He Walked Around the Horses

"He Walked Around the Horses" by H. Beam Piper is a science fiction story that unfolds in 1809, during a strange event involving British diplomat Benjamin Bathurst, who disappears in Prussia. The story focuses on ideas about how we see the world, wondering about what can happen within the rules of time and being. We follow Bathurst as he arrives at an inn in Perleburg, Prussia, and gets caught up in a weird situation, where he claims a trick has stripped him of his horses and his grip on reality. People think he's crazy when he talks about being kidnapped and his coach turning into a farm wagon. The story makes you and the characters wonder about what's really going on in the world Piper has created, mixing history, mystery, and far-out ideas about different realities, which leads to big and sad results.