Another Skin Part Six

“I called every farm within a hundred miles of here,” Elizabeth’s voice broke through the cloud of sleep that had consumed Rupert’s mind. He tried to roll out of bed but found he saw stuck, standing. He looked down in a panic and saw the thick brown dirt below and felt the wood of the stable door collided with his face. Frantically he scrambled for an explanation before his memories returned of the day before the disbelief of the situation settled on him again.

“I can’t believe a horse so beautiful was just running wild. You’re lucky no one else put a claim on him,” came another woman’s soft tone.

“Tell me about it,” Elizabeth said pleased as she and a stable hand rounded the corner.
It wasn’t until he heard the pleased sounds of the other horses that he realized he was not the only occupant in Elizabeth’s stables. He tossed his head about and tried to get a glimpse of the other horses. The walls limited his perspective and he only got a glimpse of black twitching ears before Elizabeth was seeking his attention. He looked down at her as she opened the gate and he nearly cried out from surprise when he took in the sight of the stable maid. The girl was petite with an upturned nose and soft eyes. He recognized her immediately at the spirit from the woods.

She winked at him and brought her finger to her lips. He snorted a gust of air through his nose, but remained otherwise calm and followed Elizabeth out onto the field.
“Let’s get you washed,” she said as she began rolling up her sleeves and the other woman hurried to fetch buckets of water and scrubbing brushes. “Then we’ll get you some food and see what you can do on the track.”

Rupert was uneducated when it came to horses, but he knew he was happy to do anything Elizabeth asked. He watched the sun roll off her shoulders as she bent to tie him to the fence. He took in the sight of her golden hair as she walked across the dirty ground that was so painfully unfit for her graceful nature.

A cold jolt tore through his thoughts and he tossed his head back in confusion. He looked to the side and saw the spirit stable maid holding an emptied bucket. From the other side another splash collided with his pelt. He shivered and shook the water from his fur. The sparkling beads dripped down his muscular frame and darkened the dirt below.
It was peculiar to feel the soft cascade of wet hands over his new body. He’d imagined for a long time what the touch of Elizabeth’s hands might be like, but the reality was far more comfortable and soothing than he could have fathomed.

The rough bristles of the brushes freed his skin and fur of the grime from the forest and left him feeling clean and fresh. He knelt down and nuzzled Elizabeth’s hand when she offered him food and he felt that his plan could not have been more successful. She might not have known that deep within the stallion she admired there was a man that longed for her, but he knew everything and got to touch her to his liking. It was almost everything he had hoped for and he couldn’t imagine giving it up.


It came as a surprise to him, how much he enjoyed the flavor of horse feed. How the grains and seeds decorated his long tongue and made him feel sated. It also awed him that Elizabeth seemed to have expectations for him beyond merely decorating her farm with his immense beauty.

“This is our private track,” Elizabeth said as she patted his firm side. “We’re going to see how you do.”

Rupert let out a distressed whinny and back away from her touch. Tracks were for racing. Rupert didn’t want to race, he knew enough about the sport to know that the conditions were harsh for horses and no amount of pampering could possibly make-up for the physical strain.
She tried to ease him, but she was clearly confused. His behavior couldn’t have been like that of a normal horse. He didn’t want her to know about his other skin. Not yet.
He stilled his motions and she brushed it off as some insect giving him a scare. She led him to the barn-like structure beside the track and began to pull out riding gear.
It occurred to him in that instant that she intended to ride him. He began to anticipate the feeling of her weight against his back, her body sliding against his with only a saddle to separate them. He let out a pleased sound and pounded a patch of dirt with his newly scrubbed hoofs.

She tossed a blanket across his back and began to attack all matter of leather straps to his body. Again she seemed impressed by his patience and willingness to accept the treatment.
“I suppose this will be the true test of whether or not you’ve been tamed,” she laughed as she strapped on a helmet and mounted him.

The pressure of the saddle was strangely uncomfortable and he flicked his tail in agitation as it made the skin of his back crawl with unfamiliarity. Elizabeth mounting him was not what he expected either. She wasn’t heavy exactly, more she created a tension against a spine he wasn’t properly used to using to support his own weight. He shuffled from foot to foot and seethed when her sharp heels dug against his ribs.

Without thinking or reasoning he lurched back and sent her toppling to the ground. Fearful that he had hurt her he tried to run away, but the ropes she hadn’t yet untied gagged him and sent him stumbling backward.

“Whoa!” He heard her voice and quickly realized she hadn’t been damaged. She came around and gripped at his reigns, hushed him with her soothing tone.
“I guess you are a bit wild after all,” she teased as she calmly stroked his muzzle. “You’re going to need some training before you’re ready for racing.”

That was how it began. From that moment Elizabeth began to invest all her time in training Rupert how to carry her weight, how to be steady when she rode him. It was odd to him. He was human on the inside, but her efforts calmed him, made the unreasonable fears in him quell and the best of it was he got to spend as much time with her as he wanted.
By the third day she was riding him, pulling on reigns and giving orders he was only just adjusting to. Though, he began to anticipate the tugs of direction, the press of her heels to his sides to urge him forward, and her vague sounds that instructed him on how fast to go. In three days Rupert managed to lose himself in the ecstasy of being a stallion. He was groomed and fed and both Elizabeth and her strange maid would tend to him daily. Every ounce of him grew to favor the pampering over the dull and isolated lifestyle he’d lead for much of his life. Thoughts of the money hidden in his shabby apartment were slowly pushed to the back of his mind.

More than anything he began to grow a passion for Elizabeth he could not explain. There had always been lust, but now when he looked at her he was beginning to see something more, something determined and powerful and held his reigns like a queen with a scepter. He began to respect her.

It wasn’t until the fifth day, when Elizabeth didn’t arrive for his feeding that he began to remember his other life. The maid came to him, she was like a figment from a dream and yet, she contained that bit of reality that grounded him and continued to remind him that he was human on the inside.

“She’s gone out of town for next few days,” the maid informed him as she opened his stable. “She’s surveying the competition for this year. I know she hopes to have you ready for this season’s racing.”

Rupert shook his head, throwing his mane expertly over his large shoulders.
She laughed, “Don’t worry! You’ll do fine. You have something the others don’t; you know what she needs from you. Although, if you’re going to take a break, I’d suggest you do it while she’s away.”

It all came back then, the money, the crime, Clint. He made a sound low in his throat and dashed off away from the farm. The girl watched him run away and smiled to herself. “See you when you come back!”


Rupert found the woods faster without having to pace his step with Elizabeth’s, yet it still took him until near-nightfall. He found the oak where his adventure had started and decided to shed the pelt there. As before the moonlight kissed the fur and he had to focus, honestly had to consider what is was to be a man again. The flesh began to part and it almost stung, like having a bandage pulled away agonizingly slowly. He made his way out of the pelt and fumbled with his fingers before he recalled the motions to fold the skin and stuff it into the hole of the tree. He pushed the boulder back in place and fell slump against the bark side of his hiding place.

His body felt strange and small, foreign to him now. He’d grown more attached to the pelt then he might have expected. He studied his fingers, parted them slowly to get the muscles moving again. He felt tense and sore all over from his days of labor. He found his human body had benefited from the exercise and food. He looked healthy. He flexed his toes against the dirt floor of the forest and found himself both grateful and longing. “Maybe I could get used to being both,” Rupert said and his tongue felt weighty in his mouth.

It was hard to stand at first. He stumbled from side to side as he tried to steady himself on two legs. His core seemed to shift along his center of balance. He gripped at the tree for support. He took the ground step by step until the feeling was natural to him again. When he collected himself and sure that he could be the man he’d always been, he ventured toward home. Although, he had no idea what would happen when he arrived.


The phone was manic, ringing off the hook the moment he arrived home and Rupert suspected it had been singing the same tune quite often over the past few days. He tried not to shudder at the confinement of his apartment and instead lifted the phone and casually said, “Hello?”
There was stunned silence on the other end before a booming voice, “Hello? All you have for me is hello? Where have you been for five days, boy!”

“Out of town,” Rupert replied honestly. “I met a girl.”

“A girl! Have you got half of a wit in your brain, Rupe? Is it hard to make a simple call? I thought you were dead.” Then, with an almost threatening tone Clint said, “Or worse. What was I supposed to think?”

“Sorry Clint,” Rupert said with genuine apology. He’d nearly forgotten the man in his frivolous magical enchantment. “She doesn’t have a phone. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“Didn’t think I’d mind? Didn’t think I’d mind.” Silence again. “Forget it. You’re back now. We’ll be heading out soon. I know where we’re going and I know where we’ll be stopping on the way. Make sure you don’t disappear when we plan to go. Got me, Rupert?”

“I got you,” Rupert said nervously. He began to fiddle anxiously with the phone cord. It tangled around his thin wrist as he dared to venture, “But I was thinking we could wait a little longer to leave. Like, it’s only been a little while. The police are still investigating. If we just up and leave won’t it look a little suspicious?”

Clint was almost radiating irritation through the phone. “The plan has been made, Rupe. You agreed. Now, you’re not going to go sideways for some girl are you?”

Rupert let a breath of air heave out of his nostrils. His fingers tensed against the phone cord. “Of course not, Clint. It was just a concern I thought up.”

“Well,” Clint said firmly, “Stop thinking.” Then the click of rejection filled Rupert’s ears and he was left alone in his shambled apartment with his forbidden ideals.