Chapter 219 – Emergency on the Ranch

By the time that everyone gathered for lunch, it was a very different feel in the house. The twins were laughing with Becky and Opal. Elizabeth, even though still upset, was smiling at Cody being silly. The ladies had made a batch of sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies. They were still cooling on the back counter. They also had five loaves of bread rising.

When Bill and James came up to the house for lunch, they looked around and saw their families having fun. Most everyone was in the kitchen/dining room or the front room. They were almost ready to eat when Katie M knocked on the back door.

"Mom." Opal cried. "Can I stay and play with the twins and Becky this afternoon? We are going to go in the pool."

Katie looked to Margaret and James.

"She is more than welcome to stay." Gran said. "She helped with baking this morning as well as the horses."

"Okay." Katie said. "I will bring your swimsuit back up here. But please remember to stay in the shallow end, you don't swim that good yet."

"We have floatie things." James said. "Besides, there will be others out there watching them."

James was looking at JP, Elizabeth, Doug, Lee and Nathan.

"Alright." Katie said. "It will be nice to take the afternoon and get things more organized."

"Katie." Jack said. "The new vet tech was here to look at the three new horses. She mentioned something about supplements to help them gain some muscle and also to help when they are jumping. She left her card if you want to give her a call."

"Thank you." Katie said. "I will do that. I haven't had a chance to look at them yet. Maybe I can do that this afternoon."

"They are turned out in one of the large paddocks over by the sand ring toward the road." Jack said.

"I think I saw them when I came in." Katie said. "I will be back with Opal's swimsuit shortly. Thank you again for letting her stay up here."

"You're welcome." Gran said. "We were just going to sit down to eat, so if you don't want to interrupt, you can just leave it on one of the chairs by the back door and we will grab it after we eat."

"I might just do that." Katie said. "I will also leave the sunscreen that I picked up."

"Sounds good." Gran said.

Opal ran up and gave her mother a hug before going back over to sit with the girls. John and Peter came out just after Katie left.

"I just want to let you all know that Devin, Chris and the other security are staying in town for lunch." John said.

Gran looked around.

"I think that this is everyone, then." Gran said. "Peter texted that he and Frank would be back after lunch. I told them that was fine. They were going to grab something in town."

"That was nice of him to take Peter." Jack said.

"Peter was excited about spending time with Frank." Abigail said.

"Let's gather near the kitchen and say a prayer." James said. "Then we can make plates and sit."

Everyone gathered between the table and the counter.

"Heavenly Father." James prayed. "Thank you for this lovely day and all that You have given us. Thank you for keeping us safe. Please watch over the family that is not with us right now. We ask that you bless this food and the hands that prepared it. Amen."

Several said amen as then started to get in line. The group was familiar with the set up they had for the sandwiches, fruit and veggies. There was also potato salad and the rest of the macaroni salad. Gran had also set out the bowl of individual bags of chips. There was lemonade, grape and red kool-aid on the table as well as two carafes of coffee. Jack, Elizabeth, Doug, and Nathan each helped one of the other kids with their plates before making their own. Jack helped Opal while Cody was Nathan's little shadow. Doug helped his sisters and Elizabeth was happy to help Becky. Once they had the kids seated and with a drink, the four of them quickly went back to make their plates. Once everyone was seated, John took the time to update everyone.

"I just wanted to let everyone know that the press conference went well this morning." John said. "There were questions about Elizabeth, but I dismissed most of them. I refused to play that game. I made a statement and stuck to what I was going to say."

"How has it been outside the gates?" Trish asked.

"Much better." James said. "Especially since John announced that anyone caught trespassing would be arrested, charged and banned from all Coal Creek and Thornton, Inc properties for at least one year."

"That would help deter people." Lee said.

"That was the point." John said. "We still expect a few certain reporters to cause trouble. Especially those that weren't happy that Elizabeth wasn't there and I wouldn't answer questions about her. We know who they are and security will be watching. From what Andrew said when he left, things looked a lot better."

"Andrew left?" Gran asked.

"Just for the afternoon." John said. "He went back to Albany to get some things that the three of us will need to stay the week."

"Got it." Gran said.

"JP." James said. "You mentioned something about a new vet tech?"

"Yes." Jack said. "Apparently, Dr Matthews hired at least one new vet tech. She has been assigned to our ranch. Something about how he thought she would be a better fit with us. She checked the three new horses."

"Good." James said. "I was hoping the conversation that I had with him made a difference. I didn't want to have to switch."

"This gal was nice." Nathan said. "She is hoping to go on to vet school, but it is a waiting game right now."

John looked over at Jack.

"Already on it." Jack said. "I will copy you the email later when I send her the information."

"Thank you." John said.

The rest of lunch was nice. They talked about a few other things, including plans for the afternoon. No one mentioned anything about Rosemary leaving. They all knew and they could see that Elizabeth didn't want to talk about it, so left it be. Jack, Doug and Nathan were happy to share about the new horses. The more that they talked about them, the more that Maddie, Missy and Opal all got excited.

"Jack." Opal said.

"Yes." Jack said.

"If it is okay with my Mom." Opal said. "Do you think that I can ride like the twins? They were telling me about jumping and shows. It sounds like fun."

"We can certainly talk to your Mom about it." Jack said. "I don't know if you will be able to show this summer, but if your Mom is okay with it, we can start you on riding lessons so that you jump next summer."

"Thank you." Opal said.

Jack and Elizabeth shared a smile that didn't go unnoticed by John, James or Gran. Just as they were finishing their meal, what sounded like an emergency siren went off. Without explaining, Jack jumped from the table and sprinted to the office. He came back with a radio.

"Doug and Nathan." Jack said. "Let's go."

"We can help, Jack." Maddie said standing up.

Jack didn't even wait to hear, as he wasn't going to let them go. Jack was out the back door, with Doug and Nathan right behind him. James had gone to get another radio.

"No." Trish said.

"What is going on?" Elizabeth asked.

"A horse is loose on the compound somewhere." Gran said.

"Two horses threw their riders and got loose over at the track." James said coming back.

"Elizabeth, girls." Gran said. "Please clear the table and start putting the food away. James leave the radio and go help."

James walked over to the table and handed the radio to his wife.

"Be safe." Gran said.

"I will." James said and then left out the back door as well.

"Do you want me to help?" Peter asked.

"How do you feel about wild horses?" Trish asked.

"Probably better to stay here." Peter said.

"Good plan." John said. "If the horses threw their riders, they probably got spooked. At least there is plenty of room for them to be. The siren is to warn people that a horse is loose. They have the same one at racing tracks. Since there are so many horses here, I thought it was useful to put one in as well."

"It was." Gran said. "In the five years since you put it in, this is only the third time that it has gone off."

Gran turned the volume on the radio down, so it wasn't so loud. Lee finished his plate and then got up to help clear the table.

Jack was barely out the door and he was on the radio. He was trying to get information, but Doug could see that he wasn't listening.

"Jack!" Doug said.

Jack turned and looked at him.

"Slow down." Doug said. "I will drive. Try to get some information, but you have to listen to the response and give the person on the other end time to respond."

"Sorry." Jack said. "I know that Manny's daughter was riding this afternoon, so I am sure that he is going out of his head if she was thrown."

Doug drove the side by side toward the track while Jack tried to get some more information. Nathan said a quick prayer. He was familiar with horses, but he had never seen something like this. As they got closer to the track, it came over the radio that one horse had been caught, but the other was still out. This had only ever happened once before while Jack was there and the horse was caught within fifteen minutes, thankfully no one was injured.

"Do we know the horse that is still out?" Nathan asked.

"Midnight's Run." Jack said. "He is a large black stallion. He is a two year old."

"At least he will stand out a bit being black." Doug said.

"Has he been aggressive before?" Nathan asked.

"He can act up." Jack said. "We have talked about gelding him, but there is another part of me that wants to hold off, he is from prized bloodlines and I would like to breed him."

"Maybe get a couple dozen sessions in and freeze it." Nathan said. "Then you can geld him and it might be better."

"I will talk to my grandfather about that." Jack said. "It is one solution, but we don't usually do that."

"If this is how he is going to be." Nathan said. "You might not have a choice."

"I know, I know." Jack said.

Jack let out a huge sigh. As they moved toward the track, they were all keeping an eye out for the runaway horse. Jack had had such high hopes for Midnight's Run. He was hoping that he would win big and really put their barn on the map.

The reason that Jack was upset about gelding Midnight's Run, was that he was truly their first New York bred horse with prized bloodlines that could do great things. New York bred horses were becoming more popular and Jack had been hoping to cash in on that. Midnight's Run was their first New York bred horse that was a true third generation New York bred horse.

"Jack." Nathan said, snapping Jack out of his thoughts.

"What is the big deal about gelding this horse?" Nathan asked. "You think I just kicked your dog by the look on your face."

"I had high hopes for this horse." Jack said. "If you know anything about horse racing, especially here in New York, a true New York bred is a big deal, there are special races for just New York bred horses. Midnight's Run was our first third generation New York bred horse and he truly had a chance at great things. He has raced in California already this year and only needs a few more wins to qualify for the Breeder's Cup in November. That is like the championship of all horses."

"Yeah." Doug said. "Getting invited to the Breeder's Cup is huge. Also Midnight's Run is Jack's first registered New York bred horse."

"Oh." Nathan said. "Let's find him. Then we can talk to Katie and I know that there are things that we can add to his diet to calm him down a little without compromising his racing."

"Thank you." Jack said. "I really would like to try that."

"One step at a time." Nathan said.