"Penny! Penny! Come look! The new foal has been born!" An excitable little boy named Joe was banging on his sister's door. Inside, a girl of about 15 was writing in her diary. Outside, the north American sun's rays kissed the white window pain, and landed on the girls cheeks, illuminating her writing and her beautiful auburn hair. She placed her pen down gently and stood up, walking to the window and gazing out. A couple of their geldings grazed under the shade of a tree, and on the opposite pasture, the cattle moved silently together (with the occasional moo.) She walked to the door and opened it, only to find her bright-eyed red-faced brother still there. "Penny! Are you coming?" He said quickly. "Jessie had her foal last night!" Before she even had a chance to answer, he had turned and was galloping back down the stairs. Penny quietly shook her head in laughter, before following her brother. This newborn foal was going to be hers. Well, that's what her parents had said. As she opened the barn door, and as the light flooded in, a beautiful sight fell upon her eyes. A black colt stood there, wobbling to and fro. He had a slight dusting of white on his rump, and a white stripe along his nose. His eyes were crystal blue on one side, and brown on the other. Greeting Jessie, their old and only mare, she took a step towards the foal. He took a step closer to his mother, but Jessie nudged him back towards the girl. She began softly speaking to him, before beginning to stroke his face. 

3 years passed, and Penny had just finished training the horse. She had always wanted to become an international eventer, yet without a decent horse, she had never been able to fill that empty gap in her dreams. Yet now, with Percy beneath her, she could fly. Together they jumped over fallen branches and rocks, ran along the edge of mountains and played together every night. But soon, Penny had to go off to university, leaving her precious horse behind. That last evening at home for Penny was spent crying and sleeping in Percy's stall. She made Joe promise he would look after the horse. As she left the next day, she cried into his mane. Joe gifted her a bracelet made out of Percy's hair, and as Penny waved goodbye, Percy knew that she wouldn't be back anytime soon.

Joe cared for Percy like he had promised Penny, but it wasn't the same. For one, Joe was a boy, and preferred going out every evening with his mates, whereas Penny would have gone for an evening ride to see the stars. Percy often became bored and restless during the day whilst Joe was at school - Penny would have left him in the pastures with the other horses, but Joe kept him in his stable. As Joe grew older, his parents decided that they would have to move to a big city so that Joe could get the most out of higher education, because they couldn't afford him to go off into the university accommodation. All the cattle, chickens and horses were sold, including Jessie. The only horse left behind was Mr Percy. Joe and his parents sat down and discussed what the right thing to do with him was. They couldn't take him with them, but they couldn't break Penny's heart. An idea popped into Joe's head - why not let the horse run wild? If Penny ever wanted to find him, all she would have to do was go back to Little Owl creek and look for him. So that evening, Joe loaded Percy into the trailer, and drove all the way over to Little Owl creek. Many wild horses lived around here, and he guessed that one of the herds would take him in. He left Percy by the creek and drove home. Percy was now a wild horse, belonging to nobody.

When Penny heard of the news, she was devastated. What if she couldn't find the horse she loved? What if he got killed? He wasn't bred for that kind of thing, he was a competition horse! She swore to herself that one day, she would find the horse again. That was until war broke out. Joe went off to fight, and Penny's education in medicine put her suddenly in the middle of the battle field. 

Penny's parents later received a letter saying that Joe had been killed in action. Only three days later, Penny was also killed by a bomb targeting hospitals and medicine camps.

Percy's first few weeks in the wild were horrible. He was attacked several times by mountain lions, and had no idea how to fend for himself. He guessed that there was safety in numbers, and so made it his ambition to find a herd. He first met the Little Owl creek bachelor stallion herd in summer. The male horses welcomed him as one of their own, explaining to him that they protected each other till they found a herd. They taught Percy everything he needed to know, and soon Percy was confident he could survive.