Tuesday is here! It’s time for Part Seven of The Shape of Family. Sadie is back under the saddle today!
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The Shape of Family
Part Seven – Reveal
by Rick Cook Jr
Sadie had never run so hard in her life. And they’d almost made it unscathed.
For the briefest of moments both Renee and Marie were on Sadie’s back, and then the creature, the not-bandersnatch, dragged away Marie.
And though Jeffrey Combs tended her wounds, she hadn’t recovered yet. She couldn’t even stand.
She didn’t know what exactly was happening inside the inn, since she was still lying on her side beside the door. Did they even know it was Renee?
I can tell them. You’ll put yourself in the same danger. Then Jonathan is caught and so are you.
They were facing something different, something lethal. They’d listen to her, wouldn’t they?
Jeffrey cleaned her wounds, and then tried to soothe her into standing so he could work on her other side.
“Come on, you stranger. You could be bleeding out and I wouldn’t know it.” He patted her rump and nickered at her in a way that she knew was meant to irritate her.
So she stood on wobbly, stressed legs, wishing for nothing more than to stay and sleep and rest. A bottle of whiskey wouldn’t go amiss. But she got to her hooves and Jeffrey ran a hand across her cooling hair.
“See, that’s not so bad, is it?” He checked her other side. After he was satisfied, she made a decision, and nudged him with her snout.
“Oh, what, you finally like me? Or are you just waiting ‘til I turn my back?”
She whickered at him and stuck her tongue out, pulled her lips back in a way she couldn’t do as a human. Snorted and nudged him again. He rubbed the side of her face where the bridle tended to chafe.
“Tell you what, my fine black mare. I’ll feed you proper if you promise to behave yourself, and then we’ll go for a small ride later, okay? You need to stretch those muscles so soon after all that running or you’ll never run again.”
She shook her head back and forth, nudging him once more. Then knelt for him as she’d done for Marie.
“If you think I’m gonna let you run me around, you’re crazy.” But she could see the greed in his eyes. She was a beautiful black horse and if he could tame her, she might be his. She’d seen the same in the Captain’s eyes.
“Well.” He hesitated, running a hand through her mane, and her eyes rolled at the feel of his fingers through her hair, sending shivers down her back. “If you insist, we’ll take a quick walk and back.”
And he stepped over and settled into the saddle as she stood back up. She sighed from his weight. She definitely needed rest.
But she took off like a rabbit spooked down the road, and though it tore her cheeks when he pulled on the bit, she ignored it. Ran for the line of trees at his protests, at his kicks to get her to slow. She would have bet her life savings if she still had it that he’d never been at the mercy of a horse quite like this before, and though her cheeks bled and she wanted to drop dead, she ran.
Combs ducked under branches as she pushed deeper and deeper. The Red Forest so close to a village wouldn’t be too dangerous, she hoped.
Once she could no longer see any sign of the road behind her, she calmed and slowed. Jeffrey, sure of his talents as he was, loosed himself from the saddle the moment she stopped, but held onto the bridle.
“What in the Hundred are you doing, you silly bitch?” He tried to use his soothing tones, the gift of horse whispering, but she shook her head and backed away, preparing for the Change. This one was painful, no pleasure about it.
She neighed and it turned into a scream as her vocal cords shifted. Jeffrey, holding the reins still, dropped away as the horseflesh boiled and fell away. When training to undertake the Change, they had been subjected to mild acid baths. To drips of caustic fluid that ate away the skin in seconds. Poor preparation for the reality.
To his credit, Jeffrey didn’t run. He stared, mouth agape, horror in his eyes, watching Sadie turn from Shadow-Dancer into a naked woman, scars and all. She collapsed to the ground and pulled the bit from her mouth, spitting blood. Shook off the bridle and the saddle. The flesh dropped to the ground around her, a putrid pile.
She grabbed the saddle blanket and wrapped it around her.
“Demon!” Jeffrey cried, pulling his saber. “Monster!”
“I’m neither, you fool of a horse-whisperer.” She spat blood again and massaged her torn cheeks. “And you should be more careful with your animals. I’ll have scars.”
“You – I – What?” His sword was drawn, held at her throat. “What is this? Have I been consumed by the Bloody Wood at last? They say there are hallucinogens.”
“There are, but you aren’t so lucky.” Damn, but her body ached. “I’m Sarah and I’m not here to hurt you.”
“Why should I believe word one from your tainted mouth? How is this possible?”
“Have you not heard of the wolf who became a boy?”
“Of course, but wild tales always spread and grow wilder with the telling.” His blade had left her throat but it was still out. She sighed.
“The wolf is my nephew. I was trying to reach the capital to free him if I could. Instead here I am with you and the Winged Riders, caught up in something bigger than all of us.”
“What do you mean?”
“The bandersnatch is not what you think. He is a vile creature, smoke and liquid. He shifts forms.”
“So do you.”
“Not like I do, I promise you. I know not what he truly is, but he followed me with Marie for long hours, and it was only when Renee rode on that I felt his presence slip away.”
“How come you to be back on our trail? With Marie when you should be at the capital by now.”
She hid the disappointment in her eyes. “The twins. Marie felt her sister taken, and though I have my own mission, such was it that I felt I should bring them both out of the Bloody Wood if I could. We trampled blind through the forest for an hour, following Marie’s twin sense, and then the creature was upon us, even as Renee leapt upon my back.”
“What are you saying?”
“Marie is the one taken, and Renee rests inside.”
“Why come to me? Why reveal yourself if you know the fate of your nephew?” He lowered the sword, and she sat down.
“Do you have water?” He handed her his canteen and she drank. “Thank you, Jeffrey.”
“You know all our names. You are a spy, an abomination.”
“Abominations kill. I’m just trying to rescue my kin.”
“This is… it is a lot.”
“Have a seat, Mr. Combs. You’ll come to grips soon enough.”
He dropped to a fallen log, staring at the bridle and saddle. “It’s Sergeant.”
“You’ll get your respects when I know you won’t just run me through.”
That got a snort of laughter out of him, and she wiped the blood from the canteen before passing it back. “I don’t suppose you’re like the weres in the tales?”
She grinned and regretted it, holding the blanket to her cheeks. “If I bite you, you’ll just get an infection. It’s not something I have, it’s something I am.”
“And what are you?”
She shook her head. Though he had calmed, and she had seen him in both a flirtatious mood and with his head squarely on his shoulders, they weren’t her secrets to tell, and she didn’t truly know if he would bear such secrets.
“No answer, huh? Probably wise. I could fund my retirement from the Wings by selling you at the capital, I’m sure.”
“A horse isn’t the only thing I’m capable of becoming.”
He watched her for a time, searching her eyes. She did not look away. Finally he broke her gaze and nodded. “I was trying to decide if you were threatening me.”
“Threats just cause people to come after us. We prefer subtlety and secrecy.”
“Obviously. Sarah, was it?”
She nodded. Even that much was dangerous, for an enterprising investigator.
“Well, it is certainly a strange day when I converse with a horse and it converses back.”
“The mistake is calling me a horse.”
“You’ll forgive me for not taking to the subtleties of what to call a horse that turned into a woman in the first few minutes.”
She inclined her head. She liked this fellow despite the obvious dangers he presented.
“So can you sit astride me, knowing I’m not quite normal?”
“You’re going to change back?”
“How do you propose to explain me to your superior? That woman is not to be trifled with.”
He stroked his chin, freshly shaven from a night in civilization. “What will I tell her?”
“You seem a bright sort. You’ll manage. We can follow Renee back to her sister, but the creature is dangerous. I know not how it is to be slain, but I fear the worst if it is allowed to roam free.”
“A woman that can change her shape telling me to fear a creature that can change its shape. You’re lucky I like my women a little rough around the edges.”
She smiled and offered her hand. “Do we have an accord?”
He hesitated a moment and then shook, holding her grip just a shade too long. “If we can find the girl, I won’t betray your confidence.”
“Then I am going to change back, if it pleases you to turn your head. And I need to be fed more than the horses if I’m going to keep Changing.”
He nodded and turned away while she undertook the Change once more, and it was odd without the ritual in place. The pleasure of taking on Shadow-Dancer was marred by her exhaustion.
He cringed while bones snapped and hair grew, until she was the black horse again. He turned back to her and whistled appreciatively.
“You aren’t meant to have a saddle upon this fine back, but I suppose for the sake of secrecy we’ll do it. I’ll spare the bit, though, okay? Just promise you’ll follow my lead. ” She nodded at him and wished to thank him. Settled for nudging him with her snout.
He put the saddle and bridle back in place, fastened it and stepped onto her back. “Let’s go on back to the tavern, shall we?”
She walked him back, and a pleasant discovery awaited them. A swift white horse had wandered into town, Renee’s it seemed. That made it easier for Jeffrey to claim Sadie for the continuing ride.
A ride into danger with allies she couldn’t trust, against a foe spoken of only in whispers among the Changers. Why? She didn’t know, but here they were all the same.
And Renee was just waking up.
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Quick note: I believe there will be maybe 15 to 20 Parts to this story. Claire and the Winged Riders are on a mission from the capital, and the mission is taking them in a different direction than the bandersnatch, but the two pieces of the story are related and will converge sooner rather than later. So stay tuned!
Panning For Clouds 