Thankfully, as a result of Catherine and I alerting the others about the bear sighing, our party was able to swiftly pack and hit the road again. Icaro and Imogen having thankfully recovered from their struggles in that river.
But instead of letting me ride Jade the pony again, Catherine had insisted upon acting as my mount. I saw the adult centaurs smile and nod. The younger ones smirked. Whilst Imogen and Robyn gave each other a coy look.
The next stop in our journey saw us setting up camp on a wooded hill with occasional clearings, just as the sun reached the mid-afternoon mark. There, our guides insisted upon training us in the art of using weapons – in order to defend ourselves and help with future hunting. Catherine wasn’t yet confident enough with her arms to use a bow and arrow – but instead got Kimberley to teach her in the use of a dagger and then firing a crossbow. Imogen, Robyn, and I – with the tuition of the other centaurs – got to practice with firing first crossbows, and then bows and arrows. Cindy seemed particularly good at archery, and she was keen to teach her mother.
“Cindy’s a Sagittarian. The sign of the centaur archer. Apt!” Robyn wryly remarked to us, afterwards.
After a while, I rubbed my aching arms, and pulled the last arrow out of the latest tree to act as my target. Darwin complimented me on my growing accuracy.
Later on, the former scouts got a fire started – whilst Darwin acted as sentry. Icaro and Kimberley had, by this stage, already gone hunting for our evening meal.
Now, with Jade resting alongside us as she munched some grass (which the centaurs could not eat), Catherine, Imogen, Robyn and I were listening to Cindy and the other younger ‘taurs, around the crackling fire, as they showed us the watches that they had found in a watchmakers shop in Pholus Prior. Watches displaying a thirty-hour day…
“As you can see, although we live in the northern hemisphere of this world, and this sun still travels from east to west, we have two moons – and longer days,” Cindy began.
“And there’s three hundred and ninety-six days in an Arcadia Centauri year,” Tim elaborated. “That’s why us four look about twenty to you. But we now measure our birthdays going by the year of this world. Cindy is now eighteen years of age, by our concept of time. I’m about to turn eighteen too.”
“Our colony found records to confirm this – but also the knowledge about time measurements came naturally to the mated centaur adults after a few days,” Jeremy added. “We were taught in our new school about the practicalities of this world. Such as how there’s twelve months in the year – but they are thirty-three days each.”
Maggie nodded. “The calendar of the original centaur race seems to be one version of the ancient Greek calendars. Right now it is the early stage of Elaphebolion. That means the second half of March, on Earth.”
“And I was not able to identify any of the stars last night,” I mused. “Despite my knowledge of constellations.”
Tim smiled. “It was confirmed by Epona, in due course, that we’re not just on another planet – we’ve living in a different dimension to Earth. Which makes sense, given that all traces of your past human lives are now being erased by the magic of that portal you came through.” He paused, seeing our reactions. “Sorry – but it’s the truth. For example, when Cindy here disappeared from Earth, the magic from the portals rearranged reality…”
“…to the extent that not even my mother remembered that she had a daughter,” Cindy agreed, nodding. She leaned her shoulder against Robyn in a show of affection, and beamed at her. “I’m glad we’re back together, mom! I’m eager to see how beautiful you’ll be, as a centaur!”
Robyn blushed and felt her hair. “Well, I guess that I’ll have something equine to match my pony tail…,” she murmured.
Imogen gasped. “Our house…!”
“…will now be somebody else’s home. And that suicide note you wrote will no longer exist,” Maggie told us. “I’m sorry. But nobody you’ve left behind on Earth will remember you. Um… Did you guys have any current boyfriends or girlfriends…?”
Imogen, Robyn and I shook our heads. “I guess that’s part of the reason why Fate chose us to be sent here,” I huffed.
The young ‘taurs agreed, pointing out the message signed by Fate that came with the centaur painting. ‘To give you all at this place a fresh start. And a better life. Where you all can run freely…’ “You will indeed all run freely once you and Uncle Charlie turn ‘taur, mom. And once your pony becomes a centaur too,” Cindy pointed out, smiling. “You’ll all enjoy living as part of our herd. We look after, and care for, each other! There’s no thieving, no lying. We centaurs are good people, with a strong community spirit. We rely on each other, for our mutual survival.”
Robyn pulled out the photo of herself and the then-human Cindy. “Okay… But I don’t understand this. How does the magic from that portal – that centaur artwork – rearrange reality so that we apparently never existed? This photo changed so that Cindy was reinserted into it, after disappearing from it – when my memories of her must have been wiped. Wouldn’t this photo disappear, if Cindy and I never existed on Earth?”
Jeremy shrugged. “We don’t fully understand it either – but I reckon that photo still exists in your hand, because of you now being in this dimension.”
Cindy nodded. “It is part of Epona’s magic, mom. She restored me in the photo, to help you retain your memories of me. I realise that you guys are sore about having no say in being brought to this world, or about becoming centaurs – but honestly, from what you’ve told us earlier about the now-deeper political mess the world is in – as well as…Aunt’s Imogen despair over your house and horses…”
“…we’re better off here, joining you all as part of the growing centaur race.” Robyn sounded resigned. “I see.”
“And everything Robyn, Imogen and I achieved in life… Awards, exams, work… The evidence has been wiped out by a shift in reality?” I asked the centaurs, a lump in my throat.
“Yes. That’s our understanding,” Cindy confirmed. “I’m sorry. The slates of your lives on Earth have been wiped clean – just as they have been with all of us who used to be human. But you can make a difference here, now, helping our kind to survive – and thrive. And in a few more years’ time, us young ones will have lived more of our lives as centaurs, compared to being human!”
“Anyone who knew us…won’t remember us…” Imogen fought back tears, then shot her face up. “What about our dead parents? Would their spirits in heaven be memory-wiped too, by us being erased from Earth?”
Tim shook his head. “Epona has been asked that question in the past. Her answer was no. It’s just anyone who knew us on Earth – and are still living there - whose memories of us will have been erased.”
Imogen sighed her relief.
“Have either of you started to grow a mane?” Maggie asked me and Robyn, her eyes hopeful.
“I’ve felt for one. It’s not kicked in yet,” I confessed. Robyn’s answer was the same.
“Never mind. I’m sure that Epona will get round to blessing your pony and you guys before long!” Maggie told us cheerfully. “Think of it this way – the three of you who are not yet transformed… You are effectively centaurs-in-waiting. And soon our goddess will make you all physically complete!”
“Okay…,” I breathed, glancing down upon my still-human, and clothed, legs. Wondering how long it would be before I would be turned from a biped into a quadruped…
“How many herds are there on this world now?” Catherine asked, eager to learn more about her new race. “Given that it’s been a few years since your goddess started to rebuild the centaur population…”
Tim grinned. “Us colts and the fillies here, are part of the first haras – based in the villages of Chiron’s Grove and Hylonome’s Haven. Most of us are American. Or rather we were American. It’s been a few years now, and it’s just simpler to accept that we are all of one identity. Regardless of our equine breeds – and whether we were born with four hooves or two human feet, we are all centaurs now.”
“That’s true. But there’s several other herds that have formed in the past few years,” Cindy elaborated. “Epona has informed us of them – but we’re talking about those herds taking shape around different locations of this, the main continent. Some of them would take several weeks of travelling to find – unless we scouts and their scouts met up. Darwin and Kimberley first came to us a few weeks ago, in order to create trade and good relations between our haras and their Australian one.”
“Don’t forget that Japanese herd that Aiko and Helios have sought out, after Epona told Lightning about them,” Maggie spoke up. “Aiko volunteered her translation skills, as an envoy on our herd’s behalf.”
“Oh yeah! Well, let’s count the ones that Epona spoke of…,” Jeremy instructed his fellow young centaurs, as he counted off his fingers. Between them, my party and I learned that there were five known centaur herds that Epona had helped to create on this world within the last seven Arcadia Centauri years. The two-village, mainly-American one these kids were part of, along with Icaro; the Australian herd that sent out Darwin and Kimberley, the Japanese herd, an Ethiopian herd, and finally a pan-European one whose main language of use was apparently German. And we were reminded that once Jade, Robyn and I had all become centaurs, our new race would then be four-hundred in number. It was still early days in the restoration of the centaur civilisation – but baring another major disaster, the race would avoid extinction from now on. Another point raised was that, after transformation, all centaurs seemed to age at the same rate as humans – regardless of if they had been human-born or horse-born.
“Okay…,” I mused prodding the fire with another stick, before adding it to the burning wood pile. “And what wildlife is there in this world, besides bears? We’ve seen birds, rabbits, even insects…”
Imogen nodded. “This planet does seem to be very earth-like – even if Robyn and Charlie are the only humans around in these parts.”
“There’s no indigenous horses here. Which means that I might be the only equine-based being around with stripes!” Maggie gushed. “No big cats either. No large animals like you would see in Africa. Apes are non-existent, too.”
Darwin walked over to us, to further answer my question. “Arcadia Centauri is very similar to earth in its fauna and flora. But there’s some key differences. There’s less in the way of desserts and icey wastes. Not many reptiles and snakes. Most of the planet – from what we’ve learnt from the records of our predecessors – is mainly woods, forests, plains, and hills. We have found containers with coffee– and seen jungles on the maps of this world, around the equator. And there’s seas and oceans, of course. There could be what you human-borns call whales and dolphins in the seas – but on land, we centaurs are the most sentient life form. The main threats to us are bears and direwolves. The first colony barely saw them. But unfortunately as our race has slowly grown and expanded, both races seem to be drawn to us. The direwolves see us as bountiful prey. The herd I came from lost a couple of our younger, human-born members.” His grim expression gave way to a smile. “And there’s the farmed livestock. Just as on earth, we have cattle, pigs, sheep, and chickens, to produce the meat, milk, and eggs you humans are familiar with. So, now you’ve heard it straight from the ex-horse’s mouth.”
Robyn and I groaned. Imogen and the young centaurs sniggered. Whilst Catherine looked confused at the joke. “I’ll explain it another time,” I told her, before turning my attention back to Darwin. “How about what must be another enemy of centaurs – steep stairs?” I smirked.
He snorted. “The only time we use a broad set of stairs, is when we use scaffolding, to reach roofs that need repair. Or thatching.” Darwin spoke again, addressing us all. “What…jobs…did you do, back on Earth?”
“I used to be a gardener at a stately house– then a car accident led me to lose my mobility as well as my job.” Imogen hung her head. Anyway, I then helped to run the accounting side of the B&B that Charlie operated with me and Robyn.” She turned to me.
My turn. I took a deep breath, before releasing it. “I’ve tried working in insurance – but…well, I’ve experienced bad communication issues at times, which have affected my confidence… I don’t like being penned in. There were too many frustrations whilst I felt I wasn’t being helped enough in my career. So eventually I gave that up, and got employed as a parcel deliverer for a time. Then our parents died, and Imogen later had her car accident. So I dropped my job, moved back to our parents’ home to care for my sis. Imogen was still living there, as she had been looking after our mum and dad, before inheriting the house And so we operated the B&B, to help make ends meet. But it turned out that we were just keeping the wolf from the door.” I glanced across to my cousin, for her to have her say.
Robyn sighed. “I moved to the states when I was courting Cindy’s father, and I was working for an international aid agency – until the authoritarians now in charge ordered it to be closed down. So I briefly moved back to Canada, then over to the UK, in order to support my British cousins, after Imogen had her accident. I helped them with their B&B business.”
“I am sorry to hear that it’s been hard…,” Cindy told us. “Which part of the UK were you living in?”
The ends of Imogen’s lips. “Here’s the irony… We were living near Weston-Super…-Mare!”
The kids snorted with supressed laughter at the name.
“I guess the god Fate has a sense of humour,” Darwin remarked wryly, as the fire crackled.
“One thing that’s bothering me…,” I declared. “I should be freaking out about the fact that we don’t have any choice about leaving humanity behind. Why aren’t I?”
“Or me, I seem to be more or less resigned to the idea that Charlie and I are going to end up the same way as the rest of you lot – as centaurs,” Robyn added.
Tim nodded sagely. “That’s been noted before by humans in this world. We believe it’s due to our goddess. Her powers are felt less during the day, and more at night. But she seems to exert a subtle calming influence on humans and horses in this world. To help them adjust to the fact that they’ll soon join our race.”
It was at that stage that Icaro and Kimberley trotted back into camp, with their kills of rabbits and a wild hog. The centaurs then sprung up into action, skinning, cleaning, and cooking the meat over the fire. Water that had been gathered from the river, earlier in the day, was now boiled. Robyn and I offered to help with the cooking and serving of the meat – along with more gathered mushrooms. Before long, dinner was served in shifts, so that there would always be someone on watch, just in case of trouble.
***
“If I’d known in advance that I would never see home again, I would’ve packed something to read. Possibly a few books. At the very least, a magazine,” I mused as I sat near to the crackling fire, huddled in my sheepskin coat as the evening air turned cooler. “And some fresh clothes. I need some shampoo and a shower – not just another dip in a stream.”
Next to me, Robyn smirked as she rested on her back, lying on a blanket. “Same for me,” she confessed. “But I guess we’ll just have to cope without, until we reach Hylonome’s Haven.”
“I could do with a shave,” I added, thoughtfully rubbing the short bristle on my jawline. “Tim and Jeremy don’t seem to have trouble keeping their faces stubble-free, mind…”
“I could do with a shave too. Only on my legs.” Robyn shrugged. “But given that I’m apparently fated to have four hairy legs before long, what’s the point?”
I had to smile at that. “And I guess we won’t be able to lie on our backs then, either! And… One thing I’ve noticed about the young ones…”
Robyn turned her head to me, and nodded. “For human-born teenagers, they are well behaved. Teenage Centaur colts and fillies seem to have more civic maturity - probably from living in a colony and being closer to nature.”
There were just a few of us present now. Imogen had seemed restless, and after dinner she had offered to go on watch duty with Icaro – with Catherine accompanying her, saying that she wanted to learn more about ‘what it meant to be a lady’. The younger centaurs were taking it in turn to look after Jade and keep her company. And now, after asking us what had been happening in on Earth since they had left it, Jeremy and Maggie took over from Cindy and Tim in that duty. As soon as Cindy and Tim approached me and Robyn, Tim spoke. I noticed that the two young ones looked apprehensive.
“Um, ma’am?” he started.
Robyn sat up and took in her daughter and Tim standing side by side. “Uh-uh… What is it, Tim?”
“Should I leave?” I piped up.
“I’d actually feel better if you stayed, Charlie,” Robyn advised me. “You’re the only other human around to back me up, if need be. Okay, Tim. Shoot.”
He nervously pawed the ground with a forehoof. “I’ll soon turn eighteen, as far as our new calendar goes. I’ve already got permission from Cindy’s foster parents – the Millers. But now that you’re living in our world too…”
“I forgot… During that first night, you were told by Icaro to find your ‘intended’…,” Robyn murmured. “He meant Cindy, didn’t he?”
Cindy nodded. “Tim and I became fast friends in the early days after we were both brought here. We’ve been good company for each other. Maggie had her eye on Tim at one stage – but she graciously allowed me to become Tim’s girlfriend.”
“I take it the Arcadia Centauri age of eighteen is the age of consent by your herd’s law,” I breathed.
Tim gave a nod. “I really like your daughter, Robyn. I love her. And I want you to be comfortable with me becoming your future son-in-law…”
Robyn took a deep breath upon hearing Tim’s words. She watched him closely. “You’re serious about committing yourself… What if it doesn’t work out - eh?”
Cindy’s lips twitched. “Mom… When we centaurs mate, we mate for life. And we are monogamous creatures. Sure, some of the adult couples bicker once in a while – but arguments amongst them never last long. Granted, the colony is still young – but no mated pair we know of has split up or divorced. Some of our friends back in our home villages - Beth and Zack… Kyra and Adam… They’ve mated now. Tim is…asking for your permission for us to go ahead and mate, once he is of age…”
“Yes,” Tim agreed.
Robyn took another deep breath, before releasing it. “And your…feelings for Tim?” she asked her daughter.
Cindy gave another of her wide smiles. She reached for Tim’s hand, and he took it. “I love Tim, mom! In my heart, I know that he is the stallion for me – and I want to be his mate. His mare.”
Robyn rubbed her face. I got up to pat her shoulder.
“I think I’d better have a private talk with them, after all, Charlie. Could you…?”
“I’ll take a walk. Perhaps check on Jade. Or see what our former horse is up to, I guess, before she gets herself into mischief,” I muttered.
And so I wandered off. Our pony was in a nearby clearing. Looking after her now were Maggie and Catherine, engaged in a three-way conversation. Though Jade was still only able to speak a few words, telling the centaurs that she was trying to adapt to having increased intelligence and a basic knowledge of the English language – whilst not yet having fully-formed human vocal cords to properly express her voice.
Catherine was lovingly brushing Jade with the brush that had been in Robyn’s satchel when we were whisked away to this world. “I am still adapting to this strange form, Jade,” she murmured. “But having hands and arms - and human intellect, too - has made my life much deeper. Our new herd brothers and herd sisters want to help us in any way they can. They are good people.”
Jade gave a slow nod. “I look…forward to…seeing the village…where we are destined. As well as…joining the…centaur herd myself. I wonder if I…will be a mare… or a stallion…of a centaur?” she managed to say, the words gradually sounding more like a human was speaking them.
“I think I know,” Maggie muttered with a sly smile, as her ears twitched upon my arrival. She turned towards me. “But it may depend on which centaurs want to bond with Charlie and Robyn.”
“Does it now?” I huffed. “What do you mean?”
The red-headed, red-striped zebra-taur grinned. “Now that your sister Imogen is a centauress, there’s three outcomes that Epona could deliver, if she wants the sexes to be perfectly balanced without bringing another party to this world in the meantime. One – Robyn becomes a centaur stallion, and father to my friend Cindy. Two – Jade here becomes a stallion, instead. Or option three – both females become stallions, and you become a centauress, instead. Like us girls, here!”
She snickered at my shocked expression. “Don’t worry! Just like female horses, we centaur mares don’t have periods. If that’s what you’re thinking of!”
“I hope he does not turn into a mare!” Catherine squealed at Maggie, “I would like to see Charlie become a stallion. A handsome stallion, at that.”
“I know you would, my herd sister…”
“You are not mated already, Maggie?” I challenged the young zebra-taur, before the two ladies could start any bickering. “I-I mean you’re too young for me…”
Maggie sighed, shaking her head. “None of the centaurs in this scout party are mated. The Australian haras have the same nature as our herd, in that respect.”
Catherine’s brow winkled. “I do not understand.”
“From what I’ve learned from my friends who have recently mated, the act of mating forms a deep bond between the new couple. Any mated centaur can’t bear to be separated from his or her mate for more than a few hours at a time. So it’s easier for single centaurs to venture on scout duty…”
“…and maybe hook up with another single centaur in the scouting party, if both are attracted to each other?” I suggested.
“You’re smart! Yeah. So you know about Icaro effectively being a widower. Darwin and Kimberley, despite being herd-siblings, are simply not attracted to each other. Cindy and Tim are…what we call ‘intended’. That means they’re dating as boyfriend and girlfriend.” Maggie sighed.
“I have seen you looking at Tim and Jeremy. You had…feelings for them both?” Catherine ventured.
“You four kids… It’s been an emotional tangle, hasn’t it?” I put to her.
Maggie nodded. “Cindy and I were both drawn to Tim – but the three of us worked it out between us. Jeremy…can be reckless, as you’ve learnt. I broke up with him when he accidentally got Inca, Icaro’s mate, killed. Those two events have made him grow up. Jeremy needs a mare who will be firm, but fair, with him…”
The filly-centaur was interrupted by the sudden sounds of neighing – coming from somewhere else on the holt. Maggie snickered. Or nickered. It sounded like a mixture of both, this time.
“Speaking of which…!” she exclaimed.
Catherine’s ears twitched. Then, grinning, she turned and started to trot in the direction of the equine activity.
“What are you up to, Catherine?” I asked her.
“I want to see! I want to learn…how centaurs…bond,” she answered, giving me a wide, playful smile. “You might as well learn, too, so that when you’re hopefully a stallion, we can then engage in horseplay togeth-…”
I shot my hands to the sides of my reddening face. “Have you…no…shame!?” I said, gritting my teeth. Back on Earth, how could I have known that our ex-horse would've turned out to be such a teasing flirt with me?
Maggie giggled at this. Even Jade was making a pony grin. In the meantime, Catherine was trotting off into the undergrowth. I shook my head and jogged after her – hoping that I would prevent Catherine from interrupting what had to be Jeremy mating with the only other centauress he would be familiar enough, to bond with…
But as I caught up with Catherine, who was now sat down on all fours, hiding behind a screen of tangled logs and boulders, I saw – by the moonlight – two things that made me stop. The first was that Catherine was transfixed by what she was seeing…
“Oh! It’s not Jeremy… Or Kimberley…,” she whispered. “No! Do not look, Charlie!” Catherine quickly grabbed my hand – preventing me from going any further.
But I had already seen who the entangled centaurs were. And they were indeed going at it, like frisky horses – both of them snorting, whinnying, and then neighing again, as they reached their climaxes…
Icaro removed his hands from the naked breasts of his new mate, before wiggling his huge frame backwards. With a ‘squelch’, his rod came out of his partner’s leathery folds, leaving a dripping trail of centaur sperm on them. And as his forehooves touched the ground once more, Icaro sighed with pleasure.
And now collapsing upon her equine belly, as her palms slid down the oak tree trunk she had been braced against – with an equally blissed-out look of rapture upon her face as her plumed tail swished – was my sister. Now a happily-mated centaur.