by Alisha Basso
Then she remembered her husband, Darren. Her ex-husband as of this morning. Who she had fallen in love with long before she knew what love was, and who didn’t like horses. An accountant who’d crunched more than numbers with his young assistant. She’d found him working late. In the conference room. On the conference room table with his assistant. Such a tired old story.
She didn’t like the feeling thoughts of him conjured up. As if she’d been punched in the gut. Especially today, when she should be celebrating a new beginning.
She stabbed the pitchfork into the deep bed of wood shavings flinging horse poop around the stall, making more work for herself. But that was okay, because she loved being with the horses, loved everything to do with them, including flinging horse poop.
For that, she was thankful. Thankful that when her marriage fell apart, it made sense to also leave the firm where they both worked. To walk away from the pain.
Darren was like “Hydracode”—the kind where one fix results in two more bugs. The kind that can’t be fixed. She, on the other hand, was more of a “Reality 100 failure”—a program that does exactly what is asked, but when deployed, it turns out the original problem was misunderstood. A completely useless program.
No more. She’d ditched the unfixable code and was in the process of rewriting her own program.
The prospect of being in her late forties, single, and jobless had worried her at first. Then, she’d rediscovered horses and riding. She’d always helped Steven with his web presence. Now, she worked for him full time. Suddenly, she hadn’t minded being single again.
Except for sleeping on his couch. She loved her brother and even got along with her sister-in-law and enjoyed her two very loud nephews, but she needed to get her own place, and she would, as soon as she could afford it.
Life had become predictable again. No more surprises.
She tilted the last barrowful down the hillside. That's when she saw the odd man striding out of the woods. Odd, if only because he’d obviously been walking in the storm.
He wore a long, hooded cloak. The shiny cloth reminded her of a school of fish with their multi-hued scales, moving together as a unit, turning and banking, bright one moment and fading in the depths the next.
As he gained the base of the hill, he pushed back his hood, shook out long, gray hair, and laughed.
She tried to think if she’d ever seen him at the place where her mother lived. There were a few there who’d lost touch with reality. But he didn’t look familiar. An unsettling feeling crept up the back of her neck, like a damp fingertip tracing her spine.
She left the wheelbarrow and sprinted to the barn to call the police, but he slipped in front of her before she could enter the office.
“You.” Celery green eyes stared from under bushy black brows.
Impossible for an old man to cover so much ground so quickly. Her heartbeat kicked up and she went cold. “How’d you do that?”
“You,” he said again, not accusing, but as if in recognition and with a hint of surprise.
She took a step back. Why, on the one day she was here alone? She smiled in an effort to look harmless. But not helpless—she still held the pitchfork. “We're closed. If you come back tomorrow, my brother will help you. Actually, he’s just on the other side of the barn,” she lied.
His pale eyes and how he looked too happy to be soaking wet made her nervous. He smelled like a combination of the worst greasy spoon and a wet dog. Jack, the barn’s resident black Labrador, chose that moment to trot around the corner. The big dog came to her side and pushed his nose under her free hand. He looked at the stranger curiously, but didn’t growl. That made her feel a little better.
The stranger stared at the dog with wide eyes, shifting his walking stick into both hands. His cloak lifted on a breeze she didn’t feel. Jack wagged his tail. She trusted Jack, but after the old man flew up the hill like that—okay, she hadn’t seen him fly, but how else?
She went into the office, making sure Jack followed, acutely aware the stranger could have stopped her. The stick he carried was taller than both of them and tipped with a metal point. The hands that gripped it were gnarled with age, but not frail.
He studied her through the wire panel, like she was an insect, like he could see inside her.
Without taking her eyes off him, Lauren kept hold of the pitchfork, cradled the phone against her shoulder, and reached for the coffee pot. If necessary, she would throw the hot liquid in his face. Why she felt so threatened by him, she couldn’t say.
His cloak shifted from orange to red to gold like flames licking the inside of a blacksmith’s forge. It captivated her, and for some reason, she didn’t dial 911. He smiled kindly. She instantly relaxed, feeling as if she’d known him her whole life. No, that wasn’t right. If he could get up the hill as fast as he had, could he manipulate her thoughts?
“You have nothing to fear from me,” he said, his voice rolling into her like hot cocoa on a winter’s day. “I am Vraz. Can you show me a horse?”
No accent she could place, but an odd lilt. Something was off. Lauren put the phone in its cradle and poured a cup of coffee, glad to see her hand shook only a little. With a breath, she steadied herself. She’d had years of experience concealing her true feelings.
“You want to buy a horse?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes. And a rider to go with it.”
She stifled a bubble of nervous laughter. “We don’t sell riders.”
“Ah. Just a horse, then.”
No joking with this guy. Lauren put her coffee down and took a steadying breath.
“What sort of horse are you looking for? Pleasure or competition?”
The bushy brows pushed together as if he’d never considered it. “Courageous,” he said. “Strong. A leader. One who listens well and gathers others to him.”
Sounded more like qualities to seek in a job applicant than a mount. She sipped her coffee and thought of the beautiful gray stallion, Pindar. He was strong and courageous, if a bit reckless at times. She’d never been able to resist him, and they communicated well. She hadn’t thought of it that way before, but it was true.
Steven would like nothing better than to sell the gray. She should have bought him for herself long ago. But Darren didn’t like horses and the divorce had left her short of funds. Another of the little surprises she’d discovered in the wake of the sinking ship of her marriage. Her ex had spent much of their savings entertaining his girlfriend.
Her brother would let her pay for the horse over time, but he needed an influx of cash, too.
Badly.
The six-year-old horse, Pindar, was his most valuable asset.
She left the office and walked down the barn aisle toward Pindar’s paddock, Jack the dog padding along beside her, the old man following closely. Steven would never forgive her if he heard they’d had a customer, and she hadn’t shown the gray.
“Is this horse for yourself, or are you looking on someone else’s behalf?”
“Not for me, no.”
“For a child?” A stallion wouldn’t be an appropriate mount for the inexperienced.
“Certainly not,” he said as if she’d suggested the moon were pink.
She hesitated at his incredulous tone. “Okay, well, I can show you what we have, and if you see any prospects you like, then you’ll bring the person who’ll be riding the horse, right?”
A momentary pause, then, “Of course.”
They stopped just inside the back barn doors. Lauren watched Pindar cropping grass at the far end of his enclosure. Sunlight glinted off contours of sleek muscles beneath his smoky coat. She’d turned him out after the storm, so he was dry. He stamped a foot, bringing attention to his perfectly clean limbs. A little thrill tingled through her. He’d been a steady friend all through her crappy marriage and messy divorce. The one who always listened and made her laugh.
Could she part with him?
She looked at Mr. Vraz. “What’s your bu
dget?”
He’d been gazing out at the horses in the paddocks and pastures with a look of wonder and delight. “They are all so beautiful,” he said, his tone wistful.
Beneath the strange cloak—she itched to pinch a hunk of it—his loose dark green leggings and matching shirt looked like they were made of felted wool. Small wonder he smelled like a wet dog. Suede boots reached to mid-calf. A wide leather strap crossed from shoulder to hip and supported a messenger-style pack. All looked hand made and expensive. And the walking stick—quarterstaff—that’s what it was, judging by the rest of his getup. He could have stepped out of the local Renaissance fair. If it were May instead of October.
“Budget?” he asked.
“Yes. What can you afford?”
He dipped his chin to his chest as if this were the deepest question he’d ever pondered, then looked her steadily in the eye.
“My life would not be too much.”
Chapter 3
“AT least it took its rotten stench with it,” Pheeso said as he and Leinos stared at the place where the Ravery had been but a moment before.
Leinos rolled his shoulders, but the effort did nothing to release the tightness gathered there. He built a fire, heated water for tea, and they hunkered down to wait.
And wait they did.
Three days of pacing, working out with their short staffs, and fitful sleeping passed before he asked, “How long can we stretch our provisions?”
“We agreed to wait six days,” Pheeso said. After a small pause, he added, “You know we can make what we have last ten days—or more—if needed.”
Leinos resumed pacing. How long should they wait? Cirq had little time left.
“It will not matter,” Pheeso said, reading Leinos’s mind as he often did. “We might as well stay here if they are not to return. Soon, there will be nothing to go back to.”
He threw a pebble at a stone wall that ran through the woods. It pinged away into the trees. “All this time keeping a secret Horseguard ready, for what?” The older man crossed his arms over his chest. “Queen Naele will never approve, especially not a Raver.”
Leinos eased to the ground next to his lifelong guardian and friend and stretched out his long legs. He’d never seen Pheeso look so haggard, and he expected he himself looked no better. He sighed. “We have to try, even if the queen does not agree. I cannot allow our country and our people to die.”
Pheeso looked at him with sadness. He did not bother to comment. They both knew the queen was one of a majority who had long ago ceased to believe the horses necessary for Cirq’s survival.
“Death is happening whether or not you choose,” Pheeso said. “The next harvests, if there are any at all, will feed but a fraction.”
Even before their rich soil had died, the people had begun to wither, and fewer and fewer babies were born each season. Leinos’s own mate and two children had faded to nothing in his arms. The light in their eyes had winked out, and none of his strength had mattered.
Cirq needed her horses, whether the queen liked it or not.
“This will work,” Leinos said. “It has to.”
It was what he always said.
“No one wants the horses.”
It was what Pheeso always said.
“We will convince them.”
Pheeso grunted. “Leave me out of it.”
They did not argue but sat in a comfortable and comforting silence grown from a lifetime of living, fighting, and laughing together. Though Leinos did not remember when last they laughed.
A hand of time passed. And another. The day’s light weakened, and they dozed.
A queer tingle lit in Leinos’s chest and brought him awake. He pressed his hand against the unfamiliar sensation. Then a pat of moisture landed on his cheek. He looked up.
A sharp wind drove heavy clouds across the setting sun, and another raindrop hit him in the eye. The ground trembled with a roll of thunder. He jumped to his feet, dragging Pheeso with him.
The Ravery began to open.
Chapter 4
LOTS of people—mostly teenaged girls—said they’d die for a horse. Or at least give their kingdom. Lauren decided Mr. Vraz meant his life savings—which could be anything. She’d leave the haggling to Steven. Showing a customer a couple of horses would keep her mind off her sorry life.
She turned her attention to Pindar. As usual, with his finely honed sixth sense, he lifted his head and looked for her before she said a thing. Steven insisted the horse was too smart for his own good. But the stallion was worth a lot. Steven and his family needed that money to keep the farm and themselves afloat.
“C’mon,” she said more softly than Pindar could hear with a breeze blowing between them.
He whinnied and trotted over.
“How did you do that?” Mr. Vraz demanded.
Lauren crossed to the gate, feeling more confident the moment she had Pindar by her side. She decided for another try at humor.
“I could tell you,” she said as she returned with the horse, “but then I’d have to kill you.”
Mr. Vraz stepped back and took up a defensive stance with his stave.
“Whoa.” Lauren held her hands out toward him. “That was a joke.”
He relaxed but still looked wary. She snapped Pindar into crossties, deciding the sooner she saw the backside of this caped weirdo, the better. She gave the horse a quick brushing, saddled and bridled him, and led him into the sand-filled riding ring. If Steven sold Pindar, he’d be able to pay overdue bills and build an indoor riding arena. The incredible horse for a building. Hardly seemed a good trade.
If only…
Dark clouds gathered again in the distance. They’d have to hurry. No rain had been predicted, but it looked like another downpour was on the way just the same.
“I had hoped we could walk,” Mr. Vraz said.
“Walk?”
“Yes. Together. Along that trail.” He pointed his stave at the dirt road he’d arrived on, right toward the coming weather.
Lauren swung into her saddle and settled.“That’s not a good idea.”
He couldn’t see the horse work if they were walking down a trail together. “As it is, with this weather, you’ll have to come back another day if you want to see any other horses.”
Mr. Vraz locked eyes with her. His turned dark green, not unlike the color of the sky. “There is only now.”
A twinge of doubt twisted her gut. Maybe how the horse moved out in the open was exactly what he needed to see. Lightning flashed behind the clouds, followed by a rumble of thunder.
“Nope, bad idea,” she insisted.
His brows lowered, almost obscuring his eyes. “It is a very good idea,” he said. “And we must hurry.”
Lauren tried to tear her gaze from his, but couldn’t. She heard herself say, “Okay.”
The stranger began walking.
She and Pindar followed him through the gate, down the hill, and into the storm.
Chapter 5
LEINOS still gripped Pheeso’s arm as the Ravery quickly grew to twice the size it had been when Sebira and Vraz went through. In the moment between the first drop and gaining their feet, rain soaked them to the skin. Lightning flashed without break. Thunder rattled the branches overhead. Wind whipped their leather cloaks in all directions and scooped barrels of dead leaves into the air. These caught the swirling edge of the spiral making it appear even larger.
They leaned into the squall. Pheeso slung his arm across his eyes and turned to yell into Leinos’ ear. “It circles in the opposite direction as before.”
Leinos nodded, unable to look away from the raging swirl. Yet his cautious nature held sway. “What if it is not them?” he shouted to Pheeso.
What if we have invited some new and worse plague upon Cirq?
Without another word, the two men took up positions behind two trees flanking the entrance to the clearing. Both nocked arrows into their crossbows.
The center of the Ravery bulged
and exhaled the horrible smell again. A sound emanated from it, like thunder, but deeper still, as if bellowing from far beneath them. Leinos had stood his ground against many foes—seen and unseen—and he would not turn tail to this. But every drop of blood pounding through him feared it was not the wise ones coming through.
The portal continued to stretch. Something small and solid emerged from the center as if pushing a membrane, impossible to make out between the lightning flashes and churning leaves. All at once, a very large object exploded through and flew past them.
Leinos shook water from his eyes. The creature was moving away fast so all he could see was the powerful thrust of its hind end and a flick of silvery tail.
Hind end? Tail?
He and Pheeso exchanged a startled look. The Ravery still spun, but their attention was riveted by what had already emerged. In the next lightning flash, they could see a rider atop a large beast. The magnificent animal slowed, stopped, turned. Leinos’ breath caught in his chest. By goddess, it was a horse. He’d seen enough statues and paintings to know.
The rider pushed her sodden hair back and looked around. A woman. A woman who could be goddess incarnate, but not the Horsecaller. The tiny spark of hope in his chest flickered out as surely as their fire had been doused by the cold rain. The horse pranced forward, shaking his head and snorting. Leinos straightened, and the horse stopped an arm’s length away.
He could touch it, if he dared.
The woman on it spared him a glance, missing nothing.
“What the hell?” She vaulted to the ground.
Leinos noticed she wore strange attire that fit her like a second skin. Was she real?
He could touch her, if he dared.
“Where are the wise ones?” Pheeso asked.
A ripping sound came from behind them, and Vraz tumbled out, landing flat on his face in the mud like a great hand had tossed him through a window. Sebira followed, gracefully settling on her feet.
Leinos helped Vraz up without comment.