Once Upon a Misty Bluegrass Hill (15 page)

Patrick
was grim. 
"
He is so nervous
Red
.
"

Jolene stomped her foot and smacked her leg. 
"
He ain
'
t jittery.  H
e
'
s been waiting for this moment all his life.  That is why he isn
'
t patient.  He
'
s just tired of waiting.  He can run like the wind!
"

Patrick
tucked a wayward lock of her hair behind her ear. 
"
Don
'
t say
'
aint
'
"
.

"
I
am say
'
in ain
'
t!  Besides, look how you talk
, it is a lot worse than me
!
"
 

"
I am not you.  I am just a highly educated
Irish, who hasn
'
t lost his accent…but you can get better.  Yer live here
in the States all yur life
, so yer
should know it better.
"
  He clipped her chin. 
"
So what is your excuse then?
"

"
I don
'
t want to talk about that. 
Storm
ain
'
t too scared.  That is not what it is that troubles him.
"

Patrick
sighed. 
"
How are we going
to
get him
into
that gate
tell me that
?  And if yur get him there, how you gunna keep him from killing
you or h
imself and
possibly
other horses…or
breaking his
leg?  I
'
d
rather
keep him as a stud
without the risk.  Because I understand him
some
,
I do.
"

She blinked her
red lashed
lids in appeal. 
"
Let me work with him, I
'
ll get him into the gate.  He won
'
t spook anyone. 
I promise...h
e
'
ll be smooth as silk. 
"

Patrick
laughed softly. 
"
I know
yer
can tame him a bit under your hand.  But y
ur
just a tiny little thing;
I don
'
t want you atop that big horse
that
is too wild by far
in a race where so many things can go wrong
.  He is a creature, that Storm
,
a strange wild creature
. What if something happens to y
er
?
"

"
It is because of what happened that night
...that is all it is
.  That is what is the matter with him.  But I understand him.  I do! I promise, I
'
ll get him to the practice gates, you
'
ll see.
"

Jolene waited, biting her fingernail. 

Patrick
was grim-thoughtful for several minutes then he smiled and
ruffled her hair. 
"
Yur
no
t going give up on it are yer
,
Little
Red
?
"

She jerked her head
away
and flattened her red locks down to her head. 
"
No, I am not going to give up and if you let me work with him and get him ready for the Derby I won
'
t say
"
ain
'
t
"
anymore…not ever.
"

He looked at her with
severe
eyes. 
"
You
'
ll learn your manners, at the cotillion then too?
"

She stopped her pleading
short
and grabbed a lock of hair and twisted
. 
"
You mean that?  You mean I gotta get all silly and sissy and manners and all of that?
"

He smiled fiendishly
tugging her finger from her hair
. 
"
Not just that, I
'
ll be sending you off to a fancy school
next
fall
…or maybe the summer to get yer some polish first.  Y
ou
'
ll be with
lots of other girls where yur
gunna'
learn abou
t being a lady…if I
'
m to turn ye
r out and find you a nice husband.
"

Jol
ene looked at him incredulous and jumped down from the fence. 
"
What?  Now who is insane?
  I don
'
t want to do any of that!
A husband?
"
  She jammed her fists on her hips
in her outrage
. 
"
Really
Patrick
…I don
'
t think so
! 
Sure I wanted to go to college, but not some kind of college like that.
"

"
If you
'
ll do that, and learn
everything
well
...make good grades
…
and promise me fast!
"
  His eyes
glinted severe though pared with a smile. 
"
Yer have
to
learn
some of it
well enough
with a tutor
so I can step
o
ut w
ith you
before the Derby right and fine. 
After the Derby, the tutor
'
ll keep a
coming to
get yur ready for your school in the fall.
"
  He stopped and leveled her
with a
stern
morning-
glory
-
gaze. 
"
If you promise me you
'
ll do it, then I
'
ll
work with you and get you a trainer with some Derby experience….
a jockey
so we
can learn how to get Storm ready for the Derby.
"

Jolene stamped her foot and cursed
as she marched
in a small circle
around
Patrick
,
quickly evaluating
her arguments and options. 
"
That just isn
'
t fair at all!
"

He laughed deep and hearty. 
"
Take it or leave it.  And
I
'
ll be having a nice couple of
dresses made up for the Pre-Derby festivities, l
ike opening day and such made for yer
. 
If you do it all up fine and right and you promise me such, then I
'
ll let y
er
work with the trainer and jockey to get Storm ready for Derby
.
"
   He shook his head with his doubts. 
"
Even
as futile as I think it is mind you.
"

A stubborn glint moved from Jolene
'
s heart and shot through her eyes to
Patrick
. 
"
Well, then, you have yourself a deal.
"

Patrick
looked at her
stringently
. 
"
Pr
omise me…promise on your parent
s
'
graves no matter what the school, you
'
ll go if I let you ride the Derby on Storm.
"

Jolene didn
'
t care about anything at this
second
except riding Storm in the Derby. 

Besides, h
ow bad of
a
school could he possibly pick out? 
S
he wanted to go to school to become a vet
after all so
did it really matter where?  This was just the first four years after all. 

"
I swear.
"

Patrick
laughed
softly. 
"
We
'
ll see how well ye
r do with you
r lessons
.
  And if Storm canno
t
qualify, our deal is still the same.
"

Jolene climbed back over the fence and
glowered
over the post at
Patrick
. 
"
Me and Storm are going to show you alright.
"

He smiled. 
"
We canno
t
call h
im Storm for the Derby.  What is
his
Derby
name
Little
Red
?
"

Jolene stood back and
turned to look at the
location
where their
old barn once stood.  She
immersed herself in
the
terrible
memories
of that day
.  But
she only let herself go a little deep in
to
the memory…enough to feel Storm
'
s name, but
not enough to take her down
. 

"
We can call him
Big Storm
.
"
  It is perfect because it was a very big storm that day.
"

Patrick
laughed
but his eyes reflected blue-sorrow
. 
"
Now tha
t does
sound like a Derby horse even if
I don
'
t think he
'
ll ever see the spires of Churchill Downs.
"  He took her shoulder.  "
Yer know that qualifying
a horse is ve
ry hard.
"

Jolene brought herself up
straight
, overwhelmed by the
prospect
. 
"
I think
Big Storm
is the name of a horse who
'
ll win a Triple Crown.
  That
'
s what I
'
ll
say to you about that smarty-
pants
Patrick
.
"
 
Jolene turned on her hel and
m
arched
away
on feet of determination
.

Patrick
watched her tiny
tenacious
frame
saunter
back to Big Storm who touched her arm like he was a gentle lamb rather than a raging stallion that
appeared
to hate the world.

Patrick
laughed. 
"
We
'
ll see
about
all that
Little
Red
.
  We
'
ll just see about all that.
"

Chapter
7

The story started in the wee hours of March
29, 1917, when Belmont's young
Rock Sand mare Mahubah went into labor to deliver her second foal. It was a big one -- a tall, leggy chestnut colt with a star like his sire's, Fair Play's. Fair Play had been a top class racehorse and was well into a successful career as a stallion, this colt being in his seventh foal crop.

The mare, Mahubah, was lightly raced, as were many Belmont-bred fillies. She had won a race, but being rather high strung like her sire, the import
ed English Triple Crown winner
Rock Sand (whose stall at Nursery Stud was heavily padded to reduce injury to himself), was retired shortly after proving her ability on the track. Mahubah's first foal was Masda, a 1915 filly by Fair Play, who was also excessively nervous, but managed to win 6 races from 23 starts. (Masda was the dam of 3 stakes winners and became the third dam of Triple Crown winner Assault. Her female line survives to this day.) Mahubah produced only 5 foals, all by Fair Play, and besides Masda, these included the good stakes winner My Play (1919), winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup at 5 and a good sire.
  Thoroughbred Heritage Portraits - July 23, 2012.