Centaur Rising Read Online Free Page A

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    Robbie held out his foreshortened arms. The pony boy stuck his head between them and nuzzled Robbie’s face. They stayed that way for about a minute, and then the pony boy turned a bit unsteadily and found his way back to Agora, where he began to nurse, his tiny hands kneading her sides. The curls on his head, like wriggly red worms, were already dry, and they bounced as he drank the milk.
    Now that I’d gotten over the strangeness, a part of me was suddenly jealous. After all, I was the only one who’d wanted magic in my life, and the magic had just gone over to Robbie instead. But Robbie needed the magic more than I did, so I fought the jealous thought down and smiled. It was a crooked smile, but I let it stay pasted on my face.
    â€œWell!” Martha said. “What was that all about?”
    â€œWe’re brothers,” Robbie announced. “We even look alike.”
    â€œDon’t be dumb,” I said, smile disappearing faster than a Cheshire cat’s. “He’s a … a horse. And you … well, you aren’t.”
    â€œBut I’m half something, just like he is. Half seal , the kids said at my old school.”
    â€œThose kids were stupid, mean,” I said, “and plain ignorant.”
    â€œIgnorant is stupid,” Robbie said.
    â€œNot all the time,” I told him. “You aren’t ignorant, not by a long shot. But saying you and the pony boy look alike is stupid. You don’t look anything like him.” I took a deep breath. “He’s got red curly hair and bright blue eyes. You’re like me. Auburn hair, slate blue eyes, and…” I didn’t say we both looked like Dad, not Mom. I knew that, but how could Robbie have known? We had no photos of Dad around.
    â€œA seal ?” Martha said flatly. “Whatever gave them that silly idea?”
    I knew but didn’t say it aloud. Robbie was a thalidomide kid, and the newspapers had dubbed all thalidomide kids “seal children” because many of them had flipper arms and sometimes flipper legs. Robbie’s arms ended at the elbow, where there were only two fingers and a thumb.
    None of it was his fault, of course. It was just the result of pills Mom had been given when she was first pregnant with him. Mom hadn’t just had morning sickness; she’d thrown up all day long, hour after hour, till she cried with the pain. Dad had gotten the thalidomide pills for her when he was on tour in Toronto and Montreal since they were supposed to be a miracle cure for pregnant women who threw up a lot. And the pills did cure that. But it turned out they were a kind of poison, too, destroying parts of babies before they were ever born.
    â€œSeal children.” Once that name hit the newspapers, the parents of one of the kids at school called Robbie that, and soon the kids all did, too. It was why Mom took him out of school and taught him at home.
    Why she hadn’t any time for me.
    Why she’d hardly ever laughed these past six years.
    â€œThe pony boy knows me,” Robbie insisted. “And I know him. We’re brothers.”
    â€œYou’re my brother, not his,” I said.
    Dr. Herks had already come to and was sitting up, his eyes still a bit unfocused. Then he saw the pony boy and looked ready to pass out again.
    Mom put a hand on his arm and gave me a fierce stare. “Ari, I could use help here! Dr. Herks needs some air.”
    So I came over to help, but by then Dr. Herks had gotten up by himself. He walked a bit unsteadily out of the stall, saying, “I’m fine, Hannah, fine. Don’t fuss.”
    â€œI’m not fussing,” she said, running a hand through her hair, which made it look even more like a blond cloud. “I’m being practical. We need a vet here, and you’re it.”
    Then she turned to me. “Get your brother out of there. Agora needs time to bond with her … her …