4.   
A Hidden Past?

Sylvie went to see Taryn early in the morning. Despite the
chilly morning, she was modestly dressed in her favorite T-shirt that depicted
her favorite American soccer team. Over that she had on a hoodie with the hood
pulled up. People smiled and waved at her as she walked by, a few even raised a
shout. Sylvie acknowledged them all with a friendly wave and a nod of her head.
She didn’t feel like smiling herself, although she did put forth the effort for
everyone. She was extremely glad when she turned up Taryn’s drive and past her
front yard.

She knocked at the garage and waited. There was a muffled
thump, and a curse that sounded cleanly through the door. Sylvie cocked her
head, listening. A moment later the automatic garage opener engaged, and the
large door shuddered open. Stepping inside, Sylvie ducked her head to get under
the still opening door. “Taryn, I need to―” Sylvie felt her cheeks flame in
embarrassment. Taryn was glaring at her from the floor with Josh stepping away
from the door opener. He looked magnificent, with his dark hide shiny and
bright, just starting to show the winter coat coming in. His chest strained the
T-shirt he was wearing, and the muscles his transformation had granted him
bulged out his arms and―Gah! Sylvie desperately tried to think of anything else
but his arms. He was Taryn’s! Taryn’s! She had no right to be ogling her
friend’s stallion like that?

My friend’s stallion?
Sylvie was confused. What had made her think of him like that? She stood there
puzzling out her mind’s choice of words that it took her a moment to realize
that Taryn was speaking to her. She jerked her mind back to the present.

“I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I said, what’s so
important that you had to come barging in like this?” Her glare told Sylvie all
she needed to know about what Taryn and Josh had been doing. Her face flamed
again. Sylvie felt so foolish that she wanted to cry.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Um…I’ll come back later.” She said,
backing towards the exit. A minute and she’d be able to run for it.

“No, no.” Josh said quickly. He seemed to be blushing as
well. Sylvie couldn’t help but sneak a glance at his handsome horse half; the
strong muscles under the winter coat, the thick legs and heavy haunch and―

Sylvie felt her face flame for an entirely different reason.
Strangely, the sight of his interest didn’t repulse her at all. Rather the
opposite really. No! He’s Taryn’s!
She thought desperately. Josh walked past where Taryn was laying on the
mattresses that served as her couch and bed. Giving her a peck on the cheek, he
gave Sylvie a quick hug and then practically ran out the door. Taryn stared
after him longingly.

“Man, you’ve both got it bad.” Sylvie said jokingly. She
desperately hoped that her earlier appraisal of him hadn’t been noticed.
Taryn’s glare settled that for her. Sylvie sighed mentally. Could she have
walked in on them at a worse time? An image flashed in her mind and her face
flamed again. Alright, so she could have. It was time to get to the point of
what she had come for and get the hell out. “I think that my Mom and Dad are
lying to me.” She blurted. Almost immediately she wished she could have pulled
the words back. They seemed to echo in the garage. My parents are lying to me.

Taryn looked startled. Automatically her hands reached out
and pulled her down to sit beside her on the couch. “Tell me.” She said
urgently. Sylvie sat uncomfortably on the mattress. Now that she was here, she
felt so foolish. She really should just forget the whole thing and walk away.
It was ridiculous anyway, her parents had
to have their own secrets, they wouldn’t just tell her everything. But why the gun? And what kind of trouble
would require him to be able to shoot it that well? Sylvie had had so much
lying done to her. She was sick of it; Roland, Nightshade, Halls, her parents.
She felt her shoulders slumped. She couldn’t even look at Taryn as she began
speaking. She stared at the corpse of an ant near her hoof as she spoke. It
took five minutes to tell Taryn everything she had seen and what her dad had
told her. The silence when she finished was so terrible it seemed to push down
on her.

“Sylvie, are you all right?” Taryn asked quietly when she
had done. Sylvie felt like laughing, but couldn’t find the will.

“Why wouldn’t I be.” She said tiredly. “I just found out my
parents have been lying to me about what they are my whole life. Why wouldn’t I
be?”

“I doubt they meant to hurt you.” Taryn said comfortingly.
She slid her arm around Sylvie and pulled her close. Sylvie didn’t resist, she
let her head fall on Taryn’s chest. Her face was damp. No! She had promised
herself she wouldn’t cry. She couldn’t stop though. It felt…right.

“Listen Sylvie, why don’t you ask your mother. I’m sure she
would tell you. And if she doesn’t, we can find out more together.” Taryn
finally said. Sylvie wiped her eyes and sat back up. She hiccupped slightly.

Sylvie gave it a bit of thought, but really didn’t want to
face her mother just yet. She didn’t have any evidence after all, just vague
feelings. She said as much to Taryn.

“Sylvie, they’ll understand.” Taryn argued. “Their your parents, for Pete’s sake.”

Sylvie sighed. “I just don’t know what to do.” She heard
herself admit. “I thought that once we got home everything would somehow be
back to normal.” She sniffled. Sylvie never
sniffled! What was wrong with her?! “But then, we get home and what did we
find? Our town has been destroyed, Roland’s still hiding, and now….” Sylvie
shuddered, unable to continue.

Taryn listened to her tale without speaking. Now, she
started talking slowly and clearly as if to hammer her points home. “Sylvie, we
both knew that things would change when we got home. We may have pretended
otherwise, but it was obvious to anyone. I’ve never seen you back down from a
fight. Even when things were darkest, you never gave up.”

Sylvie felt a corner of her mouth tug up into a smile. “I
guess I just never thought of myself to be jealous of you.” She told her
bitterly.

“Jealous!” Taryn looked startled at that.

“Yes.” Sylvie nodded. “Your life is so much better than mine. You’ve got your mom back, something you
never thought you’d have again. You have your stallion. Me? All I’ve got is
parents that are never home and my rifle.” Man, she sounded like a complete
sap! She needed to get out of there before she completely made a fool of
herself.

“Well, thanks for listening Taryn. I didn’t mean to blast
your ears off there.” Sylvie forced out cheerfully.

“But I didn’t…” Taryn began.

“No really. Thanks. I’d…uh…better get going.” Sylvie turned
and hurried out the door, leaving her friend gaping after her.

Once out on the street, Sylvie slowed down and started
walking home, the deserted street seemingly mocking her. We should have people, they seemed to say to her. The only reason we don’t is because of YOU!
SHUT UP! Sylvie screamed. I don’t want to
hear about it! She hunched her shoulders and began walking faster.

On the road ahead, Sylvie caught sight of the slender figure
of Sara. From the hunch of her shoulders, Sylvie could see that she was
exhausted. Her father had been telling her of how she had been working at the
construction sites, bringing workers lunches, tools, whatever she could do to
help. Sylvie had been surprised to learn that her biggest rival in school was
turning into a regular Betty May.

It didn’t make sense at all. How could anyone go from being…that, to what her father described? Sara
was―had been―the class snob. Sylvie tried to imagine her as nice, but her mind
rebelled at the thought. Still, Sylvie thought, it would be good to give her a
chance. Sylvie sighed regretfully. I’m
not going to enjoy this.

“Hey Sara, wait up!” Sylvie called.

Sara spun like a top, looking horrified. Her head twisted
back and forth, looking desperately around for an escape. How truly strange. Sylvie wondered how the girl got to work if she
was that nervous when someone called her name!

“What do you want?!” her voice rose to a shriek.

Sylvie raised her hands defensively. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I
just want to talk.”

“Bout what?” Sara hunched her shoulders slightly
defensively, eyes locked fearfully on her.

“I wanted to…uh…thank you.” Sylvie fidgeted. Man, this was
hard!

Sara’s eyes grew, if possible, even wider. “You wanted to
what?” she asked breathlessly

Sylvie sighed. “To thank-you. My dad has been telling me
what you’ve been doing for everyone and I wanted to say thank you.”

Sara stared at her as if trying to determine if this was
some sort of a joke. “Why?” she asked. “We’ve been rivals since I got here.”

Sylvie grimaced. “Believe me, I know.” She stared at Sara
and gave a pained smile. “It just seems so stupid now. In light of everything,
I mean.”

“What do you mean?” Sara asked, confused.

Sylvie couldn’t believe it. How dense could this girl be?
She took a deep breath. “Well, for one thing, our town was destroyed.” She said
rather obviously.

“Oh, well, yeah. I suppose you have a point there.” Sara
flushed slightly in embarrassment. A particularly cold blast of wind made her
shiver. Sylvie noticed and groaned. Great.
If I let her catch cold because I’ve kept her out too long, then I’ll never
hear the end of it. There was only thing to do.

“Sara, can I give you a ride home?” Sylvie asked. It would
only be a few blocks out of her way. She’d still make it home in time to catch
a snack before heading out to the range again.

Sylvie was not prepared for Sara’s reaction. Her eyes got
very big and she backpedaled quickly. “Ah, no…no. That’s fine. I’ll…uh, find my
own way home!” And with that she turned and practically ran back up the street.
Sylvie stood in surprise and watched her flee around a corner without a backwards
glance. What on earth was that all about?
Sylvie wondered. She couldn’t get the strangeness of it out of her head. Was it
something that she had said? Sylvie ran through it all again in her mind, but
couldn’t put her finger on why Sara had run off.