Chapter 5 – Post Video Madness
Later that evening, after the girls had gone to bed and Ty had come home, Jack and Lisa were sitting on the couch talking when Jack got an uneasy feeling. Lisa noticed him tense up and turned to him to see a worried look on his face.
"You okay," Lisa asked concerned.
"I have an uneasy feeling that I can't shake," Jack replied.
"What can I do," Lisa asked lovingly.
"Come with me," Jack sighed.
With that, Jack stood and went to their room, where Lisa heard the strange but familiar sounds of a case latch being opened. A second later, Jack walked from the bedroom with his rifle in hand. Lisa quickly jumped up and followed him. Jack made a quick stop at the desk in the kitchen and looked for some keys. Lisa followed Jack into the mud room, where they both pulled on boots and jackets. It wasn't more then a few minutes later Jack was at the end of the driveway. Lisa wondered what was going on, when Jack turned to Lisa with a serious look on his face.
"You know how to handle one of these," Jack asked lifting the gun that sat between them on the seat.
"Yes, why," came Lisa's response.
"Good cover me," Jack said as he exited the truck.
Once out side the truck with the headlights still on bright, he pulled the main gate closed and locked it with a paddle lock. Getting back into the truck, Jack backed up about twenty feet and closed the secondary gate. He came back to the truck, but instead of getting in, he reached in the back and pulled out another chain with an additional lock. He proceeded to lock the secondary gate. Then turning around, he went to the far end of the property and locked the back gate between the Dude Ranch and the main farm. Without saying anything else to Lisa, he returned to the ranch house and parked his truck.
"Can I ask why," Lisa asked tentatively.
"Last time, I had an uneasy feeling like this, we were being watched and a few days later the barn was set on fire," Jack explained.
Lisa wanted to head inside, but Jack wanted to stay on the porch. Lisa went inside and grabbed a blanket and when she returned to the porch, she saw the Jack was sitting on the bench with the rifle within reach. She sat down next to him and covered both of them with the blanket. Lisa tried to be understanding about what was going on but the way Jack had and was behaving unnerved her. They sat on the porch for close to an hour before returning inside. Before turning in for the night, Jack left a message on the fridge door:
ALL gates locked and will remain locked until further notice. I have all the keys.
Jack.
When Ty came in to grab a bite to eat before leaving for the clinic fairly early the next morning, he saw Jacks note. Torn, not wanting to wake Jack, but also needed to get out, Ty had no choice but to knock on Jack's door earlier then he ever wanted. Ty knocked lightly and called Jack's name and it wasn't but a moment before answered.
"Jack, it is Ty. Sorry, but, I need to leave for work," Ty said quietly.
"Give me a moment," Jack whispered.
It was less then two minutes later that Jack exited his room dressed and keys in hand. Ty noticed that it looked like Jack had not gotten much sleep, but didn't want to say anything.
"Ty, here is a set of keys for the front gates," Jack quickly explained. "I will let you out this morning, but this is so you can come and go as needed for now."
"I don't understand," Ty said, trying to shake the sleep from his head.
"Things didn't feel right last night, so I locked the gates," Jack began to explain. "If you are going to be coming back late at night or early in the morning, please text one of us just in case."
Jack pulled on his boots and jacket and followed Ty out of the house. Once they reach the gates, Jack showed Ty how he wanted him to exit the gates. Open the first and pull through, get out and lock gates. Open second gate and do the same.
"Ty, for now, please don't have both gates unlocked at the same time," Jack urged him.
"I promise, whatever you want Jack," Ty quickly replied.
Once safely out of Heartland, Ty stopped and texted Scott, he was running about five to ten minutes behind. Ty hadn't even reached the main road, when he started to realize why Jack had locked the gates. There were a few press camped on the side of the road. By the time that Ty had reached the clinic, he had never seen so many press. Ty quickly entered the clinic and was meet by Scott.
"Hey thanks for the heads up about running late," Scott greeting Ty.
"Hey sorry about that, I will explain in a minute," Ty called back.
As Scott walked in from the back room, he saw Ty on his phone and over heard part of the conversation. He couldn't quite put it all together and wanted clarification.
"What is up," Scott asked, now having Ty's full attention.
"It is crazy, have you seen the video? And now there are press everywhere," Ty said, talking faster then Scott could understand.
"Whoa back up, what video? Press? What is going on?" Scott quickly asked trying to get Ty to slow down.
Ty took a deep breath, he started to pulled up the video on the laptop and while explaining to Scott, that Jack had locked the gates to Heartland and that he needed to let him out this morning and that was why he was late. He continued that he had seen press camped on the side of the road not far from Heartland and then more in town. He relayed his need to warn Jack about the press and figured that was why Jack had locked the gates in the first place.
When they had both finished watching the video, Ty noticed that the number of hits or views had more then tripled since he had watched it not more then twelve hours ago. Both Scott and Ty quickly learned that it was bigger then both of them thought. They were prepping for the morning, when Scott heard a lot of noise coming from the waiting area. Both he and Ty went out to see what was going on, since neither had gotten a call about an incoming emergency. As they walked into the waiting room, they found about a dozen press, both television and print. The reporters saw Ty and started asking questions at a rapid fire. Scott let out a sharp, high pitched whistle, silencing the entire crowd.
"Unless you are a client or have an animal emergency, EVERYONE out!" Scott ordered, ushering people toward the door.
Scott quickly walked back to the office and picked up the phone and quickly called the local police to let them know what happened. Not only did Scott have to keep the front doors open during business hours, but now he had to worry about people trying to sneak to get at the horses. Within minutes of Scott's call, he was greeted by to RCMP officers. They explained that there for the time being, that patrols around and near the clinic would be stepped up and that if need be, an officer would be stationed outside. Before Ty could even ask, he was informed that RCMP officers were already in-route to Heartland. Ty turned to grab the phone.
"Hey, it's Ty. There was a run in at the clinic a few minutes ago with press. RCMP is here and just a heads up, they are on the way to Heartland." Ty quickly explained as the phone had gone to message.
Jack, Amy and Georgie had been out doing chores and didn't hear the phone. Lou was still sleeping and Lisa couldn't get to the phone quick enough. She saw a message and quickly hit play to listen. When she heard Ty's voice and the concern, she knew Jack needed to know right away. Lisa quickly pulled on boots and a jacket, bounding down the stairs toward the barn. Once inside, he went straight to Jack and relayed the message from Ty. Jack then turned and left the barn, headed to the house and quickly back to his truck with his rifle on the seat. The truck turned over and he went to the gate to meet the RCMP.
"Girls," Lisa called out.
Amy came from the barn office and Georgie from the back door. Both noted Lisa's look of concern and immediately went to her, thinking something bad had happened.
"Almost done, I think it best you quickly return to the house. Everything is fine, but we have a problem," Lisa quickly said, trying to calm the fear she saw in both their eyes.
"Five minutes," Amy said to Lisa.
Lisa turned to head back to the house and saw Jack coming up the drive followed by two RCMP vehicles. Not sure if the girls should be there, but decided that it would be easier to just send them back out rather then gather them.
"I think now," Lisa hollered back at the girls.
Georgie and Amy walked out of the barn to see Grandpa and the RCMP pull up to the house. They quickly joined Lisa on the way to the house. Once inside, Georgie went to wake her mother. Once everyone was inside and seated at the table and introductions had been made, Jack tried to catch everyone up with what he knew. The RCMP informed the family that the story had been picked up by national and international news outlets. They weren't sure if the interest was Georgie, the racehorses, their owners or any combination of the above. Everyone was a little shocked.
"Tell what you do know," Lisa asked honestly.
"Well, to start we need to back up just a bit," Officer Patterson started.
"Ten days ago, Alberta Prince was transferred to Forrest Farms and would be racing under their name, since the true owner wanted to try and keep his and the horses identity out of the press. As you may know, once a thoroughbred has a registered name, it is next to impossible to change it. Well, this owner has a lot of power and influence, so it was agreed that in the local Canadian races, the horse would run under Forrest Farms as the owner and the registered name would be altered for now. I can't reveal to you who the actual owner is or the true identity of horse, needless to say someone with lots of power and money, but I am sure you will be able to figure it out.
Anyway, went the horse crashed and the video surface, everything chanced since a member of the true owner's family is the one that posted the video. The press quickly speculated what was going on and here we are. Your family, the two vets and the horses will now have round the clock police protection until Alberta Prince can be taken back to his true owner in the States. The family wants to make it perfectly clear, that they are picking up the tab for the extra security and none of you in no way need to take to the press."
"Does anyone have any questions or concerns," Officer Patterson asked, looking around the table.
"The younger of the two vets, Ty Borden, is my fiance and lives on the property," Amy offered.
"I will note that for the other officers, anything else before we go," Officer Patterson asked one more time.
"How is this going to work," Lou asked.
"Well there will two to three uniformed officers at the main gate to the property. Anytime one of you leave, you will be followed and protected as needed," another officer explained. "We will have twenty-four hour coverage for now. We will also be able to keep the press back."
"What about when I have to go back to school tomorrow," Georgie asked.
"It has been arranged for now, you will work from home online for your own safety," Officer Patterson reassurance.
"But I have trick riding lessons and what about my friends," Georgie again asked.
"You will escorted to and from trick riding practice, and for now, your friends can come here, as long as there is a noted adult to meet them at the gate." came the reply from one of the officers.
"If you are able to provide us with her schedule, it will make go a long ways to helping with coverage," Officer Patterson said. "Again any more questions?"
"I have to go get my youngest daughter, she stayed at a friends last night, and my husband Peter Morris, will be arriving tonight from Vancouver," Lou offered.
"Lastly, who has keys to the gates," one of the officers asked.
"I have the master set, Ty has one set to the front, the girls father, Tim Fleming, has a set to the back gate, that is near his property, and that leaves the complete extra set in the safe," Jack said.
"If it wouldn't a hassle, Mr Bartlett, could the officers have a set to the front, to be returned later," asked one of the officers. "That way when we see you coming down the drive or especially back to the property, we would be able to move you along more quickly and in case of an emergency."
"I will go get them now," Jack said.
With that Jack went to his room, removed the keys from the safe and returned, handing them to Officer Patterson. The other officers then stood and showed themselves out and reminded everyone that they were close by if need be.
Once the officers were gone, Jack sent the girls to finish the chores. Lou went to call Peter to let him know what was happening. Jack called Tim to inform him to use the back gate. Lisa started to clear the table and start a late lunch. Before everyone returned for lunch, Jack pulled Lisa aside in their room.
"Spill, I saw that look," Jack said, looking Lisa squarely in the eyes.
"I can only think of maybe two owners who would have that much pull," Lisa responded. "Granted I didn't get really close to the horse, but I thought that he looked familiar."
"What, who," Jack asked.
"Let me do some checking and we will talk later," Lisa responded, as she heard Lou finishing with her call to Peter.
"Lou, are you going to go get Katie? If so, I can get lunch ready," Lisa offered.
"Since I have to go out, how about I just pick up pizza from Maggie's," Lou replied.
Lisa looked to Jack and both nodded, knowing that the girls wouldn't object. While Lou was gone, Lisa did a little research on the computer and looked at the video once more. When she saw the screen name of who posted it, it confirmed what she had thought. She had seen/heard that name before and knew that it was a close family nickname used by John Russell, owner of one of the largest horse empires is the North America, if not the world. Lisa also realized the true identity of Alberta Prince. It was none other then former Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner, National Treasure, who had disappeared off the circuit shortly after losing the Preakness. It was rumored that there had been some issues, including sudden refusal at the gate. Nothing had ever been confirmed by the family, but suddenly the horse was out of the public eye and no one knew what happened or where the horse had gone.
When Lou got back with Katie and the pizza, everyone got ready to sit down to eat. Just as they started, Ty walked in and apologized for being late. Everyone tried to make small talk and avoid talking about what was really going on. Lou had told Katie little to nothing about what was going on, because she didn't what to upset the child. When Katie asked about the policeman at the house, she was told that they were just there to double check that everyone was safe.
After supper, when Amy, Georgie and Ty had gone to check on the horses and Lou was with Katie, Jack and Lisa settled on the couch with each with a glass of wine. Jack knew Lisa had found out something, just by the look on her face when Ty talked about the horses at the clinic for a few minutes. Finally, Jack couldn't take it anymore and shift in is seat so he could see Lisa's face better.
"You know don't you," Jack questioned.
"I think so," Lisa said without really looking at Jack.
"Well," Jack said slowly.
"Well," Lisa started. "If I am right, Georgie may have just helped a horse that belongs to one of the most famous breeders in all of North America, if not the world. I believe that the horse belongs to John Russell and is named National Treasure. He won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes last year and was inches from winning the Preakness for the Triple crown."
"Really," Jack expressed wide eyed.
Lisa relayed to Jack the rest and why she thought that she was right. The both knew that this was going to be a huge thing if she was right. Jack wasn't sure that he wanted to put that kind of pressure on either Amy or Georgie. Lisa sensed a shift in Jack after she told him, so she sat up because she wanted to look into his eyes and see what he was thinking.
"Look, I know that can add a lot of pressure to everyone, so we won't say thing," Lisa said, seeing the concern in Jack's eyes.
"I have reached out to John, I meet him back when I lived in the States," Lisa offered. "If I am right, I expect that he will make contact shortly."
It was quite late when Peter arrived at Heartland. Lou had been waiting up for him because they needed to talk. Jack and Lisa joined Lou and Peter at the table. Jack decided that they would fill Lou and Peter in what they had learned. Jack didn't want to add the pressure that they were under, but also felt that they needed to know. Peter let them know, know he would be there all week and through the weekend.