Chapter 35:

Jubilee showed up in the stableyard at nine o'clock the next morning.

She did her duties first, stepping into all the stalls, carrying the feed buckets along with the ret of the stablehands. They watched her carefully, wanting to see what the new overseer would be like. Knowing that, she made an extra effort to be friendly and leave a good first impression.

When she was done with her initial inspection, and led a couple of the horses out to the paddock, her next visit was to Shadowcat. She went directly into the barn and got her hot potato ready, then went through the process of tying it on her arm before she went to Shadowcat's stall.

The filly snorted when Jubilee came in, and sidestepped quickly, but as Jubilee reached out to her and patted her soothingly, the filly calmed. "Hey," Jubilee said to her. "You're a really pretty girl, aren't you? You're just a little high strung, just need a little gentling. Come on, move over so I can brush you down." She slid between the wall and the filly, and began to run the brush over the sleek glossy black hide.

One of the stable lads appeared at the door and Jubilee asked him. 'Did she bite or snap at anybody last night when she was brought in?"

"No'm," the boy said. "She was pretty docile. We couldn't believe it."

Jubilee reached for Shadow's head, careful to move slowly and not startle the horse. A gentle pressure on the horse's chin and upper jaw got the filly's mouth open, and she checked the teeth, surprised at how young Shadow was. "Has Andrew started her breaking to saddle and bridle yet?" she said.

The stable lad gave her a strange look. "You're supposed to do that, Ma'am."

"What?" Jubilee's eyes narrowed. "Andrew told me he would take care of the breaking, and I would take care of everything else to do with the mares and foals."

The boy shrugged, not meeting her eyes. "Sorry, Ma'am. Maybe he just doesn't want you to be overburdened, that's why he's doing the training. But the last mare/foal manager we had took care of the breaking and training. That's why it's such a big job."

Jubilee returned to currying the black filly. "I'll speak to Andrew about it. Thank you…"

"Billy," The boy said.

"Thank you, Billy," she said. The boy nodded and ran off.

Billy slipped into the tack room, where another of the stable hands, John, was mending harnesses and stitching bridle leathers, and sat down, picking up a leather strap. Andrew disliked the stable lads jawing unless their hands were also busy. He wasn't popular among the boys, but he seemed to know what he was doing, and so no one complained.

John was one of the oldest 'boys' in the stable. He was the first slave Scott had bought, and it had been to save his life. He had been a field hand, until a careless step too close to a plow had maimed his right leg. He had almost been bought by a man to work in the mines (mine slaves' lives were short, living underground all the time, and accidents were in no short supply) but he had experience with the horses, they seemed to love him, so Scott had bought him. Because of his leg, he couldn't be really active with the horses, so he took care of the tack while Andrew took care of the horses. Everyone in the stables knew John had Scott's trust, and told Scott everything that went on. The stableboys listened to the gossip around the stables, they told John, and John told Scott whatever he thought was important for Mister Charles to know. Billy wanted to tell John about Jubilee.

"Hey," Billy grunted. John grunted back. It was the old routine they used whenever they wanted to tell John something they thought was important.

"The new mare manager. She supposed to be training the yearlings to be halter broke and saddle trained?"

John didn't look up. "Yep, that's about the right of it," he drawled. "That's the way it usually goes."

"Well, Andrew told the new manager that she wasn't to worry about the foal training, he was going to do it himself."

This time the old man did look up, though his hands never stopped moving. "Maybe he thinks it's best," he said slowly. "She's a little mite of a thing."

"Maybe," Billy said, satisfied. John would think that over, and keep an eye on both Andrew and Jubilee. If there were anything he needed to be concerned about, he would tell Scott. John knew what was trouble, and what was not.

The door opened, and Jubilee came bouncing in. "Hello," she said. "I think the horses are in pretty good shape for right now. Got anything I can do?"

John looked up. "Managers don't usually have nuthin' to do with the tack," he said sharply.

Jubilee shrugged. "I took care of papa's tack back home in Missouri," she said cheerfully. "And I thought, with a place this big, there'd be a lot more tack that needs mending."

John's eyebrows climbed into his hairline, but he handed her a large needle, some thick thread especially for sewing saddle and stirrup leathers, and two leathers. "Start with them there," he said. "Don't usually hold with nobody messing with my tack, but I wanna see if you can put your money where your mouth is." Jubilee settled on a bench and applied herself to the leathers. She chattered with Billy for a while, asking Billy questions about the horses and their temperaments, and although John appeared to be concentrating on his task, Billy could tell he was listening. She finished the stirrup leather, and presented it to him for inspection.

"Nice work, missy," he said grudgingly, inspecting the neat, even stitching. Billy smiled to himself. John only called a woman 'missy' when he was pleased with her, and she'd earned his respect. He called Ororo, in the big house's kitchen missy, and the cook in the stablehands' quarters 'missy', but everyone else, all the silly giggling maids that tended the gardens and house, girls. If John thought Jubilee was a silly girl, he'd have said 'nice work, girl.' "Pick yourself out some of the work over there and keep yourself busy. That boy Andrew don't like idle hands." If John approved of Andrew, he'd have called him mister. But among the stablehands, at least, John's dislike of Andrew was almost legendary. So. John liked Jubilee, and disapproved of Andrew. Billy knew there'd be a lot of people in the bunkhouse who would agree with John.

There was a sudden commotion in the outer barn, and Jubilee sprang to her feet as they heard Andrew swearing. She flung open the door.

Shadowcat was digging in her heels as Andrew tried to drag her into the stable. "Still haven't learned, have you!" Andrew was shouting at her. "Well, I'll get that saddle on you if it's the last thing I do today. I'll tie you in your tall so tight you won't be able to move, and then you'll learn who's boss!"

The filly's coat was wet with a nervous sweat, and her eyes were rolling. Andrew had a twitch tied tight around her lower jaw, yanking her around by main force. Jubilee was outside the tack room in an instant, racing across the barn to Andrew and Shadow, and John closed the tack room door most of the way so he and Billy could hear and not be seen.

"Stop it!" Jubilee called. "Andrew, stop! What are you doing? You're hurting her jaw!" The girl skidded to a stop beside Shadow's head and petted her gently as she loosened the twitch. "There, girl. Yes, I know it hurt. Easy, now, girl. Easy." The filly quieted as she heard the now familiar voice accompany the sudden release from pain.

Andrew snapped, "Girl, stay out of this!"

"My name is Jubilee," she shot back. "And she's my horse, I'll train her to bridle and saddle myself."

"That ain't your responsibility," Andrew snapped. "You look after the babies and mares, I do everything else. You think you own the place after Mister Charles gives you the mares' barn? He just giving you the responsibility to keep you from spending the day under Mister Remy's body!"

Jubilee exploded. "What I do, and who is in my bed, is none of your business, Andrew!" Jubilee snapped. "He gave me this job because I can handle horses better than you can! How long have you been trying to train her to bridle and saddle? A week, maybe two weeks? Longer?" His silence was her only answer. "I'll have her halter broke by this evening, wait and see. Come on, Shadow." She put her hand on the horse's neck, took the rope hanging from the halter, and led the horse outside.

John closed the door, cutting off Andrew's explosion of temper. "Sit down, boy," he said firmly to Billy. "Don't you be goin' out there. No need for you to see what's going on."

No, Billy didn't need to go outside. He stepped up on top of one of the tack benches and watched what was happening out the window. "She's got the tack out," he reported to John excitedly. "She's talking to Shadow…now she's taking the halter off…hey, she has carrots in her pocket, she's giving Shadow one…Hah! She sneaked the bit into Shadow's mouth while she was eating the carrot!" John smiled and nodded. The little missy had the right of it. Shadow was a pureblood, high-strung, and needed gentle handling. John had tried to tell Andrew, but the boy didn't want to listen. "The bridle's on, John! She's got the bridle on and Shadow isn't protesting!" Billy was so excited he was jumping up and down, almost upsetting the bench.

"Watch it, boy," John said, sounding pleased. "Don't want to break your fool head, now do you?" But he got up from his bench and joined the boy at the window.

They watched, amazed, as Jubilee got the horse used to the feel of weight on her back by riding her bareback around the training corral a few times. The horse tried to buck, and kick, but with the bridle on Jubilee simply turned her in circles, tighter and tighter, until Shadow finally stopped moving, too dizzy to fight. She didn't protest as Jubilee draped the blanket over her back, and only crow-hopped a little when she put the saddle on. When she finally realized that the saddle wasn't hurting her, and Jubilee didn't hurt her either, she calmed. By the time the sun started to set, every stable hand was watching and applauding as Jubilee took Shadow through a walk, trot, canter, and gallop. Everyone except Andrew, of course.

She took Shadow into the barn, put her in her stall with feed and water, then calmly began bringing the mares in from the paddock.

Andrew waited, lagging behind the stablehands, doing some unnecessary checking of the stallions in the big stable, while he waited for the girl to get done in the mares' barn. When the yard was finally empty, the hands having gone in to supper, and he was sure they were alone, he strode into the mare's barn.

The girl was with her filly, talking soothingly as she rubbed the sleek black coat with the currycomb as she talked. Tired from the events of the day, Shadow stood in the middle of the stall, her eyes half-closed, chewing on her hay contentedly as she felt those smooth even strokes get all her itchy spots. She woke completely when she saw Andrew over her stall door, and laid back her ears. Jubilee hushed her.

"I want to speak to you, girl," Andrew said coolly. "Come out here."

Jubilee slipped out of the stall, and Andrew headed for the feed room, beside the tack room. She followed him, and stepped in as he closed he door.

"You're supposed to leave the training to me," he snapped.

Jubilee put her hands on her hips. "Really? From what I hear, taking care of the yearlings means training them to saddle and bridle too."

Andrew said, "Who'd you hear that from?"

Jubilee's eyes narrowed. "No one in particular. Who I talk to is no business of yours. You do your job, and let me do mine. And since my job is also to train the yearlings, I'll take care of that. You worry about the stallions and geldings."

Andrew took two quick steps to her and grabbed the braid that hung down her back. "Don't speak to me as if you were a free woman, girl," he hissed angrily. "You're a slave until them papers come in, and I'm a free man. I can still order you to do anything. Got me?"

Jubilee's face went red, then white. She had become used to her freedom here after a few days, and had forgotten she was still a slave. "Yes, Master Andrew," she said sullenly. "Then may I have your permission to go, Master Andrew?" Her tone was sarcastic.

"Fix your tone!" he snapped. "I won't have an attitude in my stables. Do you want me to tell Master Charles that you're rude and disobedient? He'll take you out of the barns, or he might order me to give you a whipping to fix that attitude." Charles never used whips on the slaves; but he was pretty sure she hadn't been here long enough to know that.

Jubilee's face went white. A whipping? No, she didn't want that. "I'm sorry, Master Andrew," she said slowly, sinking to the floor in the kneeling position a slave offered a Master. "Forgive my insolence."

"Get up," he said harshly, picking up a riding crop someone had discarded on the floor. "Turn around and pull your skirt up to your waist, then pull your pantaloons up to your thigh." Jubilee did as she was instructed.

Andrew raised the crop and lashed it across the back of her knees. She gasped in pain, tears springing to her eyes, but stayed where she was. She stayed in place as Andrew left four more welts there.

He put the crop down and reached out to touch the welts on that pale skin. He'd never seen white flesh marked like this, and it was an enticing sight. He remembered his first owner's wife whipping one of her maids like this, and wondered what those welts would look like on white skin. "Drop your skirt," he said. "I won't mention your rudeness to Mister Charles if you don't," he said.

Jubilee understood. She wasn't to tell anyone about this, and he would not mention it to anyone. She felt a surge of relief. Her pantaloons and petticoats would hide the welts until they faded, and if she was careful, Remy would never know. She loved him, and she loved it here; she had seen the easy friendship he had with Mister Charles and the others, and didn't want to ruin that by making Charles send her away.

Even if it meant that she would have to submit to Andrew's touch on her legs. She suppressed a shudder of loathing and hurried up the road to the house.

John waited until he heard the sound of footsteps leave the barn before he left the tack room. He picked up the discarded riding crop and snapped the thin, flexible wooden handle sharply, angrily. He was going to have to seek out Mister Scott tomorrow and tell him what was happening. He knew of Andrew's high-handed attitude with the other girls, some of them newly arrived slaves who didn't have papers yet.

He hadn't interfered because it wasn't his problem, but this, if it kept on, would ruin the peace of the stables. The tension would mount, and that would affect the horses and the work.

That was his problem.