Disclaimer: Property of Réné Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.
Three days after Phyllis' first visit to the village, Asterix was nearing the forest that surrounded his home village, accompanied by two animals. Well, maybe this was a bit of an overstatement. If one wanted to put things correctly, he was accompanied by one, while another was reluctantly following him.
Yes, he succeeded in his mission. Soon he would have Phyllis' horse back with her. Though it remained to be seen what kind of effect Mesmerons' illusions would have, and if she would be able to break through it. He was not really worried about that. The horse had reacted so strongly on the piece of clothing carrying Phyllis' scent, it seemed impossible to him that they would not be stronger than any kind of illusion placed upon them.
But whether their reunion would cause much joy for Phyllis, was something he did worry about. Cause Goliath was not in good shape. She was skinny, her fur was matted and her long black manes tangled. To make things worse, she had several old cuts across the head, and one of her hind legs was clearly swollen. She was reflecting the physical state of her owner, but while Phyllis looked simply under the weather, Goliath was looking positively dreadful. Another thing that reminded him of Phyllis was the horse's temper. Had he not had Phyllis shirt, It might well have been impossible to get the horse to go with him. Sure, he could have used the magic potion to force her, but that would only have worsened her state. It was impossible to give her any sort of care, she tried to bite or kick when he got close. He had taken one measurement though, and that was tricking her into drinking some magic potion. It had been quite a risk, considering her foul temper, but she was limping badly, causing them to advance slowly. The magic potion bettered her condition, if only temporary. He doubted Phyllis would be glad he was getting the horse to run with an injured leg, but as far as he knew, the magic potion did have at least some basic curing effects.
That was not his motivation though. He was worried. Over the village, over Obelix and the rest of his friends. He had left them in quite a situation, and his actions could soon bring them in even more danger. So he wanted to return as fast as possible.
The adventure had basically gone as predicted, except for Goliath less than cheerful state. But she had not been treated badly. Most of the injuries she had, she brought on herself.
He had found Philip, and had pretended to be interested in buying a horse, but also in the entire establishment, which was basically a riding school. This had granted him a tour around. He had not really found a horse that fitted the description he got from Bonny, until they crossed a stable where a small horse was lurking in the corner. Asterix had gone closer, saying something about how the horse was more or less a good size for him, and if Philip had not pulled him back, he would probably have been one finger less right now. But the extremely vile pony did fit Bonny's description, and any doubt he still had was taken away by Philip, who was eager to explain why he has such an ill-behaving horse in his stables. A favor to a very good friend who had come to pass.
According to Philip, he had been more or less able to interact normal with the horse when Phyllis was around, but now he had to watch himself very carefully just to keep her fed and in a clean stable. But to his credit, the stable did look just as clean as the others. Goliath's wounds were caused by kicking the wands of the stable every time someone came close, and from some nervous ticks she was displaying. It was quite unnerving. It also made his plan to simply buy her impossible. It would have been totally unrealistic, and Phillip would have not accept it anyway. The man was really quite shaken by Phyllis 'death'. Asterix made a mental note to tell her about it. He had been on the verge of telling Philip she was alive. It might have made it easier to get Goliath with him. Asterix had no doubt Philip would want to help Phyllis, but he was even more sure Phyllis would not want him to endanger the man. So Asterix told him nothing, and he had returned at night to simply steal Goliath. Well….he had brought the shirt, opened the box, and at first, the skinny horse had just stormed out. He was just about to pursue her with the help of the magic potion, when he had noticed that she had come back, drawn to the piece of scented clothing like a moth to a torch.
It was lucky that the scent in Phyllis clothing was quite strong. A spicy herbal scent, softened by lavender and jasmine. And more faintly, the undertone of leaves and moist ground. She had obviously been camping outdoors for quite some time. He was surprised by how detailed his analysis of the scent was, since he did not have a particular talent for it at all. But it seemed as if the piece of clothing was as intense as the woman that wore it. Maybe it was her magic lingering on them. On a less spiritual note, he had just had three days of nothing else to do than to analyze a smell and walk.
The horse was no company, and Dogmatix was nice as always, but not as cheerful as normal, obviously missing his much larger friend. The animals kind of stuck together. Goliath reserved her bad temper solely for him, she behaved quite normal towards the little dog. It made him feel quite solitaire.
It was good to see the village looking quite normal as they got to the edge of the forest. Smoke was coming from some chimneys. The days were still quite warm, but the nights indicated summer was definitely gone now. There were no guards at the village gates, which did not surprise or worry him. He knew they had been ordered to be on the look from behind the village walls. What he did find strange was that he had not encountered the petite woman that had been the cause of his departure a good week earlier. The note made clear what he was planning. He had expected her to meet them in the forest already. He had no idea what to expect. Would she be happy? Would she be angry over the less than radiant state of her best friend? He had expected her to stop him. Now she didn't, what was he to do? It was probably best to get Goliath inside the village, and have her tended by their druid and others. But he wasn't sure if she would be willing to follow him into the village, with people surrounding her. The horse seemed to loathe anything human.
But Dogmatix had sensed home a while back, increasing his pace as he neared the village, and Goliath had picked up speed as well, seemingly determined to reach the village as well. Once they actually spotted it, they rushed forward, leaving Asterix behind. He could hear Obelix exclaim "Dogmatix!" long before he actually saw him, and he hurried a little, knowing his friend would become worried if he was not with the little dog.
He caught up with Goliath, who had come to halt a good ten meters behind the gates. Obelix was holding Dogmatix, and Asterix was about to walk up to him when Obelix looked behind him. Asterix followed his stare, and to his astonishment, saw Phyllis standing a few meters behind him, seemingly frozen. He quickly looked to the other villagers, with Manilla and Getafix among them. They had come out to greet him, but had stopped in their tracks as well. Manilla looked at Phyllis with more calculation than surprise, but the rest seemed completely surprised at seeing her. She had obviously not introduced herself to anyone but Obelix, whose lack of surprise indicated that he knew she was in the village.
Phyllis herself did not look at anyone. In fact, he was pretty sure she had not seen anyone but the horse next to him. Her expression was hard to read, but she seemed to have difficulty figuring something out. There was no sign of recognition in her eyes, and something else seemed off to him. As he looked back to the small horse, he saw that it was looking at Phyllis as well, not with the usual disdain or antipathy she had reserved for any person they had encountered on their journey. But though she lacked that animosity, she did not step closer, scraping one hoof in a nervous gesture. It was as if the horse did not dare to approach. And when he looked back to Phyllis, he realized what was off. She was gazing, not directly at Goliath, but at a point almost half a meter above her. He even looked to see what she was staring at, but he saw nothing.
Slowly, her shoulders slumped. She seemed to shrink a little, eyes turning deflated. She was turning them from the horse and briefly caught his eye. He realized she was disappointed. An emotion he could not understand at all, since there was not a single doubt that this was Goliath. Or was there? No, there wasn't. He could see the recognition in the horse's gestures, who lowered her head in a gesture of unhappiness as her human friend started to walk away from her. Instinctively, he reached out to touch her neck in a gesture of comfort. Before he touched her, the horses head shot back up again, ears against her head, eyes flashing. She neighed indignantly, clearly warning him not to try to touch her again.
Phyllis had stopped dead in her tracks, turning around sharply and her eyes were back on them, piercing through him, and this time they did show recognition. Recognition, and complete and utter disbelief. She seemed to have trouble focusing, confusion apparent as she approached Goliath cautiously. She stopped about five steps away, seemingly at a loss of what to do next. Asterix had no idea what exactly was going on, but he had a feeling he should not interrupt it, and he stepped back as quietly as he could. Goliath moved forward a little, nostrils wide, looking apprehensive and unsure. She was in touching range of the black haired-girl, whose eyes were still fixed above the horse's head, looking at a point in the air as if hypnotized by it.
Slowly, she extended her hand as if to touch the horse's head, but she only stopped at a point just above Goliath's ears. She frowned as nothing happened, and after a while, she closed her eyes, seemingly concentrating very hard. Then she lowered her hand, making it hover just in front of Goliath's nose. She stood deadly still, but Asterix saw that her hand was trembling. And then, Goliath moved forward just inches, her nose touching the trembling hand.
Asterix could have sworn he actually heard the spell break. A shiver ran over Phyllis as she opened her eyes, locking soft green with warm brown as she focused on her horse's face. And this time, there was recognition and shock on her face. For another few seconds they stood like this, frozen. Then Phyllis moved forward and threw her arms around the horses'neck. And instead of recoiling, instead of putting her ears in her neck, Goliath's ears moved forward, while she lowered her head, rubbing it along the slender back of the young woman that seemed cling onto her for dear life.
Phyllis made no sound or did not move. She had been trembling at first, but this had ebbed away quickly. The only sign of emotion, as Asterix could see when he approached them a little, were the white knuckles of her hands, laced through the black manes that she had captured in her fists. He had to tell her he had given the horse a taste of magic potion, since he could not expect to horse to know how strong it was right now. But his gaze was fixed on her fists, which seemed to become whiter and whiter. It took him a while to realize they were glowing, but as he did, he recognized the faint blue light that Obelix had described. It grew brighter and brighter, and Phyllis stepped away now, her face quite expressionless, but her eyes intense, as she placed her hands on the horses' face. She stared at the damaged skin, the healing cuts, and the tangled fur without surprise, but her hands were glowing with a brightness that made them almost invisible. Yet the blue light was not blinding at all. Slowly she started moving her hands across the horses head. Goliath leant into her touch, as if relishing the stroking hands. For the next ten minutes, Phyllis kept touching Goliath, running her hands over her back and legs, resting longer on the one that had been injured. It had already been healing on their way to the village, but it had still not looked the same as the other hind leg.
The cuts and tangles did not quite disappear, but they seemed to become less sharp. More impressive even was how Goliaths' entire composure changed. The tense muscles in her neck relaxed, her lip slightly lowered, and she almost looked drowsy. Which was no surprise if you counted how she had never once slackened during their trip. Now she seemed relaxed.
Finally Phyllis stepped back to observe her horse once more, her hands still touching the head. Goliath seemed to revive a little. And when Phyllis turned to look at Asterix, he had not time to say anything before Goliath decided to give her a playful nudge, which hit her with the force of a menhir launched by their maker.