Several weeks passed in this manner, and everything seemed to go just fine. Our relationship was slowly evolving, though still in its early stages without a ton of physical intimacy. That is not to say that it was strictly platonic by any means, but neither of us was in a huge hurry. Sam and I went for our walks, sometimes accompanied by Sarah, and everything seemed to be fine. Several times, when we got to the meadow by the log cabin in the sanctuary, I took off the lead rope when no one was around, and Sam went galloping across the grassy expanse with his tail held high flowing like a flag out behind him. Several times, we played tag in the field, and more than once, he got down after his run and rolled on the grass, looking at me comically from his upside-down position before rolling back over.

It was finally July, and one warm, Sunday afternoon, we were lazing around the meadow. After rolling, he didn’t get up right away, so I went over to sit by him on the sun-warmed grass. The cabin was not being used for an event, as it often was, so no one was around. Feeling well enough at ease with Sam by now, I leaned back against his coppery side and squinted up at the sun. He snorted but made no move to get up or dislodge me, so I stayed resting against his side. It was peaceful there with the buzz of insects in the background, and the hazy blue sky above hinting at rain later in the evening.

We had been sitting there for a while when suddenly Sam turned to look at the path, and I saw a figure trudging across the grass towards us. I sat up and clipped the lead rope back onto the halter as Sam lunged to his feet. The man stopped about twenty feet from us and gazed at us with pure curiosity.

“Not often one sees a more comfortable pair,” he said congenially. “Didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“It’s alright,” I said, brushing off my jeans with one hand. Sam stood very still, eyeing the man uncomfortably.

The man moved a few feet closer within easy speaking range.

“Name’s Jarrett,” he said. “I live nearby. You come here often?”

“Often enough,” I said warily. “It’s quiet here.”

“It is that,” he acknowledged. “He’s pretty tame, your boy there. Had him long?”

“A few years,” I said. “Got him from a friend of mine who couldn’t get him the exercise he needed.”

“You aren’t riding him?”

“No,” I said. “We just started to come here to walk mostly. Too many people around a lot of the time. I’m worried they might spook him, so we’re just getting used to the trails first.”

“But you let him off the lead to run free?” asked Jarrett. “You must trust him a lot.”

“How long have you been watching us?” I asked, feeling suddenly very suspicious.

“A little while. I was walking up the trail, and I saw him running. At first, I thought he’d gotten away from you, but then I saw that you two were playing. I waited until he had calmed down, as I didn’t want to spook him. He’s very good off the lead.”

“When we are alone, yes,” I said tersely.

“Ah,” replied Jarrett. “Well, I will just leave you to your exercise, then. Maybe I’ll see you again?”

He turned, and walked back up the grass towards the path he had just left. Sam and I watched him go, and then took the path in the other direction back towards the gate. We jogged quickly, knowing that the direction that Jarrett had taken went back around and would meet up at the gate as well. Our part of the path was shorter, however, and we went as fast as I could go. I could sense Sam’s growing nervousness as he trotted beside me, and as we reached one of the cross trails, he stopped next to a fallen tree trunk, and looked at it pointedly, then back at me. He shook his head impatiently at me when I hesitated, and then the light went on in my head as I realized what he wanted me to do.

Giving myself no time to think, I climbed up onto the tree and slid a leg over his back, holding on to the lead and a chunk of his mane. His back was slippery, but I gripped as hard as I could with my legs as Sam began to move at a very swift trot up the hill that led back to the gate. He shook his head and broke into a slow canter as I clung onto him for dear life. It would have been exhilarating if not for the fact it was so terrifying as well.

In a few short minutes, we were back at the crossroads. I slid off Sam’s back, and we slipped into the rhododendrons to the little glade hidden in the woods. Sam changed back and dressed quickly, and then we hid among the trees where we could see the trail to wait. Not long after we got settled, Jarrett came along the trail to the crossroads. He stopped and looked down the way we had come, checked his watch, and then slipped half into the bushes, watching the trail for about ten more minutes. Neither Sam nor I dared even breathe hard. Finally, Jarrett shook his head and went down the trail towards where we had come from. Had we been walking, we would surely have met him again.

We waited until he was well out of sight, then left to quickly go to our car. We said nothing as we drove, heading by silent consent to my apartment. We parked and went inside swiftly. Sarah was sitting on the couch reading something on her laptop when we got there, and looked up to see our strained faces.

“What happened?” she asked, putting the computer down and standing.

“Who was that?” I asked Sam.

“I’m not sure,” said Sam. “I am hoping he is just a curious local, but I am going to make a phone call. Excuse me.”

He took out his cell phone and dialed a number. He turned and walked away into the kitchen, closing the door behind him.

Sarah looked at me, eyebrows raised and a stunned expression on her face.

“We met someone in the sanctuary. We had been playing by the cabin, and Sam had lain down on the grass. I was leaning on him and this man appeared from nowhere, asking about Sam. We left and headed back to the gate as fast as we could. I mean, it was crazy; Sam even made me ride him part of the way.”

Sarah sat straight up and looked at me tightly.

“He made you ride him?” she asked. “I thought that was a strict no go.”

“Apparently he felt strongly enough that he broke that rule,” I said. “It was terrifying. Are all horses that slippery?”

“I wouldn’t know,” said Sarah. “How’d you stay on?”

“Clung to his mane and clutched him as tightly as I could,” I said. “The creepy thing is that the guy, he said his name was Jarrett, he got up to where we usually stop for Sam to change, and he waited there. I mean, it is the only path out, but it was just odd. He stayed there a while too, and then headed down our back trail. It was like he wanted to find us again.”

“Could he just be a horse nut?” asked Sarah.

“Maybe, but if it was just a random encounter, why wait for us there? And he must have hurried because that trail is the longer path back. If we hadn’t run, he would have been waiting for us. He was sort of hiding too. Like he was going to wait to see what we did and follow us.”

Sam came out of the kitchen, his face tight and his expression serious.

“I just got off the phone with my Uncle Joe who is in charge of looking into reports of people looking for clans like ours. He has no record of this Jarrett, but there are reports of a new group that has been in the Boston area, asking questions and checking out local towns. He’s going to get in touch with some contacts out here and see what he can uncover. We’ll need to lay low for a little while and see what information he can dig up.”

“Geez,” said Sarah. “What’s this guy look like?”

“Average. Brown hair. The type impossible to pick out in a crowd,” said Sam.

“There are other places we can go,” I said. “There are plenty of parks around that we could go to. Riding trails, too.”

“Except I don’t generally carry riders,” said Sam. “Today was a complete exception.”

“Well, could you?” asked Sarah.

“Could I?” asked Sam and paused, looking thoughtful. “You know, Joe said the same thing, that it might be good for camouflage. We don’t usually, except those teams who go in for sports. These hunters know that we hate tack and won’t wear it. The idea of wearing tack is…odd and unnatural to us. And it’s expensive…”

He trailed off and looked at me thoughtfully, then at Sarah.

“Are you two up for a short road trip to Connecticut?” he asked.

Sarah and I exchanged glances, then looked back at Sam.

“What do you have in mind?” I asked.

“I have an aunt,” he said. “She’s clan but human. Not all children are born with the ability to change. Some move, some stay. Really, they are fully accepted, but many feel like they don’t fully belong. Her name is Meredith, and she runs a riding school outside of Bristol. What do you say I give her a call, and we go take a visit if she’s free?”

“I’m game,” said Sarah. “Tim is out of town for the weekend, and I am at odds tomorrow anyway. Let me feed Princess Sorna her Fancy Feast, and then we can go. Her dry food will hold up over night.”

Sam got on the phone again, but this time stayed in the room. He beamed at the voice that echoed over the phone and made a few short comments as he listened to his aunt. When he mentioned coming for a visit, there was an audible exclamation that even I could hear but when he told her that he’d have company, there was just as noticeable a silence. He listened to the earpiece for a long moment, and then said softly, “They already do.” There seemed to be another pause, and then Sam launched into a very short version of the last few weeks made up of five sentences. “I got caught out. They followed. Yes, I trust them. We think someone knows. Riding.”

Sam grinned suddenly and exchanged glances with me.

“Yes, we’ll be down tonight,” he said. “See you soon.”

He hung up his phone and looked at me with mock seriousness.

“Be prepared,” he said. “You are going to be grilled tonight within an inch of your life.”

“That bad?” I asked.

“You have no idea,” he said impishly. “My mother is visiting.”

The ride to Connecticut took about two hours, and we had a fun ride down alternately singing and asking Sam about his mother. He would only say that she was very nice, very loving, and totally intimidating. He did tell us not to worry, however, as it would do none of us any good. If I wanted to be accepted by his family, his mother would probably be the hardest to win over. She was the matriarch of the family, something akin to the lead mare in the herd, and her word was law. She was also very fair-minded, and as long as she understood that we had what was best in mind for Sam, she would back us completely.

This did not stop either Sarah or me from worrying, however, and we tried very hard to put the upcoming visit from out minds. The day was too lovely to be worried about anyway, and before long, we were in Bristol. Sam drove confidently, apparently having gone this way many times before, and when we reached the ranch, we found ourselves immediately engulfed by children, dogs, and several adults all at once.

Sam took it all in stride, introducing us to all of his teenaged cousins, his Aunt Meredith, Uncle Peter, and finally, his mother, Susan. She was last to join the group, choosing to make a delayed entrance rather than to embrace the chaos when we first arrived. I was so overwhelmed by that point that when she came up and shook my hand, it was all I could do to say hi. She must have seen the expression on my face, for she grinned, looking very much like her son in that moment, and we basically accepted each other then and there.

“So you are Laura,” she said. “Sam hasn’t told us much, just that he met a girl and that you found out in the craziest way possible. And this must be Sarah. Thank you for being such a good friend to my son. We’ve worried about him being so far away. It is good that he has friends like you. Come inside, dinner will be ready soon.”

We went into the kitchen of an old-style farmhouse and settled in to talk with Sam’s family. The younger cousins soon evaporated, and we answered a ton of questions seemingly at random, though I had a shrewd notion that they were anything but. Sarah and I talked about our jobs, our friends, our families, and our friendship with Sam. During the conversation, Sam grabbed my hand and held it tightly, giving me little squeezes of reassurance whenever I seemed to tense up over a question. His mother noticed, I think, and seemed to ease back a little bit, bringing the line of inquiry around to the man we had met that morning.

We gave her every little detail, and Sam mentioned something I had not noticed. The man had not walked up the path very far. He had only come onto the path when Sam first noticed him. He had apparently been hidden there, watching us and possibly anticipating our arrival. Sam’s hearing was much better than mine, and he said he would have heard him coming long before then if he had been on the path the whole time.

Susan and Meredith exchanged worried glances.

“If he knew where to find you,” said Susan, “then he has been watching you for longer than you know. Was there a newspaper story about your uncontrolled transformation?”

Sarah, Sam, and I looked at each other with growing alarm.

“Yes,” said Sarah. “It was in the Andover Townsman and the Lawrence Eagle Tribune.”

“This is the sort of article these groups look out for,” said Meredith, exchanging glances with Peter. “They scan the news daily for horse-related articles. They are very patient and very persistent.”

“What do we do?” asked Sarah.

“Lay low for now,” said Susan. “You mentioned riding, yes?”

At Sam’s shrug, she frowned a little, but nodded.

“It is one solution, that is true,” she said. “Sarah, you can’t ride, correct? How are you going to learn?”

“I’m not sure?” I said. “I figured I might watch some videos…”

Meredith sighed exasperatedly.

“Videos do not a good rider make,” she stated firmly. “And while I’m sure neither you nor my nephew can afford to take a few weeks off to learn here, I can and will go there, however. If you can put me up and feed me, Sam, I will come up and teach all three if you, if that is what you want. My friend Jo lives at an old farm up that way in Wilmington. She has a back pasture we could probably use without raising too many questions, and it has a private road running behind it. I’ll just tell her you are riding over for the practice. Think that might do?”

“Without a doubt,” said Sam. “That will be perfect.”

“I am not sure about riding,” said Sarah shaking her head. “Regular horses make me nervous.”

“But you’re okay with Sam?” smiled Meredith. “Fair enough, though I would still like to include you as much as possible. Maybe we can get you over that fear in time. I’ll bring one of my mares along. She’s pretty calm. Jo’s got a barn with a few useable stalls. Fáilte is a pretty easy horse to deal with. She’s a Connemara pony, big for her breed, but as gentle and easy a horse as you’ll ever see. You might find her to be an easy riding horse. They are gentle enough that little children can ride them.”

Sarah nodded, but said nothing, still looking somewhat unconvinced. Meredith turned to Sam.

“You we will have to find tack for. I’m sure you are not thrilled by that notion, but it is better that we fit you now and bring back something a trifle broken in. I have a nice lightweight English saddle that will probably do the trick, as well as a bridle with a very gentle snaffle. I know how you feel about the idea of a bit, but trust me, you won’t fool anyone without one.”

“She’s right, Sam,” said Susan. “If you are going to follow this plan, you’ll have to deal with a bit. Meredith will teach Laura the right way to use it. Personally, I think you’d do better coming home, but I also know you. You need to keep your freedom, and I think you of all your siblings can pull this off.”

Sam sighed in resignation and nodded. “I have no wish to leave Andover right now,” he said. “If this will trick them and make them look elsewhere, so be it.”

“Good,” said Meredith. “After dinner, we’ll go out to the barn and try out my ideas. It’ll be light for a good four hours still.”