She resumed breathing, cautiously. She listened, and heard only the receding footsteps. Good enough.
She stepped out of the nook, and walked around the corner. The way was clear. She approached Seqiro’s stall. She knew that at any moment things would heat up again, so she wasted no time. She reached into the supply shed near his stall and fetched her clothing and pack.
She came to stand before his stall. Was it safe to think a clear thought yet? She doubted it. Better just to get on with the escape without further mind talk.
She reached for the bar which only human hands could remove, not hoofs. It came up, releasing the gate.
The grain and supplies would have to be enough; she couldn’t chance going back for the salt. She got her pack on her back, stuffing her original clothing into it; there was no time to change now either. She pointed to the aisle before the stall, indicating her eagerness to go before anyone returned. She hoped Seqiro agreed.
Then she heard something. She looked back.
There were two more men, barring the way. They held pitchforks in a manner that made them look exactly like weapons.
Now we know whom you serve, the hostile thought came. We gave you the chance to show us.
Go, Seqiro! she thought desperately. She realized that their mental silence had been for nothing; the boss-horses had out-tricked them. Before they can attack you!
Seqiro started to move out. The men moved to bar his way, the tines of the pitchforks orienting on his head. They were the servants of horses, but not of Seqiro.
Colene ran out ahead. “Get away! Get away!” she cried, hoping to startle them into retreat just long enough to let Seqiro out of the stall.
Instead one man dropped his fork and grabbed her, while the other continued to hold his tines at Seqiro’s eye level. They were under expert control, all right. They had neither startled nor panicked.
She struggled, but all she did was get her cape jammed up against her neck; the man was strong. So she tried another tactic: she twisted some more, deliberately causing her cape to ride up farther, exposing her breasts. “See how nice I am,” she said. “Watch me, not the horse.”
The man holding her looked down, interested. He evidently did not understand her words, but he could see her body well enough. The other one was looking too now, his fork dropping low. Colene both loved and hated herself for doing this; it was akin to the way she made others laugh while she thought of the blood flowing from her wrists. She delighted in the power of her body to make men stare, while knowing that she was cheapening herself in the process.
Then, suddenly, the second man forgot her and turned back to Seqiro. The other horse had taken control of his mind! The horses got no sexual thrill from seeing her torso. The fork lifted again. But the man holding her did not let go. Instead he started to drag her back, away from the horse.
Go, Seqiro! she thought again. At least he would get free.
Then the man with the fork doubled over, the weapon clattering to the floor. The one holding her dropped similarly. Go, Colene! Seqiro thought back at her.
She realized that Seqiro had used his own power of stunning on the men, now that there was no point in further mind silence. She caught her balance and ran for the stall. She had to go into it, and then out of it on the Virtual Mode. Like passing the other way through a tunnel to another valley.
But before she got there, the other horse stunned her too. It was like a hammer blow to the head; she felt her consciousness fleeting. Just as the other horse had not been able to protect its minions from Seqiro’s blows, Seqiro could not protect her from the blow of the other horse.
But it wasn’t quite complete. The other horse was farther away, so some force was lost. She fought to hang on to what she could before it overwhelmed her. If she could make it through before losing consciousness—
She found herself falling into the stall. She had made it! But now that she was down, she could not get up. Her body would not respond. She could only lie here, at the anchor but not through it. So close, so far!
Go, Seqiro! she thought again.
Something brushed her face. It was the end of his tail. She grabbed onto it and clung with what she hoped was a death grip.
She felt herself being dragged forward, out of the stall. She was unable to fight any more.
SHE found herself face down in the aisle. Rise, Colene, Seqiro’s thought came urgently. Get on me.
She lifted her head. Only a few seconds had passed, she thought, but the men were gone. What had happened?
Up! Up!
She responded sluggishly to his thought. She dragged herself to her hands and knees, then caught hold of part of Seqiro’s harness and hauled herself up that.
A horse appeared down the aisle. It looked surprised.
Hold on. Seqiro stepped forward, dragging her with him. In a few steps the other horse disappeared.
At last she caught on to what was happening. They were crossing realities! Seqiro had dragged her from the anchor into another reality on the Virtual Mode, leaving the men and horses of his own reality behind. Perhaps that change had eased the pressure on her mind, allowing her to recover a bit. But the adjacent reality was very similar, with more telepathic horses, who would surely interfere if they realized what was happening, so they had stepped into a third one.
Buoyed by that realization, she clung to the harness and made her legs move. She started to walk beside Seqiro. The motion helped restore circulation and clear her mind.
They turned and walked down the aisle, then turned again at the corner and resumed crossing realities. The stalls began to change appearance. They were on their way!
Colene’s head cleared. Apparently the other horse’s stun-thought had done no physical damage.
They left the village, or maybe the village just faded away in the new realities. They were now in open countryside, with some trails going who-knew-where. It was nice. She realized that the details of her own anchor reality must have been constantly changing similarly, when she started out. She had been focusing only on the road ahead, and had been embroiled in her own confused thoughts, so had paid almost no attention to her surroundings. Also, it had been morning, in the suburbs, with little traffic, so she had not seen cars popping in an out of existence at first. From the first ten feet, she had been in a far weirder environment than she had realized!
“Say, maybe we can find a salt block out here, to replace the one I dropped,” Colene said brightly.
That will not be effective, Seqiro replied. She realized that she had spoken rather than thought, but it seemed to make no difference: he tuned in to her focused thoughts, and she had to focus them to talk. In fact, that was easier.
“Why not? Salt is salt, isn’t it? It won’t hurt you just because it’s from another reality?”
It will not hurt me. But we can not carry such a block across realities.
“Now, wait a minute! You explained about not being able to eat anything in other realities, but you’re carrying a whole big load of supplies across realities right now, just as I am.”
These are from our anchor realities. You may carry substance from your own reality with you, or from my reality, and I may carry from either reality, but not from the intervening realities.