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Alice Collins, the daughter of well established businessman, Gordon Collins, a horse racing extraordinary, is fast becoming disillusioned with her father's reckless attitude towards his horses. Forced to ride despite being in her final year of vet school, Alice finds herself trapped with no way out - until tragic events lead her to Danny Trevanion.

As a child, the thrill of climbing into the huge, gold, livered wagon branded with her family name all around it had seemed magical, a fairy tale almost, but after twenty four years of the same journeys, same people and same ruthlessness, Alice Collins was becoming disillusioned with all of the madness that was horse racing. It wasn't that she disliked it, she did, in fact she would go as far to say she loved it, what she hated was her father's insistence on treating his majestic beasts as investments, seeing them only as financial assets to bring him yet more capital, as opposed to the living, beautiful creatures they were.

The wagon turned into the paddock area, and the familiar scent of the race track settled her nerves ever so slightly, the horses whinnying excitedly to one another, setting her heart racing with a love she could never fully describe and a love, that she knew, her father could never experience. She sighed, standing up and glancing at the photographs tacked to the living area of the horse box. They'd had numerous success over the years, championships, flat horses, jump horses, they'd had it all, and she'd shared in that success. She'd fast become one of the most popular lady riders of her time, and as a child, she'd been unbeatable with her trusty steed, Marcus. She felt a smile creep to her lips as she thought of the gallant little pony, he lived with her cousins now, teaching them how to ride, but she still missed him, even to this day.

"Alice." Her Dad barked, opening the door between the cab and the luxury living area. He was dressed in his usual over the top way, top hat, tails and three different aftershaves mixing into an over-powering, sickly stench. "Get ready, you're in race one."

Alice nodded, opening the wardrobe and withdrawing the family silks, the one her father reminded her she ought to be honoured to wear. The blue, green and white silks mocked her as she withdrew them, throwing them quickly over her under clothes. Despite, looking part, she felt a fraud. She hated this, and she knew despite everything her father said, the horse she was to ride, Blue Rinse, should never run with the handicap he was forcing upon her.

"Right, go do your weigh in, we'll get him ready and warmed up." Gordon snapped, "Rowan, look sharp!" He growled at his son.

"Dad, that horse can not run with that much weight..." Alice insisted, trying to reason with him despite the fact she knew it was in vain. "You'll damage her back if she even manages to finish the race!"

Gordon's dark brown eyes turned to glare at her, blackening with anger and fury as he roughly grabbed her arm, pulling her out of view and forcing her against the side of the wagon, his hand squeezing her tiny forearm tighter and tighter.

"Don't tell me how to use my horses girl... you might think you're all high and mighty with your vet school, but you know nothing. Keep your mouth shut." He snarled.

"What if I refuse to ride?" Alice challenged, trying to hide her grimace as his grip on her arm tightened, his sharp nails digging in to the skin, drawing the tiniest pinpricks of blood.

"What if I let your dirty little secret out? Top Lady Rider, Alice Collins in a media scandal. You'd be ruined." He smirked, "Now go to that fucking weigh in and you ride this horse hard, you get it? If it doesn't win, there'll be trouble."

Alice let out a sigh as he released her, stalking away, his gentleman facade well and truly back in place. She closed her eyes a moment, leaning against the wagon, collecting her thoughts. She should have known she'd never get away with it, she should have known that he'd find out. He knew everything, he knew everyone, nothing was a secret, not with him. The only secret to Gordon Collins was love - he only knew harshness, business and exploitation. With that heavy thought, she left, disheartened, yearning for escape.

(x)

"Danny Trevanion, I'm the vet today." Danny smiled as he introduced himself at the gate. It never failed to surprise him how attitudes changed once the ladies on the gate realised you had power. Almost immediately they became altogether much more patient, and much more hospital.

"Down there sweetheart." The lady smiled, before walking off and leaving him to it.

As he drove his Jeep to the centre of the track, he found himself wishing for something more. He'd convinced himself that doing all the racetracks and travelling would get him out of the rut he'd settled into, but if anything it had done the opposite, simply draining him as he drove up and down the United Kingdom, looking after pampered ponies for pampered people. Today, was Mussleburgh, a new track for him, but one that he knew held no promise of something more. Something was missing in his life and he couldn't figure out what.

As he pulled to a halt, he glanced to his left and watched as the jockeys boarded their horses, preparing for the first race. He glanced down at his programme and noted it was a heavy handicap, no doubt a chance for the owners to over exert their horses and expect him to magically fix them within the hour. As they were thrown into the starting gates he shook his head, climbing out of his Jeep and perching himself upon the roof, watching with interest.

"Here we go." He sighed, his vet box close by - he had a feeling he'd need it at some point during the day.