SUNSET GOES HOME 

Omar was walking down the road towards the Jayhill Stud Farm on his monthly visit to check on Bashir. He had taken quite a liking to the stallion ever since Master Jalal Al Din had told him to go fetch him from the park where Sayyid and Amah had left him grazing. Everything was bright and beautiful as he strolled along with the birds singing and the fresh spring flowers smiling at the sun...  

 

Suddenly Omar heard a noise and saw a black van down the road coming from the opposite direction. He knew it was the stud farm's genetic engineering program vehicle which he had often seen before and wondered why it was being driven so fast and furiously early that spring morning. Despite its speed, he was able to see that it was Doctor Jeffrey Marks, the program director at the wheel. Just as the van went racing by, Omar turned around to look and noticed there was a piece of black plastic bag hanging out, caught between the closed rear doors.

 

Not knowing what was going on, he continued walking towards the stables, and as he was getting nearer he heard a woman's voice shouting orders. He recognized that voice. It was Doctor Cheryl Stevenson, Dr. Marks' direct assistant.

 

"Tom! Fred! Go get the others and search the grounds thoroughly! She must not get away! She's the only evidence I have to tell the world what's happened here! I'm calling CNN right now! It's the only way to have that bastard, Marks, brought to justice!"

 

Omar wondered who "she" might be, but since it was none of his business, he continued walking toward the regular stables to bring his good friend Bashir a little sugar cube for a treat. But as he neared the stallion's stall he heard violent stomping and snorting. The horse was clearly quite upset. Omar opened the door to the stall and in spite of his initial calming words, Bashir bounded out past him heading for the nearby patch of forest! Omar followed, gasping and panting, to the tree line where sobbing and whinnying sounds reached his ears. Following the sounds, he slipped forward through the trees and stumbled upon a most remarkable sight! Before him stood an impossible creature! With a chestnut coat, milky white skin, strikingly beautiful fiery red, long hair, and a matching tail; it was half-woman/half-mare! The stallion was nuzzling her, nickering gently, as if to comfort her in her distress.

 

"So this is the 'she' Dr. Stevenson was talking about!" Omar unconsciously blurted aloud. At his words the creature squealed and turned around, with ears laid back and bared teeth, ready to attack the intruder, but the stallion prevented her from harming his friend. Evidently he communicated with her in equine language that this human could be trusted. "Hmmm," he thought, "How come I've been to the farm to see Bashir so many times and never saw her before? This must be a top secret project!"

 

The creature addressed Omar between sobs: "Oh, please, help me! Dr. Marks killed my father Jack, and wanted to kill me too, but I reared and kicked him and got away! You've got to hide me somewhere, please! They're going to kill me!

 

Omar's mind raced. He had grown up around here and what did he know about the surrounding area? Ah! He remembered a place at the opposite side of the forest where he would go when he needed to be alone when he was a boy. "I know the perfect place! Hurry! Come with me!"

 

And so they hastened, yet carefully, all the while listening for sounds of pursuit, but the search seemed to be going on in another area for the time being. In a short while they reached a place where the forest ended at the base of a mountain, and hidden behind a pile of fallen rocks covered by vines and weeds they came to the mouth of a cave.

 

"Quick! Get in and hide until I return!" said Omar. "I'm going back to cover our tracks. Please, what is your name?"

 

"Sunset", she gently sobbed.

 

"Ok, Sunset," he said urgently, "tell Bashir that he must go back to the stables immediately, as if nothing is going on, just minding his horse business as usual. After I cover our tracks, I'm going to get help from a very wise man."

 

Sunset blinked her large, green, sad eyes at Omar and sighed. "Please hurry! I am afraid!"

 

Bashir left, Omar covered their tracks as best he could, and gained the road. Fortunately, he was able to hitch a ride from a farmer going into town. As soon as they arrived he thanked him, ran full speed to the madrassah, and burst into Master Jalal's study.

 

"Master! It's Sunset! They killed her father Jack and they're going to kill her, too! We've got to help! She's hiding in a cave at the base of the mountain across the forest next to the stud farm! We've got to hurry!"

 

"Whoa, young man!! There's still about 7 hours left until sunset!" quipped Jalal. Then, more seriously, "Jack is not dead. I'll take care of him later. Anyway, I knew it would eventually come to this. I heard your thoughts while you were on the way here, so I got dressed and packed. Let's go!"

 

Omar marveled at his teacher's unflappability. He always anticipated things, was always prepared, always knew what had to be done, and didn't hesitate to do it. And as Master Jalal was a man of many other talents besides clairvoyance, (Omar wondered many a time why he never seemed to get any older...), they climbed into his car and drove off towards the stud farm. On the way a CNN truck overtook and passed them on the road. Omar was dismayed.

 

"Don't worry. They haven't found her yet, but lest we lead them to her, we must go the roundabout way and approach the cave from the other side of the mountain," said Master Jalal, bearing to the right at the fork in the road. When the Master reached the other side of the mountain, he drove the car into the brush to hide it. They got out and began circling around the mountain's base to reach the cave, remaining hidden by the thick vegetation.

They soon arrived at the mouth of the cave and Omar called softly so as to not startle Sunset. As soon as she heard the young man's soothing tone she turned. Her lovely green eyes were cherry red from crying. Master Jalal followed Omar into the cave.

 

"Hello, Sunset. I am Jalal and you've already met my assistant Omar," he began. "Your father is not dead." At this news Sunset was overjoyed!

 

The Master went on, "He's in the hospital recovering and you will be reunited later. But let us deal with your immediate and very urgent predicament." As he said these words he pulled out a carved sandalwood box from his tunic, opened it, and took out a cylindrical, golden object covered with numbers and symbols, attached to a cord that he hung around his neck.

 

Then he said, 'This is a 'talisman' that can take us to another time and place. I know you are lonely and you can't possibly feel otherwise, as you are the only member of your kind alive on this planet at present. But it won't do to have you captured and turned into a public spectacle! Your people were more numerous many centuries ago in a land called Thessaly. I can take you there if you are willing to go... And if you want to stay, I can return with Jack."

 

"But, Master!" Omar interrupted. "What about the Centauromachy?"

 

"To paraphrase a timeless adage, don't believe everything you read, and only half of what you see!" was the Master's reply. "Sure Ovid gave the centaurs bad press! He was writing history according to the victors and was just demonizing 'the enemy'. Now, it is true that particular herd was quite rowdy, but I was referring to my illustrious colleague Kheiron." Omar gave thought to that for a few minutes while Master Jalal kindly addressed Sunset in his deep baritone voice, "My dear...you do have to make a decision right now...Your pursuers are liable to stumble upon this place any minute..."

 

"I will go! I have no other choice!" sobbed Sunset.

 

As they exited the cave in preparation for the journey, the approaching search party got a glimpse of them through the trees. "There she is!" shouted Tom, and they all began to move forward in rapid pursuit. First among them was the CNN camerawoman who, despite all the mayhem, managed to get a clear shot of the strange trio: an old man in flowing Middle Eastern style robes, a young man in Western clothes, and a half-woman/half-mare creature! The news reporter followed closely behind frantically giving a play-by-play description of the scene.

 

Without further delay Master Jalal requested permission of Sunset for him and Omar to mount her. Everyone and everything that was to embark on this journey through time must be physically touching, so as to not be left behind. Then he turned the talisman's wheel to the left and said the magic words: "ACTIVATE TIME TRAVEL PROGRAM TELEPORTING TO LONGITUDE 39º30'0" LATITUDE 22º0'0"!" There was a rushing wind, a stomach wrenching sensation for the time travelers, and just then the entire search party, CNN crew, and all the viewers nationwide witnessed them disappear into thin air before their very eyes!

 

A disgruntled Dr. Stevenson was the first to shatter their astonished silence, "There goes my evidence!"

 

Master Jalal had selected Thessaly, 1500 BCE, where the travelers materialized a couple of stadia from Mt. Pelion. Having no experience with time travel, Omar and Sunset required a moment of rest to quiet their nauseous stomachs and then they began their ascent towards the forested hills.

 

Along the way, Jalal told Sunset a little about Kheiron and his family: "Master Kheiron is a skilled hunter, a healer, and an accomplished musician, among other things. He is renowned for his wisdom; so much so, that great heroes like Hercules and Achilles have been his students and friends. He and his dam Khariclo have three fillies and a stallion. I am sure he will be able to help you."  

 

They finally came to the entrance of Kheiron's cave. There were sentinels, and being somewhat wary of humans after the fracas with the Lapithae, they immediately surrounded the party and sent for their Master.

 Master Kheiron the centaur arrived shortly with his dam and their three centaur fillies: Melanhippe, Endeis, and Ocyrhoe. Melanhippe was a beautiful palomino with blonde hair. Endeis had a black coat and jet black hair, and Ocyrhoe was a gorgeous, lightly dappled grey. Sunset was thrilled to see others like herself! She was also astounded at the natural beauty of the place. The cave was very large; enough to accommodate Kheiron's entire clan. The ceiling was very high and at the far end, an underground stream gently debouched from the heights into a breathtaking waterfall that formed an "indoor" lake. The cave walls were decorated with tapestries and niches holding exquisite urns, all in what would be later called the Late Helladic style. Even the everyday pots and utensils were gracefully made and tastefully decorated! Sunset's smile wordlessly proclaimed her delight. 

As soon as Kheiron saw his colleague Jalal they greeted each other effusively. It had been such a long time! When Master Jalal introduced Sunset and Omar there was no language barrier. Having visited this place and time before, Jalal was well acquainted with the Ancient Greek language, and of course, Sunset communicated in "equinese". Jalal had schooled Omar in the Classics, but he had to retune his ear to the centaurs' pronunciation. However, he did have enough horse sense to understand the general gist of things! Just then Kheiron's son Karystos and his hunting party arrived with a number of large deer. That evening Master Kheiron and his people proceeded to show their guests true centaur hospitality with a full-fledged banquet!

 

While the celebration was taking place the two masters retired to a spot under a large chestnut tree and Jalal explained about Sunset. Centaurs had disappeared from the face of the Earth thousands of centuries before she was born and there was no place for her in the time in which she had been living. At this, Kheiron interrupted the banquet and called a town meeting to propose that Sunset be received into the clan as a new member. The vote was unanimous in her favor, the meeting was adjourned, and the banquet went on. But that was not all... Sunset and Karystos fell in love at first sight!

That same week Master Jalal returned to the madrassah, located Jack at the hospital, and brought him to Kheiron's cave. The marriage ceremony was held two days later with Jack's whole-hearted approval.

 

Sunset was home at last!

     

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