Chapter 13 – Talking Jumping

After Katie left, Elizabeth started a load of laundry and then settled on the couch to watch some TV. Jack arrived back at the apartment just under an hour after Katie had texted that she was leaving. Jack knocked and there was no answer. He was a little worried, but thumbed the lock and walked in. He found Elizabeth sleeping on the couch. Jack went to put his things in the second bedroom and move his stuff from the library. He noticed that Elizabeth was doing a load of laundry, so he pulled her jeans out of the washer and put them in the dryer. He then put the other load of shirts in. He double checked the tag and realized that there were colors and whites, so he threw a color catcher sheet in as well. It looked like Katie had done her job and gotten Elizabeth what she needed.

Jack then went to the kitchen and made a pot of coffee. He also pulled out his laptop and wanted to look at this jumping competition that his grandfather wanted him to enter. Jack quickly realized that it was a charity event for ages fourteen to eighteen in all jumping classes. It would be a modified to intermediate mixed course. Jack knew that he could easily do an intermediate course with just a few days of practice. He just wasn't sure that he wanted to put himself out there. Then the more that Jack read, he realized that some of the proceeds were going to be given to the Brain Injury Association of New York. Jack figured that it was his grandfather's doing. Jack decided that he needed to call his grandfather and talk to him. Jack picked up his phone and dialed his grandfather.

("Hello." James said.)

"Hey, Grandpa." Jack said. "Got a moment to talk?"

("Sure." James said. "What is going on?")

"I wanted to talk to you about this charity jumping event." Jack said. "I haven't jumped competitively since I won the championship. I just don't know."

("Okay." James said. "I wouldn't have asked, except that my top jumper broke his arm and I really wanted someone to represent the farm since they will be making the donation to the Brain Injury Association.")

"Yeah." Jack said. "I saw that. Problem is I still don't have a jumper."

("Well." James said. "Technically, we own the horse, but Ryan is usually the only one to ride him. Will you please at least think about it? Besides you do have a jumper, both of yours are here and have been ridden.")

"How about this?" Jack said. "I will see if I click with the horse when I get up there. If that happens and I can get a couple training runs in, I will see about entering. Send me the information on who this kid was jumping, as well as his times and any video that there is. I will look at things and see when I get up there. I know I have my jumpers up there, but they haven't been up to this competition level in a while."

James smiled to himself. He wasn't going to tell Jack which horse Ryan had been jumping.

("That sounds fair." James said. "If you don't click with him, I have a couple of other jumpers, but I am not sure how they would do with that course.")

Again, James was happy, because he knew that Ryan had been jumping on Jack's horse and it would all be fine. James had planned on having Jack jump at the charity event even if Ryan hadn't been injured, but he hadn't told him that.

"Don't forget, I have a friend coming." Jack said.

("Yes." James said. "I talked to your father. If there is anything that she needs?")

"Katie got her clothes." Jack said. "Ma did say something about her possibly fitting some of Laura's clothes. I think they would fit, but I wasn't sure how you would feel about that. I also haven't told Elizabeth about what happened to Laura yet."

("If Elizabeth needs something." James said. "We don't have a problem with her using something that belongs to Laura. As long as she understands that she can't keep them, she is free to use them while she is here. Does Elizabeth ride?")

"I think so." Jack said. "I don't think that she had ridden in a while or at any regular interval. Is there a horse that would be good to teach her?"

("Yeah." James said. "I know that your dad was worried about her. I have already called the security company and they know that we might be needing them more then just at the track, but that doesn't start until the end of July anyway.")

"I told Elizabeth." Jack said. "As long as people don't hassle us in town, we will have a little more freedom. As far as I know the people causing the problems don't know that we are leaving or where we are heading. I don't even think that they know that Elizabeth is coming with us."

("Please talk to her." James said. "Tell her about Laura. She needs to know. From what your father said, it sounded like something similar at the beginning. I am proud of you for helping her, but I am also worried about you. Are you doing okay?")

"Yesterday was hard." Jack said. "Standing there seeing her hurt and crying. Well it broke my heart. Hearing her father not support her was also hard. I am doing better today. I just want her to be okay."

("Well." James said. "There is only so much that you can do. You also need to take care of yourself. Please don't forget that. I will see you Saturday. I will have Ryan come over Saturday or Sunday and you can talk.")

"Sounds good." Jack said. "See you Saturday."

("See you Saturday." James said. "I look forward to meeting your friend. Thomas also said that Doug and maybe Lee will also be here part of the time. You know that your friends are more than welcome here.")

"Thank you." Jack said.

Jack hung up with his grandfather and looked over and saw Elizabeth sitting up.

"Hey." Jack said. "You have a nice nap?"

"I didn't realize I was tired until I sat down after Katie left." Elizabeth said. "Katie said I needed to talk to you about your cousin."

"Yeah." Jack said. "I was just talking to my grandfather about that and a few other things."

"Katie told me a little bit." Elizabeth said. "All she knew was that she had received a traumatic brain injury and lives in a home that helps her. Katie told me to talk to you about it."

Jack let out a harsh breath and took another deep breath before walking over to sit on the couch. At the last second he changed his mind and sat on the chair across from Elizabeth.

"Okay." Jack said. "The official line is that Laura got hurt in a training accident. Now what I am going to tell you is only known by a handful of people outside of the family and even they know better than to talk about it."

"Okay." Elizabeth said. "You have my word that I won't say anything."

"So the real story." Jack said. "For that, I need to back up a bit. Laura is three years older than I am and growing up we were always close. We rode and trained together. We even jumped as competitors for a time. We pushed each other to be better. We were always cheering for each other. Three years ago, when Laura was eighteen, she was dating this guy. I didn't like him from the start. I don't know what it was about him, but he rubbed me the wrong way. He wanted more and more of Laura's time and didn't like when she would stay and help me with a training session. Then one day, Laura showed up with a sprained wrist. She tried to play it off as an accident, but I didn't believe her. I talked to my grandfather, but Laura convinced him that she had just lost her footing and when she grabbed for the railing, she missed and hit the rail.

Anyway, there were more and more 'training' accidents. I tried to talk to Laura, but she kept insisting that everything was fine and she was just trying to get used to working with different horses. Not only was Laura jumping and competing, but she was also helping to train racehorses. I knew something was wrong, but no one listened to me so I quit trying. Then shortly after I came back to the city for school, Laura was injured. Her boyfriend, in a drunken rage, nearly beat her to death. He cracked her skull in three places and left her for dead. The only reason that she survived was that a neighbor needed something and when he arrived, he found her and called for help. Even he thought it was something to do with the horses, because he found Laura in the barn walkway."

"I am sorry." Elizabeth said. "I guess I understand why you reacted the way that you did when Charlie had a hold of me."

"Laura's accident was part of it." Jack said. "The other part was, well, I feel guilty that I couldn't save Laura. I swore that I would never let that happen again. I would never not listen to my instincts when they told me something was wrong. I should have pushed the issue and I could have saved Laura."

"Jack." Elizabeth said. "I want you to look at me and see what I am saying."

Jack looked up and Elizabeth saw the tears in his eyes, but he still held her gaze.

"What happened … (deep breath)." Elizabeth said. "What happened with Laura was not your fault. You tried and she wasn't willing to take your help when it was offered. There is nothing that you could have done for her. I am just glad that you listened when I asked for help."

"Thank you." Jack said. "The worst part of everything that happened with Laura was that my family was just happy that she survived. I, on the other hand, thought she would have been better off just dying."

"Jack." Elizabeth said, shocked. "Why would you say that?"

"Laura." Jack said with a sigh. "She lived to ride and compete. She wanted to go to school, study equine science and become a trainer for our horses. She dreamed of working with and taking over for my grandfather. Now, she is just a shell of herself. She can't walk or really talk. She needs help dressing and feeding herself. She doesn't know who she is most of the time and needs to be constantly reminded who we are. The last time I saw her, I looked into her eyes and they were hollow. There was no spark. There was no life in her eyes. She just looked so sad. I don't think she would have wanted to live like she is. I have never told anyone that and I can't bring myself to talk to my family about her. I don't like to go visit, because it reminds me of everything that will never be. She will never marry or see me marry. She will never hold a child. At least if she would have died, it would have been easier to accept that she would never do those things."

"Okay." Elizabeth said. "I guess I can see that. I promise I won't say anything, but I think that you need to talk to someone about the way that you feel. May I ask you a question?"

"Yeah." Jack said.

"Is that why you quit jumping?" Elizabeth asked. "Because from everything that I have heard and read, you are/were an amazing jumper/rider."

"I take you looked me up online?" Jack asked.

"I did a quick search before I fell asleep." Elizabeth said. "But you still haven't answered my question. What happened to Laura, is that why you quit?"

"In part." Jack said. "I just couldn't do it anymore. It was something that we had always done together. My family never understood why I quit. My grandfather still tried to get me to compete. He even wants me to enter a charity jumping event when we are up there. I just don't know."

"I think you should do it." Elizabeth said. "If nothing else, do it to prove that you still can. Do it for Laura."

"See now you sound like my grandfather." Jack said.

"Think about it." Elizabeth said. "I won't pressure you, but I think it might be good for you. Granted, I can barely ride so I guess maybe I shouldn't talk."

"I will teach you to ride." Jack said. "I guess I just am not sure about getting back into competing. After I quit jumping, I started going by Jack full-time, even demanding that I be called that at school. In the jumping world as well as in society circles, I was known as John or JP. I guess I have gotten used to not being in the spotlight and I kind of like it. I think that is one of the things I am struggling with the most, I don't want to bring anymore attention to me or us. Especially with everything going on."

"I suppose that I understand that." Elizabeth said.

"Please don't tell anyone what I said." Jack pleaded. "It has been hard enough on my family without them knowing how I feel."

"I won't." Elizabeth said. "But promise me something – you will talk to someone. You said you are Catholic. Maybe talk to your priest. I know that they usually can't say anything about what is talked about. I know that there are always exceptions and I don't know all the ins and outs, but I think that you need to talk to someone about your feelings. Please."

Jack didn't want to tell her about the problem with talking to his priest up there.

"I will try." Jack said. "And you are right. A priest usually can't say what he talked about with a person. It depends on the setting, but as a general rule, you are right. Can we please change the subject."

"Sure." Elizabeth said. "Thank you for setting up today with Katie. She was great."

"So you were able to get stuff that you needed?" Jack asked.

"Yes." Elizabeth said. "Oh that reminds me. I have laundry to do."

"I switched your loads when I got here." Jack said. "I hope that is okay. I put your jeans in the dryer and then put the load in the basket in the washer."

"Thank you." Elizabeth said. "You didn't need to do that. Like I said, I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It was no problem." Jack said. "I dried your jeans on medium heat, so they may not be completely dry. I have found that it keeps them from shrinking too much. I usually just hang them up to finish drying."

"Good to know." Elizabeth said. "I will remember that."

"So." Jack said. "Did Katie say when she would be back? Did you get everything that you needed?"

"No and yes." Elizabeth said. "Katie didn't say when she would be back other than later this afternoon. She made sure I had everything. Between what she brought and what we picked out, I can't think of anything else that I would need right now. She told me that if I wanted sweatshirts to either grab some from you or Tommy since you both had a ton."

"Well." Jack said. "That is true. I might run home again tomorrow then and grab a few more. I only packed one, since I know that I have at least half a dozen at the farm. I can't even remember what I all have up there. I know my work clothes and riding stuff is up there. I'm pretty sure that I have maybe half a dozen outfits up there and that doesn't include dress clothes."

"Katie also said to ask you about boots." Elizabeth said. "She got me some short dress boots, but said those weren't for riding."

"Did she get you tennis shoes?" Jack asked.

"Yes." Elizabeth said.

"Well." Jack said. "If you are careful, you can wear those."

"Okay." Elizabeth said with a hint of disappointment.

"But we can go get some Sunday after Church." Jack said. "If you really want a pair."

"Actually, I would." Elizabeth said.

"Okay." Jack said. "We will have to talk to Grandpa and drive in separately from the others and then we can go downtown and look at some of the shops. I might need some new boots as well. I am not sure if my dress boots will still fit. I also know that I will need a new pair of riding boots if my grandfather wants me to compete. I might as well get them and break them in if I am going to ride."

"Will that be okay?" Elizabeth asked. "Maybe I can get some riding boots. I was looking at them earlier and I think that is what I want as well. It would protect my jeans or other pants."

"Like I said." Jack said. "As long as we aren't hassled, we really don't need security. As far as I know, no one outside knows that you are going, unless you tell someone."

"I haven't talked to anyone today." Elizabeth said. "Rosie has called four times, but I haven't answered. My mother has also called three times and my sister Julie has sent me at least a dozen texts."

"You can tell people what you want." Jack said. "If you want to talk to them, no one is stopping you. If they are bothering you and it is too much, I can have Devin enforce the restraining order. It is up to you. Just let me know one way or another."

"I just don't know what to say." Elizabeth said.

"Maybe just tell them that you are in the city and safe." Jack said. "Like I said, if you want to talk to them, you can. …"

Jack stopped and wondered if he should tell her what he knew.