Centaur Rising by Jane Yolen

sentences—“Kai wants more” and “No, don’t want to” were favorites. And “Ari, gimme.” The start of the second week, he was speaking in longer sentences, and in between, there were whinnies and snorts, which he directed at Agora. Occasionally he spoke to Martha that way, since she clearly understood Horse. So by the third week, we were all having actual conversations.
    Sometimes I’d just go into the stall and read aloud to Robbie and Kai. I was really into my new favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time , and Robbie had decided that he wanted to be called Charles Wallace and eat bread and jam for breakfast the entire week. Kai tried to copy him, but he spit out the jam until Mom gave him apple butter on his bread. After that, he couldn’t get enough.
    Kai didn’t understand much about the story, of course. He might have been growing fast, but he wasn’t ready for science fiction. Still, he loved hearing the words, and he repeated tesseract over and over, as if it had some kind of meaning that none of us could understand.
    Robbie made up a little song that he taught Kai:
    Tesseract folds the space,
    Keeps the magic in its place.
    Tesseract holds the key
    To a father’s memory.
    Â 
    Ali, Ali, home free.
    Ali, Ali, home free.
    Ali, Ali, home free,
    We all fall down.
    Each time Robbie sang the word tesseract , Kai would shout it out in his high-pitched voice and then giggle through the next line of the song. It kept them entertained for hours.
    I could only stand the song about five times through before I had to close the book and leave. Sometimes I took Agora out with me. She always seemed happy to go as well. I’d let her run around the paddock for a bit, and she kicked her heels up like a colt, all that old arthritis strangely gone. More magic, I suppose.
    *   *   *
    In the fourth week, a few of our riders came to work their horses or to help out in the barn, but most of the time we had the farm to ourselves. It was grand, even with the extra work, because it seemed as if the worst of our worries about Kai were over. The people at the farm were the ones who knew about Kai, but they were keeping it quiet. We became a family and not just a business with a secret at its heart.
    Mom seemed more relaxed since … well, since I couldn’t remember when. She even started baking again, cupcakes and angel food cake (my favorite) and a honey cake that proved to be the one Kai liked best. He could eat an entire cake by himself. Well, a small cake, anyway.
    *   *   *
    Once during that fourth week, on a break from the two boys, I went to help Martha with Professor Harries’ gelding. He’s not neat at either end.
    â€œIsn’t the farm wonderful, this quiet?” I said as I mucked out my side of the stall.
    â€œLull before the storm,” Martha replied tartly, a blue rubber band holding her hair straight back. She said the words as if she was biting each one in half, so I didn’t dare ask her what she meant.
    Later, I found Mom with Bor and asked her to explain what Martha said.
    â€œMartha’s a pessimist, and I’m an optimist.”
    â€œ Mom! ”
    She gave an exaggerated shrug. “Martha is sure this peace—the lull—won’t hold and that someone will tell, and that will put us in the middle of the biggest storm ever.”
    â€œDr. Herks thinks so, too.”
    â€œWell, I have more faith in people than that. Martha’s faith is only in horses. They’re simpler. It’s an easy choice.”
    â€œAnd Dr. Herks?”
    She turned back to Bor and held her hand out, and he nuzzled her palm contentedly, never pulling his lips back, just his hot breath sending her warm love. “Gerry saw a lot of awful stuff in ’Nam, and he’s dealing with it slowly.” Her voice was soft. “But he is dealing with it.”
    It turned out that Mom was right for the entire week