Lente
By Syrinx
Summary:
Slowly, slowly, things fall out of place.
Pairing: Ashleigh/Brad
Disclaimer: All rights to the Thoroughbred series belong to Joanna Campbell and Harper Collins.
A/N: Sequel to Victory Comes and Goes.
Part I: Collapse
Kentucky in January was a cold state, always covered in a coating of ice or a thin blanket of crust-like snow. In the third week of January, the area was already experiencing its first real snowfall. If it had been rain, Ashleigh Griffen would describe the precipitation around her as coming down in sheets. Instead she blinked as the wet flakes collided against her skin, and pulled her coat closer around her.
The training oval in front of her was the only thing not covered in the thick, wet snow. It was a manicured, dark stretch of dirt and sand against the white that surrounded it. The horses that worked across it blew misty breaths in the air, their own bodies matching the color of the dirt.
The only horse that differed from the others was the one Ashleigh couldn't pull her eyes from. The mare was a splattered dapple gray, with a pale coat and a dark mane and tail that enticed her fans into calling her "striking" and all other various and beautiful synonyms.
Ashleigh stood in the snow, her arms crossed and her mouth set in a frown as she watched the gray daughter of Unbridled's Song and Mischief Maiden. Maiden Voyage cantered easily through the snow, her dark mane whipping back at Samantha McLean's face as the young girl guided the gray toward the gap. Brad and Maddock were beside her, talking about a topic that concerned her, although neither seemed interested in finding out her opinion.
"You know she's ready," Brad argued. "We've discussed this with my father over the whole damn week, and the decision he made was to work her."
"Which was a decision he made with your pushing," Maddock reminded him. "I was never too pleased with the idea."
"It's a three furlong breeze," Brad said. "She's been jogging since the beginning of the month, and I think it's about time to get a real feeling as to where we are with her."
"She's coming back from a broken leg," Ashleigh replied darkly, getting the attention of both men. "We're not even thinking of racing her until April as it is, so why are we pushing to see where we are?"
"You've never heard of a leap of faith, have you?" Brad asked her, making Ashleigh roll her eyes.
"I'd rather leap when I'm sure about where I'm going," Ashleigh answered.
"The vet checked her out yesterday," Brad sighed. "He cleared her for more strenuous activity. What more do I have to say?"
"She's a valuable mare," Maddock said. "We're taking it slow with her because she is a brood prospect for the farm, Brad."
"My father wants to see if she can make some money between now and when she has a foal," Brad responded. "Outside of retiring her and shipping her to an auction, she's more valuable racing."
"She might make plenty at auction," Ashleigh thought aloud.
"Of course she would," Brad said, sounding unconvinced. "But so would her foals, and she might earn more this year if we play our cards right. The mare is sound. I wouldn't do this if she didn't have clearance."
"You're still taking a chance," Maddock said evenly.
"I'm comfortable with that," Brad responded.
"Then it's your call," Maddock said, raising his hand to signal Samantha. Ashleigh had updated her friend on the situation earlier in the morning, and Samantha's mouth slipped into a hard line as she slid her fingers into the mare's mane and moved her past the gap.
Already warmed up, Maiden Voyage easily followed Samantha's lead and huffed misty plumes as she picked up speed. Leaning forward, Ashleigh put her gloved hands on the rail of the track and watched the gray mare near the inner rail as she approached the marker for the start of the breeze.
They were halfway on the far turn when Samantha put Maiden Voyage into a gallop, and they flew forward.
Maiden Voyage had always been a great mare. She had debuted for Townsend Acres on a sunny New York day in Saratoga, blowing the race wide open and winning by seven lengths. Her first stakes win was the Spinaway on the same weekend Wonder's Pride took the Hopeful Stakes. She came in second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies by a nose, and bounced back later in the year to take the Starlet Stakes in California. She was precocious, but her glimmer never faded. At three she raced to a definitive win in the Kentucky Oaks and Acorn Stakes. In the same year that Wonder's Pride was retired due to injury, she was to become the farm's star.
In June those hopes slipped away. Voyage was headed toward the rest of the Triple Tiara when a misstep fractured her left cannon bone and placed her back at Townsend Acres, keeping her laid up until this January. Now she was back on the track, and as she raced to the ticking seconds on Maddock's stopwatch Ashleigh couldn't help seeing the same champion mare from a year before. Voyage hadn't changed at all.
The gray pounded past the finish, and Ashleigh let go of a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. Samantha was up in the saddle, her cheeks beaten red from the frigid wind. Voyage was huffing dramatically, lowering her head and galloping out into the next turn.
"Well, damn," Maddock said softly, giving Brad the stopwatch. "Just over thirty-seven, which is more than we could have hoped for after a six month lay off."
"How's that for a leap of faith, Griffen?" Brad smirked, taking the stopwatch and looking for himself before passing it on to Ashleigh, as if they all had to see the time before determining it correct.
"Shut it, Townsend," Ashleigh replied, glancing at the time before handing the stopwatch back on its way to Maddock.
"Galloped out nicely also," Maddock added, watching the gray mare flip her head as Samantha slowed her into a rolling canter. Ashleigh nodded mutely, feeling her nerves finally stop singing. Voyage danced across the cold dirt, stretching her legs and slowing so Samantha could turn her back to the gap. Ashleigh watched the pair pick up into a joyful canter toward them along the outside rail, the mare showing off and kicking.
"The old man will be pleased," Brad announced. "He wanted to see her race in the Apple Blossom in April. Think we might get there?"
"If she improves from this, I have no doubt," Maddock said, putting the stopwatch in his pocket.
Ashleigh caught Samantha's smile as the horse and rider approached the gap, and gave the girl a thumb up. The work had been a success, and Samantha opened her mouth, about to call out something, when suddenly the mare shuddered and stumbled.
Everything seemed to freeze when Voyage caught herself. Samantha grabbed a fistful of mane as the mare attempted to right herself only to stumble again, her whole body falling forward toward the dirt. Acting on instinct, Samantha kicked her feet out of the stirrups and jumped clear, landing on her back in the dirt as the mare somersaulted forward and landed with a sickening crush underneath the outside rail.
Without a word, Ashleigh took off in a sprint past the men that were just beginning to move, running along the rail toward the fallen horse. Samantha was already pushing herself up, wincing as she got her feet underneath her to crawl the short distance to Voyage's body.
"Are you all right?" Ashleigh called, slipping in the snow. She half fell, half knelt by the mare's head, reaching up to grab the track rail to steady herself beside the struggling animal.
"I'm fine," Samantha said absently, putting a hand on the mare's neck and another on the reins. "Bruises, probably. Nothing big."
"Maddock!" Ashleigh yelled, scooting underneath the rail so she could get a better position to look at the mare's fragile left foreleg.
"God damn it," Maddock cursed, arriving quickly and kneeling next to Ashleigh, who was already running her gloved hands over the mare's leg. She shook her head grimly, feeling the uneven edges where there should be smooth bone.
Maddock pulled off his gloves and put his hands on the mare's leg, his mouth set grimly as he felt what Ashleigh already had.
"Shattered," he grumbled darkly, leaning back on his heels and sighing into his hand. Looking at the ground for a minute, he put his gloves back on and stood up, leaving the mare to Ashleigh and Samantha as he strode up to Brad, who stood a few paces away with a disbelieving look on his face.
"Get your father on the phone," Maddock ordered the shaken heir.
"Excuse me?" Brad asked after a second, as if he had just been shaken from a deep sleep.
"Your father," Maddock repeated. "It's his decision."
Ashleigh pressed a hand against Voyage's dappled neck, her gloved hand absorbing the mare's frightened heat. She looked at Samantha, trading a somber look, before turning to watch the men square off over her shoulder.
The snow fell softly around them. Maddock handed Brad his cell phone, pushing it into his hands when Brad was reluctant to accept it.
"Ken," Brad said, turning the cell phone over in his hands as Maddock only shook his head.
"You tell him her left fore is probably in about four pieces. Nothing cut through the skin, but in my opinion she can't be saved."
"I don't," Brad tried again, holding the phone as if he didn't know what to do with it.
"It's your call," Maddock said, then moved away, walking from the scene as the snow settled softly on the ground around them. Voyage took a deep breath and let it go in a stream of frothy white steam, blinking when snowflakes hit her eyelashes. Ashleigh stroked the mare's neck, listening to the snow. The dappled gray quietly looked at the sky, and Brad began to punch in the phone number.