"Hawk?" Tom asked incredulously, and took off at a canter towards the sound, through the woods towards the east. Sgt. Avery and the other searchers took off after him.
"Let's go!" Mulder nudged the bay into a canter, and the chestnut obediently followed behind, with Scully grasping the saddle's horn for all she was worth.

The agents found that Tom had dismounted in the middle of a clearing. His own mare was tied to a branch, and he was inspecting a pinto gelding.
Mulder rode up slowly and dismounted. Scully remained aboard her chestnut, knowing that once she got off, she would have to get back on. She got as close as she could to Tom and Mulder.
"Is this Hawk?"
"Yep, it's him," Tom replied gruffly.
The gelding was big, sixteen hands at the withers. His bay coat was splashed with white, and there was a wide blaze on his broad face. His rather large ears twitched this way and that, and his eyes rolled nervously. But the most noticeable thing was his tack. His bridle was twisted and the bit was pulling at his mouth. His saddle blanket was missing, the saddle was on at an angle, facing backwards.
"What the hell. . .how could he possibly get like this? He couldn't have done it himself." Tom was mumbling to himself as he righted the horse's tack.
"What's this?" Mulder passed his hand over two large bumps at the base of the gelding's neck, partially covered by thick black mane. "Have you noticed these before?"
"No, never. These horses are groomed and inspected every day."
"What could it be?"
"Well, it could be an allergic reaction of some kind, but it's unlikely that it would be so localized. At any rate, I need to get him back down and let a vet take a look at him."
He started to reach for the horse's reins, but Hawk then shied and reared, snorting and backing away from his owner. His eyes continued to roll, and he began to tremble.
"What the . . .? He's never acted like this." Tom again reached for Hawk, and this time succeeded at catching him. He secured an extra halter on the gelding, and mounted his grey mare. "Now, do you two want to stay here and continue looking, or you want to come back down with me?"
Scully looked at Mulder pleadingly. There were plenty of trained professionals looking for Hannah Banks in these woods, and her rear end told here that she had had just about enough time in the saddle.
Mulder got the message. "We'll come back with you. I'll be interested in what your vet has to say."

Mountain View Riding Stable
6:15 PM

They had made it back down the hillside without incident, although the painted gelding kept his ears pinned the whole time, a sign that he was definitely not happy. Back at the stable, a struggle ensued to confine the horse to a quarantined stall at the back of the barn. Hawk reared and struck and snapped and plunged, and at last, it took three stablehands to untack and get him in.
"Oh my God," Tom heaved a sigh and leaned against the wall. "I have never seen that horse act in such a way. He's behaving like a wild stallion."
"You mean he's not normally like that?" Scully inquired.
"Of course not! He's a sixteen year old school horse - gentle as can be and as bombproof as they come. About the only thing that normally fazes him is the sound of thunder, and even then he only paces in his stall. He's never offered to bite or kick since the day I brought him home eight years ago. The students absolutely love him. I can't figure it out." Tom was obviously distraught.
"Could something have happened to him out on the trail that would cause this behavior?"
"It's possible, but I can't think of what would bring it on. It's as if he's a totally different horse. Anyway, I'll go notify the vet's office and have someone up here right away."
Mulder watched Tom leave, and then turned to the horse. "So what do you think happened here? Kind of spooky, isn't it?"
"And why do you think it's so 'spooky', Mulder? People suffering from trauma often have dramatic personality changes, why not animals? This is just a case of trauma-induced stress."
"Stress?! This is a bit extreme, don't you think? Something huge must have happened to him up there." As if to emphasize his words, Hawk charged the front of the stall where Mulder was leaning. The agent turned in alarm to see a huge set of teeth snapping behind in his direction. Scully jumped away quickly, as Hawk retreated to face the back of the dark stall. "Like I was saying. . ."

After a considerable struggle, the vet concluded that there was nothing physically wrong with Hawk, but he could not determine the origin of the two bumps at the base of his neck. He did agree, however, that the gelding should be confined by himself as long as he was a danger.
The day had ended with no conclusive evidence, and Hannah Banks had not been found.

Tuesday
10:13 AM

The next day they questioned Hannah's mother.
"Mrs. Banks, you took Hannah to the stable Saturday morning?"
"Yes, she spends most of her Saturdays there, cleaning stalls, turning horses out. Mr. Foley lets her work there, and in return, she receives free riding lessons, and the chance to ride Hawk whenever she wants. I dropped her off around nine o'clock."
Mulder continued. "How long has Hannah been riding?"
"She's ridden almost since she could walk. She's always loved horses; Hawk is her favorite. She's worked at the stable every summer since fifth grade."
Scully noticed that the woman never used the past tense - she was still confident that her daughter was out there, somewhere.
Mulder spoke sympathetically. "Mrs. Banks, we found Hawk yesterday, on the hillside. He was alone, and had obviously endured some traumatic experience."
Sheila Banks hung her head. "I know what you are trying to tell me, Agent Mulder. But I am not giving up hope. As long as I can pray to God to bring Hannah back, there's still a chance that she'll be found."
As they left the house, Scully turned to the woman, "We will do everything in our power to find your daughter, I promise."
Sheila smiled. "I know."

Wednesday
4:23 PM

The local PD had nothing new to report that afternoon - they had gone back up the mountain, with dogs this time, and again were unsuccessful. They were losing hope - it had been almost a week since Hannah had disappeared, and they still had nothing. Sgt. Avery was about ready to label this case as an animal attack, for lack of a better story, and give up the search.
"How could this possibly be an animal attack?" Scully railed at the poor man in his office. "We found absolutely no trace of a struggle in the woods, no trace of a body, no tracks! And the horse was not cut or injured in any way; an animal could not possibly have switched his tack around the way it was."
"I think it's time we need to explore other areas," Mulder spoke up.
"What do you mean, 'other areas'?" Avery looked suspicious.
Mulder glanced at Scully, who gave him a resigned look. "This may be a case of an abduction. An alien abduction."
Before Avery had a chance to interfere, Mulder continued, "Now, you told me that there were reports of lights in the sky that night. Think about it, this girl is nowhere to be found, and her horse comes back acting like a complete nutcase, with those two unexplainable marks on the base of his neck. Agent Scully and I have had experience in this before, so if you would just humor us, and not call off the case."
Avery just stared at the man for a moment, and walked away.