Chapter 41 – Marco's Twist

After speaking to Gran and texting security, Jack and Nathan watched the video through the whole way first. Jack then backed it up and wanted to point certain things out.

"See right there." Jack said, pointing to the area he had enlarged.

"Yeah." Nathan said. "I barely clipped that water tray. How did Marco see that?"

"He probably heard it more than he saw it." Jack said. "It still freaks me out what he catches. I mean two centimeters and you would have had a clean run. Now, if I pull up my run. You can see Bandit's back foot is well into the water tray. I knew it the moment I hit it, but I didn't focus on it. I knew that you had a fault, so I focused on trying to stay clean the rest of the way."

"I see what you mean." Nathan said. "Can you bring it up when I needed to make that sharp left turn?"

"Sure." Jack said. "What are you looking for?"

"I am not sure." Nathan said. "My leg felt off on the turn. I have been going over it in my head. I don't know if it was just me or if there is something to it."

"Okay." Jack said. "Give me a moment."

Jack found the spot that Nathan was talking about. He zoomed in and brought it up on the bigger screen. He played it at full speed and then looked at Nathan who motioned again. Only Jack slowed it down to half speed the second time."

"There." Nathan said pointing to the screen.

"Yeah." Jack said. "I see it. It looks like your boot slipped, but it doesn't look like it bothered Honey. I am surprised you felt that, it didn't come out all the way."

"It just felt weird." Nathan said. "I wasn't sure what it was and I wanted to check."

"I think you might have leaned too far." Jack said. "I have had my boot slip a couple of times. If it happens again, we can scuff the bottoms a little more so it has more grip."

"I think that might work." Nathan said. "That is the one thing I hate about new boots."

"I know." Jack said. "That is why I plan to wear mine as much as possible between now and Saturday."

"At least I have a couple more weeks." Nathan said.

"Anything else?" Jack asked.

"Is there a way for someone to record our runs today?" Nathan asked.

"Yes." Jack said. "We won't have the overhead view, but it can definitely be recorded."

"Let's do that." Nathan said. "I want to compare an outside run to what was going on inside."

"Okay." Jack said. "Good plan."

Jack called and got one of the hands to come down with the video equipment from the arena. While they were waiting for that, Jack and Nathan tacked up their horses and got them warmed up. They each made a run through before timing the next run. After two timed runs, Jack and Nathan gave the horses a break. About that time, Marco and James came over to the ring.

"I have watched each of your last runs." Marco said. "I have an idea. Now, just hear me out before you get upset."

"Okay." Jack said, giving him a strange look.

"I was wondering if you would switch horses for a couple of runs." Marco said.

"Really?" Jack said. "I mean I have ridden Honey, but I have always competed on Bandit."

"I know." Marco said. "But I want to see something. Humor an old man."

"You are far from old." Nathan said. "But if you think it might help, I am game."

"I guess I am as well then." Jack said.

"Good." Marco said. "Trust me."

"I do." Jack said. "I may not always understand, but I do trust you."

The four of them went back to the ring. Jack and Nathan adjusted the tack on the horses so it fit them. Jack mounted Honey and Nathan mounted Bandit. Rock, paper, scissors determined that Nathan would take the first run. Once he was sure everyone was ready with the camera and stopwatch he gave them a nod. He brought Bandit up to a canter and took the first jump. Nathan was amazed how responsive Bandit was. He barely had to apply any pressure and the horse did what he wanted. Nathan was even able to take the triple combination in two and two strides instead of two and three with Honey. He did clip one rail on one of the oxers, but it stayed up. As Nathan came to a stop near Marco, he had a huge grin on his face.

"How was that?" Marco asked.

"Bandit is amazing." Nathan said. "It is like he knew exactly what I wanted him to do."

"JP, you ready?" Marco asked.

"Ready." Jack said.

With that, Jack brought Honey up to a canter and started the course. He clipped the first two rails, but they stayed up. Jack almost missed the triple combination, but was able to pull it off despite the extra step that Honey wanted to take. She turned well and Jack felt comfortable on her. It was different, but not necessarily a bad different. It was really the first time he could remember running Honey at competition speed. As he finished he headed over to Marco.

"So?" Marco asked.

"Not bad." Jack said. "I would have to make a few more runs before I was completely comfortable with her. How were the times?"

"Nathan." Marco said. "Your best run on Honey earlier was seventy-two seconds. Your run on Bandit was seventy seconds."

"Wow." Nathan said. "I didn't realize it was that much faster."

"How was mine?" Jack asked.

"Exactly the same." Marco said. "On both Honey and Bandit, you ran the course in seventy seconds flat."

"So what does that mean?" Nathan asked.

"Nothing." Marco said. "For this week, I want JP on Bandit and I want you on Honey. JP will run Bandit at the charity event. Next week, I want you both on both horses. We will determine who rides who when we get closer to Sugar Creek."

James could see Jack wasn't happy.

"JP." James said. "Before you comment, you said you trusted Marco. He has officially been assigned as trainer/coach to both of you. So think about that before you argue."

"No argument, Sir." Jack said. "How will you pick who rides who at Sugar Creek?"

"The Wednesday before." Marco said. "I will set a course of my choosing. You will both run it on a random draw. The winner gets to choose which horse they want for the competition."

"And Doug?" Jack asked.

"Depends." Marco said. "Who is he riding?"

"No sure yet." Jack said. "Either Aphrodite or Ghost."

"Then I want you three to rotate and ride all three or four horses if you are comfortable." Marco said. "We will randomly draw for the course I set. The right winner chooses his horse. The other two will random draw."

"Fair?" James asked.

"That is asking a lot." Jack said. "Get comfortable on four horses in less than two weeks."

"What can't do it?" Nathan teased. "I have rode four different horses for four different competitions in one weekend when I did some rodeo. Granted it has been a few years."

"Can we start riding the others this week?" Jack asked.

"You ride all four every day." Marco said. "JP, you will have an extra run on Bandit to get ready for Saturday. Friday, JP is the only one to ride Bandit. One run on each horse every day for each of you and the rest of the time will be flat work and bonding with the horse. That can include trail rides."

"Yes, Sir." Nathan said.

Nathan looked over at Jack and gave him a lopsided grin.

"What?" Jack asked.

"I am going to get my pick of horses." Nathan said in a sing-song tone.

"No you are not." Jack said with a full dimple grin.

"Enough." Marco said. "Care for your horse, then I expect you to get a full workout done at the gym. That will also be required each day, other than this Saturday and Sunday. If you need a massage, just let me or James know and we will arrange it. That goes for either of you."

"Yes, Sir." Jack said.

"Yes, Sir." Nathan said.

Jack shot Nathan a look, but didn't say anything else. Both boys took the horses to the stable to brush and stall. James waited until they were out of earshot.

"You know what you are doing, right?" James whispered.

"Yep." Marco said. "They will push each other. Doug will push both. Now, if we just had a fourth rider."

"You know this might get out of hand." James said. "JP and Doug, both hate to lose and I can tell that Nathan is not fond of it either."

"We will keep an eye on them." Marco said. "We will also need to keep an eye on the horses. Let's make sure Aphrodite and Ghost are nearby. I figure that they will want to ride them this afternoon."

"Ghost is already up here." James said. "Aphrodite is still over at the other stable. I will have her moved before lunch. Should I assign a stable hand to help them care for the horses? Remember Athena is there as well."

"Nope." Marco said. "Maybe assign someone Athena, but they care for the jumpers. Doug will be here soon. They can handle five horses between the three of them."

"Then I will leave it as is." James said.

James and Marco walked back to the stable. They checked both horses after the boys were done caring for them. They were looking for hot spots on their legs and how they were handling the riding. Seeing nothing to cause concern, they left the horses. Marco went back to the arena as he had a young student coming. James went to the office to make arrangements to have Aphrodite moved. He then loaded the video of the runs from that day on the computer for Jack and Nathan to review later. After caring for their horses and changing out of their riding gear, the boys headed to the house and straight for the gym.

Gran and Elizabeth left the ranch and headed into town. Elizabeth was a little nervous, it was the first time she had gone anywhere without Jack since he had helped her leave her house. Gran sensed that Elizabeth was nervous.

"It is okay." Gran said. "Look in the mirror. See that blue SUV? That is security. They won't take their eyes off of us."

"Okay." Elizabeth said. "I don't know why I am nervous. As far as I know, no one back home knows that I'm up here."

"I promise I won't let anything happen." Gran said. "Let's enjoy the day."

It didn't take long and they were in town. The first stop was the bank and Gran was right, she was able to go through the drive thru. They then ran to the cleaners where she ran in and picked up what was needed. Then they headed to Primal. Gran parked the car and they both went in. One security came in and the other stayed in the car. Gran was able to get the order placed for the pork chops.

"Now, Elizabeth." Gran said. "You guys are going to have to stop here Friday morning and pick up the order. I have already paid for it."

"I won't forget." Elizabeth said.

"Mrs Sims." The man behind the counter said.

"Yes." Gran said.

"Friday's order." He said. "You want that packed in ice?"

"Yeah." Gran said. "They are for Sunday. My grandson, Elizabeth here, and at least one other friend will be coming to pick up the order when they come into the farmer's market."

"No problem." The man said. "I will be here Friday morning. I will personally have it ready. Anything else this morning other than your usual order?"

"Actually." Gran said. "I have a couple extra house guests this week. I don't know if I ordered enough."

"Don't forget." Elizabeth said. "Jack, Nathan and Doug are going to be training as well."

"Oh, right." Gran said.

"Let's take what I have ordered." Gran said. "I need to come back into town tomorrow. Let's do another order of what I am picking up, plus half a dozen extra strip steaks and six pounds additional chicken breasts."

"I can have that ready for you by nine tomorrow." The butcher said.

"Perfect." Gran said. "I will pay for that tomorrow, then."

"I can just put it on the farm account if you want." The butcher said.

"Let's do that." Gran said. "Just in case. If for some reason, I don't get back into town tomorrow."

"No problem." The butcher said. "If you are not here by the time I head home after lunch, I will just drop it off."

"Thank you, David." Gran said.

"Your welcome, Mrs Sims." David said.

Gran and Elizabeth took the order that they had picked up and headed back to the truck. Gran packed the meat into the cooler along with the ice packs she had already placed in there.

"It was nice of him to offer to drop it off." Elizabeth said.

"Yes." Gran said. "We order a lot through them, both for the house and the farm hands. They want to keep our business. David is willing to go a mile or two of his way to make sure that happens."

"It is still nice." Elizabeth said. "You don't get that in the city."

"No, no you don't." Gran said.

Before getting in the truck, Gran nodded to the security team. Gran was also glad that Elizabeth had seemed to relax a bit.

"Alright." Gran said. "Walmart and I think we will be able to head back."

"Sounds good." Elizabeth said. "So what do you need at Walmart?"

Gran handed Elizabeth the list. She looked it over and noticed that Gran had included some of the things that she liked. Elizabeth smiled as she realized that Jack was still taking care of her even if he wasn't right there.

"JP said you like yogurt." Gran said. "He also told me about the caramel creamer. Is there anything else?"

"Maybe some more fruit." Elizabeth said. "I usually eat a lot of fruit. I am sure that with the boys working out, they will be wanting more snacks. Apples, oranges and grapes are always good."

"We will get those." Gran said. "As well as some bulk nuts and maybe some more cheese."

"Sounds good." Elizabeth said.

They made their way to Walmart. Gran parked and security pulled up next to them. They followed Elizabeth and Gran in. Once Gran and Elizabeth each had a cart, she turned to the security guys.

"Adam." Gran said.

"Yes, ma'am." Adam said.

"We have a lot to get." Gran said. "You can push a cart and still keep an eye on everything. Here you go, make yourself useful."

"Yes, ma'am." Adam said.

Gran just smiled at Elizabeth as the security guys each took the carts from the gals and followed them into the store. Gran and Elizabeth worked their way through Walmart making quick work of the list. They knew what they needed and didn't spend extra time wandering around. There was a little bit that split up with one security each to get what they needed. With two very full carts, Gran and Elizabeth headed to the checkout. They had to wait in line, but Elizabeth didn't mind. She was glad to have Gran there. They talked about what else was going on the rest of the week. Once they were checked out, they guys helped them load everything into the truck before they all headed back to the farm.