Chapter 40: Cindy Cats and Other Business-like Stuff

Susannah reappeared within thirty minutes with a retinue of workers following after her. She frowned as she approached. "What happened to all the food and champagne?"

"That paltry collection?" Thranduil waved his arm dismissively towards the blanket now piled with empty platters and bottles. Two lone bottles of champagne remained of the batch they had brought with, and less than half a platter of creampuffs.

"Hmmm, y'all sure are a thirsty bunch. Well, we can take care of that in a bit." She turned to the minions who had accompanied her. "Guess we just need you boys to clean up then." Her eyes then landed on Legolas. "Oh my, now who are you?"

Kat stifled a laugh as she saw the look on Susannah's face. The sound wasn't enough to distract the woman from staring at the elven prince.

Tauriel rolled her eyes, letting out a huge sigh of exasperation. "That is Legolas, his son," she pointed towards Thranduil.

"So y'all are a prince too?" Susannah smiled even brighter than she had been.

Legolas frowned. "Yes, I suppose you could say so."

"This is getting even batter and batter," Susannah drawled.

"Batter? As in cake batter? Are there many hobbits here? Those seem to be the ones most fond of baking," Legolas asked her.

"No, she means things are getting better, not batter," Kat quickly explained.

"Ah, I see," Legolas replied, although his face showed that he really didn't understand.

A horse whinnied loudly as it came onto the track, breaking Susannah's concentration. "Oh, yes. Come along, I found just the person y'all need to talk to about buying a horse, and then we get some lunch before the races start an' the crowds wander in," Susannah linked her arms through first Thranduil's, then tried to decide which of the two princes to choose to grace her other arm. She finally decided on Loki, reaching over to tuck his arm in with her free one, she steered them towards a passage to the grandstand area. "Come along y'all," she tossed over her shoulder.

Legolas and Kat followed dutifully, while the other two remained behind.

Sif glanced at Tauriel and shook her head. "I just don't get it. I wish this whole adventure would just stop."

"Really?" Tauriel looked at her as she glanced after the trio ahead of them. "I am actually beginning to enjoy it. It is interesting to see the King out of his element."

Sif considered that for a moment, then nodded. "I guess you are correct. I am seeing a completely different side to Loki. I'm almost beginning to like him."

Tauriel laughed. "I know what you mean! Do you think we ought to bring the stuff that came with us?"

"I think we'd better. I'd hate to hear Thranduil if he discovered we left a single drop of his precious champagne behind!"

Laughing, the two picked up the last bottles and platters and headed off to track down the others. They entered the tunnel and hiked through, finally catching up with Susannah and the men.

"I still can't believe y'all know Tony Stark!" Susannah exclaimed. "Is he coming today? He nev-ah comes, even though he has one of the best boxes in the park."

"Well, there is a possibility he might, ah, pop in you might say," Loki snickered, knowing that the instant he used the silly piece of plastic to purchase something, chances were good Stark would know exactly where they were and show up… just like at that insane foot war they had just departed.

"Well, then, I suppose he won't mind if we all just waited around in his box, then, right?" Susannah asked.

"So he has a box here?" Loki replied. He glanced back noticing the ladies had rejoined them.

"Ah, you did bring along our champagne. Excellent!" Thranduil commented.

Sif stuck her tongue out at him the instant he turned away. Tauriel laughed. "Sif! Really!"

They entered the stable area and walked towards one of the barns.

"Now, my friend thinks he might be able to get y'all one of the shares on the favorite today for the Darby. The owners decided to put him into syndication since the odds on him to win are sooo good today. Price is really good, too," Susannah explained as they entered the barn. "Y'all will be sure to get a good return on the investment."

"Indeed," a tall, dark-haired man agreed as he approached them. "I was surprised when his owners decided to syndicate him, but… " he spread his arms out. "In these days, money is money. May as well make it while you can. They decided to sell 100 shares. He has an excellent pedigree, and if he wins today, your share would easily double in value," he said as he approached one of the stalls. He opened the top half of the door and a horse's head popped out. "Now, this is the fella we're talking about."

"Oh, he is such a handsome boy," Susannah gushed.

"Now, Susannah, you are looking rather gorgeous yourself today. That hat really flatters you."

"Mark, y'all are such a charmer," Susannah purred.

"So, I thought we are buying a Cindy cat?" Loki asked. "This appears to be a horse."

The man stared at him a second. Susannah jumped in. "They're from a foreign country, Mark. I'm sure they don't quite get the terms. See, a syndicate is a partnership sort of. You own a part of the horse. If he wins, you get a portion of the winnings," she quickly explained.

"How much does one win at this?" Loki asked.

"Depends on the race, but today would be over a million dollars."

"That's a lot of money!" Kat gasped.

"So the winner receives this money, divided by 100, that would be approximately $100,000 a share, correct?" Loki calculated quickly.

"Is that much?" Thranduil asked.

Loki nodded.

"So, we could purchase more champagne."

"Boys, y'all could buy enough champagne to last y'all at least a year!" Susannah exclaimed, then recalling how quickly they'd polished off the bottles they had arrived with, she quickly corrected herself. "Well, at least a month."

Loki looked over her head at Thranduil. "Sounds good."

Thranduil nodded. "Agreed. How many shares are for sale?"

"Well, as I said, the owners opened up 100 shares…" Mark started to reply.

"We shall each take ten of them," Thranduil interrupted, gesturing towards their entire group. "That would be 50 shares."

Loki looked at Mark. "Can we pay with this?" He handed over Stark's card.

Mark inspected it, and nodded. "Don't you wish to know the cost of a share?"

Loki shook his head. "No, is there a problem?"

"No, not at all, I… I'm just surprised you aren't curious as to the cost," Mark replied.

"Mr. Stark told me I could use this if I needed to. So…" Loki pointed to the card Mark was still holding.

"Oh, yes. Right. Let me go complete the transaction. Fifty shares…" he bustled off into an office, emerging several minutes later with several sheet of paper. "Here is the paper work, I assumed you would not mind if I combined each set of shares into one form."

"As long as everything is proper," Loki replied.

"Oh, indeed it is. Congratulations, all of you, on your investment. You have made a wise choice. Hopefully he will win for you today."