Shy Violet stared at the cast that had replaced Brian's bandages. She was one of the few color kids that had gone down this afternoon with Rainbow to help cheer Brian up. Or as Red Butler put it…
"Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." He had received a glare from La La Orange for that comment. When they had arrived at the stables, Brian was already there sitting on a worn bench. He was watching a brown and white horse jumping over a few obstacles placed all over the small area.
Starlight was astonished. "Is that the same horse? I can hardly recognize her without all the mud." Earth Dancer snorted her annoyance before continuing her jumps.
As everyone went over to greet there Earth friend, they could not help noticing Brian's cast. The solid white cast was a sharp contrast to the dark blue and brown colors Brian wore. As they got closer though they noticed it had a few signatures on it. Getting the idea, Shy Violet signed her name and then continued to stare at his cast. After a moment she gently tapped on part of it.
"Fascinating! It's like a giant egg shell, only harder." "And a whole lot heavier." Brian added while frowning at his cast.
"Cheer up Brian! At least you won't have to wear it for long!" Patty O' Green said cheerfully while signing her name on his cast in Green.
"Yeah, but it's still a month or so." Brian sighed and then smiled. "I'm really glad you guys came to help me with Earth Dancer."
"Anytime Brian! And besides with your arm like that, it'll be harder to practice without help." Buddy Blue added as he signed as well.
At least your cast is a lot more colorful now. But I still don't understand how you got it in the first place." Rainbow Brite questioned.
Brian immediately looked uncomfortable. "Uh I rather not talk about it."
"We understand." Rainbow smiled. "Now where's Earth Dancer?"
Brian looks around and notices the horse had disappeared. Gently he whistles. The whistle echoes around the area and after a moment or two Earth Dancer reappears and runs towards Brian.
Earth Dancer had almost reached them when all of a sudden there is a loud popping sound. The sound was so loud that it caused everyone to jump and Earth Dancer to rear up in fright.
"What was that?" Patty asked. Before anyone could answer, they saw Earth Dancer retreating in another direction. Brian started to get up, but Rainbow stopped him.
"We'll get her Brian." Rainbow said as she jumped on Starlight. Starlight started to gallop away, but stopped as Earth Dancer came back. But she was not alone. She was being closely followed by a few of Randall's gang who were busy trying to lasso the frightened horse.
"Cut that out!" Brian yelled out as he sprang from the bench and ran forward with Buddy and Patty close behind.
The two bullies had seen the paperboy move, but had ignored him concentrating on there target. Fortunately the boys had very poor roping skills. Mostly they ended up throwing the ropes anywhere but the horse.
Everything stopped however when they heard someone laughing cruelly. "How's the arm paperboy?" Randall mocked as he strolled forward with whip in hand.
"You know how it is!" Brian yelled out angrily. Brian was so focused on Randall, that he didn't notice his friends looking at them confused. The confusion then turned to horror as they continued to listen.
"Of course I do." Randall smirked. He then paused and snapped his fingers sharply. Immediately another member of his gang comes up with a piece of paper. Randall takes the paper and looks at it in disinterest.
"Not that it matters. There are no witnesses and you'll be lucky if it heals in time for race day 20 days from now." He said casually as if it was nothing of real importance. He watched with satisfaction as the paper boy pales.
"What!" Brian said in disbelief. He reached over to take the paper from Randall, but the rich boy instead of handing him the paper…let it drop. Brian quickly grabs it with his other hand just before it hit the ground. His hopes sank as he looked at it.
"Thanks to a generous donation…the horse races have been moved up." Brian read dejectedly.
Randall looks at Brian haughtily. "That's right paperboy. So I guess that means…"
Randall's arrogant grin turned nasty. "You can no longer compete. I'll be taking "Crusader" home now." A sharp snap of his fingers causes his gang to approach the reluctant horse.
As the horse is forcibly herded towards Randall, Brian's eyes darkened. Once again he blocked Randall's path towards Earth Dancer, determined to keep the mean spirited youth from the horse.
Randall shakes his head, but continues to smile wickedly. "Some people never learn there lesson."
The whip in his hand whipped forward, but Brian is yanked out of the way thanks to Buddy. To everyone else's eyes, it looked like Brian had thrown himself out of the way.
Randall growled and moves the whip forward again…and while he is unable to see the rainbow that had gathered around the whip, he feels it yanked away.
"Hey!" he yelled angrily. Immediately the spoiled boy ran for his favorite toy only to find it somehow kept changing places. Earth Dancer in the meantime had taken advantage of the minor distraction and had retreated, but once again was being chased by Randall's gang.
"Oh no you don't!" Patty O' Green cried out as she ran towards the bullies determined to stop them. Shy Violet had followed her, but had stopped when she noticed one of the discarded lassos nearby. Immediately she got an idea. "Wait Patty!"
Patty stopped and turned around. She saw Violet holding one end of the rope. "Grab the other end! Violet insisted. Patty does so. "Okay now what?" "Get ready." Violet warned as the gang members approached there location.
"Ready….Set…. Now!" Violet yelled out, promptly pulling back on her side of the rope while Patty did the same on her end. The bullies tripped over the taunt rope and fell to the ground. Randall sees them on the ground and is furious. "Stop tripping over your own feet and get that horse!" he yelled out.
"Randall Maden! Stop this right now!" A loud voice suddenly bellowed. Randall spun around in anger. "Who dares!" he growled out.
"I do." The same voice spoke again. Randall growled again and notices his whip nearby. He lunges for it and finally manages to grab the handle. Grinning wickedly he grabs it. "Now you're going to pay. No one talks back to me and gets away with it!"
Triumphantly he lashes out with the whip, but to his dismay and further annoyance, the whip only strikes air. Randall turns his head to search for his target and feels his whip hand being tightly squeezed until he drops the whip.
"Owwwwwwwwwww!" He howled out in pain. But only when he was forced to drop the whip, did the pressure on his arm cease. Randall grabbed his injured hand. It still throbbed a bit. "How dare you-"
Randall's voice died in his throat as he noticed the stable owner glaring at him. "Uh Mr. Adams! I can explain-"
Mr. Adams crossed his arms. "I've told you before. Anyone who harms a living soul is unwelcome here. I insist that you leave now."
The fear in Randall's voice evaporated and he stood up defiantly. "I'll leave as soon as I get MY horse."
The snobbish boy cowered seeing the look on the stable owner's face.
"You injured Brian Brown and tried to embarrass him in front of your father and it backfired. And even though the tasks are nearly impossible to do…you didn't want to take any chances. You moved the competition up knowing Brian would be unable to compete." Mr. Adams said bluntly.
"That's right! And I won." Randall said arrogantly. He waited for the old man to admit defeat and bow to his greatness. To his annoyance the man looked at him calmly. "The race hasn't started yet." He said.
That did it. Randall blew his top. "Who cares!" He yelled out. Paperboy's arm is broken. He… can't…. compete. Randall's voice lost its anger and regained its superiority. After a moment he smugly added…"Oh and no substitutes. The deal was for Paperboy to race. And since he can't-"
"-Until race day, Earth Dancer will stay here." Mr. Adams interrupted. "Now leave." He said gesturing to the exit. Randall glares darkly, but then he smirks.
"Not much good it will do you. Paperboy's just on borrowed time. CRUSADER is MINE and the sooner you remember it the better." Randall snaps his whip in the air before leaving and is followed by his gang.
Several minutes pass without anyone saying anything... but finally the silence is broken. "I didn't know your last name was Brown." Rainbow finally spoke up.
She immediately regretted it when Brian glared at her. As if sensing his emotions, Earth Dancer trotted over and knelt down slightly so Brian could climb on.
"Brian stop! Your going to injure your arm further if you-" Buddy Blue's words fell on deaf ears as Brian leaves the stable area.
"We've got to go after him!" As Rainbow starts to get back on Starlight a calm voice stops her. "Leave him be little miss."
Rainbow and the color kids turn around in surprise as they see Mr. Adams staring calmly at them. The older man was in his late forties and is a little on the heavy side. His clothing was worn but well taken care of. After looking at each other for a few seconds one of the kids spoke.
"You can see us?" Patty questioned. The stable manager smiled. "Course I can. Names Russell Adams. I run the stable here." He held out his hand. After a moment Rainbow takes it.
"I'm Rainbow Brite. And these are my friends." Russell greets all of them with a warm smile. "It's a pleasure." Russell said warmly.
The children smiled at him, but kept glancing off to the side. "Don't worry. He'll be fine. He just needs some time to cool off." Russell said wisely. They looked back him. Shy Violet looked thoughtful. "The angle and force behind that whip…and if Brian had his left hand out…."
Shy Violet then realized something. "That's how his arm was broken!" She said with a mixture of surprise, dread, and a tiny bit of anger. The other kids look at her in surprise and then at the stable owner. When Russell nods gravely, it all starts to fall into place.
"No wonder Brian was so upset." Rainbow said softly. "I never thought I'd ever meet someone even worse then Murky." Buddy added and the other kids silently nodded.
"I hope you kids will be around to help him out. Unfortunately the spoiled brat is right. Brian is on borrowed time, now that the scales have been tipped directly in the brat's favor." Russell said gravely.
"Then we have to tip it back." Rainbow said with determination. "Yeah!" The other kids cried out as well. Russell admired there enthusiasm but knew it would take a lot more then positive thinking to put Brian back into the race. It would take a miracle.