1. The bait
"You should definitely try and lay your hands on some of them," said James.
"I will try ... you have persuaded me," replied Sean.
They were sitting in Sean's spacious porch, overlooking the still unworked fields of his recently acquired farm. Sean was a European who had invested a part of his heritage in a farm located in a tropical area, and was now looking for ways to make it profitable. He was in love with the exuberant vegetation, with the warm climate, with the vibrant colors of the flowers and the sheer brilliance of the light. He was well read, and the idea of starting a venture with centaurs had now caught his imagination.
"Remember that they are very gullible, but can be easily irritated," James went on. "So, when you approach them, try to talk then into following you. Use the paralyzing shot only as last weapon ... and only if you are with a single animal: otherwise the others will attack you."
James was a professor of biochemistry with a knack for the wild side of his discipline. He had been working in experiments that would not be approved by his superiors, experiments to accelerate maturation, pregnancy and lactation in different sort of mammals. Now he was in a sabbatical year, and had decided to spend part of it with his friend Sean. He had read about the presence of centaurs in the area where Sean had bought his land, and now they were planning ways to catch some. They hoped it would be a profitable venture, but, even if it were not, the sheer audacity of the thing appealed to them. Since the times of the Greeks, nobody had ever approached a centaur, let alone tamed one. What was known about them came from reports by travelers and from ancient authors; James had collected all the available information, studied it, and had concluded that some hundreds of centaurs could be still alive in the tropical forest.
"I will go tomorrow to the area you think they can be in," said Sean.
"Good luck, then, said James. I'll be on my way, I have a lot to do in the lab."
They stretched hands. Sean watched as his friend stepped into his car and waved his hand. Centaurs ... what could be like to ride one? And were they apt for pleasuring humans? How long would it take to tame one? And would they produce anything valuable? He played for a moment with the idea of milking female centaurs and selling their milk. "Well," he thought, "we shall see ... first thing is to bring some into the stables."
Next morning, he woke up, took a good breakfast and gave his maid the day off. He took his map, some carrots, the case with the paralyzing shots that James had developed, and a gun, just in case. He headed east, towards the forest. He walked calmly, breathing the already warm air, and after an hour was well into the forest, following the trail James had marked on the map.
And the, suddenly, he saw. A group of young centaurs was frolicking and laughing in a nearby, wide clearing. Sean counted five females and two males; they were beautiful, their human torsos sprouting from the horse body. He noticed that they were very dark in complexion, with black fur and tails; they seemed to be in their late teens. They were some yards away, healthy, and magnificent in their young age. They were bucking, prancing, touching each other's bodies, laughing, and clearly having a very good time. The bigger male was trying to mount one of the girls; she was laughing and teasing him, as he tried unsuccessfully to grab her shoulders with his human hands. A butterfly sat on his forehead; as he moved his hand to take it out, the girl slipped away and hid behind a tree. Sean could hear her clear voice mocking the male.
Sean stayed there, behind a tree, rubbing his eyes and thinking how he would approach them. Then the wind changed direction, and his scent arrived to the centaurs' nostrils. They stopped playing and stood still, trying to locate the source of the smell; then a girl shouted:
"There! It seems ... it seems a human!"
The group turned to the spot where Sean was. They looked at him with curiosity, and Sean smiled: they seemed friendly.
"Hello, creatures," he said.
"So it is true! Humans exist!" shouted another girl.
The centaurs stepped forward with caution. The sight of a human, whom they knew only from tales told by the elders, as they were kids, was so novel and exciting! They sniffed Sean from a distance of some yards, as he kept himself still. He admired the well built frames of the centaurs, the brightness of the black skin in their human part, the strong muscles showing on the chest and arms of the two males, and his eye was caught by the perky breasts of the young females. He walked cautiously towards them and stopped: they made no move. He took a deep breath and said:
"You are such beautiful creatures! Please come near ... we can be friends!"
The centaurs looked at each other: should they trust the human? Then the pretty female that had been playing with the male stepped forward and came close to Sean. He stretched his hand and asked:
"May I touch you?"
"Yes," said the girl with a broad smile.
Sean petted her flank gently, hoping she would not step back. She made no move and he gained confidence: he waved his hand to her black torso and felt the satin-like touch of her waist. The centauress was somewhat tense; Sean could sense her blood flowing thinly under her skin. He had guessed she was in heat, so he took care not to frighten her; but she let his hand go over her fur. Seeing that she seemed to enjoy the caress, the other centauresses also came near the human. They sniffed his clothes and hair, as he felt a strong emotion: things were going well, and the sight of those naked young beasts around him was not unpleasant at all.
One of the girls took a fruit from a tree and offered it to Sean. He took it and continued to stroke the stunning beauty in front of him. He felt her pulsating neck as he bit into the delicious flesh of the fruit.
"Is he dangerous?" he heard one of the males asking the other.
"Doesn't seem so," said the other, who was larger in frame and seemed to be the leader of the group. "We are seven, he is one." As he uttered these words, he came near Sean too. Sean was a bit nervous; he stroked the male's arm with caution, sensing his strong biceps. The centaur wanted to show courage: he let the human do as he wanted.
"Do you live here in the open?"
"Yes, said the male. We have just left the herd we were born in, and now we are on our own."
Sean's mind worked quickly. They had just left their herd ... so, if he succeeded in capturing them, no other centaurs would came to reclaim them ... and they lived in the open ... Then he heard the smaller male cough. This gave him an idea:
"You don't sound well, young lad ... do you have anywhere enclosed?"
The centaur frowned:
"Enclosed? What does this mean?"
"Stables, perhaps," answered Sean.
"What are stables?" asked one of the females.
"A place to rest, away from the rain ... to sleep in, protected from the wind..."
"Oh, that would be good!"
