Page 64 of Trickster King

The RPS agent came over, and he sighed. “Do I want to know?”

“Do I have enough money left over to buy the fancy car I was going to surprise Jessica with?”

“You do. There are a few models suitable for royalty that are in your budget that the queen would love to have in her garage.”

“Can you just call whoever does that, pick the one that makes the RPS happiest with me, and put it in a color that Jessica likes?”

Randy laughed at me. “You don’t want to go car shopping when there are horses to be had, do you?”

“I really don’t.”

“I’ll assign someone the task and make sure it’s ready for when it’s time to head back to the palace, Your Majesty. Jerrod, are any of the pastures here clean of the fungus?”

“I had one pasture purged along the edge of our property as a test. It’s pretty remote compared to the rest; if the earthweaving caused the fungus to spread faster, I didn’t want it to surge in the closer pastures. Why?”

Randy engaged me in a staring contest. “After you finish your duty to the horses and get some sleep, you may take Eddie to that pasture, cook over a campfire, and get in some rest and relaxation. A tent will be provided along with sleeping mats. The next day, after you’ve had sufficient sleep and have helped with the horses here, you will go tour your other acquisitions.”

I recognized when the RPS agent expected me to cooperate, and I held both hands up in surrender. “I don’t know what I did, but I have some regrets and will do as you wish.”

“You haven’t done anything yet, but I know when you’re about to overdo it, and if I don’t intervene, you’re going to overdo it.”

FIFTEEN

Only time would tell.

Randy understood me better than I understood myself sometimes. I admired his wit and cunning, as I would have run myself into the ground over the rescues if allowed to stay at the center. With Mutiny nursing the filly and the other starved horses holding on, I wasn’t needed to keep them progressing towards good health.

A single comment from Geoff won my full cooperation.

He didn’t want Eddie to remember anything more than the anguish of the rescues. By camping and going on the ride, we would lessen the severity of the situation for the child, who hadn’t yet learned we could—and would—pack away our worries and pretend like everything was okay when it wasn’t.

I expected, after Eddie went to sleep, I would be sneaking away from the camp to come to the barn to make the final decision if one of the geldings would be euthanized.

The scanning machines indicated he had a fracture, several infections, and a painful road ahead of him if the cracked bone could be treated. If the injury worsened, we’d have to euthanize.

In his condition, he wouldn’t recover, and I had no interest in forcing a horse to suffer unnecessarily.

Only time would tell.

As the vets needed at least twenty-four hours to better evaluate the gelding, I went the route of recklessness, having Hawkins sell me a healthy, solid rescue suitable for fence rides, trails, and anything else I might need a steady horse for. The mare would earn her keep at one of the royal stables for guests to ride, assuming she worked out as Hawkins suggested she might.

Eddie considered my bay from the back of one of Jerrod’s horses, a steady gray gelding on the verge of being retired due to age. “I thought you’d ride Dynamite.”

“Dynamite’s hooves might worsen from the fungus. Yours has a mild case, and mine will get treated,” I replied, smiling at the boy. “Since she just did a big jump, she needs to rest and be pampered. Those jumps are hard on a horse’s bones, especially when carrying someone like me.”

“But you’re not fat, Dad.”

“No, I’m not overweight. However, I’m muscular, and muscle weighs a lot more than fat. I’m a lot of man for a horse to carry.” To minimize how much the horses had to carry, we even bought special saddles built to weigh less than normal.

They cost us a fortune, but I felt the investment was worth it.

“Oh. What if I get to be big and muscular, too?”

“Then you’ll be careful with your horses, buy light saddles, and work on building your animal’s endurance. It can be a problem, but it’s one easily handled with care and attention.”

“It never looks like Baby is struggling when he jumps with you.”

“Baby is a strong horse used to my weight.” I grinned at the boy, riding through the track between pastures en route to the field Jerrod had recommended we use for our camping venture.

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