Once Upon a Misty Bluegrass Hill (19 page)

Jolene leaned forward, feeling his
burst of
power. 
She closed her eyes for an instant
.

It had rained hard that
day. 
Behind her lids, s
he saw that
terrible day
in a
flash
clear
pictur
e.

She felt
the pain that near cut her in half
…and
this time
she
let it hurt. 
It was time to let it hurt and ride it out as fast as she could.

Jolene didn
'
t take him to the center.  He didn
'
t need it.  She gave him space to use his full leg span.

First turn. 

They
moved to
the middle
of the pack
.  She didn
'
t look anywhere but forward…seeing the horses in front of her…
the dirt…the hooves. 

Hang on tight!

Were they
almost
all in front of her?
Every single one
dammit?

Don
'
t cuss Jolene.

Pray hard.

Holy Mary, Mother of God…
I can
'
t remember the rest…even though I said it a million times
.

Stop thinking, press
forward
.

Long stretch.

Big Storm
p
uffed in perfect rhythm
like a big steam engine
. She followed him in movement
caressing his spirit with her own
.

She leaned close to his head and whispered to him softly
,
"It is time."

The lightening cracked and the thunder rolled.

Storm leapt forward and it was all Jolene could do to hold on
and keep her seat
.  That is all one could do with Storm
once he decided
on something important
.  The rain deepened
.

Rain from Heaven. 

Tears of sadness and tears of joy.

Last turn.

Jolene leaned forward and put her head down
clinging to Storm with all of her strength
.  He had lost his head and wouldn
'
t do anything she wanted. 

Don
'
t fall.

Jolene leaned down as far as she could go…he was passing
the other horses now…lots of them
…she felt his strides lengthen
even more
.  It was
close
but he was on the outside and had plenty of space.   

"
Go
,
"
Jolene whispered. 
He completely took
back his head, only letting it go at the same time.

His stride lengthened even more
and he gained speed
. 

The mud was hitting her and Storm. 
And her new uniform.  But what did it matter?

But of course they had run in the rain so many times. 

Running away
from
a memory
…but chasing a dream.

There was only one horse in front
, the predicted winner. 
Crazy Sal
.
 

Go Dancer
'
s Dream.

It was all a blur then.  They rode right by
Crazy Sal
as if he was standing still. 
Jolene
saw the finish line just a second before they passed it.

And it was over. 

They had done it.

She could hear the crowd
;
b
ut they were far away
in
a
single
sound beyond her numb mind
.  She was so tired she could barely hang on. 
Storm was still nervous abou
t the rain but he was tired too
so it tempered him. 

Her leg hurt like heck.

Her helper-
horse and rider came
up to
gallop next to
them. 
Jolene made herself ride
up on the saddle the way Herbert taught her even though her legs could barely support her weight
. 

Bernie rode up next to her. 
He smiled large at her with big brown eyes. 
"
You did it!
"

"
We
could never have done this without you Bernie.
"

They both blinked back tears.
 

Tears of jo
y
,
tears of pain.

Patrick
ran out to her
.  Mud sprinkled his white suit
.  His face was drawn and pale but he smiled and his violet eyes shined proud.

"
Yer did it
Little
Red
…yer and yer
Big
Storm.  But get off that horse so I can beat yo
ur ars
e
and good
because you could have killed yourself
and I almost let you.
"

Jolene slid off Big Storm and closed herself into
Patrick
'
s arms.

It had stopped raining.  And the sun was shining bright.

She looked up at the sky toward the twin spires. 

It was a full rainbow that stood out in that afternoon sky.

When it rained in sunshine, there was always a rainbow.
  It was always just that way.

We did it Daddy.

Chapter
10

Horse racing in Kentucky is rich in history, dating back to 1789 when the first race course was laid out in Lexington. However, it was almost 100 years later, in 1875, that Churchill Downs officially opened and began its tradition as "Home of the Kentucky Derby."

While traveling in England and France in 1872-1873, 26-year-old Col. M. Lewis Clark, devised the idea of a Louisville Jockey Club for conducting race meets. Clark toured and visited with a number of prominent racing leaders, including England's Admiral Rous and France's Vicompte Darn, vice president of the French Jockey Club.

Upon his return from Europe, Clark began development of his racetrack which would serve to showcase the Kentucky breeding industry. The track would eventually become known as "Churchill Downs." The first reference of the name Churchill Downs came in an 1883 Kentucky Derby article reported by the former Louisville Commercial.

"The crowd in the grand stand sent out a volume of voice, and the crowd in the field took it up and carried it from boundary to boundary of Churchill Downs."
  Churchilldowns.com - July 23, 2012.

"I won't go to the doctor, I won't!"

Patrick
was kneeling in front of her holding Jolene's leg and examining the skinned and bruised flesh.  "You wouldna' see the medics and now you refuse the doctor?  Don't be a silly woman, you need to get a few stitches and have this cleaned up."  They had removed her boots and hiked up her pant
s
leg to where the fabric had torn and she had gotten caught on something inside the gate. 

Herbert shook his head.  "Mighty big gash,
Patrick
is right.  W
e better take you by the hospital just for a quick look."

Jolene crossed her arms.  "No.  I won't.  All I need is some Epsom salts and a bath.  You said you rented a hotel room for tonight because of the celebration party so just take me there, with the bandages, Epsom salts and some alcohol and I will be fixed up in no time."

"Araah girl, tell me why you won't go to a doctor?"

"My Mamma taught me all
about home medicine.  Why her m
amma's mamma took care of soldiers in the Civil War.  They followed them doctors around and found out what was to be done.  My mamma said you only go to the doctor if you are near dead cause they don't use the same medicine we do.  They got all this funny stuff they use, but my momma had her herbs and other things she grew that work better."

Patrick
stood up
,
his eyes angry blue fire.
  "Alright then, I'll get you the stuff, even as crazy as I think you are.  I never heard of someone afraid to go to a doctor."

"I don't need no doctor
Patrick
.  My mamma taught me most of what I need to know.  I'll be able to make myself better much faster and not get some infection or get my leg sawed off for a minor scratch."

Patrick
picked her up and hauled her all the way to the truck, grumbling and cursing.  "Leg sawed off, like that is likely to happen.  Crazy country folk are worse than the Irish."

Herbert laughed hard and pulled out his little bottle of Bourbon and took a swig.  "You don't know the half of it
Patrick
."

*******

"
Patrick
, I
never imagined a party so big. 
I still can
'
t believe I am here. 
Did you see that movie star Janice
Lamb?
"

Patrick
chuckled.
"
I did see her.
"

"
Wow, she looks so pretty.  I can
'
t believe she came over to talk to
you
.
"

Patrick
looked down at her, his eyes shading darker purple and sending out heat that made her insides tickle. 
"
I see yer not as impressed with an Earl as
you are with
Janice Lamb then?  Well I
'
ll tell you Jolene yer look just as pretty as Janice.  In fact, I
'
d say yur even more
beautiful
.
"

Jolene felt the heat in her cheeks.  "That is nice to say
Patrick
."

Patrick
peered down at her injured calf.  "How is your leg?"

She beamed back at him.  "The salt soak and bandages did the trick just like I knew they would.
  But it
does look a little ugly with the dress doesn't it?
"

Patrick
's eyes whispered over her.  "Well, you look so pretty in your dress that no one is likely to notice."

Jolene blushed to the tips of her ears and looked down at
the
lavender chiffon dress
Patrick
had given
to her several weeks ago.  He said no matter how they did in the Derby they would come to the Galt House Hotel for the after Derby Party that raised money for the permanently disabled jockeys. 

The gown
fell in elegant wispy t
iers
from the waist
with a modest sleeveless
and
lace covered bodice. It
dropped to
just above the knee and showed the unfortunate
but glorious
injury
from the Derby
. 

Aunt Paula would have said it was a
"
Sexy Girl Dress.
"
 

Jolene
had
even put on pink lipstick and eye shadow.

She slid her gaze
back
to
Patrick
who stood next to her in his dove grey tuxedo with a matching lavender bow tie
that made his eyes look lighter than usual
. 
"
You look really handsome too
Patrick
.
"
  Jolene whispered her cheeks flaming
.  She didn
'
t dare look at his face to see his response
.

Patrick
laughed soft and deep sending
warm
delicious shivers through her limbs.
"
Now come on
my
beautiful
jockey
, let us go meet the governor
.  He
has asked to be introduced to yer.
  And there is Penny Chenery over there too
.
I know you'll be wanting to meet her
.
"

Jolene
'
s heart beat fast. 
"
I don
'
t know about meeting those important people
Patrick
.
  What am I supposed to say?
"