Chapter 314 – Onyx and Smokey Jo Arrive
As Chris left the library, Father Mark looked at Jack.
"Remember what I said about vengeance." Father Mark said.
"I know." Jack said. "But I don't see this as vengeance. I see this as them getting what is coming to them after years of causing trouble."
"Just be careful." Father Mark said. "You are walking a fine line."
Jack nodded. Then Father Mark turned to Nathan.
"Thank you for your concern." Father Mark said. "But the Vatican is actually pretty safe and it is not like I would be leaving it much anyway."
"I would still feel better if there was someone there watching your back." Jack said. "Nathan has some valid concerns, especially with everything going on. All else fails, the security teams get a trip to Rome on me."
"Fine." Father Mark said. "But please make sure that Devin clears things with the archbishop. He can help navigate the needed paperwork."
"I will." Jack said
The three sat there for a bit longer talking, before Jack's phone alerted to a message. He looked at it and smiled.
"Want to go see two of the new horses?" Jack said. "They are just pulling in."
"Sure." Nathan said. "I still can't believe that you bought those two horses."
Jack just smirked at Nathan as they walked out. When they got down to the stable, some of the hands were trying to unload the first horse.
"What is wrong?" Jack asked.
"Onyx didn't like the trailer." Carlo said.
"Maybe I can calm him down." Jack said.
Father Mark grabbed Jack's arm.
"No." Father Mark said. "You are injured already. Let me go."
Jack nodded. Father Mark stepped forward and both hands stepped back, but you could still hear Onyx stomping and snorting in the trailer. Father Mark went up to the window that was opened. He cooed to the horse, but Onyx was upset.
"I know that you want out." Father Mark cooed. "But you need to calm down first."
Katie heard the commotion and came downstairs. Jack filled her in on what was going on. She told Carlo to go get a few things from the feed room. Carlo ran to get what he had been asked. He was back about five minutes later with the bucket of feed. Katie took and started toward the trailer. Jack tried to stop her, but she glared at him, so Jack held his hands up in surrender. Katie approached the trailer and opened the half door on the back. Onyx charged Katie, but she held up her hand.
"Settle." Katie said, in a soft voice.
She shook the feed bucket and Onyx's ears flicked forward.
"You want this." Katie said. "Then calm down."
She offered the bucket to Onyx and when he lunged again, she took it away.
"No." Katie cooed. "Settle."
Father Mark came over and grabbed Onyx's bridle and started rubbing between his eyes. The horse started calming down, so Katie offered him the bucket back. Once Onyx had eaten the bucket of food, Father Mark and Katie were able to get him into the quarantine stall. Katie did a bit more T-touch as Jack came over.
"What did you give him?" Jack asked.
"Valerian root." Katie said. "I have been showing Carlo how to use the herbs. He is really fast learning. We add a bit of it to Ghost's treat after a show because he is so hyped up. I had Carlo do twice what we gave Ghost. It will keep Onyx here calm for a while. I will switch to chamomile in the morning and keep that in his feed as long as they are in quarantine."
"Sounds good." Jack said. "Also please keep Opal away until I have a chance to evaluate these boys. You know that there are three weanlings and a pregnant mare coming."
"Yes." Katie said. "I know. Marco filled me in. It looks like this one is the only one riled up."
"I noticed that." Jack said. "These are special horses, I don't know if we are going to ride them, but I do know that I am going to breed them."
"What is so special about these horses?" Katie asked.
Jack gave a condensed version of the history of Black Ice and the history with Coal Creek.
"Well." Katie said. "The mare must have been a chestnut, because Onyx has a red undertone to him. You can see it in his tail and mane. Also might be why he is more high strung. I have found chestnuts are like human red-heads, they can have a temper."
"Understood." Jack said. "He is part thoroughbred and part Arabian. But he is a good looking horse and I know that he can jump. With the right rider, he will do well. I wish I had the time to ride him myself."
"I will talk to the vet tech when she comes out." Katie said. "There are a few things I want her to check."
"Fine." Jack said.
They turned and looked at Smokey Jo.
"What do you think about him?" Jack asked.
"Nice lines." Katie said. "He seems to be the calmer of the two. I wouldn't mind getting on him. He looks like he could use some exercise."
"If you want to ride him in the round pen." Jack said. "Feel free. Maybe have a spotter."
"Okay." Katie said. "I will let you get back to your day."
"Thanks." Jack said. "Not sure if I will come down when the others come. The three weanlings should be here between seven and eight. The broodmare, maybe close to midnight."
"If I don't see them." Katie said. "I will check them in the morning."
"Thank you." Jack said. "Glad you were here today. You did good."
"Thank you." Katie said. "I am glad for the opportunity. Opal is loving it here and we have settled nicely. She is going to miss you guys when you leave."
"Frank will be around." Jack said. "And we will be back."
"I know." Katie said. "But Thanksgiving to a five year old is forever."
Jack laughed.
"She will survive." Jack said. "She will have plenty of kids to play with."
"Talk to you later." Katie said.
Jack and Katie went their separate ways. Katie headed back upstairs. Jack went over to Father Mark and Nathan who were looking at the horses in the stable.
"Let's go to the house." Jack said. "I am sure that Gran will have supper ready soon. And you did well today, Father Mark."
"Thank you." Father Mark said. "Katie did all the work."
"You helped." Jack said. "Also thank you for not letting me step in. The way he jerked your arm, he would have hurt my arm again."
"Just take it easy." Nathan said. "I know that you want to do everything, but you were right to let others do the work."
"I know." Jack said. "It is hard to step back."
Both Nathan and Father Mark patted Jack on the back. They walked back to the house. When they got inside, Gran looked at him.
"How are the new horses? Gran asked.
"Stalled." Jack said. "Onyx was hyped up. Katie gave him some valerian to calm down. We will just have to wait and see how he gets along."
Gran nodded.
"James called." Gran said. "He said he would be home in about an hour, so we are going to hold supper for him."
"Okay." Jack said. "We are going to head back downstairs."
Gran nodded.
"We will call you when it is time to come up." Trish said.
Jack nodded and headed back downstairs. Nathan quickly followed him, while Father Mark took a seat at the counter. As the other two headed downstairs, Gran looked at her other grandson.
"You look sad." Gran said.
"Just realizing that our time this summer is coming to an end." Father Mark said. As much as I am looking forward to the opportunity to study at the Vatican again for a few months, I am going to miss seeing everyone everyday."
"Time will go fast." Gran said. "JP said he would pay for a plan for you to be able to call and we can call you. I know that it is not the same, but it is better than nothing."
"Thank you." Father Mark said. "It has just been nice the last number of weeks of feeling like I am a part of a family again. There are times that I get lonely being by myself most of the time."
"I am glad that you have been here." Gran said. "And you can come out anytime you want if you want some family time. But I sense that there is something else going on. You know that I only ask because I care."
"I know." Father Mark said. "I guess I miss ministering to people, saying Mass and preaching. I know that I have done that here, but it is not the same. I also know that if I am not cleared of Lacy and Jenna's allegations, that my life as I know it is over."
Gran came over and hugged her grandson.
"It will be fine." Gran said. "We know you didn't do anything wrong. I know that it can't be easy for you right now, but hang in there. Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help or make you feel better."
"I will." Father Mark said. "I just want things to go back to normal. I am also worried about Jack and Elizabeth. They are young and have been through so much. While I am satisfied that they have met the requirements to get married, I am still worried about them. Starting university is not easy. Adjusting to married life is not easy. Doing both at the same time is almost asking for problems. I have seen other young couples who have gotten married young and tried to go to school not work out and they hadn't had to deal with half of the things that Jack and Elizabeth have had to deal with."
Abigail came over and sat next to Father Mark and patted his hand.
"Bill and I have been praying for them." Abigail said. "We are both confident they will be fine. It might not be easy, but they have plenty of people not only supporting them, but also praying for them."
"Thank you." Father Mark said.
"James and I will be in the city." Trish said. "We will make a point to check on them regularly. We will have them over for a meal and be there to help."
"Okay." Father Mark said. "That helps. I am glad that Nathan will also be around. He seems to be good for Jack. I have also spoken to John about how much Jack is taking on and he agrees that Jack is going to need someone like Peter before the year is out."
Gran hugged her grandson again.
"Why don't you go relax until supper." Gran said.
Father Mark went to the library and stayed there until James came home and it was time for supper.
Once everyone was seated for supper, the conversation turned to the results of the races. They had seven horses racing in Saratoga and the best finish was a third. Their horses in Florida and California fared better. They picked up two wins in Florida. Also a win and second place in California. They also talked about the two new horses that Jack got as well as the ones that John had picked up and were sending up there. James let Jack know that he had two new inquiries for jumpers in his inbox and had forwarded the emails to him. James said they were both jumping preliminary, but wanted to switch stables and didn't own their own horses. Jack promised to check out the emails and hopefully they could get the two there and at least practice with Marco or Andy.
After supper, Father Mark went back to the library while everyone else went about their evening. They realized that he needed some time so let him be. Frank and James ended up following Abigail back to her house to see if there was something that they could do about the air conditioner. James had said if he felt it was too hot in the house, he wanted Abigail and the kids to come back to the ranch and stay as Caitlin had gone to her own apartment. When they got to the house, it was quite warm. Frank and James looked at the air conditioner and saw that it had a blown compressor and would need a whole new unit. Both James and Frank insisted that Abigail pack up some of the food as well as an overnight bag for a few days and come back to the ranch as it was going to be close to ninety for the next couple of days.
Abigail was worried about space, but both James and Frank assured her that there was plenty of room and they would work it out. Frank helped her back up stuff in the fridge that would need to be eaten in the next couple of days while James made some notes about the air conditioner so he could make sure they got a new one as soon as possible. Once they had everything packed back up, they headed back to the ranch for the night. As they were heading back to the ranch, Abigail had Peter call Bill and let him know what was going on where they were going to be when he got back.
When they got to the ranch, Frank carried in the coolers and took care of them. Abigail took her and Cody's bag up to the spare room upstairs. James went downstairs to pull out the two air beds that were going to be needed. He also spoke to the young people down there. The twins had no problem having Becky in the room with her and the big boys had no problem with Peter in their room. When Cody learned that he wasn't going to be with the big boys, he got upset. Jack picked him up and calmed him down. He kind of looked at the other guys and they decided that as long as Peter didn't mind sharing the full size air mattress, it was fine. So that is how Cody ended up in the room with the big boys. But as the boys would learn, he wouldn't stay on the air mattress and would end up in bed with Nathan.
Despite it being a full house again, everyone had a relaxing evening and were able to enjoy themselves. Father Mark spent most of the evening in the library praying and that was fine, everyone else left him alone. James, Gran, Trish and Abigail worked on various things up stairs, including James sitting down and going through the week's mail. Abigail had also grabbed a stack of mail that needed attention. Trish and Gran were going over the ads, making lists. Gran always got school supplies and donated them to St Clement's. Her and Trish made a list of what they were going to start getting when they went shopping the next day. When Abigail saw what they were doing, she looked up the school lists for her three and Gran just added the items to her list despite Abigail's protests.
Father Mark had gone down and prayed with everyone else. The twins, Becky and Peter joined them. Cody sat on Nathan's lap nicely during that time. It was one of the first times the twins had wanted to be included. After they prayed, Maddie, Missy and Becky went to their room. Father Mark went back upstairs while the others watched TV. Cody fell asleep in Nathan's lap, so he carried him to the room and laid him down.
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