Once Upon a Misty Bluegrass Hill (18 page)

It all became a blur
after that
.

Out to the paddock following
Patrick
.  Big Storm was waiting for her in stall number 19.  Bad pol
e
position…but it didn
'
t matter, he
'
d do it.  He
'
d make up the difference.

Big storm was already sweating.  His eyes were rolling
and his head
tossing
no matter that Bernie tried to sooth him
.  And
Bernie was the only one besides her and
Patrick
that could do anything at all with Storm. 

Bernie was nervous as heck too.  He had worked with Jolene even before the trainers started coming and even before Jolene talked to Shannon about riding Storm in the Derby.  Bernie was going to marry Isha in just a few weeks so he had been doing double time to help her and Storm get ready while helping Isha with the wedding plans.

Storm leaned down to her and she cuddled his head. 
He was scared
and h
e knew she was
afraid
which made him prance around even more
. 

"
It
'
s all right Big Man,
"
s
he soothed through the din
and loud colors
of people in fancy hats
and
colorful
clothing
that stood in the middle of the paddock
and around the perimeter
, staring
,
smiling
and waving
.

Patrick
leaned down to her. 
"
You okay
Little
Red
?
"

"
I don
'
t like this much
Patrick
,
"
Jolene whispered
into his ear
clutching
his arm.

Patrick
chuckled softly. 
"
I don
'
t like so much action me-self.
"
 
Bernie
looked at them with dark solemn eyes
. 
"
He needs another round.
"
 
Patrick
nodded and
Bernie
took Big Storm on another turn around the paddock. 

"
I need to go talk to those important people
,
"
Patrick
said quietly, patted her
shoulder
and walked to the center of the paddock where large groups of people mingled and took photos. 

Jolene was too focused on Bernie and Storm to
think much
about
Patrick
and the fancy people.  She was
lost in a dream as she watched them
walk the paddock
. 
She heard thunder and l
ooked up at the darkening sky.
  Storm tried to rear up but Bernie skillfully handled him.

The white spires towered to the left and there were so many people
pressing into the paddock fence
. 
They were
staring
intently
.  There was so much noise
and
too much activity.  She wanted to scream to Bernie to bring Storm back to her.  He was tossing his head and his eyes were rolling as he attempted to turn to the
individual
sounds of the crowd as he passed. 

The dark clouds had followed them from Paris and they came in on a hard wind.  Storm reared up
again
but Bernie kept his feet from leaving the ground. 

When Storm and Bernie returned
,
Bernie was limping.  "Your leg okay Bernie?"  Jolene asked quietly.  "Did Storm kick you?"  Bernie didn't like people paying attention to his missing leg.  "Oh no, just a little sore is
all.  I am starting the long trainin
g process to get ready to run the
marathon." 

T
hey
backed Storm into the stall and held his head facing out
.
Bernie brushed Storm and adjusted his tack speaking low and soft in his deep baritone voice.

In the center of the paddock
Patrick
smiled for pho
tographs for several moments w
ith other people and by himself.  He seemed to know everyone.

He wore a white
silk
suit with a red shirt underneath
and a bow tie of white to match his suit
.  He had his family coat of arms on a pin
tacked to
his lapel.  He was chatting
and animated. 
He
was so … elegant and beautiful
standing there. 

As if he felt her scrutiny, Patrick
caught her eye
then
and he
made apologies and walked toward her
with power, grace and purpose
.

Patrick
was
well-designed and more handsome than ever
. 
  She had seen him
in his jeans so much on the farm.  Of
course he always looked beautiful there…even in jeans.  But
Patrick
knew how to walk
so that he looked just like a prince.
Or an Earl.
  In this unlikely moment dressed as he was, he took her breath away.

"
Y
er
sure yer
okay
Red
?
Ya know it
isn
'
t too late to change yer mind….I
'
d not be mad at
you
.
  It is too late to get Calvin, he has a horse, but we can just take Storm home and make him a stud.
"

Jolene
tore her eyes away from his and
looked up at the dark clouds that sat behind the white spires that defined Churchill Downs. 
"
I will not be changing my mind and neither will Storm.
"

Time stood still for a few seconds.  The wind blew hard.

Then it was time. 

Patrick
helped her up on
Storm
. 
Bernie
mounted his own horse and
road next to her along with the assistant horse and rider. 

Patrick
looked up at her with grave purple-blue eyes. 
"
Now don
'
t
you be taking
any risks do yer hear me?  Yer hang on tight and don
'
t worry
a
bout winn
ing
if anything goes wrong.
"

Jolene
was looking at
Patrick
through a long tunnel.  Nothing seemed real.  She patted Storm
who
pranced under the
darkening windy sky.

"
I
'
ll hold on tight
Patrick
.
"

Patrick
looked
up at the clouds. 
"
He
'
s never liked the
rain, guess he never will.
 
I don
'
t like sending yer out with the
rain
coming in
. 
Don
'
t you take any risks, yer hear me?
"

"
You have already said that too many times. 
Don
'
t worry about me
Patrick
.
"

For once she was not
completely
distracted by
Patrick
.  His beautiful eyes with
thick black lashes were worried.  H
is hand shook as he adjusted Storm
'
s strap
and patted her leg
.  But Jolene was
too
beyond
afraid to dwell
. 
In fact, s
he had moved to terrified…or maybe petrified. 

No.  She felt nothing at all.

It was time to go. 

She followed the other horses her heart pounding in her ears and her limbs tingling.
 
Fortunately,
she could ride a horse in her sleep.  They left the paddock and went toward the tunnel lined with people. 

We got here Daddy. 
Just like you always talked about.

Storm swung his head side to side as they went down the alley that was bricked off from the crowd.

Beautiful ladies in
elegant
hats
were
waving
from behind the chain link fence
. 

Men in suits that she only saw in books stood next to them, looking earnestly at the horses,
in a final-scene moment
to predict which one it would be. 

What were Storm
'
s odds?  She didn
'
t even know.  Did
Patrick
even
tell her?

Did it matter?

She had always known his odds.

They made the walk and
Patrick
joined them
as the owner,
holding
Storm
'
s r
eigns.  He and Bernie stood on either side of Storm and walked with him to the gate…around the ring, past the crowds.

There were so many people and they were so loud.

Daddy, I don
'
t know if I can.

You can my little girl.
 
He is Dancer
'
s Dream and our dream. 

They
arrived at
the gate.

Big Storm reared up.  He pranced and he danced
high on his hooves
w
hile they pushed the other horses in.  She took him on another small circle with
Patrick
looking on like the world
was soon to
end.  Bernie walked with her and talked in low tones to Big Storm.

Each time they tried to put him in the gate he shied and pranced.

"
Don
'
t force him Bernie, let
'
s not force him.
"
  It was her voice, but
she
sounded far away even to
her own ears
.

The sprinkles came light. 

Time was running out.
 

"
Go in Big Storm, go in.  We practiced…
this is
no different.
"

Several jockey head
s
turned toward her voice. 

When was the last time a girl raced
,
if ever
?

Storm neighed softly and stepped cautiously into the gate
on dancing legs
. 
"
Now there is my boy.
"

The gun sounded within seconds of them getting in.  The gates opened
with a uniform clap
. 

She wasn
'
t ready.

Something stuck
and
she felt her
self slide to the side of the saddle. 

She heard the tear of fabric
. 
Big Storm busted from the gate
and Jolene barely missed hitting her head on the pole.  She
clung to
his side.

He looked back with his big round black eyes.

His eyes said….
"
l
ike get on and ride!
"
 

But she couldn
'
t
pull herself up
.  And they were in the back
…
really
very far in the back. 

It was a struggle to
climb
on his back and g
e
t herself
back
into position. 
But when she did h
e lunged forward in a
deep
jump.