Chapter 217 – Bubbles and Squeak (long)
As they were walking Bubbles and Squeak over to the sand ring, Jack looked around.
"Where are Peter and Father Mark?" Jack asked. "I thought he wanted to see us jump."
"They went for a walk together when the girls, Frank and Lee headed up." Doug said.
"Peter seemed upset about something." Nathan said. "Father Mark suggested they go for a walk."
"Then I won't worry about it." Jack said. "We are coming up on the time of the year where Peter lost his father, Noah. I am sure that had something to do with it."
"Maybe." Nathan said. "I understand that to some extent. So how are we going to do this?"
"I was thinking." Jack said. "We take them over some three foot fences. I can watch and if there is something, maybe I will ride."
"Sounds good." Nathan said. "How about you two grab tack and I will raise some fences."
Doug and Jack turned back to the stable to grab tack for Bubbles and Squeak, while Nathan went about setting up some fences. But by the time that they were ready to jump, Father Mark and Peter had returned.
"Doug." Jack said. "How about you take Bubbles over the fences first. We will watch and see if we see anything."
Doug nodded, mounted Bubbles and brought him up to a canter around the outside of the ring. As he went over the jumps, Bubbles wanted to go faster, but Doug was able to hold him back. As they came to a double combination, Bubbles stuttered a bit. Rather than risk it, Doug turned him and tried to line him up again. He went but clipped the rail.
"What happened?" Jack called.
"I don't know." Doug said. "He stutter stepped and then clipped the rail on the second try."
"Can I try?" Father Mark asked.
Jack looked at him in surprise.
"Sure." Jack said.
Father Mark walked over to Bubbles and they spent a moment getting to know each other before Father Mark mounted and lined up for the jump. This time Bubbles went over fine. Father Mark rode through the last three jumps no problem.
"What was the difference?" Doug asked.
"I think it might have been the angle." Father Mark said. "I think the way you were lined up, he was getting a glare from the railings and couldn't pick up where he was supposed to leave. When I lined up more straight on, he didn't get the glare."
"Didn't even think about it." Doug said.
"I used to have the same problem this time of day with Case when I rode." Father Mark said.
"Makes sense." Nathan said. "We will just have to watch it."
After dismounting and handing the reins back to Doug, Father Mark walked over and moved the jump ever so slightly to be more at an angle.
"Try it now coming from the previous jump." Father Mark said.
Doug did as Father Mark suggested and there was no problem.
"Much better." Doug said, riding over.
"No problem." Father Mark said. "We all see different things. Otherwise the horse looks good. Can't wait to see the girls on them. They will love him."
As they were sitting there, Opal came over and stood on the bottom rail.
"I thought you were up at the house." Nathan said.
"No." Opal said. "I was helping Carlo with a few things."
Nathan shook his head.
"I am sorry." Opal said.
"I am not mad." Nathan said. "I just thought you went up to the house with the others. You can't just wander off."
Opal looked like she was going to cry. Father Mark lifted her up to sit next to him on the top rail.
"Do you understand why Nathan is upset?" He asked.
"Not really." Opal said.
"Your Mom is in town and we are responsible for your safety." Father Mark said. "Imagine how bad the guys would feel if something happened to you and they didn't know."
Opal just looked at him confused.
"But I was just with Carlo." Opal said.
"I know that. But, Elizabeth got hurt by a charging horse with both Jack and Nathan right there." Father Mark said. "They wouldn't have had a problem with you going with him, if they would have known. You tell your Mom when you want to do something right?"
"Yes." Opal said. "I guess I didn't see the problem as I had done it before, but you are right. Everyone knew then."
"Then lesson learned." Father Mark said. "Always, always tell an adult when you change your plans. It helps keep everyone safe, especially here on the farm. This is a big place with lots of people coming and going. Also there are horses who are not necessarily used to being around young people. Like Nathan said, we aren't mad, we just want to make sure that you are safe."
"I will." Opal said. "I think I will head to the house. I want to play with the girls. They said they would show me how to play some games."
"I will walk you up there." Peter said. "Thanks for the talk, Father Mark, see you later."
"Anytime." Father Mark said.
They watched Peter and Opal head toward the house
"Ready to see what Squeak can do?" Jack asked.
Nathan mounted the horse, brought him to a canter and then over the fences. Squeak had no problems. They raised the fences a couple of notches and again took them over.
"Can we line up two fences for a free jump at four eleven." Jack said. I just want to see them clear that height"
"Sure." Doug said.
Once the fences were lined up, Nathan, Doug and Father Mark took a seat on the rail while holding Squeak. Jack got Bubbles lined up and then ran along with him, getting him to jump. The horse easily cleared both fences.
"He had good form." Doug said. "I have a feeling the girls will be excited about riding more."
"Yeah, he looked good." Nathan said.
Jack switched horses and again, he looked good going over the fences. As Jack returned he, looked between the guys sitting there.
"I think we are good." Nathan said.
"I agree." Doug said
"Me too." Jack said. "Let's get these guys brushed and then turned out over across the way."
"I am going to head to the house." Father Mark said. "I am going to take off. I will talk to you all tomorrow."
"Okay." Jack said. "Thank you for the help."
"Anytime." Father Mark said. "It felt good to jump again."
Jack smiled at Father Mark's comment. He knew that he would never jump competitively again, but there was a part of him that wanted to see Father Mark maybe help some of the younger riders that Jack hoped to have. Father Mark was still such a great rider and Jack knew that if he had not felt the call to the priesthood, that Olympic hopeful would have been used in connection to Father Mark's name. What most people didn't know was that Father Mark was one of the youngest people in New York to win the fall championship, doing it shortly after his fifteenth birthday. He then won it again when he was sixteen and missed it when he was seventeen by two one hundredths of a second. What Jack really wanted was to have a fun event and jump against both Nathan and Father Mark. He thought that the two of them would have fun jumping against each other.
… … … …
After Father Mark walked away, the three turned with the two horses to get them brushed and turned out in one of the paddocks closer to the road. They were going to turn Wex out with them as well.
"Remind me why Father Mark doesn't jump any more?" Nathan asked.
"He didn't feel he could dedicate the time needed while studying for the priesthood." Jack said. "I understand his walking away, but man you should have seen him jump when he was Tommy's age until he walked away."
"I remember seeing him a few times when we first started coming out here." Doug said. "He had officially quit by then, but he pushed Laura and in turn Jack to be so much better."
"After that little display, I would have loved to see him in full competition." Nathan said.
"When we get to the house." Jack said. "Remind me to call the saddle guy. I want to get these two custom saddles, especially if the girls are going to be jumping them?"
"Really." Nathan said. "I didn't think it mattered for English. I can see it for western."
"All of our jumpers have custom saddles they jump with." Jack said. "Didn't you see how nice Athena or Bandit's fit?"
"Guess I didn't think about it." Nathan. "I noticed that they had their name on the saddle."
"That is so they only get used for that horse." Jack said. "We keep a few of these general saddles for when we have a situation like this. It isn't that much more and I like the look especially for shows."
"Then you can do what you want." Nathan said. "I will go get Wex."
Doug and Jack finished brushing out the horses and then took them over to the fence where Nathan had turned Wex out. They watch the three horses in the large paddock for a bit before turning and heading to the stable to change back into their other clothes. That reminded Jack that he also needed to check into what happened to the girls' tack cases. They wouldn't be hard to locate as they looked like the ones that they had. When Jack asked, he learned that they were over at Marco's office.
… … … …
When Frank walked back out toward the kitchen, he saw Lee playing with Cody on the floor over by the piano. The ladies were still sitting around the counter.
"Figure everything out?" Gran asked.
"Yes." Frank said. "John offered to hire people to pack and move my apartment. So if it is okay for me to stay here, I would like that."
"I told you that you are more than welcome to stay as long as you need." Gran said. "We have everything ready for you to head into town. Trish set two coolers by your SUV. Do you need me to send money with you?"
"No, I have the card that Devin gave me." Frank said.
"Then use that." Gran said. "Please bring me the receipts so Conner knows that they were ranch expenses and not personal. It will matter for taxes later."
"So where am I going?" Frank asked.
"There is an order at Primal." Gran said. "Most of the groceries can be picked up at Walmart. I marked the couple of things that you will need to stop at Healthy Living for. I also jotted down the addresses for you. Do you have GPS?"
"Yes, I do." Frank said. "Jack made sure I had that built in."
Before anyone could say anything else, they heard Elizabeth yelling downstairs. Frank looked and saw Peter and John coming down the hallway. He turned and quickly headed downstairs after them. Lee picked up Cody and took him outside for a moment. Gran decided to let the guys handle it, she was done with the drama. Trish and Abigail took their cue from Gran and stayed as well.
… … … …
Rosemary caught up with Elizabeth in the downstairs sitting room. She grabbed Elizabeth's arm and spun her around.
"What is your problem?" Rosemary demanded.
Elizabeth closed her eyes for a moment, but then decided to just let Rosemary have it. Before she started yelling at Rosemary, she let out a loud scream. Rosemary was momentarily taken aback as she had never heard that from Elizabeth.
"YOU ARE MY PROBLEM." Elizabeth yelled. "YOU COME IN HERE WITH AN ATTITUDE AND CHIP ON YOUR SHOULDER. YOU REFUSE TO LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TOLD YOU AND ASKED OF YOU. YOU HAVE CAUSED NOTHING BUT TROUBLE SINCE YOU GOT HERE. FOR ONCE IN OUR LIVES, I HAVE SOMETHING THAT YOU DON'T AND YOU ARE SO JEALOUS THAT YOU CANNOT BE HAPPY FOR ME, AND MUST TRY TO RUIN IT. EXCEPT I WON'T LET YOU."
Elizabeth grabbed her packages that had fallen and was going to head upstairs when she ran right into the arms of John.
"Whoa." John said. "Slow down."
Peter looked around and saw Becky, Missy and Maddie.
"Girls." Peter said. "What do you need?"
"We heard the yelling." Becky said.
"We have it under control." Frank said. "So please either wait a moment in the gym or go to your room."
"We will go to our room." Maddie said. "Come on Becky, we can show you our swimwear."
The three girls walked past and Frank didn't miss the glare that Missy shot Rosemary on her way by. Once the bedroom door was shut, Frank turned back to the group and situation at hand.
"Frank, will you please escort Rosemary to the office and wait for us?" John asked.
"Yes, Sir." Frank said.
Frank turned to Rosemary.
"Let's go." Frank said.
"I ain't going anywhere." Rosemary said.
"Don't make me drag you." Frank said through gritted teeth.
He grabbed Rosemary's arm and she reluctantly went upstairs. Once they were headed upstairs, Peter turned to a crying Elizabeth who was still in John's arms. They needed to make sure things were clear and Elizabeth was okay."
"Are you okay?" Peter asked.
"No." Elizabeth said.
She backed up and sat down.
"I can't do this anymore." Elizabeth said. "She is jealous of my relationship with Jack and she is determined to ruin it. When we were in the library, she tried to talk me into going into town without security. I said I wouldn't do that and she got upset."
"Elizabeth." John said. "You were right to not go with her. I will deal with her. I need to ask a question, do you want her here right now?"
"No." Elizabeth said. "She is just upsetting people. She needs to learn that things are different and if she wants to be a part of my life, it comes with Jack and the others. I don't want to see her again until she accepts my life is different and she can't isolate me from people anymore."
"I understand." John said. "Why don't you go put your books in your room, then go calm down in the library or up in the music room. When you are ready to face people again, come out. Please have your phone with you, though."
"I can do that." Elizabeth said. "Thank you."
Elizabeth headed to her room to put her things down. She then grabbed her journal and Bible. She came back out to the sitting room and saw John and Peter still there.
"I am going to go outside the music room." Elizabeth said.
"I will let JP know." John said. "Everyone else will leave you alone."
"If Father Mark comes up." Elizabeth said. "I would like to talk to him for a moment. Otherwise I will grab him sometime tomorrow."
"I will let Gran know." Peter said.
The three headed upstairs and Elizabeth slipped up to the music room. John walked over to Margaret. Peter headed to the office.
"Margaret." John said. "Elizabeth wants some time. She is going to be up outside the music room. If Father Mark has time, she would like to speak to him. If not, she will talk to him tomorrow."
"Thank you." Gran said. "I will let him know. I suspect he will be up here anytime, Opal and Peter were at the back door while you were downstairs."
"They can come back in." John said. "I am sure Elizabeth is sorry for the yelling. Also the girls are all in Missy and Maddie's room."
"Thank you." Abigail said. "Go deal with that, we got everything else."
As John headed to the office, Trish went to let everyone know it was okay to come in. Lee got Cody settled on the floor playing again. Opal and Peter came over to the kitchen.
"Opal." Gran said. "The girls should be up here in a little bit if you just want to stay here."
"Okay." Opal said. "Can I get something to drink, please?"
"Would you like some lemonade, water or I think there might be some apple juice left?" Trish said.
"Can I have some milk?" Opal asked.
"Sure." Gran said. "Want a cookie to go with it?"
"Please." Opal said with a grin.
Trish got the milk and cookie. Opal climbed up on the stool after washing her hands. Peter looked over and motioned that he would play with Cody for a moment.
… … … …