Lady Ebony stood over him for a long time with her head down. Finally she set to cropping grass near where he slept. She knew that she must be constantly alert, ready to repel attack from killers that had never bothered her before. The morning serenade of a pair of coyotes above the rock garden made her nervous. Their mad chorus of yelping laughter and high, mournful notes caused her to move close to Midnight and stand there with head erect. The song dogs of the dawn finished their chorus and raced away across the meadow above. A great bald eagle wheeled above the tops of the red cliffs, his round, glassy eyes staring down on the meadow, his wings beating the air with powerful strokes. He saw the mare and her colt and his powerful beak clicked several times. His pinions stiffened and were held as rigid as the wings of a pursuit plane as he banked sharply and spiraled downward. He saw the black colt get to his feet and wander away from his mother. With a piercing scream he shortened his circles. His cry was answered from the deep blue above and a second eagle came plummeting down on folded wings, her body roaring through the thin air as she dived. She flattened her terrific plunge just above the red rock garden and circled with her mate. Lady Ebony jerked up her head and trotted to her son. She tried to stand over him but he did not wish to be bothered at the moment. He had discovered his own shadow and was making a great show of challenging the flat, black thing following him on the ground. He tossed his head and laid back his ears, his furry rump bumping up and down a little as he threatened to kick at his mother. The eagles soared and dived over the mare and her colt. The kings of the air were savage killers without fear of any ground dweller. They had struck down fawns and lambs and they knew they could smash the wobbly colt if his mother left an opening. Midnight became more irritated at his mother’s close guard. He tried to lash out at her with his hind feet. Lady Ebony let him trot away from her. He halted and snorted at his shadow. The king of the air saw his opening and dived. His wings were folded tight against his sides and he dropped like a bolt of lightning. Close behind him came his mate. The attack was so swift that Lady Ebony could not reach the side of her son in time to shield him. The diving eagle spread his wings a few feet above the back of the colt. His heavy breastbone struck Midnight a smashing blow while his long talons raked deep into the tender back of the little horse. Midnight went down so quickly the she-eagle missed him entirely. The blow which had felled him was the same smashing stroke with which the eagle broke limbs from trees when building a nest. It was his stroke of death, but he had not gauged it as well as he had intended. The breastbone struck Midnight across the hips and not in the middle of the back where it would have broken him down.