Chap 10 Limits

Jeffrey followed Stan in silence, his stomach in a knot. He felt angry with Bogg for telling him not to go on the ride, but his conscience bothered him a bit too.

"So you must like horses," Stan said as they walked.

"Yeah, I do."

"I don't get to ride enough," Stan said. "I'd hate to have someone tell me I couldn't ride, especially here at headquarters. I mean, it's not like you've got to worry about fixing history. It's only a ride."

"Yeah," Jeff answered half-heartedly.

"If you wanted to get back at Phineas, we can play a joke on him."

"What do you mean?" Jeff asked.

"I can fix the scores, imagine the look on his face when he finds out he was dead last?"

"That's cheating," Jeff said in an accusatory tone.

"It's just a joke, it's not like this is qualifying us for anything."

"I'd never do that to Bogg!" he said, annoyed. "It doesn't even make sense, I mean, he'd know if he was last... he was in the race."

"It would just be a joke," Stan repeated and glanced at Jeff, the kid's expression was still angry.

They mounted their horses and started up the trail in silence, and gradually Jeff's anger dissipated. They urged the horses to a trot and then a canter and Jeff forgot everything except how great it felt to be riding again. His horse was an appaloosa with a choppy trot, but a very smooth canter. He wished Bogg was with him to share in the fun.

They slowed to a walk as the trail led them up a hill, and Jeff decided to see what he could find out about Stan. After all, he'd been second in his class, he would've been first if Drake hadn't cheated. He would probably be an interesting person to talk to.

"So what's your favorite book?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Jeff paused, he wasn't used to having his questions challenged. "Just wondering, I was thinking I'd like to read something, that's all."

"I like lots of books."

"Me too, but what's your favorite?"

"What's yours?"

Jeff paused in frustration, why wouldn't he just say? "I like Mark Twain, you know Huckleberry..."

"Finn, yeah, I've read it. Didn't care too much for it."

"I like Charles Dickens too," Jeff continued.

"I don't really care for Dickens, too wordy."

"How about A Christmas Carol? That's famous, lots of people like it."

Stan shrugged as they reached the top of the hill, "just because it's famous doesn't mean it's good."

"So what do you like?" Jeff asked in frustration.

"I tend to like biographies, factual stories about real people," he replied.

"Oh," Jeff paused, trying to think of something else to say. He liked knowing facts too, but he also wanted to read something that he could get really involved in. The kind of book you just couldn't put down. Finally he decided to keep trying to engage Stan in conversation. "So what are your favorite biographies?"

It didn't take Jeff long to realize that he had finally hit on the right question. Stan immediately started talking about his favorite historical figures and he had a lot of interesting things to say. He knew the stories of many famous people that Jeff hadn't even heard of and an hour passed in pleasant conversation. He even explained how different historians presented sometimes conflicting views of the same stories and events.

As the time went by however, Jeff started to realize that he didn't quite feel 100%. He kept riding, trying to cope as best he could, but finally he had to speak up. "Hold up a minute," he called to Stan, who was riding ahead of him on the trail.

"What?" Stan asked, turning in the saddle to face him.

"I think I need to rest a minute," Jeff said and dismounted before he heard a reply. The truth was, he had suddenly felt weak and was afraid he might fall off his mount.

Stan eyed him for a moment, then dismounted too. "We're only halfway through the ride."

Jeff sat down on the grass beside the trail, "I just need to rest for a little while."

Stan stood uncertainly, "I knew Phineas was wrong," he said with a smug smile.

"Wrong about what?"

"He says you're a real voyager, but you don't know what your limits are at all."

"Limits?" Jeff asked in a tired voice.

"Yeah, limits. Didn't Phineas tell you what the competitions are about?"

"What do the competitions have to do with limits?" Jeff asked.

Stan paused in disbelief, "So Phineas never even told you?" He chuckled and shook his head in disbelief, "some voyager."

"Look, we've been busy, just stop talking in riddles and spit it out," Jeff yelled, his temper flaring.

"The competitions aren't against other voyagers," Stan said in a matter of fact tone.

"What do you mean?" Jeff asked, confused.

"We're competing against ourselves." When Jeff's confused expression didn't change, Stan continued, "Phineas isn't competing against Tom, or anyone else in the sailing competition, he's competing against his own estimate of how fast he can sail the course. Voyagers have to know their limits and you should know that by now, what the heck is Phineas teaching you!"

Jeff's brows furrowed in concentration, "oh."

After a few seconds, Stan asked, "so when do you think we can get going again?"

"I don't know."

Stan sighed loudly and rolled his eyes as he looked away. He walked to a large rock and sat down.

Jeff scowled at him. "Then how do you know who wins?" he asked after another few minutes.

"Whoever sails the course closest to their estimate without going over is the winner. It's that way for every individual competition."

"But that means the winner could be the person who finishes the course last," Jeff said in disbelief.

"It's the only logical way to do it. All types of people are voyagers, and they all have to know their own limits to be successful in the field."

Jeff sat thinking. "Is there a shorter way back to the stables?" he finally asked.

"If we backtrack a bit, there's a fork in the trail, we can be back in an hour, instead of three."

"I need to do that."

"That's not fair to me, I've been looking forward to this ride since we got here," Stan said harshly.

"Yeah, well, I know my limits and I can't finish this ride without making myself really sick," Jeff shot back, just as harshly. "I'll go back alone, you can finish the long ride by yourself."

Stan stared at him, and nodded. He was impressed. It was true that the kid had bitten off a little more than he could chew at first, but he was making up for it now. He was also a very quick learner, and Stan knew he was only 12. "I don't mind going back," he said in a friendly voice, "tell me when you feel well enough to ride."

Jeff's jaw dropped open at this change in Stan's demeanor. He sat in silence and gradually felt better. After another fifteen minutes he spoke, "I can ride now, but I meant it before, you don't have to come with me."

"Yeah, I do, you're a voyager and I can't just leave you up here because you aren't as experienced as I am at estimating your limits. Besides, Phineas would kill me if anything happened to you on the way back."

"So what does it say in this Partnership Agreement you keep talking about?" Jeffrey asked, wanting to give himself a little more time to rest.

"You're kidding, right?"

Now it was Jeff's turn to roll his eyes, "you're the one that keeps talking about it, just tell me, okay?"

Stan stared at him, "the Agreement is very short. It just says that either party can end the partnership at any time, as long as history has been set right. That if either party becomes ill or injured, the only responsibility of the other is to get them to any safe place. There is no obligation to stay with the other person."

"Doesn't sound very friendly."

"Partnerships aren't about being friends," Stan answered, "nobody would expect to sideline another voyager if they get hurt or sick."

"So when things are going along fine, you stay partners, and then when the going gets tough ... so long?"

"That's the way it is kid."

"Partnerships don't last very long then, do they?" Jeff asked quietly.

"Well, most voyagers work alone, and only partner up on a tough assignment."

Jeff stared at the ground, he felt very tired. He was annoyed with himself too. He'd been totally wrong about how much energy he had for this ride. Then Stan had been acting both nasty and nice to him and he wasn't sure why. He didn't want this episode to become one of the stories Stan told to entertain his friends. And now that he knew what was in the Partnership Agreement he felt even worse about how he'd treated Bogg. Apparently a partnership was a lot more involved according to Bogg's definition, than it was at headquarters. The partnership of voyagers didn't seem to be anything special at all to anyone else.

Jeff stood up, "you can go, really. I'm fine, and I'll just tell Bogg I turned back when you weren't looking, he'll believe me," he said as he mounted his horse.

Stan smiled and mounted his horse also. "No way kid, come on," and together they started back. As they rode back, Stan spoke again, "I've got a book about famous Arab Scholars that you can borrow if you want."

"I don't think I know any Arab scholars," Jeff answered, and they had an interesting conversation the first half of the ride back, until Jeffrey started feeling very tired again and leaned forward over the saddle horn, just hoping the ride would end soon.

When they finally reached the stable, Jeff slid off the horse and walked over to the steps of a nearby pub to sit down while Stan took care of the horses. He leaned his head against the wooden uprights under the railing, glad to be able to rest.