Chapter 4
"All right, Knights, take your places for the tournament opening shot, Jackson, Joh, you have the first run." the director yelled. Watching from the stands with fifty plus extras, Laurie, Robin and Robbie followed directions and cheered on cue as the actors playing the King and Queen did various bits of dialogue. Though it was early afternoon; a cool wind whipped the flags around the royal boxes, causing several stoppages in the action.
Watching from in back of the makeshift pavilion, Rick enjoyed seeing the 14 riders doing various action scenes. Already he and A.J. had picked up several bits of information since they had pulled in that morning.
As it was a Sunday morning, traffic had been light and they had made the drive in less then three hours, even stopping for brunch. Robbie had insisted on driving Ian and his sister, even though the swelling around the young man's
eye had subsided. Leaving the two siblings at the Moonwind Motel outside of Flagstaff, Ian promised to keep in touch and let Rick and A.J. know if anything happened before they arrived. Scarcely had he driven away when Rick and Laurie pulled up, followed by A.J..
When the party of five went to the reservation desk, they were immediately shown a two-bedroom suite and a single, elegant in rustic woods and fabrics.
Seeing that one of the bedrooms had two double beds and the other had a king size, Rick grinned at his brother and said, "Too bad Linda and the children are with Rudy and Oscar this weekend, she would have loved this setup!"
"What makes you think I won't bring her here for a getaway sometime, hmmm?", his little brother retorted. "Well, you'll have to, A.J!" Laurie giggled, seeing a hot tub in the master bathroom. "This place is gorgeous!"
Just then the phone rang in the outer entry, and answering it, Rick found a staffer for Mr. Peterson asking if the Simons would like to participate in the taping.
Making his excuses, Rick arranged for his wife and children to be in the audience, as he and A.J. planned to survey the temporary quarters of the performers and the stables. "There you go, sweetheart, you and Robbie and Robin enjoy the show, while A.J. and I poke around. Chief Pete wants us to be at his ranch at 6pm for dinner, so I'll meet you as close to 4:30 as possible." he reminded Laurie.
"We'll be there, now you be careful, Rick!" she kissed him, then locked the door behind him so they could get ready for the taping.
Meeting A.J. outside, they drove in his car just a couple of miles to the location of the informational, less then a block from the edge of some prehistoric caverns.
"Rick, remember that summer Dad and Mom decided for us to do the park thing, and we went to look at those caverns?" A.J. reminisced, as they parked to meet the manager. "I sure do, never figured we'd be back so many years later. Isn't Ian's grandfather's ranch just on the other side of the caverns?"
Rick nodded. "Yes, I think Ian mentioned how few people knew the Navajo nation owned so much land within a historical park; he says he knows the passages like the back of his hand!"
Meeting with Clyde Peterson, the general manager of the Knights, the brothers were shocked to find a handsome older man with military bearing. Introducing themselves, they were shown into a wood paneled room that could have been lifted from the finest boardroom.
As they spoke with the manager, they were astonished that there indeed was a perfectly legal insurance policy that guaranteed that if anything happened to halt the video shoot or subsequent performances, the company would pay out to Round Table, Ltd over a million dollars. "You see, guys, this video's going to run on the Outerworlds and Fantasy Kingdom networks like an informational, their viewers'll eat it up. So of course if this production runs aground, the owners want to make sure they get their costs back!" Peterson explained. "I understand that, but who else might know about this policy, sir, besides Ian?" A.J. asked, trying to be objective.
"Probably everyone in the cast, you know how gossip runs. However, when Ian and I spoke, he mentioned he recognized one of the voices as that of Jason Washburn, our producer. That worries me, if someone got to him, well," the older gentleman just shook his head. "Well, it does give a trail to start with, Mr. Peterson." Rick finished.
"Well, we start taping at 2 pm, so if you want to check out the place, go ahead. Here are your passes." Peterson handed them each a pin-on badge. "If you have any questions about the video, you can run them by Brad Grayson, he's the director. By the way, do you think you could bring Mrs. Simon by before the taping; I'd really like to meet her."
Bemused by the open admiration of the manager, Rick nodded. "Certainly, she's looking forward to seeing you. We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary with the Round Table show in Las Vegas, and my wife loves the whole knights and ladies theme."
"Well, then I'll have to give her a preview of our latest ideas, I'll see you both later." Peterson replied jovially.
Exiting the trailer, Rick noticed a couple of the actors hanging around, then one of them, a dark eyed knight in his twenties, came toward them. "Excuse me, are you the private investigators for the insurance company?" The older Simon stopped and held out his hand. "Yes, I'm Rick Simon, this is my brother A.J." "I'm Jonathan Burnitz; I play Sir Galahad in the Vegas cast. I understand you're looking into the accusations against Ian."
Surprised at the assumption, Rick tried to go along with it. "Well, we're looking at all angles of the two incidents. One thing we have to check on is whether there's any physical evidence or were they merely accidents."
"Well, sir, I think someone's trying to frame Ian; he's a good guy and I don't think he had anything to do with the cinch loop from Scot's saddle being cut!" Burnitz said seriously.
"Well, thank you Mr. Burnitz. if you think of anything else please don't hesitate to see me or my partner, or call us at the motel, I'm in room 20." Rick added. "Thank you, Mr. Simon, I appreciate it." the young rider said, shaking hands with both men again then walking back to his acquaintance.
"Well, what did you think of that?" Rick turned to his brother, then saw an answering grin on his face. "Ian said he was one of the two guys who pulled the jerks off him, yet I think he seems way too eager to "help". "
"You're right, we got to find a pay phone around here or at the motel and run a few of these "knights" by Captain Ron." Rick agreed. Just then he heard raised voices, and recognizing one of them as Ian's started jogging toward the part of the backstage area it came from.
"Look, Rich, I didn't touch your stuff, I've been over at my grandfather's so I wouldn't have even had the chance!" Ian shouted, as the two brothers came into the performers dressing area. "Oh, yeah, well, why all of a sudden has my saddle gotten so loose, hmm? You don't ride half as good as I do, so of course you messed with my equipment!" a blond, pouty looking man yelled back, advancing menacingly toward Whitehorse.
"Hold it!" Rick bellowed, then nearly laughed at the sudden quiet of the crowd of men. "Now yelling and making accusations are one thing, but insurance companies kind of frown on violent behavior. What started all this?"
"Someone changed the fittings on my horse's saddle, so when I went to warm up I couldn't get a steady position. I could have gotten hurt if I had to rear Sparks up!" "Rich" charged. "All right, Rich, that's your name?" the performer nodded. "Did you see this guy mess with your saddle? Is there any physical evidence linking him to being around your horse?" the blond answered "no" to both questions, getting redder with each moment. "Then why would someone who's ridden with this outfit for nearly three years start trying to one-up you now, hmmm?"A.J. asked in his best "official" voice.
There was silence, then another performer looked curiously at A.J. and said, "You say you work for an insurance company, who filed a claim?"
"And you are?" he replied, staring at the baby-faced red-head.
"Art, Arthur Jones. I play Sir Eldred." he gulped, seemingly intimidated by the Simons' authority. "Well, Art, no one has, but anytime someone makes accusations of attempted sabotage that could cause an industrial accident, we get kind of nervous." A.J. answered, staring him down.
Seeing no other challenges, Rick addressed "Rich". "Well, seeing that you don't have any proof that this guy played with your stuff, I think you should apologize. He could counter claim you, you know, cost you some big time money!"
Swallowing hard, the blond looked at Ian, then extended his hand. "I'm sorry, Whitehorse, guess we're all jumpy with all the stuff that's gone on and the big chance we've got!" Ian clasped hands, then the other riders patted both on the back. Breathing a sigh of relief, Rick looked over at Ian and winked, then left the area with his brother.
"A.J., why don't you look for the telephone and I'll find Laurie, it's nearly 1:30." Rick said. "Oh, somehow I don't think you'll have to go to far!" A.J. smirked, pointing behind him.
Turning, Rick grinned at the sight of his wife standing in the shadow of the Royal pavilion. "See you back her in 20." he told A.J. then going toward Laurie, took her hand and kissed her cheek.
"You look nice, my lady, did you have any trouble getting in?" he asked, seeing Robin and Robbie already in the stands.
"No, our names were at the gate like you said. And guess who's sitting with us?" she teased. "I'll bite, who?" he snickered. "Ian's grandfather, I was wondering who Robin kept waving at, then he came up and sat with us. Darling, did you know he doesn't exactly approve of him riding in the show, he told me he thinks Ian has a gift which is being "wasted" in a "commercial"!"
"You're kidding, where did he get such ideas?" her husband frowned, now understanding why Ian had had such relationship issues. "The Chief once told me that his friend Peter Redfern was very "Indian", apparently that's where it comes from. At least I gave him something to think about, when I told him how much joy Ian gives people with his riding. Plus I told him that Ian would never have come into our lives if he hadn't been appearing in a show." Laurie said, "By the way, I heard someone say that Ian and another rider almost got in a fight. What happened?"
Rick told her about the accusations made, then how Ian had said he was at his grandfather's ranch and couldn't have tampered with the other man's saddle.
"It's true, we saw Ian run in from the employee's parking area just as we got here. Somebody's trying awfully hard to get him out of way, darling, I'm afraid they may not stop at just framing him!" she worried.
"Then we'll just have to stop them, darlin', now I want you to forget worrying, our boss is a fan of yours and wants to meet you before the show starts. Do you want to see him?" he asked.
"Sure, Rick, let me just signal the kids!" she smiled, then motioned that she would be right back. Seeing them nod in recognition, Laurie linked arms with her husband as he led her to the manager's office.
Rick's thoughts came back to the scene before him, as the "Tournament" final came down to Sir Ian versus the Black Knight. As the performer who had played the villain had been fired, one of Ian's friends had been promoted to the role and was now ready to take him on.
As the director signaled action, both riders charged each other with rubber tipped lances, than "pulled "their thrusts so they would just miss each other. Suddenly Ian's horse reared, and Rick could see the rider's saddle start to slip. He tensed, fearing Ian would be thrown, only to hear his wife's voice calling to the horse. "Breezy, down, Breezy, down!"
Instantly the horse came back to earth, and the director yelled "Cut!"
"All right, Knights, take your places for the tournament opening shot, Jackson, Joh, you have the first run." the director yelled. Watching from the stands with fifty plus extras, Laurie, Robin and Robbie followed directions and cheered on cue as the actors playing the King and Queen did various bits of dialogue. Though it was early afternoon; a cool wind whipped the flags around the royal boxes, causing several stoppages in the action.
Watching from in back of the makeshift pavilion, Rick enjoyed seeing the 14 riders doing various action scenes. Already he and A.J. had picked up several bits of information since they had pulled in that morning.
As it was a Sunday morning, traffic had been light and they had made the drive in less then three hours, even stopping for brunch. Robbie had insisted on driving Ian and his sister, even though the swelling around the young man's
eye had subsided. Leaving the two siblings at the Moonwind Motel outside of Flagstaff, Ian promised to keep in touch and let Rick and A.J. know if anything happened before they arrived. Scarcely had he driven away when Rick and Laurie pulled up, followed by A.J..
When the party of five went to the reservation desk, they were immediately shown a two-bedroom suite and a single, elegant in rustic woods and fabrics.
Seeing that one of the bedrooms had two double beds and the other had a king size, Rick grinned at his brother and said, "Too bad Linda and the children are with Rudy and Oscar this weekend, she would have loved this setup!"
"What makes you think I won't bring her here for a getaway sometime, hmmm?", his little brother retorted. "Well, you'll have to, A.J!" Laurie giggled, seeing a hot tub in the master bathroom. "This place is gorgeous!"
Just then the phone rang in the outer entry, and answering it, Rick found a staffer for Mr. Peterson asking if the Simons would like to participate in the taping.
Making his excuses, Rick arranged for his wife and children to be in the audience, as he and A.J. planned to survey the temporary quarters of the performers and the stables. "There you go, sweetheart, you and Robbie and Robin enjoy the show, while A.J. and I poke around. Chief Pete wants us to be at his ranch at 6pm for dinner, so I'll meet you as close to 4:30 as possible." he reminded Laurie.
"We'll be there, now you be careful, Rick!" she kissed him, then locked the door behind him so they could get ready for the taping.
Meeting A.J. outside, they drove in his car just a couple of miles to the location of the informational, less then a block from the edge of some prehistoric caverns.
"Rick, remember that summer Dad and Mom decided for us to do the park thing, and we went to look at those caverns?" A.J. reminisced, as they parked to meet the manager. "I sure do, never figured we'd be back so many years later. Isn't Ian's grandfather's ranch just on the other side of the caverns?"
Rick nodded. "Yes, I think Ian mentioned how few people knew the Navajo nation owned so much land within a historical park; he says he knows the passages like the back of his hand!"
Meeting with Clyde Peterson, the general manager of the Knights, the brothers were shocked to find a handsome older man with military bearing. Introducing themselves, they were shown into a wood paneled room that could have been lifted from the finest boardroom.
As they spoke with the manager, they were astonished that there indeed was a perfectly legal insurance policy that guaranteed that if anything happened to halt the video shoot or subsequent performances, the company would pay out to Round Table, Ltd over a million dollars. "You see, guys, this video's going to run on the Outerworlds and Fantasy Kingdom networks like an informational, their viewers'll eat it up. So of course if this production runs aground, the owners want to make sure they get their costs back!" Peterson explained. "I understand that, but who else might know about this policy, sir, besides Ian?" A.J. asked, trying to be objective.
"Probably everyone in the cast, you know how gossip runs. However, when Ian and I spoke, he mentioned he recognized one of the voices as that of Jason Washburn, our producer. That worries me, if someone got to him, well," the older gentleman just shook his head. "Well, it does give a trail to start with, Mr. Peterson." Rick finished.
"Well, we start taping at 2 pm, so if you want to check out the place, go ahead. Here are your passes." Peterson handed them each a pin-on badge. "If you have any questions about the video, you can run them by Brad Grayson, he's the director. By the way, do you think you could bring Mrs. Simon by before the taping; I'd really like to meet her."
Bemused by the open admiration of the manager, Rick nodded. "Certainly, she's looking forward to seeing you. We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary with the Round Table show in Las Vegas, and my wife loves the whole knights and ladies theme."
"Well, then I'll have to give her a preview of our latest ideas, I'll see you both later." Peterson replied jovially.
Exiting the trailer, Rick noticed a couple of the actors hanging around, then one of them, a dark eyed knight in his twenties, came toward them. "Excuse me, are you the private investigators for the insurance company?" The older Simon stopped and held out his hand. "Yes, I'm Rick Simon, this is my brother A.J." "I'm Jonathan Burnitz; I play Sir Galahad in the Vegas cast. I understand you're looking into the accusations against Ian."
Surprised at the assumption, Rick tried to go along with it. "Well, we're looking at all angles of the two incidents. One thing we have to check on is whether there's any physical evidence or were they merely accidents."
"Well, sir, I think someone's trying to frame Ian; he's a good guy and I don't think he had anything to do with the cinch loop from Scot's saddle being cut!" Burnitz said seriously.
"Well, thank you Mr. Burnitz. if you think of anything else please don't hesitate to see me or my partner, or call us at the motel, I'm in room 20." Rick added. "Thank you, Mr. Simon, I appreciate it." the young rider said, shaking hands with both men again then walking back to his acquaintance.
"Well, what did you think of that?" Rick turned to his brother, then saw an answering grin on his face. "Ian said he was one of the two guys who pulled the jerks off him, yet I think he seems way too eager to "help". "
"You're right, we got to find a pay phone around here or at the motel and run a few of these "knights" by Captain Ron." Rick agreed. Just then he heard raised voices, and recognizing one of them as Ian's started jogging toward the part of the backstage area it came from.
"Look, Rich, I didn't touch your stuff, I've been over at my grandfather's so I wouldn't have even had the chance!" Ian shouted, as the two brothers came into the performers dressing area. "Oh, yeah, well, why all of a sudden has my saddle gotten so loose, hmm? You don't ride half as good as I do, so of course you messed with my equipment!" a blond, pouty looking man yelled back, advancing menacingly toward Whitehorse.
"Hold it!" Rick bellowed, then nearly laughed at the sudden quiet of the crowd of men. "Now yelling and making accusations are one thing, but insurance companies kind of frown on violent behavior. What started all this?"
"Someone changed the fittings on my horse's saddle, so when I went to warm up I couldn't get a steady position. I could have gotten hurt if I had to rear Sparks up!" "Rich" charged. "All right, Rich, that's your name?" the performer nodded. "Did you see this guy mess with your saddle? Is there any physical evidence linking him to being around your horse?" the blond answered "no" to both questions, getting redder with each moment. "Then why would someone who's ridden with this outfit for nearly three years start trying to one-up you now, hmmm?"A.J. asked in his best "official" voice.
There was silence, then another performer looked curiously at A.J. and said, "You say you work for an insurance company, who filed a claim?"
"And you are?" he replied, staring at the baby-faced red-head.
"Art, Arthur Jones. I play Sir Eldred." he gulped, seemingly intimidated by the Simons' authority. "Well, Art, no one has, but anytime someone makes accusations of attempted sabotage that could cause an industrial accident, we get kind of nervous." A.J. answered, staring him down.
Seeing no other challenges, Rick addressed "Rich". "Well, seeing that you don't have any proof that this guy played with your stuff, I think you should apologize. He could counter claim you, you know, cost you some big time money!"
Swallowing hard, the blond looked at Ian, then extended his hand. "I'm sorry, Whitehorse, guess we're all jumpy with all the stuff that's gone on and the big chance we've got!" Ian clasped hands, then the other riders patted both on the back. Breathing a sigh of relief, Rick looked over at Ian and winked, then left the area with his brother.
"A.J., why don't you look for the telephone and I'll find Laurie, it's nearly 1:30." Rick said. "Oh, somehow I don't think you'll have to go to far!" A.J. smirked, pointing behind him.
Turning, Rick grinned at the sight of his wife standing in the shadow of the Royal pavilion. "See you back her in 20." he told A.J. then going toward Laurie, took her hand and kissed her cheek.
"You look nice, my lady, did you have any trouble getting in?" he asked, seeing Robin and Robbie already in the stands.
"No, our names were at the gate like you said. And guess who's sitting with us?" she teased. "I'll bite, who?" he snickered. "Ian's grandfather, I was wondering who Robin kept waving at, then he came up and sat with us. Darling, did you know he doesn't exactly approve of him riding in the show, he told me he thinks Ian has a gift which is being "wasted" in a "commercial"!"
"You're kidding, where did he get such ideas?" her husband frowned, now understanding why Ian had had such relationship issues. "The Chief once told me that his friend Peter Redfern was very "Indian", apparently that's where it comes from. At least I gave him something to think about, when I told him how much joy Ian gives people with his riding. Plus I told him that Ian would never have come into our lives if he hadn't been appearing in a show." Laurie said, "By the way, I heard someone say that Ian and another rider almost got in a fight. What happened?"
Rick told her about the accusations made, then how Ian had said he was at his grandfather's ranch and couldn't have tampered with the other man's saddle.
"It's true, we saw Ian run in from the employee's parking area just as we got here. Somebody's trying awfully hard to get him out of way, darling, I'm afraid they may not stop at just framing him!" she worried.
"Then we'll just have to stop them, darlin', now I want you to forget worrying, our boss is a fan of yours and wants to meet you before the show starts. Do you want to see him?" he asked.
"Sure, Rick, let me just signal the kids!" she smiled, then motioned that she would be right back. Seeing them nod in recognition, Laurie linked arms with her husband as he led her to the manager's office.
Rick's thoughts came back to the scene before him, as the "Tournament" final came down to Sir Ian versus the Black Knight. As the performer who had played the villain had been fired, one of Ian's friends had been promoted to the role and was now ready to take him on.
As the director signaled action, both riders charged each other with rubber tipped lances, than "pulled "their thrusts so they would just miss each other. Suddenly Ian's horse reared, and Rick could see the rider's saddle start to slip. He tensed, fearing Ian would be thrown, only to hear his wife's voice calling to the horse. "Breezy, down, Breezy, down!"
Instantly the horse came back to earth, and the director yelled "Cut!"