Well, here's the next part of my little melodrama. Sigh, aren't they so cute? squeak Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and I have seen a horse with really dark green eyes and even though horses rarely or never have green green eyes, I just really want a horse with green eyes. pouts, stamps foot, and has princess momentAnyway, it's more like a very blue green, but soon I shall have a whole corral full of green eyed horses once I find the gene for eye color in horsies. Mwuhahahahahahahaha! blushes Sorry, I have mad scientist moments sometimes. Well, again enjoy the melodrama. Tootles! Oh, and I don't own Alec or the Black, but I do own Jenza and the Phantom. Ok, now I'm really done talking, I promise.
Alec galloped down the trail at break-neck speed. He urged the Black on faster and faster, feeling his anger grow as the trees whizzed by. Who does she think she is! he thought. Telling me how to ride MY horse! I'm a world class jockey. I know what I'm doin'! Why else would I be here! And it's HER fault that I had to jump that log! If she wasn't gallopin' done the trail…
His angry melted away and was replaced by stupidity. He looked down at his lathered horse that staggered from the effort that he had put out. Alec eased the Black down to a walk and gave him a pat. The Black stretched his neck out graciously and settled into a slow swaying walk. Alec felt like getting off there and kicking himself. He had been such a jerk. He yelled at some one who was nice enough to bring his horse back and save him from humiliation. Then he was inconsiderate to his horse and did what he yelled at her about just because she was trying to have a conversation. His head lowered in dismay.
"Well, Black. You sure have a nice owner. He finally finds a girl he likes. And what does he do? He blows her off! What am I going to do?"
She walked her horse leisurely through the dappled sunlight. The day started all right. She had a nice gallop on the Phantom and the jump over the log was wonderful. But what was that guy's problem, she thought. Nobody is on the trails this early in the morning and every one knows that trail has a log blocking the way, so no one uses it. Maybe he's new here. But if he's in the race he arrived here a week ago. She sighed and shook her head. "Men. I will never understand the male ego, will I, Phan?"
The Phantom snorted loudly and tossed her head. Her rider laughed at her antics and pulled her up at the entrance to their stable. She dismounted and patted her horse's damp neck. She turned and smiled at her trainer who was approaching with a bucket of cool water and sponges. She exchanged the control of the reins for the water bucket and began to wash the Phantom.
"So. 'Ow was the ride, Jenza?" her trainer finally asked as she held the Phantom.
"Oh Michelle, it was great! That log I spotted on the last trail ride was an excellent jump. We sailed right over it in perfect style! I keep wondering why I didn't enter steeple chasing instead." Jenza drenched the Phantom's back with a spongeful of water and rubbed the sweat mark off. The Phantom grunted contently and proceeded to rub her head against Michelle. The horse and rider enjoyed the moment of silence that passed between them when it was suddenly broken.
"Ya know perfectly well why you don steeple chase!" Michelle commented sternly. "Ya parents barely allowed ya to race, let alone get near a 'oss, after that accident. And we both know that both ya and the Phantom would choke if ya ever competed over jumps again!"
Jenza winced at the harsh, but true, words. She touched the scars that riddled the Phantom's back and conjured up all her strength to prevent from touching the ones that stained her face. "You're right," she sighed, "like always." She wistfully dropped the sponge into the bucket and took the reins from Michelle. She walked past Michelle as she began to cool the Phantom down. Michelle saw the pain within her eyes as past memories reemerged and decided it was a good time to change the subject.
"Soo. Did anything intrestin' 'appen on the trail?"
Alec glanced up at Henry, hoping he didn't notice the extra lathered sweat on the Black. "No, it was just a nice, normal trail ride," Alec replied while scrubbing the Black's back.
Henry gave him an "oh-really" look. "So, you just decided to dismount in the middle of the ride and take a roll in the dirt." He pointed at Alec's dirt-encrusted britches and shirt. Alec weakly smiled at him.
"The trail was dusty." Henry shot him the look again. Alec sighed. "Ok, so I fell off, it's not any big deal and it wasn't my fault."
"An' whose was it?"
With a quizzical look, Jenza turned back to Michelle. "Actually, something very interesting happened. You know that trail I was telling you about, with the log." Michelle nodded. "Well, I was galloping to jump over the log, and I pass this dufus in his own little world while his stallion saunters along. I was really shocked to see anyone on the trail and I know trail etiquette and all, but there was no way I could stop Phan safely to walk past. So I yelled out, 'Left side, coming through," and slowed Phan as much as possible. The guy must have been all the way to Andromeda because he totally lost control of his horse, which decided to get into a little match race. Man, that stallion was fast and he had movement to die for. Well, I tried to indicate that the log was ahead, but he was really trying to get that wild beast under control. We made it over the log fine. However, when I glanced back to see how our adversary was doing, I only see his horse bucking toward us. I slowly pulled up Phan to try to get up beside the brute, but he took it as an invitation to surge forward. He gave me a wonderful chase, but finally, after some snaps and pinned ears, I got him and towed him back to the rider. The guy looked really embarrassed when I gave him his horse."
"What did the guy look like?"
"Uh, he was about five two, had like guy-medium length red hair and these really gorgeous blue eyes."
"Was 'e cute?" Michelle smirked as Jenza blushed.
"Yeah," Jenza murmured. Jenza placed her hand between the Phantom's front legs and then ran her hand over her steed's back. "She's cool."
Michelle redid Jenza's motions. "Yup, let's move this little soap opera in doors." Jenza slapped Michelle with the end of the lead rope and then followed her into the barn.
"But anyway," Jenza started again, "I was kind enough to return this jerk's horse and try to be friendly, and he goes off the deep end, saying that I should be more careful. Then he leaps on his horse and gallops away. Can you believe that…awph!"
Jenza deposited Phantom in her stall and gave her some carrots to munch on. Michelle had gone straight to their designated office.
"What did the 'oss look like?" Jenza heard emanate from the office.
"Um, he was a stallion. About seventeen hands. Looked like he had a lot of Arab in him. Oh yeah, and he was completely black, not one speck of white," Jenza answered as she rubbed all of the Phantom's favorite itchy head spots. "Why do you ask?"
Michelle came out of the office with a magazine in her hand. "Is this the guy?"
Jenza inspected the picture. The inconsiderate jerk sat on the big black stallion, a huge smile spread across his face as he held the silver trophy high over his head. "Yeah, that's the guy."
"That's not any guy, Jenza. You just got Alec Ramsay pissed at ya."
"THE Alec Ramsay! The one from the shipwreck who brought back that wild…black…stal…" Jenza cradled her head in her hands. "I am soooo stupid!"
"Whad ya do?"
"I told the one of the greatest American jockeys how to ride his prize-winning stallion who he trained."
"And then," Alec spurted, "she had the gall to tell ME how to ride MY horse! Can you believe that…rrrr!"
"Well obviously she could teach you a thing or two. She stayed on her horse. You didn't," commented Henry nonchalantly.
Alec glared as he put the Black in his stall. "Don't even start with me, Henry." Alec dug into his tack trunk and found an apple. He was starving. He bit into the apple and then gave the rest to his steed.
"So, was she cute?"
Alec nearly choked on the piece of apple. He swallowed it and blurted, "Me, think that snot nosed brat is cute! I mean, it's un…, I could nev.., where do you get off asking me something like that!"
Henry leaned against the Black's stall and did that half-smile thing he always grinned when he knew he had gotten Alec.
"What!" Alec exclaimed.
Henry just stood there, grinning like a demonic Cheshire cat. It gave Alec the creeps.
"OK! OK! She was cute. There, you happy!" Alec stormed down the hallway to the office. Even if he thought she was cute, he shouldn't have to admit it. And after Pam and all. He hated it when Henry did that. What he despised more was that Henry knew it always worked. He flopped down into the folding chair behind the portable table and flipped through the newspaper.
"Whatcha lookin' for, Alec?" Henry asked as he walked through the door.
"I'm gonna find out who that brat is." He scanned the Olympics section and on the racing page found her picture. "That's her!" He read aloud the description under the photograph. "Jenza Quinn, from Australia, five foot, horse is the Phantom…"
"What? Give me that." Henry grabbed the paper away from a confused Alec.
"What'd you do that for?"
"Just as I thought. You just made a fool of yourself in front of our main competition."
"Huh?"
"Your snot nosed brat and her filly did the mile in the same time we did. She's fast an' from what I've read the brat is very talented. They have been compared to you an' the Black many times. An' they seem to have the same rapport. They could easily beat us."
