The boy didn't know what to say to make her feel better. All he could do was just keep quiet and let her weep.
Slowly Tiffany calmed down. "Let's just try to get some sleep", she said still sobbing. "Tomorrow I am going to try to get home..." she thought to herself, "This was so wrong! They were just kids! That boy couldn't be more than 10...in fact... How old are you?" She asked in a quavering voice.
The boy mumbled from under the sheets, "Nine and a half..."
She turned over in bed and closed her eyes. Her dreams were filled with her time on the island, only she didn't escape as Jennifer. On a cage, on all fours, with no clothes on, only braying and she'd been sold to the circus. She woke up abruptly and panting.
That sent a shiver down her back. Animal. She would have been animal as Jennifer if she had not escaped. Filthy, smelly animal!
She had to get out of here. Get home and apologize with her parents for everything. She got out of the covers, waked up the hooved boy and they headed downstairs.
The bartender was still at the counter, looking like he had been up all night. Somebody else was in the kitchen; a loud sizzling sound is heard from behind the walls.
"Mister can I have some food?" Tiffany asked. "I have a long trip today..."
"Course, little miss." he replied, "Can ya still eat normal food or you feel a real hankerin' for lettuce and carrots?"
That question bothered her and made her nervous. "Normal food, sir." She said. "These aren't real." She lied pointing to her ears. "They are just a headband..."
But he chuckled.
"Don't gotta hide them." he laughed, "Every once in a while we get one comin' through. An... 'escapee', we call 'em. Part human, part beast, always youngers."
Tiffany and the boy sat down after getting their eggs and chicken. She found to her dislike that the eggs and chicken did not taste good to her. But she ate them anyways. She wasn't going to tell them that lettuce sounded really good right now.
"Hey, uh, where do you head?" asked the boy, his tail still sticking out his jeans. He had given up on hiding it; seemed that the folks here, while slightly uncomfortable with it, knew a bit about what they went through.
"I'm headed to Glasgow." She said. "I think it's close from here..."
"Glasgow..." he scratched his chin, setting down a tray filled with buttered toast and lettuce leaves, "That... nearby Eastridge?"
"Yeah...hey I don't think its a good idea to be just letting all this stuff hang out. In fact, I'm gonna get a hat to hide these." She touched her ears. "And I don't think eating lettuce is a good idea...just because we have animal parts doesn't mean we need to act like animals."
He looked at her, tilting his head, "What are you talking about? My dad made me eat lettuce all the time. 'Good for your bones', he said."
He sat himself down, looping his tail through the hole under the seat rest as he hopped his chair forward. His hooves were unable to get the friction on the ground needed to pull him in closer.
"I don't think we're animals if we eat healthy food, are we?" he asked.
"No...but I mean...the meat doesn't taste good to me. But I'm gonna keep eating what I liked as a human because I want to be human. And I'm not going to display these stupid things. You should hide your tail."
He sighed, "Yeah, I'm gonna do that later on, but I'm wearing some real tight pants, and it really hurts when I do."
He looked behind him, "But, y'know? Forget all that 'being an animal' stuff for a moment. Isn't this, in a weird way, kinda wild? I mean, for gosh sakes, it's a TAIL! How many people can go around saying they know what it's like to have one?"
"What do you mean?" Tiffany asked angrily. "I'm never going to call it 'MY tail' because its not MINE. It was forced on me just because I wanted to be a cool girl."
He turned back to her, "Hey, uh... sorry, but... why did you wanna be ''a cool girl'?"
"I don't know...I just wanted to show that I could do anything that the cool boys I meet could do." Tiffany said getting more irritated.
He was silenced for a moment. Almost afraid to respond to that statement. "Well, um... miss..." he finally spoke again, "... uh, sorry. What was your name, miss? Mine's Mitch."
"Don't call me Miss. I'm Tiffany"
"I want these gone..." she said pulling on her ears. She looked to the bartender. "Sir, do you have a hat or something I can hide these things?"
"Yeah, please..." She said and she shoved the cap down over her ears. She wasn't going to show off her animal parts to the world. They were mutations...they weren't normal. She could pass the patch of fur on her forhead off as a birthmark or something.
Mitch ate quickly, scarfing his food down as quickly as he could.
"Huh." he said, "Lettuce was a bit stale, and don't even get me started with the bread. Once you try my dad's bread, you can't eat normal bread."
Later, Tiffany and Mitch started out onto the road, Mitch's hooves made clopping noises with every step, his tail unwrapped and dragging behind him.
"Y'all watch yerselves out there now!" the bartender called to them, "And good luck!"
They walked in silence for a long while until both of them heard Mitch's stomach growl. Tiffany's followed him. "Ooorgh...hungry." She said. "I hope the next town is close."
An occasional cart passed that road, but quite often they were either full or went the other way. Neither of them wanted to really get on anyways, lest they get... interviewed.
"I gotta be honest, I don't know where we are." Mitch admitted, adjusting his pants yet again. He had put his tail inside his jeans within for the walk, and it was really starting to hurt.
Tiffany saw him trying to reach into his pants. "It's ok, Mitch...I know this town...we're maybe another day from home. We can stop here, but keep your tail hidden for a little longer."
They headed into the town, and people gave them odd looks as they passed.
Mitch touched his pockets. "Um, I... uh, don't have any money..." he uttered, "I... kinda blew my savings on sweets before I went to... that place..."
Tiffany sighed. "Well we are two 9 and 12 year olds that are lost..maybe they will let us stay a night." She made sure her ears weren't showing. They entered into an inn.
Mitch momentarily looked down. His pants were long enough that they mostly covered his hooves, but... well, maybe not attract attention there.
The one to greet them this time was a sassy looking gal with dyed red hair and way too much eye-liner. She took a breath from her cigarette and smoke came out her nostrils like a steam locomotive.
"Yeah, whatcha want?" she asked.
Mitch summoned up courage and spoke.
"Please, miss." he said, "My friend and I are lost, and we are trying to get home. We are hungry, but we got no money. If you could please just spare a bit of food?"
She was quick to answer, looking down at them like scraggly dogs, "I can't do that, urchins."
Mitch looked at Tiffany, and spoke again.
"Um, what if I worked, then?" he asked.
She scoffed, "Pah. Work? What could YOU do?"
"My father's a baker, ma'am." he replied, "Back home he had me do dishes, run errands, serve customers, even make bread and pastries. I can do all that."
She looked at them both with narrow eyes. It was clear she didn't believe them, and letting them run rampant in her establishment would've probably caused something to break. At the same time, though, their clothes didn't look that dirty...
"Can ya clean?" she asked, crossing her arms, taking another cigarette puff.
"Yes, ma'am." he replied, nodding.
"Right." she said, jerking a thumb behind her, "Kitchen's a right mess from last night. Make it shiny an' I'll maybe scrape sumthin' up for yous." But no funny business, y'hear?"
"Yes, ma'am." Mitch said, bowing a head lower. One of his hands crept behind his back and he pressed down on the base of his spine to stop his tail from squirming in his pants.
She took Tiffany and Mitch to the kitchen. It really was a disaster; dirty dishes and pans were strewn everywhere.
"Soap an' bucket's in there," she pointed at a large cupboard door, "An' the well's out back. And quick, brats."
"Thank you, ma'am." Mitch said again, his customer service training allowing him to power through the insult. She left, slamming the door behind her.