Before the Fame
by Syrinx and Mels Image
Summary: Cindy has always wanted fame, but maybe Whitebrook Farm isn't the place to find it. When a tragedy occurs that shoves her away from Whitebrook forever, Cindy may have just found her chance to become what Ashleigh Griffen never allowed her to be -- a true top jockey.
Disclaimer: All rights to the Thoroughbred series belong to Joanna Campbell and Harper Collins.
A/N: Sequel to The Truth About the Rain, Cindy Series.
Permanently Incomplete (Sorry guys, without Mel writing there can be no more chapters!)
1.
Cindy McLean sat quietly in the cab, staring out at the smudged window intently, watching the countless green acres fly swiftly by. This was home, she carefully reminded herself. It always would be.
At those thoughts, Cindy milled restlessly, turning to her backpack to search for a piece of gum, finding a stick at the bottom of the bag. She undid the foil wrapper and popped the blue slice of gum into her mouth, nervously chewing.
It had been a long time since she had been home to Whitebrook Farm. It was almost exactly eight months with a few phone calls and a slew of letters to remind her of where she came from. She seemed to have forgotten that in Dubai, where she had gone to pursue her lifelong dream, only to see it torn to pieces before her eyes.
So here she was in the cab, tired of trying to make a name for herself in a foreign land and seeking familiar ground. When the yellow car turned off of the highway and onto Skyline Drive, Cindy felt her heartbeat quicken. She closed her eyes hard, listening to it beat frantically inside her chest.
When the car slowed and turned, the slow crunch of gravel under the wheels, Cindy opened her eyes again, watching Whitebrook Farm spread out in front of her. Cindy took a deep breath as the car slowed further, the driver turning back to her for instructions.
"Should I stop here?" He asked, craning his neck back to see Cindy.
"This is fine," Cindy nodded, grasping her backpack and grabbing the handle of the car.
"Alright then," the man nodded, sliding the car into park and climbing out, walking around to the trunk to get Cindy's bags.
Cindy jumped out of the car like a nervous bird, swinging her backpack around her shoulders and pulling out her wallet, taking several bills out and handing them to the man as he set her luggage on the gravel.
"Thank you," he nodded, taking the bills and slamming the trunk shut, making Cindy jump at the metallic clang.
The car pulled away with Cindy still standing in the gravel lot, looking up at the house she had grown up in before grabbing her luggage and hauling it up the wooden steps of the front porch, knocking softly on the door and sucking in a big breath when it swung open.
Before her stood her mother, her eyes wide in shock.
"Cindy?" Beth McLean whispered with an astonished stare on her face.
"Hi, mom," Cindy said, managing a shaky smile as Beth stood almost frozen in place, her hand suddenly shooting up to cover her gaping mouth.
"Oh my God!" Beth cried, jerking out of her stunned pose to grab her daughter and hug her hard before pushing back to get a good look at her.
"My gosh, look how tan you are!" Beth laughed, nearly forgetting that Cindy had seemingly just materialized in front of the cottage door.
"There wasn't much shade in Dubai," Cindy joked, helping Beth lug her bags inside the house, shutting the door after them.
"Sit down, Cin," Beth demanded, pushing Cindy towards a stool at the breakfast bar. "I'll get us something to drink. Iced tea?"
"That would be great," Cindy nodded, lowering her body onto the wooden stool as she watched her mother rush around the kitchen, pulling out two glasses and filling them with ice before pouring in the amber colored liquid.
"There you go," Beth said, sliding one glass in Cindy's direction, sitting down on a stool opposite Cindy.
"Don't you have to be going to work?" Cindy asked, checking her watch. It was still early morning, and Beth, who was an aerobics instructor at the local community center, usually went in early each morning.
"I can go in late," Beth smiled, patting her daughter's hand. "I think I deserve a little time to catch up with my long lost daughter."
Cindy snorted. "I was hardly lost, mom."
"I know," Beth smiled, taking a sip of her tea and setting it down on the tile of the breakfast bar, letting an uncomfortable silence slip in between them. There were obvious questions to ask, and Cindy secretly dreaded giving the answers. Finally, Beth started her interrogation.
"So, why didn't you call, Cin?"
Cindy frowned at the glass of tea, watching it begin to sweat, little droplets of water running down the sides.
"I was in a rush," Cindy admitted, shaking her head. "I just forgot to call, really. I meant to, but I got to each airport barely on time, and when I got into Lexington I just wanted to go home. I'm sorry. I did mean to tell you."
"It's all right, Cindy," Beth smiled. "I'm just surprised you came home so soon. Just last week we were talking about how you thought you might be able to get into the sheik's good graces. Why did you come home?"It was all Cindy could do to not scowl. She had traveled to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, to take care of her favorite chestnut stallion, Wonder's Champion, when he had been sold to a rich Thoroughbred operation, thinking her career might be benefitted by association with the rich Sheik Habib al-Rihani. But after a few months in Dubai Cindy had realized her career as a jockey would go nowhere in that country. Comforted by the fact that Champion would have the best of care in Dubai, she left. She told her mother this, leaving out the part that left a sharp pain in her heart. "Champion was safe, mom. And I really missed home. Dubai didn't need me."
Typical of her personality, Beth fussed and fiddled, trying to make Cindy comfortable again. It was only after a half an hour of Beth's constant hovering that Cindy could convince her mom to let her go to the barns.
Stepping out of the cottage and pausing on the steps, Cindy surveyed the view under the rising of a new sun. Whitebrook Farm lay carefully planned out below her, rolling hills dotted with unpainted board fencing and sleek Thoroughbred racehorses. Further up the hill, closer to the cottage and the drive, lay a cluster of three barns and a mechanical hotwalker. But it was to the west of the barns that Cindy focused her attention. There lay a mile-long training oval; two round pens and a small riding arena built next to them. That was where anything that mattered in her life had begun. It was flying around that track on Whitebrook's fabulous horses, March To Glory, Shining, Honor Bright, Storm's Ransom and Wonder's Champion, to name a few, that she had discovered her passion of racing.
All of a sudden, Cindy broke into a run, eager to get to the barns, and to get back to the work she had left behind.
She slowed as she entered the first barn, the stallion barn. There were so many horses to see! "Glory!" she called. But instead of a gray head appearing over the stall door, a strange man emerged from the back office.
"May I help you?" he asked. He had short brown hair that shone in the soft light, and light hazel eyes. He stood about six inches taller than Cindy's 5 foot three frame, and wore tight jeans and cowboy boots. Cindy knew she didn't recognize him at all.
"Who are you?" Cindy was blunt.
"I'm the stallion manager, Justin Verona. Who would you be?" Her question had put him on the defensive, and he took his previously offered hand and pressed it to his hip.
"Cindy McLean," she said with a touch of pride.
"Ian and Beth's daughter?"
"That's right. I just got back from Dubai."
"Well, I guess I can't help you. I assume you can find your way around." He spun on his heel, and marched back to the office.
"Well that was rude!" Cindy muttered. But she called after him, "Where's Glory?"
"Out in his paddock," Justin said, casting a look over his shoulder. "Where he usually is. You're going to have to do a lot of adjusting to do if you plan to stay here. Whitebrook has changed a lot since you've left."
Cindy watched his back in shock. What kind of person would be that blatantly insulting? But instead of replying, she rushed out of the barn towards Glory's old paddock. The gray stallion stood still in the middle of the field, nose flared and ears pricked. He hadn't seen her yet, but when he did, his whole body shook in an excited whinny. Glory went from standing like a statue to mid-flight in seconds, racing up to the fence line to greet his old friend. He whickered deep in his throat as he nuzzled her hands, then her hair, then her pockets. He didn't object when she threw her arms around his neck, breathing in his scent deeply. "Oh Glory," she whispered in a choked voice. "I missed you so much… I promise I'll never leave again."
Glory snorted in response, pushing her hands with his muzzle as Cindy rubbed his velvety skin, running her hands over the stallion's face and neck as if she were identifying the horse on touch alone. The stallion's color had been slowly changing over the years he had stood at stud, his age working down his previously dark gray and silver coat to a polished pewter shaded in gray, his legs and face still dark as before.
"In a few years you are going to be completely white," Cindy chuckled, rubbing the stallion's face, resting her forehead against the stallion's as she closed her eyes serenely. It felt so good to be back.
After several more minutes of catching up with her beautiful gray horse, Cindy left Glory to head up to the main training barn, wondering if she could stumble into her father or Samantha, her older sister, wanting to surprise them.
When Cindy slipped into the training barn, a wide smile spread across her face as she saw Samantha in the aisle, her back turned toward her as she was busy picking out the feet of her mount.
Cindy cleared her throat dramatically, something she could picture one of the Townsends doing when they had come to Whitebrook unannounced to watch one of their investments work. Cindy got her desired effect, watching happily as Samantha sighed and turned around, expecting to see Brad, or possibly Clay Townsend waiting to be looked after. Instead, her eyes bugged open and the hoof pick dropped from her hand.
"Cindy?" Samantha squeaked, her face registering total shock as Cindy laughed, walking further into the barn.
"Uh-huh," Cindy laughed. "In the flesh."
"Oh my God!" Samantha shrieked, rushing forward to give her adopted sister a huge hug, squeezing tightly before letting go and pushing her back so she could see her. "Look at you! What on earth are you doing here?"
"I just decided I'd had enough of Dubai," Cindy chuckled, shrugging, telling her little white lie so many times already it felt like the truth. "Nothing big."
"Right," Samantha snorted. "Flying home unannounced is nothing big. Did you see mom yet? I bet she freaked out."
"Yeah," Cindy smiled, watching Samantha grab the hoof pick off the floor and put it in a box with other grooming equipment. "I saw her a few minutes ago, actually."
"This is so great," Samantha laughed. "I bet you feel a little out of sorts, huh?"
Cindy nodded, looking around her. "You could say that. Who's that new stud manager?"
"Justin?" Samantha nodded. "Ashleigh and Mike hired him back in January, right after you left. He's been great so far."
"Really?" Cindy shrugged. "He seemed a little rude."
"He can get short with people," Samantha agreed. "But he's does his job. No big deal I guess."
"Right," Cindy shrugged again, her interest turning to the filly Samantha was tacking up. "Who is this?"
"You don't recognize her?" Samantha asked with a sly grin.
"No," Cindy said, walking up to the bay filly and running her hand down her face, rubbing her fingers against the star in the middle of the horse's forehead.
"This is Eleta," Samantha chuckled. "Really, Cindy. You must have been gone for too long."
Cindy rose her eyebrows at the filly in surprise, looking at Shining's two-year-old that stood before her, casually flicking her black tail as Samantha tacked her up.
"Really?" Samantha asked, running a critical eye over the filly. "This is Eleta? She's grown up so much. I thought you were sending her to auction."
"Nah," Samantha shook her head. "I wound up keeping her out of pure sentimental reasons. I'd hate to part with one of Shining's. But look at her," Samantha chuckle. "She looks just as good as Joy."
"Joy?" Cindy asked, just before a loud whinny split through the silent barn, making the usually docile Eleta jump and twist in the cross ties, her eyes going wild within seconds as Cindy looked up, watching the dark silhouette of a girl bringing a pitch black colt into the barn, the horse obviously still high strung from his work.
"Hey, Josie," Samantha called, putting a comforting hand on Eleta's neck as Cindy looked on, watching the girl struggle to get the big black colt under control.
"Hey, Sammy," Josie Taylor grunted, gripping onto the lead as she led the imposing horse into the barn, their bodies becoming visible in the dim light. Cindy recognized her cousin easily, as well as the colt.
"Cindy?" Josie asked, stopping the colt suddenly when she saw her. "Is that you?"
"Hey, Jo," Cindy laughed, smiling. "I just got back."
"You're kidding," Josie said, laughing in disbelief, looking over at Samantha, who confirmed it with a bob of her head. Suddenly the black colt snorted and shook his head hard, pulling Josie with him as he took a few steps back, snorting at Cindy as though he didn't remember her.
Cindy, of course, remembered the colt's birth well. He was the first successful foal to be produced out of two Kentucky Derby winners - Ashleigh's Wonder and Dominion - who had been named Wonder's Warrior in the event of his difficult birth. Josie, whose mother, Victoria, had taken over the open breeding manager position after Laurie Pierce had left for California, had arrived at Whitebrook only a month before the colt had been born at the Lexington Horse Clinic, where Wonder had been staying for months before hand because of repeated early contractions.
However, the rocky birth hadn't seemed to stop Warrior from growing. The colt had turned out to be almost as large as his sire, and also had inherited his father's soundness and tenacity for work, not to mention his coat color. The only thing distinguishing Warrior from his great sire was a small white dot on his forehead and a white off hind foot.
Cindy had left Whitebrook just after Warrior had slammed home first in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, and in the spring the colt had bucked the odds and won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Warrior was already set to collect his second Eclipse Award by going into the Breeders' Cup Classic the odds on favorite with a recent win in the Whitney Handicap just last month.
"How's Warrior?" Cindy asked, watching the big black colt prick his ears at Eleta, giving his half-cousin a nicker of greeting.
Josie laughed, pushing the colt's head away from her bronze hair as he began to nibble at it, confusing the long strands with hay.
"He's doing great," Josie said, leading him further down the aisle, the graceful black prancing just after her before Josie stopped him in the aisle and put him in another set of cross ties, taking off his saddle. "We're heading him to the Jockey Club Gold Cup next month before we get to the Breeders' Cup. You should have seen the way he blew away the field in the Whitney. He even beat that Vertrando colt that everyone has been talking about lately."
"I read about it in the Daily Racing Form," Cindy nodded. "You'll have to show me the tape later. It sounded like an impressive win."
"Sure," Josie nodded, giving Warrior a pat on his thick black neck as she headed back to the tack room. "Anything to show him off."
"He doesn't need the help, Jo," Samantha called at the retreating girl, un clipping Eleta's line and backing her up.
"Are you taking her out to the track?" Cindy asked, watching as Samantha started to lead the filly out of the barn, the morning sun already slanting into the barn and lighting up the filly's light bay coat.
"Uh-huh," Samantha nodded, giving the young filly a pat on the neck. "You should come down with me. Ash and Mike are down there, along with dad. I bet they'll all be speechless when they see you."
"I bet," Cindy smiled, excited and at the same time nervous to see her family again. Ashleigh she was particularly wary about, still feeling horrible and very responsible for the loss of Ashleigh's baby. Had Cindy been in better control of Champion that day, and had she been using a stud chain that was always normal procedure, Ashleigh would have had her second child and Champion would still be at Whitebrook.
Cindy and Samantha walked down to the track, Eleta prancing majestically between them as the dark green leaves of the Maples shaded their bodies from the warming sun.
"The wedding is in two months?" Cindy asked, raising her eyebrows after she listened to Samantha inform her of the new wedding date, the modest diamond ring glittering on her left hand. Tor Nelson, Samantha's boyfriend, had asked her to marry him yet again, after their first engagement had been broken off due to cold feet. This time things seemed to concrete, with a wedding date in October.
"I'll have to get you fitted for your bridesmaid dress," Samantha laughed, giving Cindy a smile over Eleta's back, the filly dancing along, merrily kicking up her heels.
"Since when am I a bridesmaid?" Cindy asked incredulously, chuckling as the training oval came into view.
"Since I wrote you a letter telling you that you had no choice," Samantha shot back, giving Cindy a look out of bright green eyes. "I guess you never got it."
"No," Cindy shook her head, looking forward and letting the quiet flow over them as they walked up to the gap where Mike, Ashleigh, and Ian were standing like sentinels, watching over the horses.
"Hey, guys!" Samantha suddenly called at their backs. "Look who I found!"
At Samantha's voice all three figures turned around, their jaws dropping open at the sight before them. Cindy rose a hand and waved timidly, not used to all the attention.
"Cindy?" Ian was the first to shout, rushing up to her as she stopped at the rail with Samantha and the filly.
"Hi, dad," Cindy laughed as Ian hugged her hard, pushing her back just as rapidly to get a good look at her.
"What on earth are you doing here?" Ian demanded, looking totally shocked. "You didn't even call."
"I would have," Cindy insisted, her brown eyes glittering with unshed tears. "I just never got the chance. I wanted to tell everyone that I was coming home."
"Cindy," Ashleigh broke in, smiling at Ian's side as she waited for her turn to hug the younger girl.
"How are you doing?" Ashleigh asked, smiling quietly at her.
"Very good now that I'm back," Cindy returned. "I was so homesick in Dubai."
"No kidding," Mike chuckled, ruffling Cindy's hair. "We've been missing you around here."
Cindy's cheeks automatically reddened in a blush as she looked down at her feet. She considered it a miracle that anyone would miss her after what her stupid mistake had cost Whitebrook.
"When did you get in?" Ian asked, standing back from his daughter to survey her.
"Just minutes ago," Cindy said. "I caught mom before she left for work."
Ian chuckled, nodding his head. "You just missed Kevin, then. Ash and Beth have started sending Kev and Chris to preschool lately to get them out of our hair."
Cindy grinned, thinking about the two little kids. Kevin was Ian and Beth's young son, and Chris, short for Christina, was Mike and Ashleigh's daughter. The two were nearly the same age, although Kevin was several months younger than Christina, who had been born premature early Christmas day.
"Really?" Cindy laughed. "When do they get home?"
"This afternoon," Ian said, his eyes skipping back to the track as a gray filly lunged past, her finely shaped head held high as she tried to rip the reins out of her experienced rider's hands.
"Hold her, Ann!" Ian bellowed as the gray galloped along the inside rail, the rider gaining control over the bounding filly, the gray arching her thick neck as her delicate legs stretched out before her, breaths coming in excited rasps.
"Just like her dam," Ian shook his head, turning back to Cindy.
"Who's her dam?" Cindy asked, not recognizing the gray filly.
"Heavenly Choir," Ian said without stopping himself.
"What, Cin, you don't remember Glory's Joy?" Samantha asked teasingly, nodding out to the gray filly as she galloped into the first turn again, churning eagerly underneath Ann Pierce, who had become Whitebrook's preferred jockey since Ashleigh had retired the year before.
"That's Joy?" Cindy asked, shocked. She remembered the dark gray filly as a yearling. She had, after all, helped break the young horse then, being the first on Joy's back and teaching her the fundamentals of running on the track. The gray filly before them looked nothing like the yearling Cindy had known.
"Her coat lightened considerably," Ashleigh said, noticing the confused look on Cindy's face. "Much faster than Glory, in any case."
Cindy could only nod, her eyes stuck on the beautiful creature as Ann slowed her to a canter, Joy flinging her head up in protest. The filly was a beautiful shade of silver smudged with smoky gray, her mane and tail were fans of charcoal, and her legs were still dark like they had been the year before. As Ann cantered the filly back around the far turn, Cindy caught another look at Joy's face, marveling at how stunning the filly had turned out.
"How is she coming?" Cindy asked, almost as breathless as Ann was when she pulled the filly up at the gap.
"Wonderful," Mike nodded, motioning for Ann to take the filly off the track. "We're headed her to a maiden this month."
"What do you think, Ann?" Ashleigh asked, holding the filly as the jockey jumped off, not even noticing Cindy in her rush to tell the trainers how Joy had gone.
"Perfect," Ann grinned, rubbing her hand over the filly's silver neck. "A little too eager, maybe. Other than that, she's ready to go."
"I'm in agreement," Ian nodded after doing a quick check of her legs. "Let's get her cooled out. We're going to do a breeze tomorrow."
Ann nodded and turned to lead the filly away, nearly slamming into Cindy, who had inched closer to get a better look at Joy.
"Cindy?" Ann stammered, the other girl shocked speechless as she reached out and grabbed Cindy's arm to keep her from falling.
Cindy clung to Ann's hand and let the older jockey pull her back up, laughing lightly.
"Oh my God!" Ann exclaimed, hugging Cindy hard and pushing back, her dark green eyes wide. "When did you get in? Why are you here? What's going on?"
"Three excellent questions," Samantha laughed, throwing Eleta's reins over the bay filly's head as she prepared to take the other two-year-old out on the track.
"Early this morning, because I wanted to come home, and I'm here to stay," Cindy answered quickly, grinning widely at the older girl, laughing at Ann's recovering look.
"Okay then," Ann chuckled, smiling at Cindy as she pulled off her hard hat, shaking out her long dark brown waves. "It's great to have you back! How much have you seen since you got in?"
"Not much," Cindy admitted. "I went to visit Glory, found Sammy in the training barn, and now I'm here."
"Ah," Ann grinned, looking at Ashleigh. "She hasn't seen the new acquirements."
"New acquirements?" Cindy asked, giving Ashleigh a look as Samantha leapt up on Eleta's back, the young filly tossing her black mane as she headed out to the track, keeping the beautiful creature collected easily.
"The new horses," Ashleigh said, laughing with Ann. "We should get you up to speed."
"Yes, please," Cindy nodded eagerly, walking with Ann as the older girl clucked to the filly, leading her forward.
"I'll come with," Ashleigh said, turning to Mike and Ian. "Will you guys be okay without me?"
Mike scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I don't think the world will shatter without you, hon."
"Okay," Ashleigh waved, sticking her tongue out at her husband before walking up to the training barn with Ann and Cindy.
"She looks so different," Cindy murmured to Ann, eyeing the filly with pride knowing that she had been involved with her early training.
"She's gorgeous," Ann nodded, giving the filly another pat on the neck. "And she knows it."
"And she's seriously progressed while you've been gone," Ashleigh added, walking next to Cindy as they entered the training barn, the filly's dark hooves clattering against the concrete. "She's still fairly on the small side, but size doesn't really matter."
"As we've seen with Wonder," Ann smiled, handing off the gray filly to Len, Whitebrook's head groom.
"How did the little lady go?" Len asked, taking the bright filly from Ann and leading her down the aisle to pull off her tack.
"Excellent," Ashleigh answered. "We're going to give her a breeze tomorrow before her maiden."
Len nodded, noticing Cindy out of the corner of his eye and giving her a smile and a nod. Cindy smiled and nodded back, liking how the old groom didn't make a fuss about her return to Whitebrook. It made Cindy feel like she had never left.
"Where should we start?" Ann asked, dropping her hard had and her chaps inside the tack room as they walked through the main barn.
"I say with the stallions," Ashleigh opted, heading for the barn opening. "We've got a couple new studs."
The three women entered the smaller stud barn quietly, walking up the aisle. Everything looked the same to Cindy, which was a small comfort. Jazzman, Mike's first big racing success, was standing tall in his stall, ripping at his hay net with ferocity. Next to him stood the stunning chestnut Wonder's Pride, Wonder's first foal who had won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. There were other familiar names, like Limitless Time and Matchless, who had been excellent racers in their older years.
"We got rid of Terminator," Ashleigh said over her shoulder. "When Ann decided to come back to Whitebrook last November you remember we decided to move In Shadows back up to Whitebrook to stand stud here?"
"Right," Cindy nodded, walking up to the stall that held the big black stallion. It was empty at the moment. In Shadows had raced one year at Whitebrook, beating Glory in the Santa Anita Handicap and going head to head with Townsend Acres' colt, Rough Gold before ultimately winning Horse of the Year and retiring to Ann's mother's farm in California when Ann had decided to move out to California to help her mom get the floundering breeding farm in order. When Ann moved back to Whitebrook to help out after the accident, she had brought In Shadows with her.
"Well, you remember the three-year-old champion from last year?" Ashleigh asked, grinning at Cindy as they stopped in front of a familiar stallion's stall.
"Road to Rome?" Cindy asked, shocked. "How?"
Ashleigh stopped in front of the big bay's stall, putting a hand on the stallion's head, tracing her fingers down the stallion's white stripe. "Out of the money we got from Champion we were able to buy a considerable portion of his shares. His owners, the Maybee's, decided to stand him here."
"Oh my God," Cindy said, shocked as she looked at the burly four-year-old son of Red Roman. "He won the Preakness and the Belmont, right?"
"Along with the Haskell and the Travers," Ann said. "Plus second in the Classic by a head."
Cindy was speechless. The fact that Whitebrook, which was a small farm to start off with, had managed to buy a large portion of stud rights to an Eclipse Award winner was saying something about the farm's future. Perhaps selling Champion had been beneficial after all, Cindy thought to herself, taking a look at the accomplished colt.
"Let's go take a look at Shadow and Mr. Wonderful," Ashleigh said, giving Road to Rome a final pat before leading the way out to the paddocks, where several horses were grazing, their sleek bodies dotting the green fields.
The two stallions were easy to spot. Mr. Wonderful's bright chestnut coat was shimmering like a blanket of gold under the summer sun, and In Shadows glowed a luxurious blue-black against the emerald green of the grass as he grazed.
"They're looking good," Cindy said, standing and watching the stallions mill about in their large, sweeping paddocks. Between the two of them were four Eclipse Awards, both Horse of the Year and older colt awards. Mr. Wonderful had earned his awards as a five-year-old, recovering from his injuries that had plagued him as a three-year-old and winning several big grade one races his last year in racing, culminating his career with a magnificent win in the Breeder's Cup Classic against his half-brother, Wonder's Champion, who had been three and coming off his Triple Crown victory.
The older stallion's victory had crushed Cindy at the time, but looking back at it she knew the beautiful honey chestnut had deserved to win that day.
The three women walked along the gravel road by the paddocks for some time, looking at the new horses Whitebrook had gotten at auctions and the newly weaned foals. Ashleigh was particularly excited about Fleet Goddess' two-year-old, Zenith, a late developing filly by Storm Bird, and the mare's yearling, a Wild Again colt named Wild River.
"There's Fleeting Angel," Ann pointed out, nodding to the imposing dark bay filly, Fleet Goddess' three-year-old by Dominion. Cindy nodded remembering the filly, who had moved to dominate her class of horses after a poor showing as a two-year-old. The dark bay lifted her head and pricked her ears at them as they walked by, snorting casually before heading back to her grazing.
"She's headed to the Distaff in November," Ashleigh said, sighing. "It's a small miracle considering how wild she is on the track. She and Warrior really grew up to be menaces."
"But talented menaces," Ann laughed, pointing out that they had been sired by Dominion, who had practically acted like a wild horse while still winning the biggest races.
"That's true," Ashleigh nodded. "I'm definitely not regretting breeding to Dominion. In fact, we're sending Wonder back to Dominion this coming spring."
"Really?" Cindy asked, remembering when she and Ann had raced each other around the training oval at Edgewood Farm, where Dominion had raced and still stood. Ann had been on the thundering stallion, and Cindy had been on his half-sister, Beautiful Way. It was a moment that would forever be etched in her memory.
"Uh-huh," Ashleigh nodded. "In fact, that little bay in the next paddock is her's. Res Mira, by General Meeting."
"Res Mira?" Cindy asked, not recognizing the language as her eyes fell on the well-made weanling filly. "What does that mean?"
"It's Latin for 'a wonderful thing'," Ann said, smiling as the little bay filly pushed her way through a group of domineering colts, showing off as she sprinted away, the colts tearing after her.
Cindy laughed as Res Mira galloped in front of all the larger colts, her star marked head held high as her black legs folded and unfolded over the grass, dodging around groups of other weanlings as she kept the pack of other young horses behind her.
"The name suits her," Cindy smiled, pushing away from the fence as they continued on their walk, Ashleigh and Ann showing her the site where they would be building the new second training barn. With the amount of horses coming into training soon, Ashleigh had told her, it would be necessary to build more faculties and hire more helpers. Cindy had only arched her eyebrow in response, wondering where Ashleigh's vision of keeping Whitebrook a small family operated business had gone. She supposed all ideas for the future had to change, but with the extra money from Champion's sale, Whitebrook seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds.
"Well, that's it," Ashleigh said, catching Cindy let out a tired yawn before smiling. "You must be exhausted, Cin."
"I really am," Cindy admitted. It was all too much for her. Flying across the world in one day had left Cindy feeling like her head was in a vice, and all the new changes she had to get accustomed to at her home had left her feeling like nothing other than taking a nap.
"I can help you get unpacked," Ann offered, looking up at the row of modest cottages that led up to the main farmhouse.
"That's okay," Cindy said, shaking her head. "I think I'm going to go back up to the cottage and take a rest. If dad is looking for me, just tell him I'm in my room."
"Sure thing," Ashleigh nodded, reaching out and squeezing Cindy's hand, as if she was telling her silently that things were alright.
"Get a good rest," Ann said, pushing Cindy in the direction of the cottages. "You need to catch up on your sleep if you plan on jumping into works tomorrow."
Cindy nodded, barely hearing as she waved to Ashleigh and Ann before heading up to the house, walking in and making a beeline for her bedroom, swinging open the door to find it as it had been before she left.
Cindy let out a thankful sigh and laid down on her bed, not even bothering to pull off her shoes before she closed her eyes and made herself comfortable, thinking of nothing except the silvery vision of Joy galloping across the track before sleep claimed her and all was black.