Chapter 157 – Captain's Brass

"So Elizabeth." Jack said. "We are going to have to think about getting you a regular trail horse."

"I can just use whichever one is around." Elizabeth said.

"No." Jack said. "I think that you should have your own horse that you ride. If you wanted to allow others to ride it, that would be up to you."

"Can I think about it?" Elizabeth asked. "We have time before we will be up here full time."

"Okay." Jack said. "But think about what kind of horse you want."

"I will." Elizabeth said.

They rode a little further in silence. They came up to a large pasture that held about a dozen horses. Elizabeth immediately spotted one horse.

"Jack." Elizabeth said. "What is that light colored horse?"

Jack smiled as Elizabeth pointed out the large horse that stood out against the others. Jack watched as Elizabeth raised her phone and took a picture.

"That is a Palomino thoroughbred." Jack said. "A Palomino is a genetic color of a horse with a gold coat and white mane. They can actually range from bright white to yellow. They are actually very prized horses because their color can't actually be bred for because even though you can breed two Palomino horses they might have a foal with a wide variety of color."

"Wow." Elizabeth said.

"Jack." Father Mark said.

Jack looked over at Father Mark.

"I have been meaning to ask you." Father Mark said. "I have seen it more and more the last few months and I have also noticed it with Nathan. Do you both have a photographic memory like Melissa?"

"I haven't gotten Nathan to admit it." Jack said. "But I do believe that he does have some combination of photographic and/or eidetic memory. I think I have a form of it. I don't remember everything but I retain information that I have learned better than the average person and can recall it at will."

"Very cool." Elizabeth said. "And Melissa is your cousin who is in vet school?"

"Yes." Father Mark said. "She is Conrad and Heidi's youngest. She is the same age as Jack, actually only a couple of months older, but she graduated high school when she was fifteen. She went to school over in Ithaca for a couple of years and got an undergrad degree in Animal Science. She then applied to Vet programs. She could have gone to Cornell, but ended up with a large scholarship to Texas A&M University."

"Nice." Elizabeth said. "So she went to Texas for Vet school, but you are hoping to convince her to come back here and practice."

"Ideally yes." Jack said. "The more positions that we can keep in the family the better. I also understand if that is not what she wants. Either way, I want to have a full-time vet on staff in the next five years."

"So what is the Palomino's name?" Elizabeth asked.

"His registered name is Captain's Brass." Jack said. "We call him Cappy. We have used him as a stud for many years. We just officially retired him last year, but have several of his straws frozen. He was a great racer. He ran in a lot of graded races."

"I would love to see him up close." Elizabeth said.

"I don't dare take Honey in there as she is a mare." Jack said. "But you are both on geldings if you want to go in and see if you can get closer. They might allow it, but I don't know."

"Maybe another day where we can do it together." Elizabeth said.

"If that is what you want." Jack said.

Elizabeth turned to Father Mark.

"No offense." Elizabeth said. "It is just something I want to do with Jack."

"No offense taken." Father Mark said. "I was thinking if it would be a good idea or not. It has been a while since I have been around a herd of thoroughbreds. Yes, they have been handled and ridden, but still."

"Sorry, didn't think about that." Jack said.

"All good." Father Mark said.

They sat on their horses along the rail for a few moments and watched the horses graze. As they were sitting there, Elizabeth had questions, but she wasn't sure if she should ask or just wait.

"What are you thinking?" Jack said. "I can see you have a question."

"Are all the horses in here retired?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes." Jack said. "However not all of them are thoroughbreds. We mostly have thoroughbreds, but we also have a couple of Arabians and Morgans and a handful of quarter horses. However, I think these all look like thoroughbreds in this pasture."

"How many horses do you have in the retirement center now?" Father Mark asked.

"I think the total for full retirement is right around eighty." Jack said.

"What does that mean full retirement?" Elizabeth asked.

"They don't work or breed anymore." Jack said. "Horses in full retirement, will live out their days as a horse. They graze and lay in the sun while being taken care of. They are not ridden or worked in any other way. Most are here due to age, a few to injury."

"So there are those that aren't in full retirement?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes." Jack said. "Those we may still ride or breed, but they aren't stressed with heavy or long workouts. Some live over here, some over at the stud farm."

"There is so much to learn." Elizabeth said.

"Don't feel pressured to learn it all this summer." Jack said. "My knowledge is a lifetime of information and living with horses."

"Yes." Father Mark said. "Ask questions and look things up as you need or want. But don't think that anyone expects you to learn all of this in a summer. Knowledge of the horses will come with time and practice."

"Thank you both." Elizabeth said. "Sometimes it feels overwhelming when I listen to you all talking about the different things. I try to follow along, but I don't understand a lot of the time. I have looked various things up and made notes in my journal to remember things, but there is just so much."

"Sweetheart, it will come." Jack said. "Just remember, we have all grown up with this and we all had a time that it felt overwhelming listening to everything other people were talking about. There was a time that I would listen to either of my grandfathers and feel overwhelmed with everything that they knew about horses and business."

Father Mark looked at his watch.

"We should start heading back." Father Mark said. "We have been gone about fifty minutes already."

"Right." Jack said.

Before moving, Jack leaned over and gave Elizabeth a quick kiss.

"I love you." Jack said.

"I love you, too." Elizabeth said.

They hadn't rode that far when Jack's phone rang.

"Sorry I have to grab this." Jack said.

Elizabeth nodded.

"Hey Chief." Jack said.

("Hello, Jack." Chief Burke said. "Trish and I got your message. We have no problem letting the girls come up. We have a couple of concerns, but they can be addressed.")

"What are your concerns?" Jack asked.

("Doug mentioned some problems with Tommy." Chief said. "Also Trish wants to make sure that it is okay with Margaret. Those are the two biggest ones.")

"Gran said that the girls are more than welcome." Jack said. "Tommy is not a problem. Mom and Dad have gone back to the city and my grandparents have stepped in and taken control of Tommy. He is being handled and he is not in the house and he won't be until he learns some control, respect and manners."

("That makes me feel better." Chief said. "I know the girls were a little scared when they thought that Tommy was going to be there.")

"I can assure you that Tommy won't be a problem." Jack said. "The only time that they would probably see him was down at the stables."

("So what were you thinking?" Chief asked.)

"If it was alright with you." Jack said. "I was thinking of flying the girls up here on Friday. They would have the weekend to settle and we could jump into training on Monday. I would arrange for their horses to be brought back up here on Friday. I have already called the stable and had them moved away from other horses."

("That sounds like a plan." Chief said.)

"I will make the arrangements." Jack said.

("Good." Chief said. "Jack wait, Trish wants to talk to you.")

"Hello Trish." Jack said.

("I was wondering if it would be okay to bring the girls up on Friday and stay for the weekend?" Trish asked.)

"Already thought about that." Jack said. "Gran said it would be fine. Just so you know there may be one other person coming up and back with you, but I am not sure at this point. I can let you know."

("Sounds good." Trish said. "I will call Margaret and talk as well.")

"Everyone is out on trail rides right now." Jack said. "I don't think she had her phone with her. Maybe try later this evening. Father Mark is here as well as the Averys. Grandpa John is here as well. He invited Chris, Katie, Rob and his two security guards to join us for the day. We split up into different groups to ride. I am with Elizabeth and Father Mark."

("Then I will let you get back to your ride." Trish said. "I look forward to meeting Elizabeth.")

"Trish." Jack said. "You can share this with the Chief, but don't tell the girls yet."

("Okay what?" Trish asked.)

"Nothing bad." Jack said. "I asked Elizabeth to marry me yesterday and she said yes. We haven't really told anyone except those that were here. Because of everything going on, we want to keep it quiet for a bit longer."

("Congratulations." Trish said. "Now I can't wait to meet her. That was the other concern, the press. But I will trust that you have enough security especially if Devin sent Chris, Rob and Katie.")

"We are good." Jack said. "We are also limiting our time off the ranch."

("See you Friday." Trish said. "Just send me the information once the flight it booked.")

"I will do that." Jack said. "Bye, see you Friday."

Jack hung up the phone.

"Who is coming on Friday?" Elizabeth asked.

"Doug's mother and little sisters." Jack said. "Trish wants to stay the weekend and then head back on Sunday afternoon. The girls will stay until after the show here."

"Who else is coming up?" Father Mark asked. "Sorry, couldn't help overhear."

"Actually that was something that I wanted to talk to Elizabeth about." Jack said.

Elizabeth looked at Jack with some concern.

"Slow down and breathe." Jack said.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and looked at Jack again.

"I was going to see if you wanted to invite your best friend Rosie up here for the weekend." Jack said. "Especially with the girls and Trish coming, it wouldn't be a huge deal for her to fly up with them and then back with Trish."

"I don't know what her schedule is." Elizabeth said. "But I could ask her. Is there enough room for everyone?"

"The girls will be in Tommy's room." Jack said. "Trish will be in one of the guest rooms upstairs. There are a couple of options for your friend. One, she can stay in your room. We might have to use one of the air mattresses. Two, she can stay upstairs in the smaller guest room. Either way, there will be plenty of room."

"All else fails." Father Mark said. "You push the couches back downstairs and inflate a bunch of the air mattresses. Grandpa has several. We use them when everyone is up here for the holidays."

"Okay." Elizabeth said. "I will try calling Rosie when we get back up to the house. It is really okay that she comes up here."

"If she wants to come, she is more than welcome." Jack said. "We will let her know where she needs to be on Friday to catch the flight up."

"Elizabeth." Father Mark said.

"Yes." Elizabeth said, looking at him.

"I don't know how much you have told your best friend." Father Mark said. "But you might want to warn her about the press and everything else. If you know what I mean?"

"The money." Elizabeth said. "The house, the horses and landing in the front yard."

"Yes." Father Mark said.

"Elizabeth, Sweetheart." Jack said. "We are together, if you trust Rosie and want her to come up here, I will welcome her. I should have encouraged you to reach out to her sooner. I am sorry, I wasn't thinking. I have my friends here and if you want someone here, they are more than welcome."

"Thank you." Elizabeth said. "I would love for Rosie to come up here. I want her to meet you and see what I see."

Jack smiled. They continued to ride back toward the house. They talked a little more about Rosie coming over the weekend and what will happen with Doug's sisters coming up. When they got to the stable, some of the horses were back.

"Looks like some of Gran's group is back." Father Mark said.

"I am not surprised." Jack said. "It is not often that Gran rides anymore. I am sure she did it so that Abigail would go. Doesn't look like Nathan, Doug or Lee are back. I wonder if they have Cody with them."

"We will see shortly." Elizabeth said.'