Chapter 4

Early morning sunlight filtered in through the white fabric of the curtains, illuminating Taryn's room. The sunlight fell on Sylvie's face, making it scrunch slightly as she fought to stay asleep. The silence of the morning was shattered by the raucous scream of the alarm clock. Sylvie and Taryn's eyes slammed open simultaneously, the sound was so loud. The alarm caused them to struggle quickly too their feet, hooves flailing in the light cast eerie shadows on the floor. Sylvie was the first one up, and also the first one to ram into the ceiling.

"Ow." She said dazedly, the pain in her head causing her to collapse to her knees.

"My ceiling!" moaned Taryn, looking at the nice divot in the popcorn-coated ceiling.

Being more careful than her dazed friend, Taryn leaned forward and trotted over to the shelf that held the electric clock. Shutting it off, she glanced at the time, 7:02 am read the display. She turned and moved back over to her friend.

Sylvie was rubbing her head and inwardly cursing.

"What happened." She asked, looking up at her friend. She didn't look very comfortable, Sylvie thought, bending at the waist to fit in the room. "We were small enough to fit in this room last night." She complained. Sylvie felt anger and annoyance bubbling in the pit of her stomach. Not only had she been changed into a freak, she had a splitting headache on top of it, adding insult to injury.

"I'm not sure." Taryn said carefully. She is just as confused as I am, thought Sylvie. "I think we've grown some."

"Ya think?!" Sylvie snapped. "I want to know why. Dammit, what else are we going to change into?"

Taryn shook her head. "You aren't using your eyes or head are you." She said impatiently. "If you look closer, you'd see that just the horse body has grown. I bet that if we were to stand next to a real horse, our bodies would be roughly the same size. It isn't changing us into something else, it's just finished the transformation."

Sylvie did not look happy at that news at all. "Are you sure about that?" She asked challengingly.

Taryn gave an exasperated sigh. Why did she have to be so difficult sometimes? She wondered. "Yes I am sure, although that does beg a couple of questions."

Sylvie cocked her head to the side like a quizzical dog. "Like what?" she asked curious.

"Like, where did the mass used to increase our size come from?" Taryn said with her face furrowed in thought, making wrinkles on her unblemished forehead.

Sylvie threw up her hands in disgust. "You are going to try and figure out magic!" she said exasperatedly. "Are you insane?! There is no rhyme or reason to magic, girl. Things just happen." Why was she debating this in the first place, Sylvie wondered. She should be more concerned with how to change us back. She couldn't help but glare at her friend for wasting thought about where the extra mass was coming from.

Taryn looked stubbornly back. She crossed her hands in front of her chest in a manner that indicated she wouldn't be budged from this line of inquiry. "It is important." she insisted. "If we can figure out where the extra mass is coming from, we can track its source and maybe find a way to change us back." By the time she had finished, she was nearly shouting.

Both girls were matching each other glare for glare when a reedy voice called from down the hall. "Girls, what's with all the shouting? What's wrong?" It was Taryn's mother. Sylvie had forgotten all about her while in a rage at her friend. Now she looked at Taryn in horror. What where they going to do, she wondered. Judging from Taryn's expression, she had no idea either.

The voice called again, sounding stronger. "Taryn, Sylvie, could you come here and explain what is going on."

Sylvie scudded her hoof on the floor nervously, marring the finish slightly. "I guess we should tell her." She muttered. She did not want to be here at that moment.

Taryn looked just as nervous. "I know, but I can't not tell her the truth." She said. "What are we going to tell her?"

Sylvie didn't know what they were going to do. All she knew was that if they were going to do it, they were going to have to do it soon, or they were going to lose their courage. Grabbing Taryn's hand, she plunged out the door and began walking down the hall. She was painfully aware of how loud her hooves were on the hardwood floor. The simple white door seemed to stretch away from her into infinity. Sylvie could feel both her hearts thumping, and realized that the night had changed far more than just size. She quickly slammed down on that train of thought. That was a discussion with Taryn for later. Right now, they had to survive the next few minutes.

"Taryn, Sylvie, is that you coming down the hall?" the confused voice came.

Taryn shuddered and called out, "Yes. Mom. I've got something to tell you." Sylvie could hear the strain in her voice, and turned to give her an encouraging smile, but it came out as a sickly grin, and she quickly wiped it off her face.

The two came to the door and gave a deep breath. Sylvie, being in the lead, opened the door and stepped into the brightly lit room, Taryn right behind her.

"Hello girls." came the confused greeting from Mrs. Grogan. She was sitting up against the headboard and had apparently been reading, judging from the book that was in her hand lying on her lap. She had a slightly puzzled look on her face as she craned her neck up to contemplate the two girls. "Why are you still in your costumes? And for that matter, how did you add so much height to them? Stilts?" she finally asked.

Sylvie took a deep breath, as she felt her courage leave her. This was a very bad idea, she thought. There is no way that we are going to be able to tell her that we have changed into centaurs. She frantically cast around for anything else they could tell her when she heard Taryn speak.

"Mom, something really bad happened to us the other day." Taryn said quietly, some great emotion choking her voice.

Her mother immediately picked up on that and the puzzled look melted into one of alarm. "Honey, what happened?" she asked urgently, looking up at her daughter's face. "Tell me, did somebody hurt you? If they did, they'll-"her voice dissolved into a fit of coughing that racked her body.

When the bout was over, Sylvie was alarmed to see her struggle as if to get out of bed. "No, Mrs. Grogan. Don't-" she said, moving over to the bed to hold Mrs. Grogan still. Suddenly, the woman gave a gasp of surprise and her eyes widened. Confused, Sylvie looked down at herself and noticed that the shirt she was wearing had bunched up at the hem in her exertions, and was now riding a few inches above her human belly, showing the smooth melding of human and centaur with startling clarity. Sylvie looked up at Taryn, and saw her pain filled eyes. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the hem and pulled it over her face, exposing her nearly nude body to Mrs. Grogan. The woman nearly fainted from shock.

She turned towards Taryn, as if to ask her to prove it was just a joke. Taryn pulled her shirt off as well, showing her that it was real.

Mrs. Grogan laid there for several minutes, trembling.

Taryn looked at her mother, worry creasing her face. "Mom," she asked hesitantly, the very word a question. Mrs. Grogan's eyes turned to her daughter's face and flinched. The hurt that was on Taryn's face at that was more than Sylvie could bear, and she began to blurt out the entire story. Mrs. Grogan jerked her uncomprehending gaze to Sylvie as she began to speak. As the story progressed, her face turned white and she clenched the sheets as if to tear them in half.

"-and then we came down the hall, and resolved to tell you first, as you were here already." Sylvie finished. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the corner that Taryn had retreated too, her head bowed and her shoulders shaking. Sylvie could feel her pain even from over there, and it tore at her heart like a beast's claws. Forcing herself to continue, she added, "After we had told you, we were going to tell my parents." Her tail swished in agitation. That was one conversation she wasn't looking forward too.

Mrs. Grogan peered over at her daughter. "Sylvie, could you leave me and Taryn alone for a few minutes, please." she said quietly.

Sylvie turned and walked back out the door. Her gaze locked with Taryn's for a moment, hers dark with pain, Sylvie's with hope, before walking out of the room. She closed the door with a solid thump, and withdrew to Taryn's room. She wanted to give them some privacy for the conversation that was no doubt already taking place in that room. Meantime, she had a phone call to make.

Taryn felt her hearts hammering in her chest as Sylvie closed the door behind her. She didn't want to admit it, but she was terrified that her mother might throw her out. After all, she thought bitterly, who would want a freak like her for a daughter.

Her bout of self-loathing was interrupted by her mother's quiet voice. "Taryn, come here."

She walked to the bed, her hooves clomping on the floor. She felt the way she had when Sylvie had talked her into snitching an apple pie Sylvie's mother had baked and set on the sill to cool. They had finished the pie off and had she had gotten a severe lecture when she had gotten home. She pulled herself back to the present and laid down next to the bed, putting her head on the same level as her mother's.

Her mother looked at her and held out her hand. "Taryn," she began softly, "Can you forgive me? I hadn't meant to flinch when you showed me what had happened. I was so startled that I drew away and hurt you. I didn't mean too, and I'm sorry."

Taryn looked at her mother's outstretched hand, so thin and feeble in the light, and felt a mixture of familiar sorrow and pain at her mother's sickness, and intense joy that her mother still wanted her. Sobbing, she almost collapsed into her arms. Clutching her mother, Taryn never wanted to let go as she felt the tears come forth. Her mother took her and began rocking as well as she was able, brushing her daughter's hair while crying a little herself.

They held each other for what seemed like an eternity, although it was really just a few minutes before they pulled apart. Her mother wiped her eyes while Taryn went to collect her shirt and put it back on. She felt a slightly loopy grin come onto her face as a tremendous weight lifted from her shoulders. She finished straightening her hair and smiled at her mom. "Thanks." She said. Raw emotion blurred her words slightly, but she could see that she understood. "I'd better go see Sylvie." Taryn said. "I have to help her with her parents."

Her mother gave a wry chuckle at that. "Be careful." She warned. "They might not take it as well as I have."

Taryn nodded. "We will, mom." she promised. "I'll be back soon." And with that she slipped out the door, her heart a good deal lighter now, and wondered if Sylvie had managed to work up the courage to call her parents.

Sylvie was on the phone with her father's office, trying to reach him. "Look, she said testily to the receptionist at the other end, "This is Sylvie Mathison, Mr. Mathison's daughter. I've got to reach him immediately, as it's an emergency."

"I'm sorry." Came the irritating feminine voice on the line. "Mr. Mathison is in a meeting and has left strict instructions that he is not to be disturbed for any reason."

"Listen lady, either you tell him that his daughter is on the line with an honest-to-God emergency, or I'm going to come down there and tell him myself!" Sylvie snarled. All right, she thought, so I'm a bit testy. So sue me.

"I'll see if he has a moment." The voice finally said. The irritating hold music was put on. Sylvie heard the door open and saw her friend come through. She looked happy, which could mean that it had gone well. Taryn responded to her questioning look with a relieved smile. Sylvie smiled slightly in relief as well, a private fear of her own was gone as well.

Suddenly, the music disappeared only to be replaced by the sound of an irate man. "This had better be important, girl." came the sound of her father.

"Daddy, this is an emergency." Sylvie cut in before her father could start a rant. The urgency in her voice could be plainly heard, and she could hear his voice change from irritated to concern in an instant.

"Honey, what's wrong." He asked.

"Listen, can you meet me at Taryn's house? It's very important. I'm going to call Mom and bring her over here as well. And Dad?" she paused.

"Yes dear?" came the voice.

"Please hurry." Sylvie hung up the line and dialed her mother's work number. The conversation that followed was remarkably similar to the one that she had with her father, and ended it with a plea for her to hurry as well.

Sylvie turned to her friend with a nervous grin. "Well," she said, "They're coming. Now what?" she asked.

"Now, we go talk to my Mom some more." Taryn said firmly, pushing her out the door. Sylvie protested weakly, she was nervous about what Mrs. Grogan would say to her. And, she admitted to herself, she was frankly terrified of what her parents would say to her when they found out. She could see a scene where her dad was yelling for the police while her mother, who was a lawyer, would be trying to level a lawsuit against a phantom store. Suddenly, talking to Taryn's mom didn't sound so bad after all.

Sylvie was surprised to see Mrs. Grogan a little red-eyed when she got back. She guessed that mother and daughter must've had a good little cry or something. She really didn't think much about it as she was still worried about how her parents were going to handle the situation.

She was completely taken aback when Mrs. Grogan suddenly asked curiously, "So how does it feel? You know, with a horse's body?"

Sylvie was unsure how to respond to that, but gave it her best try. "Strange." She said truthfully. "Strong and powerful, like I could run for ages and not stop." Her tail swished back and forth as she adopted a thoughtful pose. "I was kinda freaking out originally, to tell the truth, but now I'm kinda used to it. I guess it must be something to do with the magic of the costume or something."

"Why do you say that?" Mrs. Grogan asked.

This time it was Taryn who answered. "Because mom, when we first changed, we should have had no idea on how to walk or run, yet we were able to move around like we had been born to these forms. Then this morning, we discovered that our entire bodies have now adapted. For instance, I can now feel two heartbeats instead of just one."

Her mother looked startled and blurted, "Dear God, you're not pregnant!"

Sylvie and Taryn hastened to assure her that they were not pregnant at all. Their words overlapped each other's in a confusing jumble of anxious voices. Until Taryn finally held up her hand and Sylvie stopped speaking. "That's better." she said. "Now, what I meant was that we seem to have two sets of main organs, I would imagine. I can feel my horse lungs expand and contract whenever I move and walk around and my human ones whenever I talk or am just standing around. The heart in my horse body is a lot larger than my human one, and can pump more blood when I am walking. You know," she continued in a thoughtful voice, "I wonder what else has changed. It would be interesting to do some experiments and find out just how different we now are."

Sylvie nervously tried to derail that train of thought. She didn't want to end up a guinea pig for a mad scientist like on TV! She argued against any experiments and suggested that they concentrate on trying to find a way back, while Taryn insisted that discovering how the changes were occurring might lead to a reversal antidote or something.

Sylvie was about to reply when they heard the doorbell ring downstairs. "Oh , no." Sylvie said. Her parents were here. Her eyes quickly roved the room looking for a hiding spot, but there was nothing that could hide a centaur at all. She glanced over at her friend and saw the nervousness on her face too. Taryn came over though and took her hand, giving it a squeeze for encouragement.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the window and called down to her mother who was standing on the front stoop ringing the doorbell. "Mom, I can't get down there to let you in. Can you use your emergency key and get in yourself."

Her mom was a very pretty young woman with flaming red hair that fell in a single wave down her back. Her mother never put it up, saying she preferred it loose. Her dark business suit indicated that she had been with a client or in a meeting herself, but the concern in her face when she looked up at her daughter touched Sylvie. "Honey, are you all right? What's going on?" she called up.

Sylvie shook her head. She hadn't wanted to worry her parents by being this mysterious, but she had no choice. Simply telling them might make them angry with her and think she was playing a practical joke with them. "Please hurry." she called back. She could see her father's car, a black Dodge Eagle he had owned for years, running down the street and pull into the drive with a squeal of tires. She pulled her head in as her father jumped out the car and ran in with her mother.

They could hear them downstairs, clattering through the kitchen and then running up the stairs. The heavy tread of her father muffling the click of her mother's high heels. Sylvie clutched Taryn's hand, her nervousness rising. Her tail flicked back and forth, betraying her agitation. Her left front hoof pawed the floor, causing Taryn's mother to protest. Embarrassed, Sylvie forced her foot back on the ground as the clatter of feet in the hall said that her parents were right outside the door.

The door flew open, exposing a very angry barrel chested man of about forty, with iron grey hair, flashing green eyes and a strong chin. Beside and behind him slightly was his wife. "What is going on he-" they demanded as they stormed in. They froze as the sight of Taryn and Sylvie having horses where their rears should be. Two jaws hit the floor as they struggled to process what they were seeing.

Taryn's mother was quick off the mark, Sylvie thought as she struggled to find words to talk to her parents. It was an uncomfortable feeling for Sylvie, all her life she had always known what to say and had spoken her mind without fear. Now she was again speechless for the second time in two days.

Taryn's mother had smiled knowingly at her daughter at the sight of the dumbstruck parents and cleared her throat. "Greg, Anna, Thanks for coming so quickly. As you can see, your daughter has some things to tell you."

Sylvie heard the words and knew it was her cue as her parent's turned towards her. Yet, she still couldn't find the words, her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. Suddenly, a hand slapped her flank, causing her entire body to jump. She whirled around (which when she thought about it later, was pretty impressive considering,) and saw Taryn standing there with a slight smile on her face. "What was that for?" Sylvie demanded angrily.

Taryn just grinned at her. "To demonstrate a point and to get you talking, silly." She said gently.

Sylvie frowned, wondering what she meant until she turned around and saw the expressions on her parents' faces. "Oh." she said. Setting herself to tell her folks, she unconsciously adopted a favorite pose of her mother's, arms folded and her body forward as if to challenge someone for their space. Unfortunately, her horse body also adapted that pose, with her feet spaced slightly and her legs stiff. Taryn said later that she looked ready to fight, which Sylvie thought might not have been far from the truth. Taking a deep breath she launched into her story of what had happened.

When she had finished, her parents had been herded to the bed by Taryn and were now sitting on the edge of the bed. Taryn's Mother had politely shifted her body to make room for them. Now they turned their gaze down to Sylvie's belly as she lifted her shirt to prove that her and the horse were indeed one being. They stared for a long minute and then turned to Mrs. Grogan.

"Mary?" came the almost pleading voice of her father. He looked as if he had followed the white rabbit and come out in Never Never Land.  

Taryn's mother nodded in sympathy. "Yes Greg." she confirmed.

Sylvie's mother, meantime, had gotten over her shock. When Sylvie raised her shirt to show, she got up off the edge of the bed and walked up to her daughter, who now towered over her. Sylvie watched as she placed her hand on the transition line of her belly. Sylvie almost gasped, that hand was cold! Slowly her mom went around her belly, to her back and then ran it down her spine to check. Sylvie was startled to feel actual pleasure from that light touch. "Oooh" she moaned slightly. Her mom yanked her hand back in surprise. Sylvie turned to ask why her mom had stopped, and saw the look on her face. The brows had come down and thunderheads clouded her mother's pretty face. Uh, oh, Sylvie thought. Not good."

"What was the name of that store again." Her mother ground out. It sounded like she had a mouthful of nails.

"Enchanted Threads." Sylvie hastened to say. She could see that a world class eruption was about to take place. Taryn could tell that too, Sylvie judged, as she shrank away from the scene. Her eyes were wide as she realized what was going to happen.

"Well, that tears it!" Sylvie's mom suddenly shouted. "I am going to find that man, that Roland, and tan his hide! I am going to have it nailed to my office door! His business is going to be facing a lawsuit to end all other lawsuits. He can't do this to my baby girl and get away with it. Greg!" she snapped at her husband.

"Yes dear." He said quietly. Sylvie could hear the edge of anger sliding into his voice like a knife, which frightened her more than her mother's fit. Her father had always been more level headed, not as quick to anger as her mother. His rage also tended towards icy coldness than red hatred. Roland, she thought, had better find a way to jump off the face of the planet before her parents could catch him. But then, considering how he had made an entire costume shop vanish, she wouldn't put it past him. She felt a chill as she realized he could be anywhere.

"Call the chief of police. I'm sure the girls could take you to where the shop was. Have him find that man! I don't care what it takes." She snarled. In the bright light of the room, she reminded Sylvie of an illustrations she had seen once of a female knight. Her suit was her armor, her wrath terrible and her case her sword. The parallels frightened Sylvie slightly. What would happen to her if word got out that she was a centaur? The image of Sara Kendall's jeering face popped into her mind and she gasped in horror.

"Mom, isn't there a way that we could, ya know, keep this quiet?" she asked hopefully.
Her hopes were dashed be her mother's firm shake in the negative. "This man is going to pay for what he's done. I promise." She growled.

Her father nodded in affirmative. "This can't be quiet honey. If it is, then others might suffer what you're going through. We need to find him and stop him, and that means bringing the police in. I do agree that the quieter the investigation is the better though," he added, seeing her face. "I will tell him to keep it as quiet as he can."

Sylvie nodded. She hadn't expected much more than that had she? Her father went to grab the phone in the other room while her mother paced like an angry tigress in a cage. She knew her mother longed to have the shopkeeper in her sights, and was picturing what she was going to do to him. Her hands were clenching and unclenching as she paced, confirming Sylvie's suspicions.

Everyone stopped and looked up as her dad walked back into the room. Sylvie could see the anger in his eyes and the grim set of his face. "Chief Brodrick will be here in a few minutes." he announced.

He came over to her and looked up at his daughter's face. Sylvie had a fleeting thought how odd it was, now that she was looking down at her father when he used to tower over her. "Everything's going to be okay, sweetheart." he said. "I promise."

Words bunched up in Sylvie's throat. "Thanks dad." she whispered. She felt an overwhelming urge to hug her father, and stepped forward. He gave a muffled squeak when she accidently trod on his foot, causing her to leap back, face flaming. He gave a pained laugh as he stepped forward and embraced his daughter. Sylvie felt her mom come in and join the family hug. She knew that no matter what happened, she and Taryn were no longer alone in facing it. For the moment at least, she felt happy.