“…and the last flap of Pakacko sightings twenty years ago was discredited as a hoax, but there is reason to believe that the so-called perpetrator was pressured into making that disclosure by the government, so I think it’s still open to consideration,” Tabby stated authoritatively, pacing back and forth as she spoke.
“Mm-hmm,” said Thomas, studying an invoice. She had come in here with a question about the rabies vaccination order, and that had somehow segued into this discourse on the rumored-to-exist skeletal humanoid wandering the woods.
Tabby paused in her pacing and leaned against a low table that stood against the wall. She absentmindedly picked up a record album that sat out and studied the cover. “You know, you can get music on the internet,” she said, abruptly changing the course of conversation again.
“Oh, but these have sentimental value,” Thomas corrected, strolling over and taking the album–Romantic Zither–out of her grasp. The hoof-written message in ink on the cover was faded, but he knew what it said–To my darling Caprice, love always, Dietrich. It was the typical kind of sappy note his parents had always been writing to each other. This represented one of the last tangible connections he had to them.
Thomas nudged Tabby out of the way and flipped the center panel of the table up to reveal a record player. He put the record on the spindle, positioned the arm, and the familiar haunting melody–played often by his mother–took him back to another time, the last time he had ever heard her play it.
10 YEARS AGO
“Anything interesting in the letter from college?” asked Caprice, bustling around the kitchen in the midst of dinner preparation. Her meals never amounted to much no matter how hard she tried, but her family loved her anyway.
“I made the dean’s list again,” Thomas admitted, setting the letter down on the kitchen table. It was no great surprise; he had always scored high academic honors.
“Congratulations, honey!” Caprice trilled. She would never cease celebrating an accolade, no matter how commonplace. “We’re so proud of you.”
“Do you have your class schedule for the fall, Tom?” asked Dietrich, more prosaic than his wife.
Thomas bristled at the use of the shortened name, but it was nothing new; his father had blatantly disregarded his preferences in that regard for as long as he could remember. The notion was, Thomas believed, that it would toughen him up, that Caprice’s tender sensibilities had softened him too much.
“Yes, it’s right here,” Thomas responded, setting out another paper, but the question made him uneasy.
Caprice had walked over to the record player in the living room to start playing some music, and on her way back to the kitchen stopped and looked over Thomas’ shoulder. “Advanced Organic Chemistry… Post-Colonial Literature… Cultural Psychology… Environmental Management…” His mother sounded suitably impressed, until she got to: “Magic Healing?” She looked at Thomas disbelievingly.
“It’s something I want to explore,” Thomas said, bracing himself for a fight.
“But–you know–” Caprice quailed. Dietrich remained silent, but frowned heavily.
“I know you’ve always discouraged it,” Thomas launched into his defense, “but I’m an adult, and I can make my own decisions.”
“You still live under our roof,” Dietrich observed, “and as such we have some say–”
“We just don’t understand your motivations, dear,” Caprice cut her husband off, favoring a gentler tactic. She sat down at the table and looked at Thomas in consternation.
“We have this power, and it’s our duty to use it to better the world,” Thomas argued. “It’s just a waste otherwise. Think of all the good we could be doing.”
Caprice pursed her lips. “But, Thomas…”
“You’ll have to give up the course if you expect our continued financial support,” Dietrich stated bluntly.
“I can get a job at one of the laboratories, and Sammy’s offered to let me stay at his place,” Thomas said, having had that response planned for just such a time.
“We don’t know anything about this Sammy!” Caprice wailed.
“He doesn’t need our permission, dear,” Dietrich said quietly. “He’s right; he is an adult.”
“Thomas, you know we’ve always supported you in your dream of being a veterinarian,” Caprice said beseechingly. “You’re interested in medicine, not magic.”
“What if they can work together? You’ve just never accepted that I didn’t want to follow in your hoofsteps, cutting off this vital part of my being!” Thomas exclaimed.
Caprice and Dietrich exchanged a pensive glance. Caprice leaned across the table and took her son’s hoof in hers. “Where your father and I grew up,” she began, “well… our families were known to be powerful magic wielders; and there were those that sought to bend us to their will.”
“Our lives were very much decided for us,” Dietrich agreed. “We didn’t want it anymore, and certainly not for our children.”
“We’ve kept away from magic, having seen that it can too easily lead to being manipulated. It’s so much better this way, dear,” Caprice pleaded.
“If you used magic, you would certainly end up on someone’s radar,” Dietrich sighed, “and the cycle would start again.”
“Just because something can be abused, doesn’t mean it has to be avoided,” Thomas disagreed.
“Please, just believe us. This is for the best,” Caprice said earnestly.
“I have to find out for myself,” Thomas said, holding his ground.
“Give this up, Tom. You’re distressing your mother,” Dietrich said warningly. “Don’t make this any worse than it already is.”
“You’ve always said your own parents tossed you out for following your hearts, and now you’re doing the same to me!” Thomas said bitterly.
“Don’t talk like that to your mother!” Dietrich said sternly as Caprice broke down in tears.
“If you’re going to be like this, I can manage on my own!” Thomas said heatedly, standing. “You’ll never have to see me again!”
“Thomas,” Caprice begged, “don’t go; we can work this out–”
“Let him go, cool his head,” Dietrich advised curtly.
Those were the last words Thomas heard before walking out the front door and closing it behind him.
* * *
That weekend, Thomas’ parents would be leaving for a two-week cruise; the distance provided would be much appreciated at this juncture, Thomas mused as he headed over to Sammy’s.
Thomas was supposed to watch his younger sister, but over texts exchanged with her later that evening, he learned he had been ousted from the position of guardian, and Elaine would be staying with a friend of the family instead.
Fine, Thomas fumed. They could just be like that, treating him as completely irresponsible just because he dared to think for himself.
At least he could depend on Elaine to bring him some things he had left at the family’s apartment.
“How are things at home?” Thomas asked when they met the following day.
“Pretty somber,” Elaine admitted. “You know how emotional Mom gets, and Dad is on the warpath.”
“Well, they will have to accept it, or go on without me,” Thomas maintained stubbornly.
“I honestly don’t know if they will come around,” Elaine sighed. “They’ve always been so insistent…”
“Maybe their vacation will help them put things in perspective,” Thomas said, though he was doubtful. “So you’re going to stay with Tanzy starting Friday night?”
“Yes,” Elaine said. “Mom and Dad will be leaving first thing Saturday morning.”
“They’ll be back soon enough,” Thomas said, feeling dread at the prospect. He knew he would have to face them again.
* * *
Sammy enthusiastically welcomed Thomas as a roommate, and Thomas settled into his new life, which was a non-stop party under the outgoing Sammy’s patronage.
Sammy was a smooth talker and had no head at all for academics; he had only made it as far as he had in school by exploiting classmates with more talent. He was Thomas’ chemistry lab partner, and before Thomas had even realized he was being used, he had done all the semester’s class work for the slacker. Ordinarily Thomas would be peeved at having been used like that, but Sammy had done such a pro job of manipulation that Thomas couldn’t help but feel some degree of admiration for the socially popular stallion.
Though they had nothing in common, they had built a friendship of a symbiotic nature–Thomas helped Sammy make it through his courses, and Sammy helped Thomas navigate the campus social scene. Of course, Thomas’ parents didn’t know anything about that aspect of his education, or that would have been another fight in itself.
Though campus was relatively quiet over the summer break, Sammy always managed to round up a crowd. The Saturday after Thomas’ parents had left on their cruise, there was a particularly lively party at Sammy’s.
Thomas was having a pleasant conversation (maybe with more kissing than talking) with a law student–Trisha or Tasha, he didn’t remember. His phone kept ringing, but he really didn’t have time for that.
Suddenly, Thomas realized his name was being called. He turned around and saw his sister standing there in front of him, eyes stormy.
“Sorry, I couldn’t stop her,” said Sammy apologetically, standing behind Elaine.
Shoving his date aside and scrambling to his hooves, Thomas faced his sister. “Elaine, you shouldn’t be here!” he protested, grabbing her by the shoulders and propelling her toward the door.
“I couldn’t find any other way to contact you!” she shrieked. “You’re ignoring all my calls and messages!”
“What is so important that couldn’t wait?” Thomas demanded, wanting to shake her for putting on all these histrionics.
“It’s–it–the cruise ship–” Elaine gulped, finding it difficult to speak. “–there was an accident–” At that, she broke down and couldn’t continue.
With a sinking feeling, Thomas realized that something was very, very wrong. He left the house with Elaine, and the story came out. The call he’d been avoiding all night had been the cruise line. They had finally tracked down Elaine instead.
There had been an incident. Thomas received a disjointed explanation from Elaine, along the lines of: unexpected weather conditions were encountered; the ship had taken on water; and had to be abandoned. Most passengers and crew got out on lifeboats, but a few remained unaccounted for, and that included Dietrich and Caprice Fairfax.
The Coast Guard had taken over the search at sea, and the FBI was investigating, the cruise line representative that Thomas spoke to later that evening said.
The days that followed felt surreal.
The siblings coasted along as well as they could, living in a sort of limbo. They always hoped for news, but there was nothing. They were numb from shock. School started in the fall. It was a welcome diversion, something else to focus on than their missing parents.
In the new year, Dietrich and Caprice Fairfax were declared legally dead.
Caprice’s dearest friend had stepped in, and she along with her husband did everything that they could to help the two youngsters. Tanzy even offered to take Elaine in permanently, but Thomas insisted that he was responsible for his sibling. The court eventually granted him custody.
There was a frenzy of activity with lawyers and wills and liquidating assets. The siblings rented an apartment between campus and Elaine’s high school, that Thomas hoped was suitable for a young, impressionable filly.
Sammy was sorry to see Thomas go, and told him he was a fool for going out of his way to shoulder all that extra responsibility when there were others that could have done it. Their friendship cooled after that.
The good news, if it could be called that, was that their parents had left behind considerable savings, much more than either sibling had anticipated. It would be enough to pay the bills through college for both of them.
Thomas agonized over losing his parents, and knowing that their last words had been spoken in anger. To have them go down in that stormy sea, being disappointed in him, thinking he hated them, caused soul-crushing guilt.
But life went on.
PRESENT DAY
Thomas came out of his reverie and realized that Tabby was still there, regarding him quizzically. How long had he been daydreaming?
The player moved on to a new track. Thomas held out a hoof. “Dance with me,” he said the absolute first thing that came to mind.
It was probably ill-advised, since she was already spoken for, and this was just setting himself up for disappointment. But it was just a dance.
For her part, Tabby looked bemused. “I don’t think you want to do that,” she warned, backing away.
But, she didn’t protest when Thomas took her hooves in his. He held one hoof at her back, and positioned her hoof at his shoulder. Was it his imagination, or was there a softening in her eyes?
“No, look up, not at your hooves,” Thomas instructed, gently guiding her through the movements of the waltz. “Shoulders parallel to the floor. Straighten your back. Too rigid. No, the other way. You’re terrible at this,” he said with a teasing grin.
Tabby gave him a stern look. “You know, my mother hired the best dance instructors in the land and never made any progress with me,” she commented.
“And I’m sure you were a conscientious student,” Thomas said dryly.
“I may have skipped most of the lessons,” Tabby admitted. After that, she fell unusually quiet, clearly concentrating; but Thomas was just enjoying the time with her. They spun around the room, regardless of lack of technical skill from half the team.
The song came to an end, and they came to a stop, just looking at each other. Despite her lack of grace, that had been entirely too enjoyable, Thomas realized. If he thought that this experiment would serve to take the edge off his interest, it hadn’t worked.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and the spell was broken. Tabby quickly stepped away, staring at a landscape painting on the wall as if it was the most engrossing thing she had ever seen.
“Come in,” Thomas said, collecting his emotions and walking back to his desk.
Strawberry trotted in. “Thomas,” she said, “if I could just get your signature…”
“Sure,” Thomas said absentmindedly, reaching for a pen as Tabby slunk out of the room. He frowned. Did she think he had over-reached the bounds of propriety? If nothing else, she must think he was a sentimental fool. He didn’t know what the dance had accomplished.
Perturbed, he took the paper from Strawberry.