And May My Horses Turn to Glue…
Lee stumbled forward, unaware of the fact that he had almost tripped over his own feet. He felt his eye twitch in agitation as he crossed to the stableman.
"Good day, sir!" The stableman hollered cheerily. "How may I help you?"
"I left my horse here about an hour ago. Would you be kind enough to retrieve it for me?" The stableman said nothing but briskly made his way into the large stable, leaving Lee to sulk bitterly. "Oh God!" Lee exclaimed to himself. "What have I done? I was so sure that they…" Lee rubbed his face, frustrated. He could hardly believe what had just happened to him. He had been absolutely certain that the House of Burgesses would be enthusiastic about the prospect of independency. The possibility of them denying his request had never even entered his mind. All he had been concerned about was how exactly he was planning on breaking the happy news to Johnny in order to get the most excited reaction. But as soon as Lee opened his mouth to suggest the idea, each member of the House of Burgesses clearly stated that independence from Great Britain was not an acceptable proposition at the present time. At first Lee acted as though perhaps he had not heard them and reread his resolution once more. At this, the gentlemen seated before him started to lose their patience. They denied his request once again, only this time with a little more vehemence.
"No! No! No! And if you ask again… NO!!" Lee recalled one dignified gentleman stating.
Dumbstruck, Lee ventured to excuse himself with all the dignity he could muster up in an unhappy situation such as this and quickly departed to find Buddy. He supposed his only option then was to return to Philadelphia as an incompetent failure. But perhaps he would stop by Stratford after all. A few days with his dear little wife, situated in his beautiful mansion might motivate him to approach the House of Burgesses once more, this time hopefully receiving a slightly different reaction. Lee's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the stableman, who had become quite pale.
"Well? Where is my horse?" Lee asked, trying to remain pleasant.
"Uh…" the stableman muttered, swaying from side to side nervously. "About that…"
"Yes?"
"There…seems to have been an accident…"
"What?" Lee asked, looking about himself for his horse. "Please, I really don't have a lot of time. Would you please find my horse?"
"That's the problem…"
"Have you lost him?"
"No… It's just…" The stableman sighed and stared up at Lee fearfully. "Earlier today, I told my son that there was an old horse in here that was no use to us. I asked him to bring that horse to the glue factory where we were to collect quite a bit of money for him."
"I beg your pardon, but what does this have to do with me?"
"Well…my son…he's not very bright. Apparently, he mixed up our old horse with your stallion and…"
"Oh good lord! Well, can you get him back?"
"I wish I could, sir. But I just asked my son about it. He said that as soon as he turned your horse over to one of the workers, they-" The stableman did not finish his sentence, but made a gagging noise while pretending to slit his throat with his index finger.
"BUDDY?!" Lee exclaimed tearfully. "They mercilessly slaughtered my horse?!" The stableman nodded reluctantly.
"If it's any consolation… I'm sure that… 'Buddy'…will make fine glue for furniture!" This was no consolation. Lee scrunched his face at the stableman and quietly began to depart. The stableman shouted out one last apology before nonchalantly returning to the stable, counting the gold he had received from Buddy's decease greedily.
Lee walked for almost an entire day before a carriage passed by and offered him a ride to Stratford. Unfortunately, from the time that he departed from the stable to the time when the carriage approached, it had been pouring rain. The only thing Lee could think of that would distract him from his grief was the thought of his rich, magnificent estate, which he would be approaching in a matter of hours. That would cheer him up… so he thought.