Once Upon a Misty Bluegrass Hill (13 page)

There were so many from her class
going
, Doug Mason, Mitch Connelly
and Yolanda Washington.
 
All of them seemed proud and ready to go, even though some people talked down about the wars
.
Her daddy always said that it was the south’s sons
and now
even
daughters
t
hat carried the
largest
bur
dens
of
the
wars
even though the people who talked about it the most and loudest didn’t send any of their children
.

For as long as she could remember there was a war in the middle east but everyone she knew who went there and all of their family were so proud of them. 
They all seemed to believe there was something important about it.

"
No,
Patrick
, I don
'
t think it was a waste.  I think my Da
ddy would say that
Flint,
Timmy
and Bernie w
ere the knights that would lead
all them people
to Freedom
'
s Front Door.  I think my daddy would say if we could walk the path twice we might be in more trouble
to do noth
'
in
after 9/11
…at least that is what everyone believed when we had the war to start with
…even some of those people who later decided not to support the war
.  That is what Tommy said before he left.  He said we had to make a choice about
doing
it now, or waiting till it was much worse
or even when it might be too late
.
"

Patrick
was thoughtful. 
"
What about those that died?
"

Jolene sighed
,
the
grief that hit her
when she thought of those lost…and their mother
'
s who cried so much
surfac
ed
under her words
. 
"
Flint...my best friend ever
...
once said that the hour of the lamps gave him hope for a better future for them people in the
M
iddle
-E
ast."

"What would Flint say now?"

"I don
'
t know.  H
e is dead so I can
'
t ask him."

"I am so sorry...so you see...was it worth the loss of your best friend?"

"He killed himself.  The T
aliban
didn
'
t kill him, his girlfriend dumped him and he kill
ed
hisself."

She paused over the lump that formed in her throat.  "
But Tommy was killed by the enemy.  And
Tommy
'
s family doesn
'
t think it was a waste.  They know Tommy changed the world and I agree with them.
"

"We don't know what the feel in their heart."

"Fine, then ask Bernie what he thinks, under his jeans he has a fake leg."

Patrick's jaw dropped.  "I knew he was a vet from Iraq
and I see him rubbing his thigh sometimes....
but I had no idea about his leg
...I'll be damned...
.
"

"He is going to run a marathon.  He gets up and runs every day before coming to help out here."

Patrick shook his head thoughtful.  "That is truly
unbelievable
.  But I already know he is very proud, so there is no need to talk to Bernie about this.  Yet, it does give me something else to admire about him."

"Bye
Patrick
!" 
Bea and Lacy called as they ran
from the house
toward the creek.

Patrick
turned his grave gaze from
Jolene
to wave
to Lacy and Bea
as they carried their eggs across the creek to their house next door
. 

He returned his weighty gaze to her. 
"
It is complicated to be sure...but m
aybe if you and Tommy and his family lived somewhere else you might not be think
ing
that way.
"

Jolene felt her temper rise
swift and hot
.  She heard her d
addy talk a lot about those things with Tommy
before he left
.  This foreigner had no right to talk about it
like that.  L
ike
as if
he knew more than her d
addy and Tommy
. 
"
Maybe if you were not a foreigner coming over here t
aking
over my family farm you might know something.  You lived in Ireland…you have no right coming over here and saying stuff like that. 
My d
addy was in Vietnam and I know he was a hero and I don
'
t care what you think about anything!
"

Saturated with pain and confusion,
Jolene turned and ran back to her old home that was now her new home trying her best to hold back the burning sobs that threatened to
embrace her tighter
.

She didn
'
t need to stay here and listen to this crap from him.  Her
d
addy wou
ld be rolling over in his grave.

She slammed the door behind her and ran to her parent
'
s bedroom that was now her own newly decorated room
and flung herself across the daisy quilt bedcover and cried so hard she
thought her rib
s would pop out.

A few minutes later she heard a heavy knock
on her front door
.

"
Jolene, I am sorry
,
"
Patrick
called from the porch. 
"
Come on out to the porch and talk w
ith
me.
"

"
You are a foreign jerk!
"
  She yelled so he would be sure to hear.

A muffled chuckle penetrated the door and danced into the room to her ears. 
"
Jolene, listen, if yer come outside and talk I will put up a flag pole and we will get
a
flag.
"

Jolene shot up from the bed and went to the door lifting away the lace curtain that graced the window.  She looked out to find
Patrick
regarding her with his big violet eyes that made her heart flutter and her breathing quicken. 

He blinked earnest. 
"
I am
really
sorry Jolene.
"

Jolene
moved closer to the glass
. 
"
You promise you will get a flag pole?
"

"
We will go order it tomorrow along with a flag.
"

Jolene shook her head. 
"
No Irish flags now.
"

Patrick
laughed and tilted his head. 
"
What der ya mean girl, I canno ever have an Irish flag…
"

Jolene suddenly felt ashamed. 
"
Well…maybe somewhere we can put one….
"

Patrick
laughed hard. 
"
We
'
ll put yer American flag on the flagpole then.
"

Jolene put her hand on the doorknob
and negotiated one last concession before opening it. 
"
How about a POW flag, can we put one of those too?
"

Patrick
grinned. 
"
Arah girl!  Now next you
'
ll be a
'
wantin to put every state flag down the pole too.
"

Jolene didn
'
t laugh
.  S
he just stared
through the glass
at
Patrick
'
s laughing
blue-purple
eyes.

"
Oh alright
Little
Red
,
if yer
come on out we
'
ll be
getting
you a POW flag as well…I hope you know how to put them up with all those rules and such.
"

Jolene grinned and swung the door open.
 
"
I sure do…my d
addy taught me a long time ago.  I can show you how!
"

Patrick
shook his head and laughed. 
"
How
am
I going t
o
explain that to me mam and pap?
I am the Earl of Meath, I should have me
own
coat of arms
on a flag pole
.
"

Jolene hesitated choosing her words carefully in the face of his concessions. 
"
Maybe we can put your flag on a pole out in back.
"

He tilted his head. 
"
How nice of you Jolene, I am sure my parents will feel very happy about that part.
"

Jolene grinned. 
"
You worry about
your parents and your Earl flag…
I am going to go look on the internet for the biggest flags I can find….so you better get a great big flagpole
Patrick
.
"
  She threw her arms wide. 
"
I mean, really, really big.
"

"
Aaarah girl, you donno have to get the biggest flag pole.
"

"
Well, you can get a big pole for your Earl flag…so long as it is not next to my flag pole…E
arl of Meath
flag?  Really
Patrick
? 
That is just weird. 
What are you
doing here in the first place?
"

He sighed. 
"
You let m
e worry about th
at and you worry about find'in
yu
r flagpole.
"

Chapter
6

His groom called him "de mostest hoss that ever was" and that about sums it up for Man o'War in the eyes of most American racing fans. Man o'War was not just a great racehorse -- he became the standard by which all runners have been compared then and ever since. Everything he did was bigger than life, his accomplishments on the track, his dominance as a stallion, and his tremendous charisma that drew visitors from around the world to see him in life and in death. Man o'War, a horse of mythic proportions, was probably the greatest American racehorse ever, and the masterpiece created by the great breeder August Belmont.

It was a fine spring day
on the first of March
. 
The rain ha
d passed through that morning leaving the pasture and trees shimmering
in the morning sunshine
. 
The yellow daffodils
that
ran along the fence-line smiled
up at the warm sun that took the chill off the air
and stole the drops of rain
.

Her mother would have said,
"
Tears from heave
n
, sometimes joy, sometimes
sorrow
, but always leaving things growing behind them.
"

Storm leaned down and sniffed a tiny blue butterfly that sat on a dandelion.  He sneezed then blew out an annoyed snort.  Jolene giggled
and hugged his head.  He neighed softly and nudged her pocket for another piece of apple.
  She stood up and accommodated him.  That is what one did with Storm.
  He simply demanded his due and you gave it to him.

Ollie and Finn sat under a nearby tree watching over everything with their arrogant noses in the air.

The French Guinea, a
l
arge
feathered
gray army
of fowl
advancing against the ticks and
pesky
flies in the horse poop in the field
,
moved in unison pecking and clucking their funny little
honk…or
their vigorous
"
c
hi-chi-chi
"
sound
if they saw something that was deserving of a warning
. 
If the raccoons
or coyote
didn
'
t get the Guinea they would eat all the flies out of the poop and the horses would not have to wear fly masks that
made them look
like Zor
r
o in the summer.