“Sure,” said Christopher. He took the bridle and approached the bone horse, not warily, but reverently, like he couldn’t believe his luck. “Aren’t you beautiful? None of that messy skin to get in the way, oh, no, not for a horse as beautiful as you are…”

“See, this is why I like you,” said Jack, quickly and expertly getting the bridle onto Pony. “You appreciate the finer things in life. Even Alexis had some issues with the fact that our new horse lacked skin. I tried pointing out that a lack of skin also meant a lack of hair, which meant substantially less shedding, but she remained unmoved.”

“You’re still weird.” Christopher slipped the bridle onto Bones, smiling as the horse rubbed its naked skull against his hands. “I mean, cool, but weird.”

“Aren’t we all?” asked Jack, and opened the stall door.

Sumi, who had taken a seat atop the musty hay mounded in the wagon, cocked her head to the side.

“Christopher, when you look at that horse, does it have skin?” she asked. “If no, good. If yes, I probably shouldn’t have eaten those tomatoes.”

“My produce is not hallucinogenic,” said Jack, leading Pony to the front of the wagon. “Christopher, hitch Bones over here and climb into the wagon with Sumi, if you’d be so kind. We can reach the shore by midnight, which should impress the acolytes. They do so adore punctuality.”

“That horse doesn’t have any skin,” said Sumi. “And that other horse has too many skins. I think one is the traditional number of skins for a horse. Isn’t it?”

“Good of you to notice.” Jack climbed up onto the box seat, gathering the reins in her hand. Sumi scrambled over the board intended to support her back to join her. “Christopher, it appears you’ll be riding in the rear.”

“Shotgun,” said Sumi unrepentantly.

“I don’t mind.” Christopher secured Bones, kissed the horse on the side of the skull, and walked around to hop up into the back. “As long as I can help you stable them later, I don’t mind anything right now.”

Jack flicked the reins and the horses plodded forward, slowly gathering speed, until they were moving at a brisk trot. The benefits of undead horses became quickly apparent: once the horses hit their stride, they neither slowed nor stumbled, but continued moving forward at a steady, measured pace. The wagon fairly flew across the uneven ground. There was no road, no path, only the scrub, and the holes left by the creatures that lived there.