Chapter 36

A New Wrinkle

Taryn could hardly believe it. Her mother was here, in Rio.
She kept repeating it in her head, over and over, as if afraid she would
disappear on her again. She didn't, no matter how hard Taryn looked. Her vision
blurred, and she realized she was sobbing again, but she couldn't seem to stop.
Her mother, for her part, hugged back as tightly as she could. Taryn was
shocked at how wasted her mother was. It seemed as if she could count every rib
in her body, and her legs showed almost no definition to them at all.
Nightshade! He must have done this to her!

Nightshade stepped back under her hot glare. Taryn heard a
muffled gasp and dimly realized she had stood up and taken her mother with her.
She paused to get a better grip on her, sliding one arm under her legs and
supporting her back. Taryn felt tears sliding down her face, her mother had no
weight. Taryn doubted if she was a hundred pounds. It didn't seem possible that
she was holding a human being. Her glare returned to Nightshade.

"Is there something wrong?" Nightshade asked urbanely. There
was no smile on his face now. Insufferable…!

"You know very well that something is wrong, you son of a
bitch! Look at my mom! What right do you have for starving her! You could have
killed her!" Taryn shouted. She clutched her mother tighter to her chest, like
a mother protecting her child. Taryn didn't have time to recognize the irony of
the situation now, she was busy trying to keep herself from leaping on Nightshade
and pounding him to a pulp beneath her hooves!

"I have not been, as you put it, starving her, Miss Taryn."
Nightshade said calmly. His eyes glittered with anger, and the calm seemed
almost brittle. "I'm afraid she was like this when my people invited her to
come see you."

"What do you mean, she was like this. Look at her!" Taryn
shrieked, dipping her head to her mother. There was a strange whispering in her
chest, but Taryn couldn't hear her, the blood pounding in her ears made it all
but impossible. Nightshade's words rang with a strange crystalline clarity
however.

"She had stopped taking medication some days prior to
my…travel arrangements. Despite the excellent care given by Mrs. Mathison, your
mother was dying. I couldn't let her die because of a broken heart, now could
I?" Nightshade gave one of his serpent smiles. "I'm sure things will work out
for the best now. Ms. Halls will be her caretaker here, and you can come visit
her after your training and performances. If you would like, I can arrange for
you to spend some more time with her. I know how long you have been apart from
each other. You must want to catch up." Nightshade jerked his head and Halls
followed him, casting an unreadable look at them. Just before they went around
the corner, she shouted, "Don't keep her too long Grogan, ya hear? She's
dreadful sick, and being out in this weather ain't good for her." And with
that, they were gone.

Taryn trembled in anger as she stared at the trailer corner.
A part of her wanted to chase after them and kill them both, but she felt
anchored to her mother. My mother. Taryn thought wonderingly.
Now that Taryn had calmed down, she could hear her mother's muffled voice
against her chest. Cursing herself for being a clumsy two-footed fool, she
loosened her grip and her mother was able to lean back.

"There, that's better." Her mother said with a smile. Her
voice seemed weaker, Taryn fretted. What else had that monster done to her?
Mindful of what Halls had told her, Taryn hastened to the trailer only to
realize she wouldn't be able to fit inside.

"Mom," she croaked. "Mom, you have to lie down. I need to
get you on your bed. You must…"

"What I must do," Her mother said with uncharacteristic
firmness, "Is hold my daughter."

"Oh, mom." Why couldn't she stop crying? "I want to hold you
to, but your illness…"

"Can wait." Her mother interrupted again, a trifle
unsteadier. "It has been so long. What's happened to you? Tell me everything."

And Taryn told her everything that had happened to her since
she had left their house all those months ago. She skirted around the Grogan's
deaths, although from the tightening of her mother's lips, she had already
heard about that, and explained how Nightshade had smuggled them out of America
and into Mexico, followed by the trip down to South America. Her mother gasped
at all the right places, and clutched her hand tightly. When Taryn explained
about Sylvie's training, her mother turned grey. Taryn decided to skip her own
training and said simply that she had been put to work around the show.

"…and then the past few days have been really wet, so we
haven't been able to put on the show. Sylvie is starting to get worried that we
wouldn't be able to perform for weeks, and that means that we won't be able to
get on camera." She finished. She was surprised to see that more than an hour
had passed, the sun had traveled a good way through the sky already. She
wondered why Nightshade hadn't come back yet.

"That's…amazing sweetheart." Her mother said weakly. She has
leaning against Taryn's horse body, propped up on her belly. Taryn was laying
protectively around her, her supple back turned so she could face her. Taryn
noted alarmingly how grey her mother's face looked. "I had wondered why you hadn't
escaped. I wonder…why…Greg…forgot…to…mention…" her mother's head slumped
forward and she snored gently. Genuinely worried now, Taryn watched her
closely, biting her lip. Was she going to be all right?

Crunching gravel made her twist back around. Halls came
pounding up to her, concern on her face. Ignoring Taryn, she reached for her
mother and began checking her pulse and feeling her head.

"She's going to be all right, isn't she?." Taryn forced out.
"Ms. Halls? She's just tired, right?."

"I'm not surprised." Halls grunted. "She just got in this
morning. I told Nightshade she wasn't up to this, but he insisted on getting
the two of you back together. 'As soon as possible', as if a day or two would
have made any difference. Well, it's a good thing she doesn't weigh much." She
added as she hoisted the unconscious woman. Her mother's arms dangled and her
head lolled back. "I can handle her easily. Get back to Nightshade's trailer.
He wants to talk with you some more, now that you have had, 'sufficient time to
catch up'.  Go on" Her face softened slightly." I'll take care of your mother."
Halls picked up her mother, receiving only a mumbled protest, and carried her
back into the trailer.

Taryn watched her go, feeling torn. Then with a cry she
whirled around and pounded towards Nightshade's trailer. Faster and faster she
ran. Handlers walking by leaped back with shouted curses, as she left a trail
of shaken fists and angry people in her wake. Big John saw her face and
actually grasped at his belt for a moment before relaxing his hands and nodding
as she passed by. Taryn was slightly confused, why would he nod in approval to
her? She filed it away for study later. Nightshade was just up ahead, watching
her charge unconcernedly. He was standing near the large door of his trailer,
leaning against the handrail. At less than a car length, Taryn skidded to a
stop, rearing. Mud flew from her hooves and spattered the trailer and the
raised platform, but not one drop landed on Nightshade, curse him!

Nightshade stared levelly back into Taryn's face, they were
about the same height now. Cold steel met furious brown. Taryn swore she could
see sparks. Around them, people stopped what they were to stare at the two,
aware that something was happening and curious to know what. A crowd began to
gather while Taryn stared heatedly at Nightshade.

"Ms. Grogan. Might I suggest we have this discussion in the
lobby of my trailer here? We wouldn't want anybody to get the wrong
impression." Nightshade said, unflappable in his calm.

"Wrong impression!" Taryn yelped. She didn't care if
EVERYBODY heard. She was going to make Nightshade take her mother home NOW!

Nightshade didn't leave her any choice however. He turned on
his heal and entered the trailer behind him. Furious, Taryn walked around to
the back, where a large door had been thoughtfully installed. Why, Taryn had no
idea, but it was there. Inside, Taryn found Nightshade calmly sitting behind
his desk, looking up at her. His hat was beside him on the desk, letting his
black hair move freely in the breeze from the air conditioner. It was silent in
the trailer, Nightshade must have had it soundproofed Tary realized.

Before she could speak, Nightshade beat her to it. "Now, Ms.
Grogan. You are under the mistaken impression that I have tortured and starved
you mother." Nightshade said aggressively. His grey eyes flashed fire, though
his words were cold enough to freeze. "I will clear this up now. I NEVER
torture or starve my 'guests', no matter the circumstances. Your mother was in
that condition when my agent sent her to us." Nightshade suddenly grimaced.
"I'm afraid the man he had bring her here was…less than reliable. He sold the
medication that was sent along for your mother somewhere in Mexico, so she has
missed at least five doses that I am aware of. Probably several more. I
have…dealt with the matter personally."

Taryn gulped and shivered, the heat in her dissipating. She
knew exactly Nightshade's meaning, and wondered if the punk had even realized
he had dug his shallow grave when he had delivered her mother. Probably not,
Taryn decided.

"Now, as to the terms of you contract." Nightshade
continued. Taryn felt a stab of panic. Just what else was he going to add on to
her act?  It had to be big if he had taken her mother all the way from Red Leaf
to Rio! "Judging from the rather poor condition of your mother, I'm afraid that
we won't be able to let you see her as often as you no doubt would like. Halls
tells me that it was a miracle that she made it as far as she did. It will take
a couple of weeks before she has enough strength to go outside. I don't see,
however, the harm in letting you mother see you standing at her window. You can
have an hour in the mornings to see her.  However, for this privilege I want
you to continue working for me at your regular wages. There will be no further
attempts to wrangle an interview with the local news groups. Should one
interview you, I expect you to tell them how happy you are here. I trust I make
myself clear?"

Taryn fought back tears at the bitter taste in her mouth.
"Perfectly." She wanted to weep.

"Excellent. Then I don't see why anything else has to
change. You will continue receiving your salary, of course. Except I think that
you can receive it as cash. There will be a withholding from it as payment for
your mother's medication. Fortunately, one of my suppliers is able to procure
it, although it is rather expensive." Nightshade concluded. Taryn felt a wash
of relief. At least her mother would continue getting her medication. Perhaps
she could get her well enough to send her home. Nightshade's next words dashed
that hope.

"We must get her strong again soon. I intend to cross the
Atlantic and be in Africa by next month."

Africa! What sort of madness possessed him to go there!
There was no way he could get her mother's medication there, and no money to
earn there at all. Taryn said as much, and Nightshade merely smiled. "You
underestimate my resources, Ms. Grogan. I've been to Africa a couple of times
now. Never fear about your mother, she will be well supplied I assure you. The
warm African air and dryness might be just the thing to help perk your mother
up. And as for money, it may not be the wealthiest country, but there are plenty
of rich men there who will be willing to pay big to see you." And he smiled.

Taryn felt weary. She could barely grasp the reality of what
had happened to her. Taryn barely saw where she was going. After her meeting
she had wanted to go back to see her mother, but Halls had stopped her at the
door. "Your mother is asleep and needs that rest desperately. Go on now, the
carnival will open soon and Nightshade will have you performing." That was it.
Dejected, Taryn had walked away. What else could she do? There would be no
escaping Nightshade now, not so long as he had her mother. She couldn't try to
run for it either, her mother was in no condition to travel and without her
medicine she would die.

"Taryn!" Came a shout. Startled, Taryn looked up and saw that
she was at the trailer. The door was open and Sylvie stood at the threshold
looking relieved. The pain Taryn was feeling must have been written on her face
because Sylvie looked at her and quickly reached out to help her into the
trailer.

Inside, Sylvie turned to her. "What happened?" She asked.
Tenderly, it seemed to Taryn, she grasped her hands. "He-he didn't hurt you,
did he?"

The huge racking sobs hit her then, and she collapsed in
Sylvie's arms. "I'm such a fool! I'm an idiot, a m-monster!" She howled.

"WHAT?! No you're not!" Sylvie protested, hugging her
tightly. "You're the kindest, smartest person I know!"

Taryn shook her head in denial. She didn't understand!
"S-Sylvie, he's got my m-mother! And it's all my fault!"

"Huh?" Sylvie gaped at her. Slowly, and with pauses for
breath and many hiccups, Taryn told her what had happened. By the time she had
finished, Sylvie had led her over to the beds and laid her down on them,
settling in beside her. Taryn was grateful for that; her legs didn't seem to be
able to hold her up anymore.

"I, I don't know what to say Taryn." Sylvie managed. She
sounded slightly strangled, and looking up at her face told Taryn she was about
ready to cry herself. She didn't let go of her though. Taryn couldn't seem to
summon the will to break the embrace herself, so she let her head rest on her
friend's shoulder as she gave vent to her frustration. "I hate him Sylvie. I
hate him so much. He took me away from my mother and now he kidnaps her as a…a present
for my good behavior!"

"I know. I know." Sylvie said soothingly. She stroked
Taryn's hair reassuringly, and Taryn was surprised at how good it was. She felt
her emotions start to settle down, enough for her to start to think again. Calm
enough for her to realize that her head was getting damp. She looked up and was
shocked to see Sylvie was crying, her eyes shut tight. It was a disturbing
sight, Sylvie NEVER cried.

"I-I'm sorry Taryn. I'm so sorry." She whispered. Taryn felt
fresh surprise. "For what?" She whispered back.

"This is ALL my fault, Taryn. Not yours, mine. I'm the one
who let Nightshade know of our existence. I'm the one who let us get caught,
I'm the one who got loud and had to try such stupid stunts to get us noticed. I
was so obvious Taryn, I could taste that freedom. And now, he's taken your mom.
I'm so sorry."

 Taryn was aghast. She didn't have a clue as what to say,
but she knew she had to try something. Sylvie has always been there for me
when I needed it. Now she needs me. She thought. Pushing down her own welter
of emotions, Taryn managed to achieve, well, if not calm then at least a
semblance of it. It would have to do. "Sylvie." She said quietly. It was her
turn to grasp her friend and pull her close. Looking into Sylvie's eyes, Taryn
could see the pain in them, pain she just wanted to make go away for her.
"Listen to me Sylvie. We've made mistakes, we both have. I forgive you for all
the ones that you've done, and I hope that you will forgive me for mine."

Sylvie sniffled a little into her shoulder. "I guess I
haven't been a very good friend to you lately, huh?"

"How can you say that?" Taryn exclaimed. "You've been a
great friend, keeping me going all these months. I've wanted to give up so many
times, but you've kept me going. And you'll keep me going until we're out of
this and have gone home."

A knock interrupted them, and they broke apart. It was Ms.
Halls. The stern taskmaster was back, and she looked irritably at the girls.
"Come on, Nightshade has opened the carnival for the day. It's time to get
ready for your act."