2.00pm
Bush International Airport
Houston Texas
"So let me get this straight, why are we heading out to Texas?"
"I thought you'd read the file"
"Uh huh" She swore under her breath as boiling hot coffee slurped over the side of the polystyrene cup, as Mulder tried desperately to navigate the complexities of the car park. Picking up the rental car had been no problem, leaving the airport was another issue.
"Exit!" He yelped triumphantly, a large grin breaking out across his face.
"Still, it does not explain why we are here. A wealthy mans well-established training yard seems to being victimised, maybe a revenge act? Maybe pure coincidence? How can you possibly link all these seemingly random events; firstly what appears to be a puma attack on a pair on a trail ride, secondly a winning race horse drops dead 4 feet from the finish line and thirdly over the last month 4 jockeys have disappeared without giving notice"
"Don't forget the groom"
"Struck by lightning? Storms are hardly uncommon out here and as for the jockeys, they can be notorious for disappearing off to the other side of the country if they think the going is good … what are we really doing out here?"
"There was no evidence for the puma attack, the two horses and riders just disappeared. One of them, Isabel Roulande was the cousin of Christopher Roulande the guy who inherited all this from his father…"
"The senator … so this guy has connections. Is that why we're here?"
"I thought after our last trip you might appreciate a bit of sun"
"Nice try but I'm not buying it, I don't get it Mulder, there is no evidence that anything in going on down here that the locals can't sort out, no monsters no mad axe murders, just a few unexplained disappearances and weird coincidences …"
"When has that stopped me?"
Scully shut her mouth and glared at him half-heartedly; she was too weary to push it any further.
2.45pm
Outskirts of Houston
The Roulande Racing Establishment
Clouds of dust billowed up as the 4x4 bumped down the long drive towards the ranch house. As they moved closer the parched landscaped began to turn green, and white railings restrained the well-maintained pastureland. A sign warning of guard dogs stood 200 yards from a gravel yard where a red pick up truck, two unmarked police cars and a large horse lorry was parked. As Mulder reversed back to find a space in the shade of some out buildings, Scully peered out of the rear view window.
An argument of sorts was occurring; the engine of the horse lorry was rumbling to a start whilst the driver shouted out of the wound down window.
"You signed a contract!" The man on the ground shouted up to him.
"You said that you would ensure the security of my property"
"Sunday was an accident, no one could have seen it coming, the vet report found no evidence that the horse had been tampered with"
"A fully fit racehorse does not just drop dead!"
"These things do happen and I and all my training staff are still very worked up over it, however this yard will always be safe. No one has been near the horses before now, and I intend to keep it that way in the future. You are missing an opportunity here, we have always gotten the best from your stock, Mr. Williams, and will continue to do so if you could only care to reconsider …"
"Good luck with that" Mr Williams sneered, pushing down on the accelerator. The man on the ground had to leap out of the way as the lorry sped up the driveway.
"Looks like we arrived just in time, Scully" Mulder grinned, as they stepped out; the heat hitting them like a wall; already they had ditched their standard jackets.
"Can I help you two?"
"I am special Agent Fox Mulder and this is Special Agent Dana Scully" They flashed their ID "We came to meet detective Wight"
"I'm sorry you had to see that" The man nodded "It's the fourth client to leave this week. All this isn't good for business. Glad to meet you two, I'm Keith Andrews, yard manager" Keith was in his early 40s, tall, serious and looked like he had an eye for business. His hands were hard and strong from all the years of work out on the ranch.
"Are the owners around?" Scully enquired, as they walked through an archway into one of two American style barns. Most of the horse stalls where full, their occupants pushing up against the half doors as they passed. She reached over to pat one on the neck, noting how immaculate the stabling was. Even the air did not smell of horses!
"The family spend their time between out here and their two properties in the city; with all the media attention centred on the yard they decided to lay low for a while"
"We will need an address where we can contact them"
"Not a problem, if you need me I will be up on the gallops. Although all this has disrupted things, we have to maintain some state of normality."
"Did you know the jockey well? When was the last time you saw him?"
"I spoke to him once, a few days before the race when he came up to try out the horse"
"Did you notice anything odd, Mr. Andrews?"
" I see 20 or 30 jockeys a week and their was nothing any different to him that the others. I gave a statement to the cops about all this; could you let me get back to the horses?"
"Sure, but we might need to be in touch" Mulder nodded as the man handed over his contact details, they left him to walk in the direction of the other stable block before greeting the 3 cops talking in the shade of a beach tree. After the formal introductions and a lot of frowning and looking up and down they began to talk about the task of finding the cousin of one of the most influencal men in the area.
"Can you take us to where she went missing?" Scully enquired
"Have you got any background checks on the guy she was with? What about the horse?" Mulder pushed
"It's been three days now, and still nothing. I reckon you guys are just wasting your time out here … its bound to be a mountain lion. They where up in the rocks, a good 2 hour ride from here, impossible to reach by car." Wrights partner Temples said gruffly. They all looked hot and bothered, as if the whole thing was a pure nuisance, preventing them from their real work.
"They sent 2 helicopters and a foot party to scout the area they were heading towards even though they could have easily missed something, this landscape is so vast that people still go missing out here, even with sat nav and all that" Wright nodded in agreement.
"Even so we would like to see it for ourselves" Scully pushed looking up at the detective who for a minute looked like he was going to make a wise crack but changed his mind.
"Can you ride Miss?" He asked with a not too friendly smile.
"We can drive"
"I told you, you won't get a mile of the track before you need to call out a rescue team to dig you guys out …"
"Maybe its not such a bad idea, you might see things from a different angle" Temples was taking Wrights challenge literally, he was a good deal younger than Wright with something that gave the essence that he had Indian blood; with his dark skin and searching eyes.
"Yeah well, better take a rifle; I swear that cat's back" The third cop, Mark Shepard, skinny and close shaved spoke up.
"What cat?" Mulders' eyes began to light up.
"There was some trouble with a pair of mountain lions that came down of the rocks last year, the cattle started to disappear and a few stock horses but none from this place" Temples answered "They sure got my brother bad though, he lost a good few calving heifers"
"I don't think that has anything to do with this " Wright muttered "I can get those background records for you Mr.Mulder, we have a load of paperwork back at the office that I can get sent round this evening. Where are you staying?"
"We saw a couple of motels on our way over" He shrugged, unaware of the sigh of annoyance from his partner. "I'll come and collect them tomorrow morning, I managed to get hold of the veterinarian to go through the autopsy"
"The horse? I thought you were here to find the girl?"
"We'd be grateful if you could spare us someone to show us the area they went missing from"
"Keith's the man for that"
"I'll give him a call, in the meantime I'll let you guys get on; I know how busy it can get out here" Like a flash the cops quickly departed, relived to be released.
"You do?" Scully raised an eyebrow.
"They were a helpful bunch, hey Scully?"
"I still don't see what's going on here"
"Doesn't that make it all the more interesting? Lets have a peak around while no one's looking …"
Scully smiled but then glanced up to the gallops, partly obscured by more beach trees and the roofs of the barns she could just about make out the silhouettes of 5 or 6 horses.
"They won't be long, it looks like they're winding down"
"You sound like you know a few things about this racing business"
"I do?"
"You seemed impressed with the animals in the barn back there"
"Well I guess there are some things that will have to keep you guessing"
"Full of surprises … I guess you have ridden then?"
"Not for a long time"
Her voice sounded taught with something that he couldn't quite put his finger on, so he just nodded and got on with the task in hand. They searched the feed room and found nothing but typical foodstuffs, the tack room was unsurprisingly bolted shut and the house which was a good distance from the stables was shadowed in darkness, all the blinds pulled tight. Most of the stables where either occupied or had signs that they recently had been, all the horses seemed well cared for.
"I don't think that they've been outside for a while," Scully said, running her hand down the neck of a grey gelding that was investigating the contents of her pockets.
"I don't suppose that they would have been with all the scare that someone drugged that one" Mulder commented, standing just out of reach of the curious gelding. He eyed it suspiciously, "You know I don't have a clue what that horse is thinking"
"He's okay, it's the one next door you need to watch out for" She looked over the railings to the bright bay mare that immediately thrust her head towards them, ears flat against her neck. Mulder immediately took a few steps back, whilst Scully couldn't help but let a small smile of amusement cross her face.
"Someone is coming" He said quietly, a few moments later a young girl appeared in the open end of the barn.
"Hey!" She yelled "You shouldn't be here, have you any idea how much trouble you could be in?"
She still didn't approach, but didn't back away either. They couldn't make out her face due to the light pouring in from the yard behind but she was short, and shifted under the weight of what Scully identified as a hay net
"Its okay, we spoke to Mr.Williams to help find the missing girl," Scully shouted, showing her badge, curiously the young girl approached and then sighed in relief.
"You still shouldn't be in here, no one is to go near the horses," She said boldly, swinging the hay net into an occupied stall.
"Mr. Andrews said it would be okay if we had a look round" Mulder explained "But we're leaving now, tell him to give me a call if he has any questions"
"Okay" the girl pocketed his card "I will do, have you found out what happened to Henry?"
"Henry?"
"His show name is Past Twilight … the stallion who fell at the weekend?"
"Oh, I assure you we are going to be looking into it Miss.."
"Just Amy, Keith lets me work here during the holidays"
"Well, when we do figure out what's going on round here we'll make sure to pass it on" Mulder said, before they said their goodbyes and left, relieved to be able to start the ac in the 4x4. "I don't know about you but all that horsing around has left me ravenous"
Scully allowed herself the faintest of smiles at the pun, but concentrated in plotting out the motels on the outdated pocket map they'd picked up at the airport. The light in the sky was beginning to change to the soft golden tones of late evening, and the heat beginning to subside a little. She snuffed a yawn, suddenly reminded how tired she was. She desperately needed to head in early tonight for tomorrows schedule. She felt her eyelids begin to fall, and slowly fell into a peaceful slumber.
Noticing she'd grown quiet, Mulder peered over his shoulder to ask if he was heading in the right direction as they pulled up to a crossroads. In either direction the flat landscape stretched out with not a soul to be seen, in the far distance a purple haze identified the far off mountains and a few blimps on the horizon shells of abandoned ranch houses, long reclaimed by the red dust of the plains. Taking his chances he decided to drive straight on, not knowing when they would find civilisation again.
Is it too long/complicated? More exciting things will happen in the next chapter I promise, I'm just getting all the main characters sorted. I know about European riding but am no expert on american horse racing, but hopefully your imagienation can make up for that one. Anyone got a suggetion about the title? I was going to call it 'nightmares' or something similar, but it does'nt quite fit yet. I also was'nt sure whether or not to dig up some history about the UFO cattle abductions in the 1960s ... let me know what you think. Any veiws appriciated!